Perfecting your CV, picking a sector, planning your future. Job hunting after uni can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be.
With the right tools, launching your career can be totally manageable, and who better to show you the ropes than our team with 50+ combined years of specialist experience.
Sit down with MyTutor’s…
- Chief Product Officer, Geoff
- Senior Planning and Delivery Manager, George
- Senior Product Manager, Izzy
- Tutor Marketing Manager, Lara
- Head of Product, Simon
- Finance and Operations Senior Executive, Kiera
…as they share their advice for jumping into grad life with gusto.
Geoff – Chief Product Officer
What was your first job?
I did some crazy part-time jobs during an extended gap year, but my first official one was as a Data Engineer in Poole.
How did you find your first job?
Applying to every agency I could find in London. I was broke and trying to get started. It paid my bills and also taught me that I didn’t want to work in big corporate, finance-type businesses.
How do you make sure you succeed in your first job?
Go beyond your role definition to be useful to your employer. Take time to understand the wider company, and what they need. Be proactive at helping others.
What advice do you have for grads figuring out what to do after university?
Just get started. Expect to apply to loads. Don’t wait for perfect. Even if your first job isn’t right, the second is likely to be better.
Bigger isn’t always better (Smaller, or lesser-known companies are often kinder employers).
Tell us about how you found yourself in your current role?
I started as a Data Engineer in a large company but soon realised I wanted to work for a more inspirational cause. I jumped to join a publisher looking to go digital and had my first experience working in education. It rocked, had huge growth and impact, and I found myself running the Edtech innovation lab. We built cutting-edge education apps that caught the attention of a big US tech company and I (and some of my team) moved to the US to join them. I managed a team over 3 continents and built even more education apps and funky tech.
Next was a return to the UK to lead a new innovation team doing Language Assessment (and learning) before a trip to Berlin to join Babbel. Here I ran a team of 150, digging deeper into the language learning side.
Now I’m back home in the UK working at MyTutor. I’m enjoying still working in EdTech, but somewhere where I feel more connected to humans. Rather than the self-serve digital, I focus on the human teaching (so all you tutors).
When I look backwards at my career it may seem like it was a fairly obvious progression, or path. But that’s an illusion. You don’t live your life backwards, you live it forwards, walking into the unknown. Most of my career changes were much more spontaneous, and opportunist. Following my interests. Definitely not a grand plan!
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Pick companies, and colleagues who will value you, and who you can learn from. High-profile companies may look good on a CV but can have toxic cultures and high churn. You win, by helping your team win. Also, don’t be a hero.
Izzy – Senior Product Manager
What was your first job after graduating?
I started as a digital and data analyst in the Civil Service, where I spent two years moving around different government departments in digital roles.
What was the best part of the role?
I loved the variety, and the opportunity to learn new skills and meet new people every six months.
How should grads approach figuring out what they want for their first job?
Accept that your first job probably won’t be your job for life, so don’t agonise about it. Prioritise your ability to learn, and enjoy yourself.
Any tips for getting your foot in the door and landing your first role?
Interview prep and practice. Write down all of the potential questions you might get, your answers, and then learn them. Then ask someone to test you.
Tell us about how you found yourself in your current role?
After being a digital and data analyst in the Civil Service I moved to a strategy role in the Government Digital Service, before moving into product management at the Department for Education. I then moved to the private sector and the wild world of start-ups to join MyTutor.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t plan for your next job, plan for the one after that. You’ve got the rest of your life to work, so make sure you’re learning and enjoying it and the rest will follow.
George – Senior Planning and Delivery Manager
What was your first job?
My First “proper” job was as a salesman for Zomato (a food discovery app). I was going from restaurant to restaurant trying to sell advertising on our app.
How did you find it?
I think I found the job on LinkedIn (or something similar) and if I am being honest I found the job really challenging.
I was cold calling and quite aggressively selling advertising to busy Chefs and restaurant managers. I was really bad at the job (I only made 1 sale in 3 months).
I learnt a lot about building up resilience and how to pitch things, and also learned that hard-core sales wasn’t from me. I quit this job and moved into another role as an account manager for a crowdfunding company.
What advice do you have for grads looking for their first full-time job?
Just go for it! Don’t be afraid to just start a job and see if you like it. Don’t be afraid of not finding the right company or the right role. I quit my first job after 3 months and learned a few things – including what I wasn’t looking for.
Another big bit of advice which I am still trying to learn is don’t compare your journey with other peoples. Comparison is the thief of joy. It is really difficult not to compare yourself to your peers but if you do you might end up making decisions for the wrong reasons – e.g. choosing a job for more money because your friends earn more money than you.
What do you think is most important for standing out in an interview?
Enthusiasm and preparedness. For your first job I think being really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the job and company can really help you stand out as a candidate. If you are eager to learn and work at the company that should go a long way.
Give us a brief summary of your career journey.
Started off whilst I was at Uni with a few part time jobs (barista, bar work and my fav: ice cream man). At the same time I did a few internships to get experience.
Then I got my first job as Salesman for Zomato (3 months), was an Account Manager for mycause.com.au for 2 years, then had a go at running my own business for a couple of years. Then I moved to London and worked in a front line ops role at Fat Llama, but I was made redundant and got a new job as the first ops hire for Bezos (I joined when it was just an idea). After burning myself out there I found MyTutor 🙂 You can see more on my career journey here on my LinkedIn.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Seek Happiness Instead of Money.
Figure out what is important to you for your job. Do you want to work to live or live to work? Everybody is different and this can hugely impact the direction of your career.
Lara – Tutor Marketing Manager
What was your first job?
I worked as an account manager at a digital marketing agency in Adelaide, Australia.
How did you find it?
As with most agency jobs, it had its ups and downs.
It was a great first job – I really got thrown into the deep end to learn performance marketing for a bunch of different verticals (I got to work with some really cool brands which was a bonus!). It was super fast paced, but this helped me learn a huge amount very quickly.
What advice do you have for grads looking for their first full-time job?
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do straight away! I was 21 when I graduated from university – that is SO young to have it all figured out.
Do your research and find an area that interests you – with each job you’ll learn more and more about where your strengths lie, and what career path you want to follow.
How can grads stand out and get their foot in the door?
Getting some relevant experience in the area you want to go into will really help your CV stand out. Volunteering and internships are great ways to do this.
At university I interned at a theatre company in marketing, and travelled to Timor Leste to work for a social enterprise for a month. Both were amazing experiences, and great conversation starters in a job interview!
What did your career journey look like from then until today?
I started out working at an agency where I did absolutely everything for each client – from strategy and execution, to communication. This helped me realise that I love the technical side of marketing, alongside what types of company I would want to work for.
After a couple of years I made the big move to London where I entered the startup world. Before MyTutor, I worked for another startup called Rover (a marketplace that connects pet sitters and owners) in digital marketing. This is where I gained experience working in-house alongside several different marketing teams. I loved seeing the direct impact that my work was having on growing the business – which is why my next role at MyTutor was perfect for me.
I started at MyTutor 3 years ago as a digital marketing exec on the B2C side of the business. Over the years I’ve moved around a bit – and am now in the position of the tutor marketing manager. MyTutor has been so great for providing opportunities to work in different areas across the business, and continuously grow my skill set!
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Treat people how you’d like to be treated.
Everyone you work with is just a person. Being kind, and taking a vested interest into what all of your colleagues do, will mean they’re more likely to help out when you need them, and will help make work more enjoyable.
Simon – Head of Product
What was your first job?
A TEFL teacher in Italy (teaching English as a foreign language)
How did you find it?
I came across a job advert in the careers section of a national newspaper.
Can you share a top tip for grads figuring out what they want to do?
Find your ‘ikigai’ – that balance between something that the world needs, that you love doing, that you’re good at doing, and that you can get paid for.
How can grads land a job when the market is so competitive?
Persistence. Keep going even if you are getting rejected. A lot of job hunting is about timing and being in the right place at the right time.
Tell us about your career path.
After 5 years teaching English in Italy and Spain, I relocated to the UK and became a teacher trainer. I was invited to co-write a course book and this moved my career out of the classroom and into materials writing.
I then co-founded an online learning business offering English language training to adults in Japan and China, using my experience as a content developer to create online learning courses.
As the industry matured, new roles grew to help teams create effective solutions as efficiently as possible and I’ve been a product manager specialising in ed tech ever since.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Build your network because a lot of jobs are not even advertised.
Don’t be afraid to ask people you admire for help or advice. People generally love to give back, and the more you grow your network, the greater the opportunities that can potentially come your way.
Kiera – Finance and Operations Senior Executive
What was your first job?
I worked as a Customer Representative at Nationwide Building Society in London.
How did you find it?
I went into local branches of banks and building societies to ask about their hiring process, this helped me create contacts within the business and eventually I was able to secure a role at Nationwide.
What advice do you have for grads looking for their first full-time job? (A top tip for figuring out what you want to do)
Your first job is not forever! If you’re not sure what you want to do, pick something that interests you. Don’t be afraid to start a job and equally don’t be afraid to leave a role if it’s not right for you. Sometimes finding the right role for you can take time and that’s okay.Â
Everyone’s career path is different!
What advice do you have to secure your first job?
Prepare – always be prepared, not just for the interview but prepare your CV before you apply for the job, make sure it highlights key skills and experience most relevant to the role. Always research the company you’re applying to.
Practice – interview practice is so important. Writing down potential questions and answers is an easy way to help you feel confident and comfortable during the interview.
Patience and Perseverance – finding and securing the right role for you can take time. Don’t be disheartened if you receive rejections or if the hiring process takes time. What is meant for you will find you. Persevere and don’t give up! Â
What has your career path looked like so far?
After finishing my A-levels at sixth form I decided to take a gap-year and work for Nationwide Building Society before going to university. Graduating during the pandemic offered lots of new challenges but I was lucky to secure a Customer Operations role here at MyTutor before moving into the Finance Team.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, when you try something new you’ll learn more about yourself and what you’re capable of.
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You’ve already made great waves in the world while tutoring at MyTutor, so we’re confident whatever you do next will be no different.
Fancy working at MyTutor HQ? Check out our careers page here.