Careers blog by Tricia Raxworthy, Information and Engagement Officer in Careers and Placements

In our last blog, placement year student Sophie shared some of her top tips for working from home and looking after yourself. This week we’re still thinking about things to help you get through the current situation. It’s easy to feel as if everything is out of control, but there are still things you can do to retain some control of your life and future plans.

Online 

This is a good time to make use of your online presence

• Create a LinkedIn account, follow employers, join groups; this will help you make contacts and build a picture of work in the area you are interested in. See their guides for students to get started.
• Think about writing a blog
• Look at what UoY graduates have gone on to do on York profiles and mentors, and get in touch with someone if you want to know more
• Stay connected with friends and family online and via facetime; talk to them about what they value and how they’ve ended up in their current job or career path
• Also try to keep in touch with employers if possible, especially if you are part way through a recruitment process or holding a job offer

Know yourself: online is great for keeping up with friends and avoiding feelings of isolation, but if you’re finding too much time online is getting stressful, or you’re suffering from information overload, switch off and take a break!

Experience

The ideal internship or job you were hoping for may not be available to you in the immediate future. But there are still things you can do, to get valuable experience and develop skills employers are looking for – and you’ll be showing your resilience and flexibility in exploring different options:

• Areas recruiting right now include care work, food retail and logistics, pharmaceuticals
• RatemyPlacement explain what some employers are doing about their insight schemes, internships and placements – they too are exploring alternative options.
• Volunteering – with your local council, community groups, the NHS (temporarily paused but may re-start), do-it.org, or look at Zooniverse to contribute to an academic research project
• Online learning – look at MOOCs offered by FutureLearn and other platforms, or the free courses from the Open University. There are more free courses than usual available just now, some also including free accreditation.

Look after yourself

The most important bit: your wellbeing matters. It’s normal to be feeling anxious so take time to notice how you are feeling and take control of the things you can. Here are a few helpful resources:

• April’s calendar from Action for Happiness – an intentional action you can choose to do each day
• What to do if you’re anxious about coronavirus, from YoungMinds
• NHS mental wellbeing while staying at home

Lastly, we want you to know that Careers and Placements is still open – we’ve just moved online. See our website for up to date information, FAQs and appointments for summer term.