Author Archive

What to do after graduation

Lauren volunteered at an Environmental and Outdoor Education Project in South Africa after her law degree to gain some experience in ground level environmental work. She believes her professional calling was to become involved in environmental law. Read Lauren’s story here

What to do after graduation?

For thousands of university finalists, the next few months are crucial in deciding their future. Soon-to-be graduates are busy studying for their finals at the moment, but plans – and worries – for the future are always lingering in the air.

Graduate schemes are always a popular choice, but are also extremely competitive. Generally there are around 56 applications for every job, which can increase to as much as 197 applications per job if you’re in the consumer goods market. Unless graduates apply quickly with bundles of experience plastered all over their CV, it can be difficult to secure the high flying job they’ve always dreamt of. It’s unsurprising that 1 in 12 recent graduates are without a job for the first six months after they’ve finished university.

The facts are scary, especially if you’re graduating soon. But it doesn’t have to mean you’re doomed – far from it.

Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, claims that “the pressure is on students to get work experience and choose their career path early on. Students should go to university with a plan in their first six months, not leave it until the last six weeks, or they risk missing out on a decent job.”

A fair point, but not necessarily true. Many, many students leave university with no idea what they want to do with their lives, so it’s unfair to presume that they should just jump into the world of work and do something they don’t want to do.

If you don’t have a job lined up, then don’t worry. The graduate intake of companies has increased this year (albeit marginally) which means there are more companies now wanting to hire young professionals. However, that still means nothing to thousands of graduates who are just as clueless about their career direction now as they were in Sixth Form.

Instead, taking time out can be a really good alternative.

If you plunged straight into university after school, it may well be a good idea to take some time out to travel and volunteer abroad. Globetrotting doesn’t mean that you’re on holiday either, so you won’t find yourself with an awkward gap in your CV at the end of it. Up to a third of graduate jobs will be taken by those who have relevant work experience or internships with the companies they’re applying to, which means that bulking up your CV is absolutely vital in getting you a job. Luckily for wanderlusters, travelling can easily be combined with precious work experience.

There is a wealth of opportunities out there, and even if you’re not completely sure about what area of work you want to get into, these experiences can be moulded to fit whatever you choose in the end. For example, teaching English in a small community can demonstrate fantastic leadership skills as well as ideal communication qualities that employers want. Volunteering as an environmental worker shows great passion for a cause. Being a medical assistant will show that you can work hard under extreme pressure; the opportunities really are unlimited.

So if you’re graduating this time – don’t worry. You might have ‘graduate schemes’ drilled into you, but fundamentally, it’s the perfect time for you to do exactly what you want.

The road ahead, is university worth it and what are the alternatives?

A recent news article reported that some students will spend as little as 8% of their university time in lectures and seminars, despite the hefty £9,000 a year price tag. This works out as less than 100 hours of contact time per year with tutors.

So the big question is: is university actually worth it?

The recent statistics are quite astonishing. Under the new tuition rules, you may be paying roughly £100 an hour for a lecture or seminar, and universities often express little concern if students don’t attend. University is an expensive choice and fundamentally it’s probably not going to guarantee you a job at the end of your three year degree. So – what are the alternatives?

Study abroad

It’s becoming a more popular choice amongst Sixth Formers and the number of enquiries made at foreign universities by British students is now higher than ever. Cheaper fees, offers of scholarships and the allure of travelling abroad are some of the reasons why some find studying abroad much more appealing than staying at home.

Get a job

Of course you can forgo the university experience altogether and just jump right into the job market instead. However, as up to 25% of graduates have been unemployed in recent years, competition for jobs is tough. Those who have a degree may have an advantage over those who don’t.

Apprenticeships

If you’ve a clear idea about what you want to do then apprenticeships may well be worth researching. Many employers consider them to be just as important as degrees, and they can save you a lot of time as the duration of an apprenticeship is shorter. They can also save you money – in apprenticeships, you earn while you learn.

Volunteer abroad

This was always going to get a mention, but for the price of your tuition fees, you could learn just as much travelling and volunteering abroad. You can learn new languages, meet people who will teach you their wisdom and gain some great work experience that will stand you in good stead in the job market back home.

There are plenty of people that haven’t gone to university and have done just as well as those who have. University is not for everyone. Studying can help shape you as a person, but it might be important to weigh up your options before committing a lot of time and money to something that might not be as worthwhile as it used to be.

Gap years: go it alone or go with a friend?

It’ll be one of the best experiences of your life, without doubt, but the question is: do you do it all on your own or do you take a friend along with you for the ride?

Go it alone!

For: Aside from the reassuring fact that most volunteers opt for solo adventuring, the wonderful thing about being on your own has to be the independence. This means you can do pretty much what you want to do, and you don’t have to make compromises. Because of this, there’s also a phenomenal potential for self discovery, where you can learn all about your skills and limits as well as getting a clearer picture about your life path. It’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll make friends along the way anyway – if you’re in a volunteering placement then it’s inevitable!

Against: There are some negatives though. Safety is a key aspect; if you’re volunteering with an organisation then this needn’t be a worry, but if you’re travelling on your own then you must stay as safe as possible at all times and keep in regular contact with someone in case of an emergency. Being on your own also makes it difficult in times of emotional need; for example, if you’re pining for home and your loved ones, it’s hard to say this to someone that you barely know. There’s a lot of support out there, of course. But it might be nicer to have a friendly face in this case.

Go with a friend!

For: Friends make everything better. Having an adventure together will allow you to become better friends as well as allowing you to have a constant source of entertainment and conversation. It would be hard to get lonely if you had a friend around and if you are feeling homesick then you’ve got someone’s shoulder to cry on. Financially it may well be a wise idea to have a friend with you as it shares the burden of money managing and overall makes the trip cheaper for you, as well as having an extra pair of hands to do any chores!

Against: The downsides to this, however, are obvious: human beings fall out. Even if you considered each other best friends, it’s still perfectly natural to fall out once in a while and annoy each other. People work through issues like this every day, but it may well start to interfere with your overall experience at some point. Fundamentally, though, a gap year is all about learning new things and with someone from home with you, it might feel as though they’re dragging you down and you can’t experience as much freedom as you could otherwise.

At the end of the day, there are many reasons for both and there’s no obvious answer. It’s entirely up to you who goes (or doesn’t go) with you, but ultimately you have to question what you want out of your gap year and how you’re going to achieve that.

Travel world records

Simply travelling the world just isn’t good enough for some people. Perhaps if you’re on your gap year then it’s not advised to try and beat these records, but you can marvel at them nonetheless.

Oldest Backpacker

The oldest backpacker in the world is John Waite, 89. Since his wife’s death in 1982, John has been backpacking around the world, with only one change of clothes in his rucksack.

Youngest Traveller

Some people never manage to see more than two or three continents in a lifetime, but Vaidehi Thirrupathy begs to differ. At a mere 205 days old (that’s just over six months!) she is the youngest person ever to see all seven continents.

Travellers club

In America, the Traveler’s Century Club is for people who have visited more than 100 countries. Since the 1950s, it has gained over 2,000 members, of whom 9 have travelled every country in the world.

Travel costs

How much would you spend to visit every country on earth? Extremely wealthy businessman Kashi Samaddar spent £350,000 to achieve this feat. He claims that the most difficult aspect of his challenge wasn’t with big countries (such as the USA, England or European countries) but rather smaller countries “who don’t know what they should be doing.” He says trying to get a visa for Moldova was most difficult to obtain, which took nearly three years. Overall it took him six years, ten months and seven days to complete.

Around the world with no planes

However this wasn’t good enough for filmmaker Graham Hughes, who achieved the same feat but without the use of aeroplanes. Eventually Graham completed his challenge in four years, but recently came across some difficulties when the Guinness Book of Records rejected his record.

According to Guinness World Records, “any person attempting the trip must take public transport such as scheduled flights, buses, trains and ferries to arrive in countries. The record-breaking authority also defines visiting a country as ‘setting foot within its border.” Graham officially entered Russia by wading through a river, but the situation has now been rectified and he is awaiting the result of his appeal.

Longest drive

Emil and Liliana Schmid hold the record for the longest distance driven. In total, they’ve driven the equivalent of 50 times around the world, or 413,000 miles. They originally set off in 1984 and are still driving, so who knows what they’ve got left to discover.

Most popular country…really?

France is the most visited country in the world, with 76.8 million people wanting to sample la vie française each year.

Longest & shortest flight

The longest direct flight in the world is New York to Singapore – that’s a whopping 18 hours and 50 minutes! At the other end of the spectrum, the islands of Papa Westray and Westray are only 14km apart which takes two minutes on a flight. We’ll take the latter…

Another mode of transport

If you’d prefer another mode of transport however, why not copy Rob Thomson and skate your way there? His 8,000 mile trip from Leysin, Switzerland to Shanghai, China, only took one year and three months…

Think you could beat that?

Volunteering proven to have health benefits!

Volunteering is good for the heart

If you volunteer for a hundred hours a year – that works out at two hours a week - will help reduce the risk of heart diseases, according to a new study at Guelph University in Canada. Psychologically, volunteering is known to give you the feel good factor, releasing chemicals which are produced from the feeling of doing good work. But now it’s been proven that volunteering is also beneficial to your physical health as well as your psychology.

This particular study was undertaken to examine the effects of volunteering on people aged 55 years or older over a period of two years, and the comparisons showed that the volunteers’ body mass, heart rate and blood glucose levels were notably lower than their non-volunteering counterparts. They also felt considerably more satisfied with their general well-being and felt like they had a sense of purpose when they did their charitable work.

Interestingly, the study also noted the healing properties of volunteering amongst those who have had heart attacks and other serious illnesses. “The volunteering both gives them a sense of purpose of meaning and contributes to the maintenance of their health following this event that’s occurred to them,” said Dr. Benjamin Gottlieb, who led the study. The mental boost is also linked to giving heart attack sufferers a reduced mortality rate, which is undoubtedly great news. The NHS even recommends volunteering as a great way to maintain your health, stating that it improves life expectancy and can even reduce and/or eliminate certain addictions. One study even showed that university students who volunteered drank far less than those who didn’t, and gives the volunteer a generally more positive outlook on life. Therefore it’s unsurprising that it’s a great way to combat depression too – one of the key symptoms of depression is isolating yourself, and as usually you’re involved in some kind of team when you volunteer, the group work significantly reduces your potential to fall into depression.

In terms of social benefits, the findings are just as astounding. Volunteering has been known to improve your family relationships, social lives (as you’re meeting many people from different backgrounds), and this’ll inevitably help you improve and develop your own communication with others, depending on the situations and the people who are involved in your volunteering placement. And then there’s the added bonus of volunteering looking appealing to employers – your versatility in social situations can be easily demonstrated through your volunteering as you’re really getting into the heart of a community.

Of course, the job benefits are obvious, and it’s a well-known fact that employers really treasure individuals with a passion for helping others – and now you can treasure the health benefits for yourself.

Gap year by numbers

A breakdown of gap year statistics!

Since its birth forty years ago, the gap year has gone from a rare occurrence to an everyday choice. These days gap years are extremely common, with an average of 7% of UCAS applicants choosing to defer entry in order to take a year out, and this number is expected to grow with £9,000 tuition fees now in effect.

There’s no fixed number for the amount of students taking a gap year as no one chooses to do the same activity, but in 2012, it was estimated that there would be 2.5 million young people in the UK planning a gap year

20% of parents decide to help fund their child’s gap year, with the rest usually fundraising in order to raise money. On average, a gap year will cost parents £763 per child, though this will obviously differ if you choose to go through an organisation or on a volunteering placement

Only 10% of gap years are fully-funded by the individual

30% of gap year students choose to travel alone – the Foreign Office calls these travellers ‘Invincibles’.

The average gap year will cost between £3,000-£4,000 - meaning that 22% of young people cannot afford to take a year off

British parents spend as much as £995 million a year in helping to fund their children’s gap years!
Australians lead the highest number of gap year students; in 1974, only 4% of students opted for a gap year whereas it’s now about 11%. The UK remains at a steady 7%.

Although they’ve been around for ages in the UK, the USA are only catching on to gap years – but only 5% of universities and colleges have a deferral policy for prospective students

A study by the University of Western Australia discovered gap year students scored better than those who went to university straight from school – an average of 2.3 per cent higher in their first year results

66% of gap year students said that they took their academic work more seriously after having a gap year experience

60% of those who took a gap year said that their year out helped them decide what subject to concentrate on at university, and possibly what they wanted to do as a career

88% of people thought that their gap years had added to their employability

40% of gap year students do not apply to university before embarking on their gap year

80% work in Britain at some point during their gap year

Gap year students are more likely to graduate with a First or Upper Second class honours degree than those who go straight to university

It’s very clear that the UK is leading the way for gap year students – and with gap years becoming more popular than ever, it’s more than likely that these statistics will be more impressive during the next academic year.

Top tips for gap year safety

With recent news that 18 year old gap year student Sam Woodhead was recently found in Queensland after a three day search, it’s important to remember how to stay safe if you’re travelling around the world on your gap year.

1) Insurance

Wherever you choose to go, it’s absolutely compulsory that you get insurance for any mishaps along the way. Yes, it might seem expensive and you may well think it’s a waste of money if nothing happens to you. But if it does, then you will be very, very thankful you had insurance. To strip it down to its very basics, insurance means that wherever you are in the world and whatever goes wrong, you will always have financial security which can aid you in the complexities of being abroad. Insurance is expensive, yes, but student-oriented companies such as Endsleigh offer policies especially suited to their customers.

2) Keep in touch

Once you arrive at your destination, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a SIM card from that country as it will make calls vastly cheaper. It’ll also be incredibly useful if you’re in a tight spot and you need an emergency contact. Remember to check if your mobile phone has roaming services available before you leave the country, and if you’re going somewhere to let someone know.

3) Water

Sam’s mother claims that the reason he survived in the 40 degree Australian heat was through a small amount of fluid found in his case. “His father had packed boxes of contact lenses in his rucksack in an outside pocket and he’d forgotten to take them out. He lived on the fluid of the contact lenses,” she says. Admittedly it’s often difficult to find safe, purified water abroad so ensure that your first aid kit includes water purifying tablets – and if not, pack some.

4) A safe place for money and personal items

The vast majority of crime isn’t actually violent; it tends to be more pickpocketing and theft, so it’s essential that you prevent easy reach of your items. Putting them on easy display means an easy theft so lock them up – for this reason, it’s probably wise to invest in some sort of round-the-waist money holder. Your passport and money are worth a great deal more in some countries than an annual salary so it’s important to keep them in a place that only you can access.

5) A personal alarm

Regardless of what language you speak, a loud alarm signals danger and will get people’s attention. It must be emphasised that these aren’t just for women.

6) Other travellers

When you’re all alone in a new environment, you will immediately turn to something that’s familiar to home – in this case, it may well be a fellow English speaker. If you stick in groups then your security risks are reduced and you will be able to communicate easily, should any trouble occur.

It’s very rare for stories like Sam’s to occur and he has since admitted that “It was probably a couple of stupid things on my behalf.” But nevertheless just remembering a few simple survival strategies could very well save your life.

Top 5 Reasons to Volunteer Abroad

Rebecca volunteering in Ghana

1) The Challenge

Quite obviously, you’re put in a new environment where you might not speak the language and the local customs and etiquette will be a mystery to you. You’re put in a setting where you’ve never been before and so the communication skills you already have are absolutely essential – volunteering really throws you in at the deep end from the very beginning. It’s extremely challenging when faced with such obstacles as language, and employers will no doubt be impressed by someone whose essential skills, like your ability to communicate and use your initiative, have been tested to their extreme limits.

2) No experience necessary

One of the wonderful things about volunteering is that, for the vast majority of programs, you don’t need to have any previous experience in the field. Simply having the enthusiasm and the ability to work in a challenging environment is the only criteria needed. If there are exceptions to your particular program, thorough training and instruction is often given for specific tasks. Once you’ve finished your placement, your new found skills will ideally qualify you for any kind of job, and the best part is that they haven’t been discovered in a traditional environment, immediately giving you a head start in the job market.

3) It’s not all about employment

It’s true that a lot of people volunteer in order to boost their job prospects, getting the required skills through unpaid work experience, but there are so many other reasons why you should volunteer abroad. Experiencing another culture is one of the most exciting things you can do, and volunteering permits you to be wholly embraced by a society that isn’t available to tourists. You’ll meet incredible people, interact with a completely different culture and you will get the opportunity to live there, as well as becoming a valued member of a society far, far away from home.

4) Education

The potential knowledge you can get from living somewhere else is immense. You may well read up on local customs and traditions before you leave home but there is nothing like experiencing it for yourself. You’re also there to promote a cause and play an active role in creating social change within a community so you get to see your input changing a small part of society. You will learn far more about yourself than you think, too, facing challenges everyday and having to rely on your own initiative to get things done.

5) The project

Whatever you decide to do as part of your volunteer placement, it’s not all about having an adventure abroad. Of course there are opportunities for that, but you have to be truly serious about what you’re going to do over there in order to get the most out of it. If you’re extremely passionate about an issue and really want to make a difference, then it’s more than likely you’ll have the time of your life, and create some change too.

Volunteering in 2012, the stats!

UK Volunteers – the facts

As it’s the start of a brand new year, here’s a round-up of the UK’s volunteering statistics for 2012.

Did you know that if you’ve got a job, you’re more likely to volunteer than someone who’s unemployed? A respectable 42% of people in employment said that they formally volunteered (that’s through a club or organisation) at least once in the past year compared to 34% of unemployed people.

The North/South divide is no exception to volunteering either, with a huge 49% of people living in the South West donating their time to worthy causes, compared to 29% of people living in the North East.

87% of surveyed employers thought that volunteering had a “positive impact on career progression for people aged 16-25”, and 90% of volunteers seemed to agree that undertaking some kind of unpaid work was beneficial to their employment prospects.

A key element to the boost in figures is unsurprisingly down to the London Olympics, whose motto of “Inspire a Generation” certainly left many with a volunteering buzz that we’ll no doubt see in the figures for next year. In total, there were more than 70,000 ‘Games makers’, which may sound like a lot but is in fact similar to the numbers of previous Olympic Games volunteers. It’s important to consider that these volunteers did not have a traditional volunteering project, but nevertheless the volunteers really were the true stars of the Games.

Ethnic minority groups aged 16-24 have seen a considerable boost in volunteering, with 30% now considering themselves volunteers as opposed to 20% in 2005-6.

A third of English 16-24 year olds did some volunteering in the past year, compared to 24.7% five years ago

Amongst students, 83% of those surveyed at higher education institutions said that they expect an increase and renewed interest in volunteering in the next few years, no doubt helped by the impact of London 2012 and the legacy of the Games makers. 53% of respondents claimed that there had been an increase in the student volunteer movement and that there had been no visible decline in interest in volunteering.

Overall, it’s been a very successful year for volunteering and things can only get better from here. The Olympics was a key factor in publicising the great work volunteers do and how rewarding it can be, and it’s hoped that the legacy will live on. It was also a great year for Lattitude, which celebrated its 40^th birthday this year and is still experiencing great successes.

Obviously we don’t know what the statistics for 2013 will look like just yet, but why not get involved alongside the UK’s other 20 million volunteers to make these fantastic statistics look even better for next year?

Top tips for fundraising

Fun-draising

If you’re going to raise money, whether it’s for charity, or if it’s to help you fund your upcoming voluntary project with Lattitude, here are some ideas to get you started:

1) Be original.

People love to see different things – everyone knows at least one person who has sat in a bath of beans or has worn their pyjamas to school. So be a bit quirky and find something unusual that people will happily donate some spare change to. People love novelty and impressive feats and challenges, and if you’re willing to be a bit different and go that extra mile, then people will take notice of you.

2) Time.

If you’ve got an ongoing project that you’re promoting then interest will only increase over time. For example, if you decide to do 365 things in 365 days, you’ll no doubt raise more money than if you’re just doing things for a single day.

3) Technology.

With the dawn of social networking, you can now contact companies directly rather than trawling for addresses in phonebooks. Think of the potential sponsors and publicity you could gain from a simple tweet or fundraising page on facebook – who knows, if you’re really successful, you might even end up on the local news!

4) Location.

It doesn’t matter where you undertake your fundraising; just as long as you involve the local community in your project, then you will reap the rewards. We often underestimate how supportive people can be and if a whole community gets involved then your fundraising potential is increased hugely. Get out there and spread the word about your project - don’t be scared. People are far more willing than we often perceive them to be and never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth.

5) Purpose.

Lastly, don’t forget the purpose of why you’re actually fundraising. People won’t part with their hard earned cash if they don’t know what they’re giving to in the first place, so advertise your project, your mission, what it means to you and how you’re going to make a difference. Let people know how much they can help with just a bit of spare change.