What To Look For In Your First Job

Whether you are leaving school or university, looking for your first ‘proper’ job can be a bit bewildering. There are lots of options out there and lots of factors to consider. Below we take a look at some of the considerations you need to take when choosing your first job.

Is It Easy To Get To?

This may seem like a rather odd suggestion but it’s one that is immensely practical. You want to get your working life off to a good start which means you need to ensure that you are thought of as a reliable, conscientious and punctual individual.

Getting a job that is difficult to get to whether in terms of distance or in terms of transport difficulties will not do your career any good. Constant lateness is demoralizing. You don’t want to be stressed every morning when you get into work after a long commute.

Salary vs Development Opportunities

It’s very tempting to simply pick the job that pays the most for your first job. With plenty of money in your pocket, you can have more fun with your friends. As good as this sounds, that is very short-term thinking. If you want to be clever and savvy, then thinking longer term will pay off much more.

Taking an 18 year old school leaver as an example, they could start work on the National Minimum Wage of £5.55 per hour. Even though this job might not have any particular development opportunities, the wage will rise over time. This might seem a reasonably attractive option to some compared to an apprenticeship.

However, whilst an apprenticeship may pay just £3.40 an hour, as an apprenticeship it would come with development and training. The main junior accounting qualification in the UK is the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification and thousands of apprentices study for this every year.

Whilst apprentices may start on just £3.40 per hour, once qualified, they could be earning an average of £21,875 (£10.52 per hour) according to the Association of Accounting Technicians figures. Three more years study for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification could see them earning much more as the average salary for a CIMA qualified accountant in the UK is £64,011. Potentially, the most talented and driven employees could be earning this before the age of 25. You have to consider much more than just current salary if you really want to make serious money and develop your career. Being a bit poorer earlier on can really pay off sometimes!

What Has Happened To Other People Who Started Their Career At The Company

At any company that you are looking to work for, one of the best differentiators is what happened to people who were in your position and starting off their working life there in previous years. If you find that most of these people tended to move on quick then it suggests that the company may not be the best choice for someone’s first job. If however there are a good number of cases of people who have genuinely progressed at the company then this is a very good sign that this is a great company to choose for you first job.

Use our suggestions and hopefully you’ll make a great choice and get your career off to a flying start!