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After a delicious break spent tearing up Croatia , I return to you on this lovely sunny Friday with my next instalment of the graduate weapons! This week I thought I’d take on something a little different; the third sector. This blog should act as a helpful insight into potential careers within this industry, giving you a broader understanding of what it is, what opportunities lie within and how you can best attain these roles. Targeting your application Your understanding of the third sector will allow you to identify which area you are most suited to. The third sector consists of charities, voluntary and community organisations, not-profit companies, industrial and provident societies and social enterprises. The essentials Start off by asking yourself what you want to achieve in your career. If you’re financially motivated with big dreams of making millions then starting your career in a non-profit organisation may not be the most suitable step. Be realistic. You’re aware that this may not be the most lucrative sector to aim for; your attraction should stem more from the prospect of the positive impact you can make in the world. It’s a case of job satisfaction over monetary gain.

It has arrived! The second in a series of industry specific blogs aimed to equip you with some insider tips on what we look for in top dollar candidates. This week I dissect the desirable characteristics of a budding analyst. But before I do that, I’d like to draw attention to all you readers whose eyes have already glazed over… graduate jobs in analytics may not be something you’ve considered, hell it might be your worst nightmare! But, I urge you to read on. Whilst the industry context may not be relevant to you, there will undoubtedly be some food for thought within the next few hundred words, maybe even skill that you haven’t considered highlighting. Lots of industries require analytics – not just finance! Don’t limit yourself to a whole job market that is crying out for your numerical abilities. After all, you graduates are faced with entering one of the toughest job markets of today - take all the help you can get! The essentials Your degree will be your foundation for success in this industry. A qualification that is relevant to your role is key. We at Inspiring will naturally look for any subject with a high level of mathematical content, with appropriate degrees including: mathematics, actuarial science, physics, statistics, economics, business/management, finance and engineering.

The graduate weapons returns, this time to show you how to make your applciation stand out when applying to graduate jobs in PR. My aim over the next few hundred words is to provide you grads with a mini-insight into the industry of public relations; what’s it all about, what opportunities lie within, and most importantly, what qualities you’ll need to arm yourself with in order to win the fight against the thousands of other candidates battling for your future position.

Contrary to the Ab Fab portrayal of PR-nut Eddy, a career in public relations is more than just celebs and champers. Granted, this industry can be a touch more glam than your average office job but alongside that, PR can be a prosperous and rewarding career path for any grad. PR essentially handles the reputation of a brand, organisation or person. Whether in-house, via an agency or freelance, the role of PR is chiefly to build, maintain and protect the reputation of the client. This is achieved by communicating what they do, tailoring what they say and influencing what others say about them through various media (think press releases, social media, events).

The essentials

Digi-devils this one’s for you. At a time when it’s not uncommon to see career paths and industries disappear altogether, there seems to be a growth in innovative career paths of a digital nature allowing for a blossom in opportunities for the computer literature, socially savvy graduates of today. Not only are we seeing a rise in opportunities, but there’s been a significant increase in support and funding for the digital sector. With estimates of more than 1.2 million new science, technology, maths and engineering jobs by 2018 as a result of rapid advancements in technology; careers in digital will continue to rise. The other promising factor lies within the range of potential jobs that exist under the digital umbrella from marketing and advertising to digital account handling, and social media. The ever changing and emerging job titles that 5 years ago were unheard of, only serves to demonstrate the increasing demand for digital skills.

It can be a daunting prospect thinking about life after University. In amongst all the other pressures of university life, particularly the hard study of third year, focusing on graduate jobs tends to drop quite far down the pecking order

But it needn't be so stressful. There's plenty of small and medium commitments you can integrate into your university life to prepare yourself for the big wide world. You may even find that you're doing plenty already!

What's important is that you know how to position your activities to put yourself in the most favourable light. Let's get under way with...

Get a part time job

It may be that you have more pressing financial concerns for starting the job search early. While you may feel like a coffee shop job or spending weekends pulling pints isn't embellishing your CV at all, it can actually be a huge boost provided you know how to spin it.