By Thomas Jarvis, BA Accounting and Financial Management with Employment Experience
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, something I feel no more so than now as I graduate and enter the big wide world. Though I have much to look forward to (after graduation I’m joining a job on the finance graduate scheme at E.ON), I leave behind four incredibly happy years at the Management School in Sheffield. However, there is always the question of whether I could have made even more of my time here, so here are my 3 top tips for an undergrad.
Join Societies
Societies are student-run groups in which members have a common interest, basically. Here at Sheffield we have over 300 societies to join from interests, faith, nationality, sports and academic. They are a wonderful way to meet people outside of your immediate course and flatmates; thus, widening your social circle. This has many great benefits, as well as an improved social life. Informally, older students may be able to give you good advice, hints, and tips. It may also be a good chance to do something you’ve not done before or cut down on your book costs by taking part in the Management Society’s book sale. Join as many societies as you want, as many only ask for a nominal joining fee, and most do not need large engagement or effort. Also, society bar crawls are great.
If the society doesn’t exist yet, why not approach the Students’ Union and they may well support you to create the society.
Do a placement year
Earlier in the undergraduate blogs, Rebecca spoke about her placement year. I also did a placement year, where I undertook a work placement for the NHS in their Finance department. For more in depth about placements, see Rebecca’s earlier post. In my opinion, they are a fantastic way to boost your employability as you have the chance to network with potential future employers. You’ll also get a taste of work, have valuable experience in job applications before you start thinking about graduate jobs, get a good reference and last but by no means least, earn some money and be able to go on some cracking holidays. It also acts as a clever way to break up your studies, and I found myself coming back to final year with a renewed passion for my course, and a much-improved work ethic.
Engage with your course
This sounds simple but it’s easier said than done. It is extremely easy, starting as an ungraduated to think “I’ll enjoy myself now and work later”, by the time “later” comes around, it may in fact be too late. By keeping on top of reading, completing tutorials, and generally getting ahead with work, revision will be 100x easier. Instead of trying to learn the whole course in a matter of days (impossible, believe me, I’ve been there), revision will be a breeze as it’ll be literally just going over things you already know, and you’ll be banking a good mark – important for those placement years, grad jobs, and particularly if you’re on International Business Management and want to go abroad. Also, while you’re here, you might as well make the most of everything available to you while you can.