The final year of University for most of us is a year of transition. You are leaving the easy, carefree Uni life and entering society as a full time member of the workforce. This is not the easiest time in the life of a student and looking around on the net it’s not something that is widely discussed.
Its being six years since I left Uni where I studied Economics and Finance. Thinking back to that final year, it was for me, a lot of high and low moments, many sleepless nights, and some tough decision making.
Personally I believe most Uni Students are either all study little play or all Play and as little study as possible, people who are able to strike a fine balance between the two are far and few. I was not a high achiever at my studies, every semester I had a modest ambition of achieving a Pass grade. Most of my time was taken up by the numerous parties and social events.
I remember attending one of the Graduate recruitment seminars hosted by one of the Big Australian banks. Representatives from the organization spoke of how great it is for you to join their organization and how they will help you to developed your career, not to mention the many benefits that come with it. One thing they forgot to mention though was they only take the cream of the crop.
I applied for graduate positions with most major companies. But having no relevant work experience and only mediocre grades I had no chance of getting accepted into any of these graduate programs. As rejection emails started to pile up, the more desperate I became. I felt a sense of despair and hopelessness, my confidence was at an all time low. Something needs to be done.
After compiling a list of companies, I started cold calling and emailing them offering my services for free. I declared my passion to learn and work hard but found the going as tough as getting a paid graduate position. However I persisted and finally a financial analysis company offered me an unpaid trainee position. 3 Months later the Boss offered me a paid permanent position.
This is pretty much my experience. I know people, who out of desperation actually paid companies to take them on as trainees and worked for free. This may sound quite extreme and many of you probably had a much smoother transition.
Please feel free to share your experience in the comments section.
