The 2012 Games: how to clinch graduate career victory

British university graduates are drowning in medals at the London 2012 Olympics. Last week Gemma Gibbons, who graduated from the University of Bath in 2009 with a sports performance degree, claimed Britain’s first Olympic judo medal in 12 years.

Gibbons is the fourth Team GB medallist at London 2012 who is linked to the University of Bath. Heather Stanning, a 2007 sports technology graduate, rowed to Olympic victory with Helen Glover, who learned to row through the GB Rowing Team’s Start programme at the university.

They clinched Team GB’s first gold medal on 1 August, shortly before sports performance student Michael Jamieson, who is currently studying at the university, swam his way to silver in the 200m breaststroke the following day.

Bath is not the only university to enjoy Olympic success: the University of Leeds also had its share of victory at the Games when Alistair Brownlee, who studied sports science there, clinched a gold medal in the triathlon on 7 August.

Winning an Olympic medal isn’t within reach of most university graduates. However, there are many ways to clinch career victory. First things first: if you’re still at the starting line looking for the start of your career, make sure your CV stands out.

Add interests outside of the field of work you are hoping to go into – a sport, photography, campanology – whatever floats your boat outside of studying, make sure it’s clear to employers. Work experience is also valued particularly highly by employers, so try to expand your CV in this sense, too.

If you’ve recently ‘won’ your first graduate job – congratulations, you’ve won gold in the race to employment! To sprint your way up the career ladder, you should be willing to take on any task you are asked to do and always show enthusiasm. Once you’ve been in the company for a while, keep an eye out for problems – and offer solutions.

Your employer will be impressed with your genuine interest in the company and problem-solving abilities, a key skill in any job. Lastly, don’t shy away from responsibility: taking on an extra challenge could be your chance to shine and stand out among your colleagues.

Source: Gradplus.com, Thursday 9th August 2012