So you’ve done your degree, taken a gap year to travel and your overdraft has exceeded its limit. Your parents are piling on the pressure, and it looks like you’ll have to get a job.

It’s a very different life, working all day every day till you are 65. It can become routine and repetitive, so it’s important to make sure what you do really interests you.

With any luck you will have come away from your degree with good analytical skills, an ability to communicate well and an understanding of media industries. Those are some of the qualities that employers are looking for qualified candidates.

Now you need to think about what you are looking for in an employer. What  type of company do you want to work for. Do you believe in what they do, are they the sort of people you want to work with, does the company seem to have an exciting future, are there opportunities for you to learn and excel?

The best way to begin this exploration is to consider:

• What motivates and inspires you? We all work, in some way, for the money, but what really drives you? It might be the challenge of the job, the people you work with, the status it gives you, or any one of hundreds of other things.
• Which skills do you enjoy using? Don’t just think about your core skills, or those you have picked up during your degree course. Include skills you might have had as a child, or even skills you suspect you have.
• What really interests you, and why? You have to be interested in your job, or it just won’t hold your attention.
• What do you value, and why? If your job doesn’t reflect your sense of what is important, you will not consider it worthwhile, and you are more likely to end up disillusioned and unhappy.
  

Armed with this knowledge, start to research different jobs and companies in the new media industry and see how well matched you are to them. New media is a very exciting sector, with many different types of companies. Think about the sort of products or services that your ideal company would be offering. Decide if you want to work for a large successful company or a small, exciting start-up with great potential, yet a lot more uncertainty? Visit the websites of as many companies as you can, and look at new media magazines such as clickZ. Be as clear as you can about where you want to work, before you start applying for jobs.

Then start your job search. Type your keywords into the Monster search box to see what comes up. Visit the web sites of those companies announcing vacancies. Try to talk to people who are familiar with the companies you’re interested in, perhaps even try and get a few days work experience at a few of them. Don’t submit your application until you know why you want to work for them, and then make sure your covering letter explains the reasons you have applied, and demonstrates why you are an ideal match. Also, make sure your CV covers the skills they are looking for which you possess. If you don’t have some of the experience, own up to it, and emphasise your other key strengths.

There are some great new media companies out there and you are moving into a very exciting but highly competitive industry. Get it right and you will have a great time, earn money well and gain experience. Get it wrong and you could end up pigeon holed and frustrated. Make sure you do your research, so that you can choose wisely, and end up in the right job

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