If you’re reaching the end of your academic studies, you may well be daunted about the prospect of jumping out into the big wide world to pursue the career of your dreams. Spending your entire life so far in education may have provided a sense of security. You will have nurtured your skills and grown as a person throughout all of your studies, but there is also the feeling of being institutionalized and missing the support that college or university has been offering you. There are many reasons that you may be scared to get straight out into the career market and start searching for internal medicine jobs when you’ve been studying hard for this moment for years. In this article, we’ll explore some of the complex feelings and talk about how to overcome them.
The Feeling That You Are Not Ready
You may find that you don’t believe that you know enough or have gained all of the relevant experience that you will need for your position in the industry of your choosing. If your degree was largely academic and theoretical in nature, then this can be a particularly pronounced worry. The need to go off and apply some of that thinking into action can be scary and feeling underprepared is not an unnatural emotion to have.
The truth is that everyone you see who has made a success in the industry that you are looking to work in has started somewhere. They all lacked experience when they joined. A good employer will understand that while you have plenty of great skills and knowledge to bring to the role, there will be areas that you lack experience in. They should provide you with training and support and be welcoming and nurturing. Many great business leaders will know and appreciate the importance of bringing new people into their businesses and organizations as overtime, if they invest in you, you will bring a fresh perspective and long term development.
When applying for roles, talk about your willingness to learn and develop and give examples of how you have demonstrated that you have done this in the past. Don’t feel the need to pretend to have experience when you don’t as this will only backfire later down the line. Instead, talk about what you can already offer, and hope to be able to provide in the future.
Too Many Rejections
When you hit the job market you may well struggle with rejection at first. Applying for a position that you are interested in may mean that you are up against dozens or even hundreds of other applicants. Many of these people will be in the same position as you. They might have equal qualifications and experience on paper, and it can be a tough call when it comes to who tips the scales and warrants their application taking further.
Read your application before sending it and look out for generic statements. Anything that sounds cliche should get thrown into the bin as it will get you overlooked by the recruiter. If you want to say that you ‘work well as a team or on your own’ do not use those words. Demonstrate it with examples of actions that reveal this. Also take your time to tailor your student cv to perfection. Go for quality over quantity when it comes down to applying for jobs, employers like to see highly committed and motivated applicants.
You will need to persevere with applications. Every rejection that you get takes you closer to the position that you are seeking. Take the opportunity to learn from all of your rejections by asking for feedback. Some companies will be able to provide this and may be happy to do so. You won’t know unless you ask. Finding out how you can improve by enquiring in a positive and constructive manner will also let that employer know that you are willing to learn and you did care about getting that six figure income job. Next time they have a position, apply and show them the difference that they are looking for.
Build Up Your Own Confidence
While you are looking for work in your chosen field, stay positive. Read as much as possible and engage with the subject and industry that you are passionate about. This will keep you inspired and clued up about changes that are occurring in that sector.
Look for ways that you can build your own confidence up. Create motivational notes for yourself to remind yourself of your strengths. Circumstances may be tough for you until you land your dream role, but in the meantime building yourself up will keep you ready, and knowing your strengths will help you when it comes to selling yourself when you get an interview.