3 tips for students to prepare for the working world
- avodahsolutions
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
With global trade volatility, AI disruptions causing recessionary fears to ripple through the workforce, even students in school are feeling it. How can students better prepare themselves for their entry into the working world? Our team at Avodah People Solutions have compiled 3 tips to help students better prepare.
Tip #1 - Don't mindlessly pile internships.
Internships are great for teaching us about the world of work and about us - showing us what our preferences are and where we can be impactful. Internships can also help us gain valuable work experiences to justify our entry into the internship company or another company.
With internships being seen as the closest thing to employment, it is no wonder students are piling up more and more internship experiences on their resumes. How many internships must one have, in order to be more attractive to employers? Is it really better to have more internships?
Our take:
Quality matters over quantity. 1 or 2 internships with solid work experiences showing your consistent capabilities and impact at work is worth more than many internships with fleeting, diverse experiences.
Be strategic about your choices. Choose internships that help you grow skills that you know you have or test yourself in areas that you are curious but unsure about.
Go big on experience, not brands. Relying on internships with big brand companies to boost your resume may seem like a good idea but make sure that it does not overshadow you and your experiences. Clarify in your resume how your choices of your internship companies ties back to you and what you hope to learn and do more of.
Want more? Read and listen to:
Straits Times 3 Part series on Internships
What interns can do about bosses behaving badly
How to deal with challenges and lack of learning opportunities during your internship
Mistakes interns make have consequences, but are also learning opportunities
CNA Work It podcast about Internships
Crushing your internship and landing that full-time job
Gen Z internship race - Fear of missing out or path to success?
Tip #2 - Actively collaborate and consult
James Clear, author of global best seller Atomic Habits reminds us that"Who knows you is more important than who you know. Build a brand". When you are known by others, it means that you exemplify qualities and inspire trust aligned with the brand. When harnessed properly, career paths and steps can be formed along the brand.
Building a brand is easier said than done. For a student, this advice to build a brand may seem far fetched and perhaps scary. Before the thoughts of networking events, name cards, pitching, LinkedIn posting start to flood your mind, let's simplify brand building for students to 2 key concepts - Collaboration and Consulting.
Our take:
It is all about people. Start to view people around you as a valuable source of information and industry. They include faculty, student peers, alumni, neighbours, family, people from your social and community groups. Get to know them and what they do. Be curious about them and maintain some form of contact with them.
Ask for ideas, invite input. Bring thoughtful questions to others. They can be industry, work, school or life related! Invite perspectives, not solutions so it becomes a conversation, not a consultation. Remember to be thankful for their contributions!
Go online if you are shy. While online professional sites like LinkedIn may seem daunting, it is probably the best place to start at, because you are in control of your profile and your interactions. The people you always see on your feed are no doubt the regular users, but they are not the only ones on LinkedIn. For every regular user, you will realise that there are thousands more who are silent users, posting and engaging only when needed. So you don't have to be a superstar to use LinkedIn.
Want more? Listen to:
CNA Work It podcast about Branding, Networking
How to create a compelling personal brand
Making networking and presentations less painful for introverts
Tip #3 - Engage in sense making
Given that jobs are being disrupted and created at the same time, linear and fixed career paths are no longer viable. The domain of your study may not be the first landing place for your career too. Under such circumstances, we need to realise that changing variables and presenting opportunities, and learn to make informed (not correct) decisions.
This process of sense making helps us with our career decision making and it happens both internally and externally. Think of it as a bridge between you and the world of work. In order to engage in the sense making effectively, we have to learn to read signals about BOTH ourselves and the world of work. The better we do this, the more adaptable we will be.
Our take:
Seek support from your Career Guidance Office. Every public school in Singapore has a dedicated career guidance office where career coaches and career counsellors are available to support you with information and support to help you pick out the "signals" and facilitate the sense making process too. Don't wait till the final year or internship season to do this! Start building a relationship as soon as you can.
Be mindful about who you are becoming. Instead of simply conforming to expectations of others and the practical realities of work and life, tilt the balance more to yourself by becoming more aware of your preferences, hopes, aspirations. This way, you will not lose yourself!
Go easy on yourself. Growth is a process, not a result. So we learn from making good and bad choices in life. Take things in your stride and don't let fear of failure get to you. Every experience you go through teaches you something and adds something positive to you. Enjoy this process of growing!
Want more? Listen to:
CNA Work It podcast about Career Planning
Do you know your personality type and how it affects your work?
Can you plan your career?
Making the career pivot from flying to coding
At AVODAH People Solutions, we provide career guidance services to people who are considering career changes, making a job change or currently in a transition to find a job and also career enrichment services to people who want to be more effective at work. Share your career situation with us so that we can support you. You can also use our curated listing of free career resources.
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