If you were in your 2nd year of a humanities degree - what would you be doing now to

[TheLibrocubicularist]

Secure a job upon graduation. Especially if you didn't have a career in mind. What skills would you be acquiring that would make you more employable.

Best things I did

• robust extra curriculars (I did a sport that showed both leadership and team work skills , and also showed how I juggled)
• shop work (showed customer service etc)

-admin work (showed office skills)

I also did a post grad degree though

The best thing she could do is get a first, focus on the academics. That sets you apart. Everyone comes to interview and bullshits about extra curricular.

IT skills are a big one. But mainly, academic study.

In second year I might think about a job to help fund the third year where you need to be 100% focussed on academics.

Sadly though it really doesn't. Generally most people applying to some of the graduate programs will have a 2:1 or 1st in a degree- that's just a minimum requirement.

I disagree. I got a first , from a very good university. At interview everyone wanted to hear about my extra curriculars and make sure I had more about me that just an ability to study.

We have a mate who is a regional manger for a big pub chain. No idea what he earns now but in 2013 when they changed the child benefit rules his wife blurted out how annoyed she was they were losing it all which meant he was on over 60k.

She has already worked, that’s really good and as well as the academic side the best thing she could have done. If she can get a good reference, show she is a hard worker and can be on time and has skills that’s excellent. DS had a ref from working in a kitchen in sixth from and from working for a freight company when he applied for his highly competitive degree apprenticeship. Who knew washing up and peeling veg and moving packages on to planes would be so useful, it showed he had an excellent work ethic already.

The first thing I would say is you can't do this for her. If she is asking for your help or advice that's one thing but don't be that parent otherwise.

That parent? Don't make assumptions. I'm chatting on a forum and appreciate any useful advice which I will pass on to my very independent daughter.

Maybe it depends on the career. I'm in law and everyone has a full resume of extra curricular. The only thing that sets you apart (other than a really unique language like Russian or Japanese) is your degree qualification.

Particularly since many places now blind interview so we don't know University attended, school attended or A Level Grades. Only degree subject and qualification.

Everyone has Grade 5+ Piano and volunteered at an orphanage on their Gap Year (or said they did whereas we all know they probably drank buckets of vodka red bull and fell off the back of a pick up).

We tend to ask questions about extra curricular early on to settle the applicant but it's never really something we are bothered about. It's not like you'll have an opportunity to do any of them ever again cackles

Join relevant clubs and societies, and get elected to one of their positions (e.g. Events Coordinator of the Dungeons and Dragons Society, Chair of French Club etc.). It’s always good to join Enactus and take part in one of their initiatives. The degree is only one part of a university journey. I’d want to see a rich contribution outside studies

give over. I’d think they were such a try hard

Travelling, making most of being a student but alongside that ensuring my workplace IT skills were at a high professional level, ensuring I was up to speed with developments impacting the workplace such as AI, getting decent LinkedIn profile and work experience wherever possible.

IT skills.

My DS has a masters in history and he did voluntary work in the archive department at a historical dockyard. He also became secretary of his History Society during the last year of his degree. When he was studying for his Masters he did various IT courses in his own time.

I would actually disagree about trying all sorts of things to show variety. A degree surely shows sufficient IT skills for a graduate job. I did all manner of unpaid placements and volunteering at university because I didn't know what I wanted to do after graduation. None of it helped and made my CV messy and confusing. A few annoying recruiters wanted references from all of them too which took ages. In hindsight I wish I'd just worked more in my part time job to save up more money to allow me to take risks afterwards and focused on getting the best test results in my exams. She'll never have such a great opportunity to just focus on her degree. She might not even work in a similar area so this is her chance to really immerse herself in the subject and learn from the experts.