Welcome to Bath! I really hope you’ve been enjoying your time here and studies so far. The last couple of years have been different to say the least, so it’s great to see first year students on campus and getting involved in university life. You may already have an idea of what you want to do with your degree, or you may have no idea at all. Whichever end of the scale you’re at is fine, but I would encourage you all to spend your first year finding out about yourself - what your strengths and weaknesses are, discovering new interests and skills and to seek out opportunities to find out more about yourself, because let’s face it those opportunities have been scarce over the last two academic years! Here are a few ideas for you on how to go about doing that.
Get involved!
There is a huge array of clubs and societies at Bath, everything from films to table tennis or Harry Potter. Join up, discover new interests, meet new people and consider taking on roles of responsibility. Who knows you might discover new skills you didn’t know you had? The Student’s Union also offers numerous ways to get involved – volunteering, joining a committee or starting a campaign for example.
Get work or volunteer experience!
Due to the pandemic, you may not have had the opportunity to undertake work experience, volunteer or work part-time in the way that students usually have. Now that restrictions have eased, I’d encourage you to try different jobs and volunteering opportunities. Employers really value the skills that you’ll gain, and you can learn a lot about yourself too. For example, through working in a supermarket I learnt I was good at and liked helping customers; spending a summer in America working at a camp confirmed a desire to work with young people and kick-started a life-long love of travel and helping to organise club nights taught me I liked the satisfaction of organising events, when all the hard work comes together but not necessarily the stress leading up to it! For further ideas on work experience and internships for first years and how to find it, watch the recording of this recent Careers Service talk and/or check out our Get Started guide to work experience, internships and gap years. Be aware if you’re interested in spring weeks/ insight programmes for areas such as investment banking or consultancy, you should be looking and applying for opportunities now.
Start writing your CV!
To apply for work experience and volunteering roles, you may need to have an updated CV. So why not start that now? It will also be so much easier to add to the CV later on if you start early. There are several CV writing workshops and talks, including one specifically for writing your first CV on 24th November, which you can join through MyFuture – our careers portal (log in with your usual university credentials). We also have a great Get Started guide on Applications, CVs and cover letters.
Does all this pique your interest? Get in touch with us
We always have time to talk all things Careers. You can
- email us on careers@bath.ac.uk
- leave a message to request a call back on 01225 386009
- or visit us in the Virgil Building
We also have loads of self-service resources available on our hub for all things Careers - MyFuture. This is also where you can book an appointment to discuss your career queries with a Careers Adviser or get that first CV checked at one of our applications and advice appointments, view job listings and book onto events.
Most of all, ENJOY your first year at Bath.
Thanks to Aste Dahl for her original post that some of this content has been based on.
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