WIT News

Focus For Success in Challenging Times Posted: Tue, July 13, 2010

For students and soon to be graduates looking to launch their first careers, the future can appear quite gloomy.  Perhaps because of this poor job market, an increasing number of college students are turning to their campus careers service for support and guidance on managing their careers in a dramatically changing job market.

In response and to support students during this downturn, Graduate Careers Ireland has put together this student handbook ‘Focus for success in challenging times — the career navigation guide for students’.  Drawing on the knowledge base and expertise of a team of colleagues including third level careers advisors, industry consultants and psychology/counselling professionals, we have collated relevant material and vital information for navigating the diminishing job market. Our aim is to provide students with a toolkit of realistic, personal, career and life coping skills and strategies to empower them to take more ownership and control of their careers in the coming years.

This is not your standard job hunt booklet. It will not list basic points like write a good cover letter or target your CV. Rather, its purpose is to educate students about the nature of recession, its impact on career paths and to serve as an action plan for students to achieve success in a time of diminishing employment prospects.

Whilst the jobs market is certainly contracting, it hasn’t disappeared altogether so it’s important for students not to panic and give up hope. People are still being hired and graduates are finding jobs. It’s just more difficult than it used to be. What is vital is that students put time and effort into career planning at this stage to maximise their chances of success.
If students are willing to make the effort to use available career resources, polish their job-hunting skills, find work experience and internships, and take other smart steps towards employment, they may just make the most of the recession and enter the work world with a solid advantage.

All the best with your career planning from the WIT Careers Team!

Check out the guide here!