The other day I watched my boyfriend playing the game Dark Souls III. At some point he had to step through this fog, entering a new area or a boss area or something else. You never know.
It was a boss, but I don’t remember how it went from that point on. Because it got me thinking, this summer I will graduate and, for the first time since I was a kid, I will not be a student. Wow, it is scary! My boyfriend is also graduating this summer. So, everyday life for our family will change. We live in a dormitory with our 1.5 year old son and we will have to move. But where? Closer to family? Closer to job opportunities? Somewhere in the middle? And where will that be?
The above are a small selection of the thoughts that crossed my mind. All of them circled one thing – can I find a job? I believe that the answer is yes. But can I do something before I graduate to help the process? Again, I believe that the answer is yes. So, as the to-do-list kinda person I am – I made a plan! Firstly, I must figure out what direction I want to go. The projects I did earlier are very different from my thesis. If I want to continue this path, the words I usually use to describe my professional profile, must change. This is a work in progress.
Second – LinkedIn. My profile is a mess at the moment and not accurately describing my capabilities. The next project is therefore to tailor my profile to the path I want to take. Together with my fellow Albertens Lab students, Kasper and Peter, I attended an afternoon course in LinkedIn, which was very for useful. For example, changing a simple thing as such as your headline can make a big difference.
It still needs some work I think and there a several great guides out there. I will find some inspiration in one available at the university called Pejling (Also notice the great interview about being parent and student at page 20). As before, we are giving each other feedback. This way I hope to get a clear-cut profile before I start the job hunt.
Next step will be updating my basic résumé. This brings up the eternal question: How to write a good CV? There is a different answer depending on who you ask. Again, I plan to find some inspiration in Pejling. Afterwards I will kindly ask for feedback from my supervisors to help me improve it even further. After building my basic résumé, I plan to tailor my CV for each application, including only what is relevant for the particular job.
Lastly, I plan to apply for jobs before I graduate. It would be awesome to have the security of job before I graduate and the only way to do this is to start before I’m done. Furthermore, I think it demonstrates a capability to juggle several tasks at once. Finally, I plan to get feedback if/when some of my applications are turned down.
In the end, this turned out to be very personal. When this is published, people will know my intentions, also if I don’t succeed in finding a job right away. This makes me feel vulnerable. However, for me, being close to the graduation and the huge decisions that follow, has become a big part of being a master student.
Julie K.T. Pedersen
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