Hi Rohin, thanks for your question - I also studied economics at Warwick! There were a few things I did whilst at university that I think helped with my career, but I think by far the most important thing I did was applying for internships in second year. As a result of this, I got my summer internship at EY at the end of my second year, which turned into my graduate role that I now do. Even if I hadn't got an offer, the experience of doing all of those applications helped me learn more about the type of company and job I wanted to apply for, and I'd have been far more prepared for then applying for graduate jobs. And likewise, if I hadn't ended up getting a graduate job offer at the end of the internship, the experience I had gained in those 6 weeks would have helped me getting a graduate role.

I guess that example isn't exactly something I did at university and it's more something I did outside of university. If you meant more specific to actually being at university, I think discussing your career with your friends or coursemates really helped me. My friends at uni were really career focused which was so helpful to me as I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do after graduating at first, but we were all similarly ambitious. So I was able to get a lot of guidance from people who were ahead of me in that respect. I learned a lot from just talking to people, even just people I saw only in seminars once a week, and I even gained a few application tips from people who had done spring weeks in first year. Just by being surrounded by people who are career focused makes it more of a part of your own life, which benefits you in terms of applying and realising what you want to do in the first place.

So in summary, apply for an internship, and surround yourself with people who have similar ambitions to you!

I hope this answer helps, let me know if you have any further questions :)

21 March, 2022 09:27