Is It Worth Taking A Gap Year After College?
August 31, 2017 by Staff
Filed under Education, Money/Business, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) Congratulations, you’ve just finished your final year in college, what comes next? It’s a question that many students end up asking themselves and one possibility that you could consider is a gap year. With a gap year, it is possible to spend some time and evaluate your choices before making a final decision. Before we go further, let’s knock down one common misbelief.
Gap years do not look bad on your CV. A gap year will only look bad if it was a waste of time where you did nothing but sat and watched Netflix while going out at the weekends. Then, yes it will look terrible, but it’s often easier than students think to show employers
a gap year was beneficial for them. Let’s say that you did the least you possibly could during your gap year. You didn’t go anywhere, you didn’t travel, and you didn’t get a job. But you still might have set up a blog, completed voluntary work with students at a school or perhaps coached a sports team. Anything like this still demonstrates that your gap year wasn’t wasted and a skilled candidate could sell these activities as a USP in the job market. That is perhaps the biggest advantage of taking a gap year.
It’s A Unique Selling Point
Not everyone takes a gap year, and that means if you do, you’ll have an advantage over some of the other people who are interviewing for the same job. You’ll have something to talk about in the interview that might just grab the attention of a potential employer. It has been known for people to get interviews just so that the employer can ask them questions about a, particularly interesting gap year.
You’ll Discover A New Point Of View
When you go on a gap year, you will usually be traveling to a new country with fresh experiences. With a range of insurance options available these days for independent travelers, it’s easy to get this set up fast and spend most of the year helping others or just seeing a fresh part of the world. As such, you’ll be able to bring an entirely fresh perspective to the table when you do finally attend your first interview, and we guarantee, that’s going to impress the people on the other side. Particularly if you can link it back to the job in question and the little secret no one will tell you is that this is always possible. Oh, you helped build homes in Africa? Great, that shows that you care about more than just making a profit. You were a teacher in Vietnam? Clearly, you have the skills necessary to work at the head of a team.
You Might Avoid Six Months Of Nothing
On average it takes people six months to find a full-time job once they leave college. You’ll find it a lot easier to get job opportunities if you have an interesting resume. So, by going on your gap year, you can avoid that six-month slump, come back fresh and hopefully get job offers straight away.
So is it worth taking a gap year after college? You bet it is.
Staff Writer; Peter Hall