How to prepare for your career while in university

Want to start building your career? Here are five things you should do if you are still an undergraduate.
Do not wait till after graduation to start preparing yourself for your career.
The struggle to get a job after graduation is very daunting, but if you understand what it takes to be employed in Nigeria, you will start prepping yourself for a career now rather than waiting for the post-NYSC reality to dawn on you.
Instead of focusing only on your undergraduate programs, it equally important you start paying attention to your future career and begin to put the pieces together now.
Here are five ways you can start preparing for your future career while you still attend classes.
* Look for experience-based learning The knowledge you gain from the textbook is quite good, but if it is not giving you the practical aspects of what you learn from it, you will have to put away the books and look for experience-based learning.
Take advantage of training, workshops and internship that is related to your future career.
* Start freelancing If you have no place to intern, consider freelancing.
You can freelance as a writer, graphic designer, social media manager and so on.
If you have a digital marketing skill, trust me, you won’t regret freelancing for any organization.
* Find a mentor It is important you start paying attention to your future career now.
Do not ever ignore the importance of a mentor in shaping your future career.
Get a mentor who will inspire you and teach you knowledge and skill that will be useful for you in your future career.
* Build and maintain your network Building a network is very important to getting employment these days.
It will be to your advantage if you start building and maintaining it from your undergraduate days.
You never can tell where you’ll be interning or serving before or after graduation.
Build your network, believe me, it works.
* Join a club While campus clubs serve as a way to engage undergraduates and keep them together to learn from one another, it can also be a great platform for you to meet people and also gain connections with career professionals.
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