Your 1st Year Checklist

Your first year of university is a lot of fun. A lot to take in, but everything is new. You’re in a new location, with new pals and new classes.

Although you might not be thinking about work experience right now, it’s actually really important! Why? Becuase employers often get in touch with past placement students and interns when hiring for graduate positions.

Getting work experience before you graduate will put you in a really good position when the time comes to find yourself a graduate scheme or a job after graduation. So we’ve put together a checklist to help you succeed.

You can download your first-year checklist below:

What’s in the checklist?

Think of this checklist as your very own cheatsheet for employability and to help you prepare for placements, internships and insights applications.

It covers a wide range of tips and actions for you to complete while you’re in first year. This includes:

• UPDATE YOUR CV: Have you updated your CV since going to university?
• CREATE A LINKEDIN PROFILE: Think social media, but for professionals. LinkedIn is a great platform for networking and discovering market trends.
• TRY YOUR BEST: Aim for a 2:1, but don’t feel bad if things don’t work out. There are plenty of employers out there who’ll offer you a placement or internship regardless of your grade. Take PwC – they’ve removed their entry requirements altogether as their hiring process is based on talent, not your academic background.

Insight days

What are insight days?

Insight days are work experience programmes that are specifically designed for 1st and 2nd year students. They can last anywhere between one and ten days and take place during the university holidays.

If you want to work in accounting, investment banking, engineering, finance or law, an insight day will give you a good idea of what it’s like to work in these industries.

When can you apply for one?

You can apply for an insight between September and March, but competition for places is fierce so we’d recommend looking for vacancies now and applying before the new year. 

To give yourself the best chance of getting onto an insight scheme, start completing the checklist ASAP! Then hop over to our jobs board to see what vacancies are available.