5 ways to boost your employability whilst at university

Build your professional online presence and network

If you don’t already have a LinkedIn Profile, now is a great time to create one, or update your existing one.   LinkedIn is a global professional online network, used by 800 million people across 200 countries and their Mission is simple ‘connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful’.

It’s also a great way find out what graduates from your course are doing now and search for people doing a job you are interested in and see what kind of career journey they took.  Follow LJMU LinkedIn and companies/people who interest you, if you want to follow specific content you can use hashtags like #graduatejobs #employability #placements as companies often use these to update their audience of news and opportunities.  Start to build your professional network by connecting – even if it’s connecting with your course friends first!   The Careers, Employability and Enterprise Team run regular sessions on LinkedIn: Getting Started and Using online networks to find work experience or you can find Help videos at LinkedIn Help.  

 

Put your best self into your CV!

You’ll need a tailored CV or application for each job you apply to.  We know this can be really time consuming but it’s worth it, CVs not tailored to the job are unlikely to ever get called to interview. Google ‘How to write a CV’ and you’ll find a pages on pages of blogs, websites, #careertokCVs to guide you, but often knowing where to start is the hard part!  We have a range of digital tools that can help in Careers Zone 24/7. CV Builder is the perfect starting point if you’ve never written a CV before, CV360 can then be used to score your CV against more than 50 checks and give you instant, detailed feedback so you can optimise your CV and significantly boost your chances of getting to interview. 

Make sure you are listing your experience and skills, especially highlighting your digital skills too – this blog on Giving your CV a Digital Makeover talks you through presenting your best ‘digital self’ and gives some examples of what this might look like.   Look out for Drop-In CV Sessions at the Careers Zone in the Student Life Building or book an appointment with a Careers and Employability Adviser for help. 

 

Get work experience and seek out opportunities
We know it’s been tougher to find work experience during the pandemic, but there are opportunities out there – many are running virtually, like The Forage but a lot more are back ‘in-person’.  Student Futures at LJMU offers LJMU-funded internships. Sign up to Careers Zone 24/7 job board, Unitemps, and the Graduate Futures project so you don’t miss out.   You can also gain valuable and life changing experiences via the Go Abroad Team.    

If you haven’t got the work experience you wanted, don’t worry, there are lots of other things to help build experience and develop skills – taking part in events, joining a student society, becoming a student rep are all things you can get involved in.  Come along to Employer Talks (on campus and online) and meet employers in a professional, supportive environment.  Employers are keen to share their own experiences, tips and hints on getting hired and tell you about their opportunities, it’s a great way to get inside knowledge pre-application or just learn about a new employer.   Find out more at by visiting the Events page.

 

Develop an idea or create a business with your friends

Creativity and Enterprise are key skills that boosts students’ employability and two top in-demand skills by graduate recruiters.  At LJMU we are encouraging all students and graduates to explore and join our fantastic team at the Start-Up Hub in The Student Life Building.  Drop-in to one of their sessions to chat all things Start-Up, freelancing and side hustles. 

If you have an idea but just don’t know where to start, the team can help you get started and support you along the way on your entrepreneurial journey.   If you are a bit further along with your ideas, there are speciality sessions covering everything from freelance writing to skills programmes covering strategic areas like sales and marketing.

If you are interested in setting up with friends or being matched with other entrepreneurs, then we also run LCR Founders programme which helps students build on ideas and find funding opportunities for their business. To find out more, email  startup@ljmu.ac.uk to get your entrepreneurial journey started.

 

Connect with Us

Don’t wait until your last year of uni to connect with your Careers, Employability and Enterprise Team – we're here for you now!  Whether you don’t know what you want to do or have something in mind we can help. 

You can book an appointment with our Careers and Employability Advisers face-to-face at the Careers Zone (at Byrom Street and the Student Life Building) or via MSTeams.  We cover a range of chats around career options, finding work experience, developing skills, help with applications and interviews and all things careers.  To book your appointment visit – www.ljmu.ac.uk/careersappointment

 

Info on Student Futures: Careers, Employability and Enterprise can be found online at ljmu.ac.uk/careers or find us on social @ljmucareers @_ljmu_enterprise and connect

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