Now I’m approaching the end of my 1st semester as a 2nd year, I can’t help but notice all the encouraging and increasingly persuasive messages about being prepared for this time next year; the time when the reality of venturing into the big wide world will be starting to hit home, and I will be applying for a graduate job (deep breaths everyone.)

I think these days, with the pressure of all the fine competition out there, the temptation to fire out as many CV’s and application forms as possible is all too apparent. I suppose it does make some kind of logical sense… the more jobs I apply for the more chance I’ll have of getting offered one right? True; but if using these tactics there is also a pretty high chance you’ll end up in a dead end job where you’re unhappy and where you’re doing something that is irrelevant in terms of your long term careers plans.

This got me thinking about a bit of advice passed on to us by the IBM recruitment lady who been has been knocking around campus this week hoping to snare herself a hot new graduate workforce.

Before you go ahead all guns blazing and send your generic CV’s every which way, why not try writing a shopping list- and I don’t mean for a new confidence boosting wardrobe. I mean a job shopping list. What do you actually want out of your graduate job???

1. To have variety?
2. Flexibility?
3. To work in a certain city/ part of the world?
4. Creative freedom?
5. Your own office?
6. etc…

Everyone knows how satisfying it can be to cross things off a list. So why not challenge yourself?