A new batch arrives

The summer is approaching, the sunny weather has been and gone (for the time being at least) and more and more students are returning home from university.

In a situation similar to last year many of these returning students will find themselves labelled as 'Graduates' with a degree and struggling to find full time employment.

I've managed to keep myself busy as a graduate, I've taken nearly every job that's been offered to me and worked as hard as I possibly can while employed to at least suggest to my employer that I'm a keeper.

Last week I received a phone call asking if I could be in Lakeside shopping centre (in Essex) the very next day to act as a product demonstrator. I had never done this particular job before, but I jumped at the opportunity for paid employment, the job in question is only for Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Six days over Two Weeks) so my second stretch of demoing starts tomorrow.

To keep myself busy this week however I volunteered, I may have only done half a days worth of volunteering on Tuesday, but I did it, and I'll go back next week if the job hasn't been done for someone else.

Why? I hear you ask.

I do it so that when I next go to a job interview and they ask me what I've been doing. I can give an answer that I'm proud of.

I'm proud of my volunteering,

This is the part where I could give a gushing speech about the wonders of volunteering, but I wrote that article a few posts back for my old Student's Union (See below)

I am proud of the volunteering aspect of my life however, I like that instead of graduating from University and stacking shelves, or going back to working in a petrol garage, I have instead done something a little bit different, I've decided to get as involved as possible in a charity that I genuinely care about.

During this period I've also developed some very useful contacts and received some very good advice from individuals who have been in the exact same position as me before.

So if you're reading this and wondering what to do having just graduated, I recommend looking at what everyone else in your position is doing, and maybe try something different.