Finishing school is an incredibly strange and surreal feeling. It has been such a key part of your life for so many years, so it is very much the ending of one chapter and the beginning of a new and incredibly exciting one. Therefore, it is understandable to be feeling a wide range of emotions during this time, which could change from moment to moment. There will have been so much focus on your exams and finishing school that it can feel strange for this all to end. Although you will have had plenty of advice for starting this new chapter in your life, here are a few handy tips to keep in mind.
1. Enjoy Time With Your Friends
First of all, it is important that you take the time to celebrate finishing school with your friends. While it is likely that you will keep in touch, everyone will start their own journeys after this summer, and things will change. Spend time with your friends, enjoying yourself, whether this is going to a music festival, going on holiday or simply just spending the day together in your local area.
2. Consider A Gap Year
Many people find that a gap year is the best step to take after leaving school instead of jumping into a career or going off to university. Travel can broaden the mind, develop important life skills, and allow you to see the great beauty of the world (it becomes much harder to travel when you start a career). Additionally, places like Frontier gap years can arrange all kinds of amazing and highly valuable experiences, such as helping with environmental conservation work or work experiences in exotic places all over the globe.
3. Start Researching Career Options
The early bird catches the worm so although it is important to relax and enjoy yourself, you also need to start thinking about career options sooner rather than later. This will help you to take the necessary steps, test the waters, and find suitable places to work.
4. Build Experience
Leading on from this, it is also a good idea to take any experience that you can get in your chosen field even if this is voluntary work. One of the biggest challenges that people face when trying to start a new career is getting their foot in the door due to a lack of experience - an unfortunate Catch 22 situation. This means that you need to take what you can get to develop your CV.
5. Network
This is also the time that you should start to build a professional network. The more people that you know, the more likely it is that you will find opportunities and it is also effective for building your personal brand. The internet has made it incredibly easy to network, but you should also look to attend relevant events as it can be much more impactful meeting someone in person (particularly in today’s day and age).
Leaving school is a strange time as it is the end of one huge chapter in your life and the start of another. Hopefully these tips will make this transition a little easier and put you on the path to success.