Jackie’s blog

This week I am going to be talking to a bunch of media students at the university about the importance of their final year project for their future careers. Sound strange? Well, when applying for jobs in the graduate labour market you have to be able to make yourself stand out in some way. You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Many graduate recruiters are also keen to see that you have some relevant experience - relevant in that it is in some way connected with the work they do. Choosing a final year project that takes you into areas that overlap with or are of interest to potential future employers is one way to make your CV stand out from the crowd.

When checking student’s CVs nowadays I find myself looking for what I call the ‘nuggets of gold’ and the ‘differentiators’. These are the things that the employer will be interested in and also the things that make you different/a stronger candidate than the competition. For example, one girl I worked with had been working as voluntary adjudicator in a forum for computer games enthusiasts. She introduced activities to stimulate interest in the forum such as quizzes and league tables. When she went after a job with one of the big games developers they were really interested in this aspect of her CV. The chinese students I see often don’t think to use their language skills to go after jobs with companies developing IT with Chinese businesses. Speaking fluent Mandarin is, I would suggest, a huge differentiator.

Having a final year project or dissertation which explores an area of work that you would like to go into after your degree makes real sense. So many students fail to see the connection and so miss a chance to stand out. This is what I will be telling them this week, alongside showing them the Phil Cooke video. Let’s hope they get it!