Hobbies are Important – Advice for Biomedical, Electronics, Mechanical and Software Graduates
Hobbies are Important – Advice for Biomedical, Electronics, Mechanical and Software Graduates
As a specialist recruitment company for medical devices recruitment, scientific recruitment and robotics recruitment we are invited to different university’s careers fairs to try to provide advice for people looking for their first roles in industry.
We attended such an event yesterday with the Bioengineering Careers Fair at Imperial College, the third year we have attended. I was being asked quite a lot of the same questions so I thought it may be worth putting a couple of points together that may help students just starting their degree and people just finishing their degree, masters or PhD.
This is the first I’m writing in this series and I will write a few more over the next couple of weeks.
Before I start I’d like to stress this is just my opinion based on the work I have done for clients over the years;
Hobbies are important
- If you are studying for a technical degree the chances are you will apply for technical internships, projects and jobs at some point.
- When managers and HR professionals receive your details one of the things they will look at are your hobbies, as they will be comparing you with several other people who have similar education backgrounds to yourself.
- They want to offer the best opportunities to people who have a passion for the field instead of someone just looking for a job. So, they do not want to see “watching X-Factor and jogging” on your CV. Instead they want to see a technical hobby that is challenging your mind.
- So, if you are studying electronics maybe tinkering with electronics, taking apart and rebuilding computers could be a good hobby.
- If mechanical/robotics, maybe you enjoy improving your car or bikes performance by working on the engine or building automation devices.
- Software, maybe you programme your own games or AI in your spare time.
- If you don’t have such a hobby now I implore you to explore one or join a society that will challenge and improve your skills.
This advice is also good for people already in work. It is amazing how often people do not show their hobbies on their CV’s as they think every physicist, engineer etc. do something in their spare time, so they don’t need to mention it.
After the careers fair, yesterday, I have several highly educated people looking for their first role in industry. If you are looking for any graduates now, please get in contact on 0121 268 2240 or andrew.welsh@newtoncolmore.com
I’m also putting together a list of internships for some of the students looking for a summer internship, so if you have a requirement please let me know and I’ll be happy to point them in your direction.
Thank you for reading, I hope it has been useful and welcome any feedback or comments.