For students, exam revision is an extremely daunting phase of the year even for the most diligent of students. An added pressure at this time is beginning your job search to ensure you secure the best opportunity once you have finished School, College or University. Equally, we understand balancing revision and job hunting isn’t easy when you will also want to fit in time for your social life, family and other activities.
With that in mind, we have put together 4 ways of how you can effectively balance your studies and job search that will also provide you with some extra free time!
Create your own CV and cover letter template
It is really important to tailor your CV and cover letter to suit each individual job. To save time, create a general cover letter and CV template that you can easily edit in order to highlight your key relevant skills and experience when you’re applying for a particular position. Once you have these templates you will save yourself a lot of valuable time when you do see a job you want to apply for. Our free graduate service includes CV & Cover Letter reviewing and guidance! We can offer advice on how to highlight your skills and experience, even if you think you don’t have enough to put on your CV!
Manage your time
It may sound obvious, but a good way to make sure you are on track of revision, job search and social life is to organise your time. Start by setting yourself some goals; how much time do want to spend on certain revision topics? How many jobs would you like to apply for each week? And so on. Then create a schedule around your goals to break everything down, taking into account deadlines, break times and the time you will spend searching for jobs and applying for them. Be realistic and don’t overdo it. You may want to start with setting short-term goals to make them achievable; you don’t want to follow a good revision session with an intense job search session for example. Scheduling in times to follow up with submitted applications is also a good way demonstrate your keen interest in the job.
Find a routine that suits you
Finding a routine that works for you can take time, everyone is different! If you are finding it hard to stick to the first schedule you have planned, don’t worry, just think about making some changes to better fit the way you work. You might work better with visual reminders instead of a schedule or prefer to have notifications or reminders on your phone but eventually you will find out how and when you are most active and focused. Remember having breaks in between tasks is as important as your revision and job searching. Try the 90/20 rule, focus for 90 minutes then take a 20 minute break.
Don’t leave it too late
Studies and revision should always be a priority, but with some careful planning and using the above tips, you will be in a position to get a good head start on your job search making sure you don’t miss out on any ideal opportunities! You can also seek advice by going along to any job fairs or visiting recruitment agencies and set up job alerts where you can to cut down on your search time.
Your next steps will be an equal measure of challenges and excitement. We wish you the best of luck in your exams and we are here to help you at every stage of your job search to relieve some of your stress! Get in touch and send your CV to jobs@rowlands.co.ukor you can contact us via our website or call 01534 626777.