Chances are, many people leaving higher education have only experienced a taste of the real world thanks to work experience, internships and temporary job placements. Whilst these are all useful for building character, some people fail to realise that, when landing a job, it doesn’t mean the end of their training.

We’re going to assume that you’ve landed that job you wanted. Well done. It’s an exciting time. However, there are always new skills to be learnt in any field of employment. It’s a neverending University where the theoretical work is just as important as the practical.

Get social

Maintaining an online profile is important. Many companies will look at your ‘life brand’ before, during and after employment with them. By improving your social media skills, you can become a brand ambassador for your company without doing very much at all. A simple occasional tweet here and a Google+ post there will reap dividends when others you work with see that you are going above and beyond the standard 9-5 working hours.

Research

If you’ve recently graduated, then you understand that a lot of research goes into producing high level pieces of work. It doesn’t matter what that work is about, you need to know everything about it. If research is something you are good at, then utilise this and ensure you ask questions about the many different departments within your new company. Learn what everyone does and how they fit into the work cycle. Ask questions. Take notes. By showing a good working knowledge of other aspects of the business, you will stand out as a useful resource.

Seize Opportunities

When you decided to go to University, many of you took a huge risk. Financially, it’s expensive. You’re keeping yourself out of the employment market for several years to earn qualifications that will enable you to enter the market at a higher level. There is no guarantee of this. As mentioned, many risks.

This is why it’s important to use that ability to take risks in your work. When opportunities present themselves and you have no idea if they are going to pay off, but they might, then it’s sometimes worth taking the risk of failure because the rewards could really pay dividends. A project you don’t really know could showcase an ability to handle pressure if you succeed.

If someone doesn’t know how to do something, there’s nothing wrong with shouting out “I can take a look at that if you’d like some fresh eyes on it.”

Remember, University is supposed to build up skills for situations such as these. It’s important to get them used in real, practical situation as soon as possible to make an impact.

Bio: This post was written by Halit Bozdogan on behalf of Empty Lemon, a leading U.K recruitment specialist for Legal Jobs

Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/RecruiterCori

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