Career Doctor Articles

With the kind permission of the Career Doctor, jfo is able to bring you a series of articles to help you in your work situation and longer term career management

What Career after Graduating?

So you have just completed your degree and graduated with some nice letters to put after your name. But what next? What career should you now seek?

Some people quite naturally think that having worked so hard to get a degree in XXX it is obvious that a career related to XXX would be the natural path to follow. Having said that, I have met many people in my career consultancy who would not dream of following a career in their degree subject. So why study it in the first place?

One of my previous articles “What degree should you study” covered that subject, so in this article I am assuming that the reader has a newly-won degree.

If your degree was in a vocationally-based subject, such as engineering, economics, or business studies, then you can be forgiven if you think you should attempt to get a job where your degree would be most relevant. But stop. Do you have to think in straight lines? Could your degree take you on a different career path? Why shouldn’t your degree in engineering, for example, be used as a starting point for a career in Human Resources? Or selling engineering products?

However, what if your degree was in a non-vocational subject? What do you do with a degree in, say, History? Apart from being a History teacher there’s not much obvious demand for people with a History degree. Where to from here with your degree?

OPEN YOUR MIND

The key to a successful career is making the right decision at an early age. Choosing the right degree to study, as my previous article states, is absolutely paramount. But now you have your degree, you must ask yourself if you really want to continue down the path you have already started on.

The very concept of jettisoning all that hard work is alien to most people. They have invested so much time, money and effort into getting the degree, and now I am suggesting that they take a long, hard look before trying to follow a career in that subject. In many ways the word “jettison” is an emotive one, as it implies a waste. But to jettison baggage that will hold you back and blight your future, is exactly the right word, if the degree subject is wrong for your future.

Most youngsters are advised to study a degree in their best academic subject. So, as a 14-year-old, if you were good at maths at school, then a degree in maths would be an obvious choice to study. Straight line thinking. However, I have met countless people in my consultancy, who, in later years, have come to realise that a career involving maths - as an accountant, for example - was a tragic mistake.

We all change as we grow older, and the amount of personality change between a 14-year-old schoolboy / girl and a 24-year-old graduate will probably be immense. So if you recognise you have changed, then ask yourself why you should follow a career path that you have already grown away from? Have an open mind. Jettison that emotional baggage and move on! But to what?

GET ADVICE

If I were a young, newly-qualified graduate, I would tell myself that I need to challenge conventional wisdom and get all the advice I can, before making a decision about which career path to follow. My new degree will open a few doors, but which ones to knock at?

Take advice from a wide spectrum of people. Your university lecturers will almost inevitably be steeped in the “all education is good for you, so do the best you can” tradition. So you turned your “A” level History into a BA in History, but should you now study for a Masters or even a PhD in History? For History put your own subject in, the principle remains the same. However, is this the best advice for you? It probably is for the education system.

If it were me, I would seek the views of the more worldly-wise. Talk to everyone you know, and get their opinion about your next career move. Listen to all, but keep an open mind. Certainly I get many newly-qualified graduates in my consultancy who have come to the decision that they can’t make a decision about their future career path. They seek our help and advice in order to prevent choosing the wrong career to follow.

We use psychometric tests (see my earlier article “Psychometric Tests”) and other methods to identify optimum careers, and it is quite amazing how often someone with a degree in XXX comes to realise that a career in XXX is just about the worse choice to make - as they have changed in character so much since deciding, in their teens, what degree to take.

TAKE A SABBATICAL

If you are undecided about your future now you have your degree, why not take a year off and do some foreign travel? In the process you will meet many other people who will doubtless show you that there is a real world outside the universities. Most importantly you will discover yourself, and develop as a human-being, so that is all to the good.

I have never met anyone who has regretted taking time out to do some globe-trotting. Everyone returns a more-rounded person, with a clearer head as to where their future may lay. Often totally unexpected careers suddenly seem more attractive.

For instance, my younger son returned to the UK after 20 months abroad and decided he wanted to teach English as a foreign language. He got an appropriate qualification and has been doing that work for the last ten years. He is now working in China, after spending many years in Thailand, and I know he will never return to the UK to work. He has found his true vocation, and loves it. What a lucky person!

When, however, should you take such a sabbatical? After completing your degree, or after spending a few years in your newly-chosen career? I suppose there is no right answer, though if you are unsure about your future, then that is the right time to take time out. The downside about taking a sabbatical after a few years is that by then you might be married, be a parent, or be climbing the corporate ladder. Taking a sabbatical when you are, say, 29 years of age may well be a career own-goal. So in general, if you think you need or want to go globe-trotting, the younger the better.

TEST THE WATER

Let us assume that you are still undecided about your future career. Test the water. Take some temporary work to see what the corporate world is all about. Be flexible and change direction if the theoretical job you fancy turns out to be not as good as you thought.

I would not recommend taking a menial job, at least not for very long. If you drive a van for a few months, to discover yourself, that’s OK, but avoid being still a van -driver a year after graduating. Think of the stereotype you are building for yourself. By then a fresh crop of young graduates will be on the market, and you will be seen as being “last year’s model”. The experience of being a van-driver for a year will not impress many employers, nor compensate for your “lack of freshness”.

Don’t panic, however; some people take longer than others to find their true vocation. Just keep testing the water and talking to everyone who will listen to you. Remember, opinions are like noses, everyone has one. And someone’s opinion as to what you are best suited to do might just be the right idea.

When an employer reads your CV it must seem that you have thought your career through and are clear and focused as to what direction you want to go, career-wise. A short sabbatical or a few months as a van-driver will be seen as acceptable, and even understandable or laudable; but two year’s globe-trotting or van-driving will be sending out the wrong signals to a prospective employer.

GRADUATE TRAINEES

Many companies recruit graduate trainees, but the track record of many such trainees can be unfortunate, to put it mildly. As a former graduate “milk-round” recruiter I was aware of the statistics about the longevity of graduate trainees. Most only stayed with their first employer for a short while, before going to another company. These trainees are very expensive to recruit and train and their loyalty can often leave a lot to be desired. So if you are offered a graduate traineeship, beware that they can be frustrating and unfulfilling, as you are moved from department to department, learning something, but not always enough to whet your appetite.

The one good thing about graduate traineeships is that you could be offered the opportunity to study, under sponsorship, for a vocational qualification. So if you enjoyed your stay in their HR department and are offered an opportunity to be sponsored to study for the CIPD qualifications, bite their hand off!

PEOPLE CHANGE

In conclusion I cannot stress enough the importance of finding the right career path for you to follow, irrespective of whether that is connected to your degree subject or not. If I took an average profile of the sort of person who becomes a client of my consultancy, it is a 31-year-old who is in a job that he / she has grown out of. What was once a good career to follow has now become a nightmare, for a whole variety of reasons.

One of the main reasons is quite simply that people’s opinions and values change as they get older, and as they mature many of them come to realise that they have “backed the wrong horse” and want myself or my consultants to help them identify a more suitable career path and make a fresh start.

For example, one young client had a scientific degree, got a job as a scientist, hated it, and came to us for help. She is now a very happy lady, working as an Account Manager for a big local company. Another client had an engineering degree and was employed as a design engineer. Had he found paradise? No! Instead after some psychometric tests and the unique system that we use, we came to a collective decision that he should follow a career in catering. He now works as a Chef, where his engineering skills and degree have no relevance whatsoever. He’s so much happier than he was as an engineer, and is looking forward to eventually owning his own restaurant. I’ve been promised a free meal!

It’s a pity they did not come to see us when they had first graduated, we might have helped them avoid choosing the wrong career in the first place!

Good luck!

The Career Doctor is Eric Hearn, Chartered MCIPD and Managing Director of Milverton Career Solutions Ltd, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.

Contact details:
Tel: 01344 624383
Email: milvertoncareers@btconnect.com
Website: www.careerdevelopment.co.uk