So why did you go to University, or Polytechnic? It is because that’s what people do when they leave school? Most just wanted to get away from home and spend three years partying. Some don’t even think about whether their chosen institution had a good reputation in their course of study. I know it wasn’t at the top of my list.

Many students finish high school to attend tertiary education because they believe a degree, diploma or certificate plays a key role in setting them above their peers when they come to enter the workforce.  However these days, all their peers went to University and Polytechnic too. This is a big worry for today’s students.  Roughly 65% of leavers from my seventh form year went onto University.  Another 15% went onto other tertiary institutions.  Gone are the days where a degree gets you a comfortable ‘one up’ on your classmates.   Would one therefore not gain a more competitive advantage not going to University and gaining an extra three years experience in the workplace?

To make the student loan worthwhile, the most important thing to teach graduate students is how to differentiate themselves from one another in order to get the job they want.  Yes, workers can be choosier now with roles than they used to be with unemployment levels being relatively low.  However there will be many others, with the same qualifications and good grades, just as suited as you to fill the position.  The qualification gets you the interview; the interview gets you the job.  Yes, you may have flair, ‘x-factor’ and creativity.  But so do the others.  

The fashion industry is a particularly tricky one.  Based hugely on ideas and designs, with no defined right or wrongs, how does one prove to their employers that they’re the one for the job?

Show how you want to work for their establishment and contribute to them as a team, rather than just your own individual pursuit.

One invaluable piece of advice I have been given is to research the company or business for which I want to work for.  If possible, find out their history, their big moves, products and endeavors.  Have ideas up your sleeve for how to could help them to improve their current position.  Show how you want to work for their establishment and contribute to them as a team, rather than just your own individual pursuit. This will show initiative and let them know you really, really want to work for them and no one else.  And because you have so many good ideas to help them move forward, and you have thought out exactly how your skills and education can be maximized in this role, you and only you are the perfect candidate.  

But that’s only if you haven’t spent your summers doing internships in industry related jobs.  Again and again, it’s not what you know, but who you know.  Get your foot in the door early by applying for appropriate temporary jobs aimed at tertiary students over summer.  Graduate programs are a great way to ease into your chosen industry; with the added bonus of your superiors knowing that you are inevitably going to mess up somewhere along the line because you are, indeed, a ‘newbie’.  Hey, even go for unpaid work experience if you get desperate. Anything that would look good on your Cirriculum Vitae.  

Oh and that’s another thing.  Don’t even think about drafting a CV before you’ve had advice from you careers advisor at University/Polytechnic.  No longer than 3 pages.  No one cares about the paper round you did you when you were 13 and work history from most recent to least recent please.  

So try not to think about your friend that went straight into earning whilst doing their building apprenticeship and can now build their own house and pay for it too.  Think smart when preparing for you interview.  Think like they think.  Sell yourself, your individuality and your invaluable attributes that will make you hot property.

Or if you can’t be bothered, go on your O.E, see the world, party hard and live your life like we’re all told to do when we’re young.  And don’t forget to pay of your loan, land your plum job, get married, buy your first house and start your family by the time your 30 too.   Where I am going to find the time to fit all that in, I don’t know.