ENDLESS WORRIES as a parent if your child wants to go on a Gap Year. I’ve spent all year cutting out horror stories from the newspaper about travelling abroad – the three students killed on a coach in Thailand last year, the bungy rope breaks in NZ, the muggings, drugs, sleeping with women who turn out to men. You name it, I’ve mentioned it.
But guess what? IT HASN’T HELPED. He’s going anyway. Which is brilliant. Obviously. I did it – not a gap year, I wasn’t allowed, but travelled to China, Thailand, the Far East in general with friends. Nothing better.
He’s booked his ticket. How exciting. I haven’t succeeded in getting him to do anything particularly worthy. I kept suggesting projects and he mostly looked at me with horror. I showed him lots of advise about how helpful it is for his CV if he does things. I have even been sent some very informative notes by Amy Gray and Claire Brooke from the University of Sheffield’s Career Service who offer some top tips as to how your child can make the most out of their gap year and university holidays, and give their CV a real boost!
Very useful and I thought I’d share them with you because they will no doubt help someone else – mostly the advice is relevant to their time during uni but the advice still applies to before:-
“Don’t let them waste this time – although the temptation will be there to spend 3 months on ‘vacation’, encourage them to use it to develop, enhance and improve the content of their CV
Help to set up some work shadowing for them – this will give your child greater awareness of potential careers that interest them. Options are to go down the formal route, such as an “insight scheme” or by asking around to see if they can shadow one of your friends if it’s of interest
Encourage them to research internships and placements – the majority of placements take place in the second year of study but it’s a good idea to get ahead of the game as they are increasingly competitive
Volunteering is always a highly effective use of their time – it doesn’t have to relate to their degree or future career but it helps to develop transferable skills such as time management skills, communication and team work
Encourage them to go along to an insight day or week – large companies (especially in the finance and law sectors) offer these typically during the Easter and summer vacation periods. As you would expect, they will offer your child insight into working life for a particular sector or company and will help them to meet with key individuals
Once at uni a summer internship is highly recommended:
They are usually structured, project based work experience placements within larger firms, however increasingly smaller businesses are realising their potential
Often open to students from any degree discipline although they are highly competitive, and the application process, although challenging, is fantastic experience for later life
They tend to be offered to students between their penultimate and final year, and are used by employers to get to know students who they will consider for graduate jobs
They are seen as a vital stepping stone for many within this crowded market!
