By Julia Tereno
For many students, graduation has come and gone. Some people seem to have it all figured out, having decided on their career paths early on.
However, sometimes for Arts students, it can be a bit trickier. The careers they wish to pursue aren’t always traditional, and it can be hard to know where to go after college.
Claire Murphy, career advisor for Arts students in NUI Galway, told SIN that researching their field and finding out what other people have done before them can be helpful.
She said; “It’s knowing what you want, but sometimes, in order to know what you want you have to know what you don’t want.”
Additionally, Murphy said that it’s never too late or too early to engage with the Career Development Centre in NUI Galway.
They run several events that can help students get involved with the area and connect with peers.
The Centre also offers one on one appointments, to help with research and choosing subjects.
When it comes to Arts degrees, Murphy said it’s important to choose the right subjects early on, as it can affect your career path going forward.
But, if you find yourself in your last year and realizing that most of the subjects you picked in the beginning don’t make sense to you anymore, Murphy said; “There is a way around most things, but you just have to plan it and know how to do it.”
It’s quite common that the choices you make when you’re 18 years old no longer apply when you’re 21 or 22.
“Some people get an Arts degree and go work with something different. There’s a lot of Graduate Programmes that hire arts students, like Aldi, Lidl, Vodafone, loads of them, and you can go and start off as a graduate and work your way into a different area,” she said.
Masters programmes are also a possibility, but Murphy advises; “Some Masters can be quite intense, so you really need to love or really like what you’re doing on the Masters.”
She also said it’s more important to like what you’re doing in a Masters, than to pursue it hoping to get a better job out of it.
She pointed out; “If you’re studying something that you like, you tend to do it better.”
Another benefit from a Master programme is that some of them offer placements, which can be good for people who need more experience in their area.
Murphy added that one of the things students seek advice for the most is with work experience.
She added; “One of the great ways to bridge that is to volunteer. There’s a great volunteering program here on Campus, ALIVE, where there are over 80 organizations, so there’s something for everyone.”
The Career Development Centre has a blog, which features employers saying what they are looking for, as well as former students telling their stories of how they got their jobs.
Murphy commented; “We do try to give a lot of advice and we try to give students a big voice, so it’s not just us telling people what to do.”
To access the NUI Galway Career Development Centre blog, go to: https://nuigcareers.wordpress.com/
Photo by Marleena Garris on Unsplash
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