As if entering the job marketing isn’t daunting enough, let’s add some truly bad career advice!
Being able to discern the good from the bad is essential for any graduate looking to begin their career.
So, to help we have collated some of the worst advice we have ever heard, for you to *gracefully* ignore should it be repeated.
It’s time to break some myths about graduate career prospects! Warning – prepare yourself for some clichés.
1. Choose a BIG salary even if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing…
If you choose the first job, or even the highest paying job that comes your way, you might set yourself on an undesirable career path. Consider your chosen career, employer, opportunity, and future growth prospects – should the job you love also have a big salary then it’s a win-win.
To paraphrase a few clichés: Money can’t buy you happiness… but job satisfaction can. When you’re enjoying what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.
2. Your degree dictates your career…
False.
Think outside the box. Your degree, regardless of the subject, has equipped you with the skills to be able to communicate, articulate, think logically and work collaboratively in any career field you choose.
You might not have the skills on your very first day, but you’ll learn. After all, haven’t you learnt everything you needed to get where you are today?
Here at DigitalGrads we offer fully-funded online training courses for grads looking for jobs in tech and marketing. Click here to sign-up and access our academy.
3. Expect to work unpaid…
Don’t expect to work unpaid as you enter the job market. If small companies can pay their staff the National Minimum Wage, then a tech company certainly should be able to.
This doesn’t mean to avoid volunteering for a charitable organisation! You can read about the government rules for what is and isn’t acceptable as unpaid work. Putting yourself out there and networking might be just the thing to help land that first graduate job.
4. “I wouldn’t apply for the tech industry; you must be able to write code…”
Now this type of advice comes exclusively from people with no experience in tech and have never met anyone in the industry!
There are so many positions out there for those of you who, like me, haven’t got the faintest idea where to begin when it comes to coding.
Don’t be deterred from applying for tech jobs if you’re non-technical – the field isn’t exclusively coding, and there’s plenty of roles out there for you!
Want to find out more? Complete our fully-funded online Tech Industry Training program!
5. Let the jobs come to you…
As much as we would like to believe jobs are like buses: you miss one and another will come along, the job world (unfortunately) isn’t like that.
Be proactive in your approach to finding work. Get out of your comfort zone. You might stumble across opportunities you might not have found otherwise.
6. Don’t aim too high…
Now I don’t believe ‘aiming too high’ is a negative trait but it is important to have realistic and achievable goals.
You don’t want to be destined for disappointment, so set yourself realistic targets.
Simply put, not all advice is good advice.
Reading this because you’re seeking good career advice?
- Read our blog on ‘How Best To Prepare Yourself For Life After Uni’
- Click here for ‘12 Pieces of Advice for New Grads‘.
REMEMBER – DigitalGrads offer fully-funded training and career advice to prepare you for whatever the future may hold. Sign-up here.