A person smiling at themselves.
As a result of the ongoing events around the world, you are probably finding yourself in a position that you did not expect to be in last year. Cancelled internships, a bleak career landscape, and an overall feeling of distress as you go about the motions of your day to day life, believe me when I say that these are all things that I can wholeheartedly relate to. Every day I am checking the student job portal for any new opportunities but walk away feeling slightly dejected.
Amidst all of these things, allow me to indulge myself in reminding you of the reasons why you (as a student) are still an invaluable asset to many employers. I encourage you to think deeply about these next few points as it can help you during your interviews or in making a case to hire you for an internship. While you’re reading this, also think about some personal examples that you can share while talking about your assets.
Flexibility
As a student, you have a number of different skill sets that make you particularly appealing to employers. The first amongst many different soft skills lies in your ability to be flexible. As a young professional without a lot of technical experience, you are likely more willing than many seasoned professionals to develop your hard skills by engaging with all of the different tasks available to you. Some hard skills include having the ability to operate Microsoft Office Suite, or Adobe InDesign. Not only are you willing to accomplish a whole range of tasks, but you are probably more enthusiastic about learning new skills, such as social media management. In my case, I arrived at my current position as a Media Assistant with some experience working with social media. However, this position also allowed me to develop my media skills even further by introducing me to the analytical side of media management (Google Insights, Twitter Analytics)! For employers, your flexibility and willingness to accomplish any task (whether they range from menial to more complex) makes you a desirable individual to work with!
Peer to Peer Connection
Another reason why employers often seek to hire students is because of their ability to foster a peer-to-peer connection. Many individuals (especially students) find it more comfortable to connect with an individual that resembles them. During my time as a Project Assistant for the Chapman Learning Commons, I found that it was easier for students to talk to me about the circumstances surrounding their fines than it was for them to talk to a librarian. For many companies and organizations, they see the value in hiring a student to facilitate communications amongst a certain demographic. In this case, your youth gives you a certain advantage because employers believe that you are able to stay in touch with the current trends and issues that are important to your demographic right now.
Tenacity
This often goes without saying, but it is also a good time to remind you that you are tenacious. All of those group projects and late-night study sessions have all contributed to your ability to keep pushing forward. We can all relate to the feeling of frustration while working with an uncooperative group member, or when you feel like giving up and crawling into bed for the night. I bring up these memories not to remind you of the unpleasant feelings associated but to give you a few examples of your tenacious nature. Employers especially look to the student population when they know that the nature of the job requires an individual to have patience and grit! To clarify, grit is not only about mental strength and perseverance, it is also about having the passion to achieve your end goals.
To conclude, I understand and empathize with you as we’re going through these difficult times together. However, I wrote this short article to inspire confidence within you as you progress along your job search. I hope these points that I brought up will help uplift your spirit, and I want to encourage you to keep persevering! We would love to hear your thoughts in regard to why you think students are awesome employees, please leave a comment or mention us @UBCLearn on Twitter.
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