Once you’ve landed your first couple of jobs in your chosen field, it generally becomes easier to climb the career ladder, but how can you land those first couple of jobs? What tips are there for people just starting out on their career journey?
In this blog, we’ll explore what is defined as early career, and the tips we’d give to anyone looking to get started on their path.
What does ‘early careers’ mean?
Early careers refer to anyone who is at the start of their career path, usually with little or no experience. Because of this, jobs that could be defined as early careers usually don’t require any experience.
So, if you can’t lean on your experience, what can you rely on? Read on and find out what can be used to guide your early career.
Exploring skills and careers
When starting out, you should begin by assessing the skills that you already have. Skills that you already have are easier to build on, but will also help to shape what job roles you may want to apply for and you’ll be able to present these at an interview or assessment process.
These skills can be demonstrated through voluntary work, qualifications, degrees or even hobbies that have transferrable and demonstrable skills. For example, you might be working on developing an app in your spare time or you might partake in competitive sports. It’s worth noting that a degree in a specific field doesn’t mean that you are shoehorned into only doing one thing for the rest of your life, as people from different backgrounds will bring something different to the team. For example, a law degree might open doors for everything from HR Manager to Paralegal.
Once you’ve assessed the skills that you have, you can start to explore which career paths are already open to you and determine which skills you may need for the career that you want. These gaps can be explored through extra training, internships or even something more long-term like an apprenticeship where you can often get on the job training as well as classroom studying.
What to consider when exploring early career opportunities
When looking at your early career options, there are several factors you should consider outside of the skills you already have, despite the importance of existing skills. Considering these other options may lead to better job satisfaction and smoother progression through your career.
Interests
A key component when deciding your career options is your interests as it’s important to enjoy what you do. This can be a great place to begin your search for the ideal career path. This sometimes defines your studies, but your interests can be outside of this and will shape your career path even further.
General skills
It’s sometimes a difficult question to answer, but you should try to work out what you are actually good at? Are you someone who can solve difficult maths equations with ease? Or are you someone who enjoys strenuous exercise? Both things can be used to inform your decision on your career path.
Personality
Personality is one of the most important aspects that defines career happiness. If you’re an extrovert and prefer being sociable, choosing a career that is people-focused may benefit your long-term happiness, and the opposite stands if you are someone who prefers to recharge on their own. Having a personality that aligns with your career, but also company values is an incredibly important aspect to consider.
Motivation
When deciding on a career path, determining what motivates you may help to sway which direction you go in. Being solutions orientated may sway you towards a more operational role, whereas someone who is more people-focused may feel more fulfilment by going into a job that involves helping people..
Early career tips
Now that we’ve looked at how you can plot out your career path, here are some wider career tips that will help you to get your foot on the first step of the ladder.
Regularly update your CV
Regularly updating your CV to include new and relevant information can be the difference between landing an interview or not. As well as this tailoring your CV to each position applied for can help you to stand out by highlighting the most relevant skills and experience.
Attend career fairs
Not only are career fairs are a great way to grow your network but they are also a fantastic way to discover career opportunities. Speaking to people already in industry can help you to assess whether that career path is right for you and the branches that you may follow to achieve a career in that field.
Apply to the right jobs
It can be difficult to know which are the “right” jobs, but when job hunting, it’s better to use a spear technique rather than a net. Apply to jobs that genuinely intrigue you rather than just sending out as many jobs as possible. Despite it all being experience, an interview in the field that you want to pursue is far more useful than an interview for a completely unrelated industry.
Don’t be afraid to explore plenty of career paths, open your horizons to new possibilities and get ready to discover what the job market has to offer you. For more information and help, check out our Early Careers hub.
To find out more about careers at SEFE Marketing & Trading please visit our homepage.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within this article are those of our third-party content providers alone and do not represent those of SEFE Marketing & Trading. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. SEFE Marketing & Trading accepts no liability for any errors, omissions or representations.
