So you've just finished your last term for the year and have three glorious months of summer holidays ahead of you! You might already be planning your spontaneous three-day road trip or starting your next Netflix binge. While you absolutely deserve your relaxing beach-day breaks, this could also be a really great opportunity to put some time aside to work on improving your professional profile! Whether it be upskilling, interning or even turning your summer side project into something more, here are five ways you can improve your profile over the break.
1. Summer Vacationers/Interns
This is probably one of the most popular ways to improve your profile over the summer. Given that you have 2-3 months free and away from university, having a summer vacationer or intern position lined up is a great way to use your time effectively and gain valuable experience. Lots of companies will recruit summer interns quite early in the year so it's important to be aware of the different opportunities available so you can ensure you give yourself the best chance of getting a role. See if there are any still open over on our website now!
2. Christmas Casual Jobs
If you are looking to earn some cash and gain some retail/hospitality experience, lots of companies recruit casuals over the summer to help with the rush of Christmas shopping. If you're passionate about a certain brand or company, chances are they'll have something on offer! The amount of hires they bring in also often means that if you are less experienced, you’ll have a better chance of getting in. And this is a fantastic opportunity to gain extra training in teamwork, company expectations and discipline. Check out our blog post to see how these attributes are incredibly applicable for grad/entry-level roles down the line. Applications open early so don’t miss out!
3. Online Courses & Summer Schools
If working a full-time/part-time/casual role over the summer isn't something you fancy, consider looking into different online courses or summer schools that you can enroll in. These courses often have extremely flexible hours and sometimes give you the chance to meet some like-minded people who have similar interests as you. Some common types of courses include learning a foreign language or learning how to code.
4. Start a New Hobby or a Side Project
Starting a new hobby might not be the first thing that comes to mind when trying to improve your employability. But trying something new and unique will help you stand out from the crowd and give you something cool to talk about with recruiters. Hobbies also help build confidence in your ability to learn new skills and prepare you for situations when you are out of your comfort zone. Similarly side projects can enable recruiters to see your entrepreneurial spirit – something extremely valued in candidates. Both these things can also go towards your portfolio of work, which is especially important in more creative-oriented fields such as marketing or design.
5. Volunteering
Similar to starting a hobby, volunteering is a great opportunity to have something different and interesting on your resume. Recruiters value volunteering as it shows individual attributes of compassion, initiative and empathy to others. It's also a fun way of meeting new people and finding you may have an interest in a field you never even considered before! Our parent company over at SEEK Volunteer always have plenty of opportunities to check out.