- Extracurricular activities enhance both hard and soft skills, making candidates more appealing to employers.
- Playing in a competitive sports team develops leadership and teamwork skills, leading to greater career opportunities.
- AIESEC and Erasmus+ offer valuable work experience abroad, improving cross-cultural understanding and personal growth.
- Participation in clubs shows engagement with the university community, which is crucial for potential employers.
- Extracurriculars provide a diverse skill set, contributing to a successful career in the long term.
In the modern society we live in today, more and more companies are looking for people who can stand out from the others – not only in terms of hard skills but in soft skills as well. And how can they know that the candidate fits into the company’s vision? The answer is extracurricular activities, and now EDUopinions is going to explore that subject with you, and recommend to you what you can start doing in the upcoming year!
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Nowadays, there is a wide range of extracurricular activities offered to young people, from the most common ones; such as playing football or basketball to less common ones like poetry clubs. Despite being so different from one another, it is guaranteed that you can develop yourself to the fullest while doing such activities.
Playing in a Competitive Sports Team
Playing sports has been for years one of the most popular choices by students. In a study undertaken by Kevin Kniffin – a professor at Cornell University – along with Brian Wansink and Mitsuru Shimizu, it was found that people who played sports made better employees later in life and had more career opportunities. As sport typically makes you share a locker room with other players every day, it is not surprising that leadership and teamworking skills are strongly developed throughout the years. In addition, your focus, attention to the detail, and craving for success are also great boosters for the companies. Usually, there are several local clubs in an area, and also various teams at your university. Check them out and develop your inner team player!
Doing a Professional Internship or Volunteering Experience Abroad During the Summer
By doing work experience abroad, not only do you gain experience and achieve self-fulfilment, but you also leave your comfort zone and grow as a person and improve your cross-cultural understanding. With this, companies will see that you are a person that is always ready to leave your comfort zone, that is more excited to learn new tasks, that is also a non-settling person and is a team player, as you most likely will have to work with a team made up of people you do not know. Furthermore, it also shows that you are a leader for yourself, which is highly appreciated nowadays, and that you are a solution-oriented person, as you went alone to a foreign country and lived there by yourself. Currently, AIESEC and Erasmus+ offer this kind of experience, and the experiences usually last at least 6 weeks, up to 10. In addition, most of them offer free meals, and some also offer a small salary.
Take Part in a Club or Community
your university campus, there surely are various clubs and communities in which you can take part, from a Model United Nations event to being in a debate, a drama or math club, or even a student government. In addition, there are several junior companies and non-profit organisations present in several universities, like AIESEC, where you can work for them and develop your skills and work for a greater cause, while you also help other people who are developing themselves.
When companies make an analysis of your curriculum vitae, they always check if you were part of any club or community at your university as a way to understand if you felt connected to your university and the community itself, because they want to know if you would engage with the company the same way you did with your college. Despite being underrated, this issue is a big deal-breaker for them, as they want to have enthusiastic and engaged employees who can bring them great results and create an excellent work environment.
As you can see, there are many different extracurricular activities that you can start doing, and all of them will give you a different set of skills that companies highly appreciate. Additionally, they will most likely give you the tools to have a successful career and it is going to be shown in the long term!
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