A head start on your career path: stories from our graduates- Part 2
2. Questions at the ready
Whether you’re in a formal interview or just having a chat over coffee what do you need to find out about? In these situations, it’s important to remember that you’re choosing the role and the organisation as well as putting your best foot forward in the hope they’ll choose you.
“Ask if there will be a chance to get to know who your manager is and meet the team you’re joining,” says Kathy. “Ask about their working style as you’re going to be spending a lot of time with them.”
“Ask about what a day in the life of your role there would look like,” says Eden. “What software, tools and programming languages will you be working with?”
Sidney suggests checking what sort of roles are available throughout the business. “There’s always the potential for your first role to be a bridge to the next,” he says. “Working in IT can be so many things and my job title now – Junior Business Intelligence Developer – is one I didn’t know existed when I was at Uni.”
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3. Take a step up …
Getting to grips with the responsibilities of working life can be a little overwhelming to start with. But our graduates agree that having the opportunity to step up to challenges is a far better way to learn than watching from the sidelines. “In my first role I was expecting to be working on things from day one,” says Kathy Nguyen. ” The reality was pretty different. I worked on a handful of isolated tasks and did online courses. And the managers seemed really busy and didn’t have time to give us on-the-job training.”
“At Hummingbird, I’ve learned so much through rolling up my sleeves and just giving things a try,” she adds. “It’s a really fast-paced environment and my role touches on all sorts of things from financial management to resource management. It’s challenging but you never stop learning.”
Sidney agrees the work is challenging but rewarding. “You think you’re an adult in Uni but when you start working you have a lot more responsibility,” he says. “At Uni you’re accountable to yourself. Sure, you have deadlines to meet but it’s only yourself you’re letting down if you fall behind. At work you want to make sure it happens for your clients.”
Read the full article here: Graduate Stories - Hummingbird