What are you going to do in your Vacation?
The aims of this leaflet are to help you to :
 think about what you want from your vacations
 plan ahead
 go about getting what you want, and
 make good use of information available at the Careers Advisory
Service.
Planning Your Vacation Time
In total, your vacation time amounts to about 56 weeks. What have you done in previous
vacations and how will you use those ahead of you? You will have your own ideas and
priorities. These could involve travel, expeditions, non academic interests, catching up on
academic activities, completing that dissertation, working as a volunteer, learning to drive or
improving your computer skills, picking up a foreign language or exploring career
possibilities. It is with the last activity that this leaflet is primarily concerned.
What employers look for in graduate applicants
If “I only did it for the money!” is how you explain your work experience, think again!
Employers want you to have learnt from it.
There are some jobs where relevant experience is a tremendous asset to the graduate job
seeker. These include arts administration, media jobs, librarianship, museum work, social
work, solicitor’s articles (and courses) and teaching English as a foreign language. However,
‘relevant experience’ need not be paid work. Volunteer work (including student organizations
such as SCA (Student Community Action), a vacation course, a placement or work
shadowing can also fit the bill. If you apply for teacher training it will help if you have
worked with children. Any financial sector experience will enhance an application for a ‘City’
job.
However, what most employers look for is not relevant vacation work so much as you have
the personal qualities, and skills they want for the particular job. And there are many ways to
provide the evidence they need. For instance, if ‘initiative’ is one of the desirable qualities,
instances from your academic studies, leisure activity, DSU Society involvement, social
activities or travel can be just as valid as examples from paid work. This evidence can come
from vacation experience in a field other than the one to which you are applying. Some of the
qualities, abilities and skills employers often look for are:
 initiative
 commitment
 enthusiasm
 ability to plan
 managing time  creativity
 risk taking
 negotiating
 responsibility
 coping with routine
 persuasion
 flexibility
 team working  dealing with people
 problem solving  tackling new things
You may not know what an employer will demand, but you should start now to analyse your
academic, leisure and employment experience to date and identify the qualities and skills you
think you already have.
Not just Vacation Work/What are the Options?
All employers are impressed by applicants who have done their homework. But relevant
vacation work is only one way of learning about a job and your own suitability. There are
other ways of gaining an insight into (and testing your suitability for) careers which attract
you.
Vacation internships/projects
Internships and vacation projects are probably better than most vacation jobs since the
employer is likely to design a piece of real work, which will teach you about the organisation
and the particular job function, and demand from you the qualities which make for success in
permanent jobs in that function. Projects last between 4 and 10 weeks, and are usually well
paid. Most employers who offer them see them as part of their overall graduate recruitment
effort and a job offer, or at least a place at a final selection board, can follow. More than one
company recruits all its graduate trainees this way.
Vacation courses
Residential short courses for final year students during the summer and Christmas vacations
aim to provide a brief exploration of the type(s) of work for which they recruit graduates. If
you are selected (and competition is usually keen) the employer will provide accommodation
and meals and reimburse your travelling expenses. Like vacation project schemes, they aim to
attract good graduate recruits. Students attending vacation courses may be able to by-pass
initial job interviews. There are other vacation courses for which you will have to pay at least
part of the cost such as the Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) courses on careers
such as retailing. The Careers Advisory Service offers a 3-day Insight into Management
course in Durham to over 80 students just before the start of their final year.
Work shadowing or placements
Typically these last for 1 or 2 weeks. Some are paid. The essence of work shadowing is to
accompany a professionally qualified or senior person and discuss with them the context of
their activities. These can include meetings with clients and colleagues, dealing with paper
work and day to day work in a factory, shop or site. It aims to give you a better insight into
the work you might do as a graduate recruit than you would be get in an unskilled vacation
job in the same organisation.
Volunteering
Paid vacation work can be extremely hard to get in some areas such as museum work,
broadcasting, journalism, publishing, arts administration, surveying, environmental
conservation and archive work. Try to get paid employment but if you don’t succeed,
volunteer your services for a few weeks. That’s long enough to get a feel for the work,
opportunities and entry possibilities and will greatly enhance your subsequent recruitment
prospects. In addition there are lots of organisations looking for willing pairs of hands,
whether or not you have a career interest in that field, such as holidays for disabled people or
deprived children or conservation schemes.
Visits and use of contacts
Try setting up an informal meeting with a practitioner in any field which interests you. Most
people like talking about their jobs and are willing to share the fruits of their experience with
an interested student.
The Careers Advisory Service has names and addresses of local and national contacts who are
keen to help students interested in the work they are doing. Details of these are on Careers
Folders. In your home area, make contacts through family, friends or speculative approaches.
See the leaflet - Networking.
Applying for vacation work/How to Find It?
Advertised opportunities
Information and application forms for vacation work and courses sent in by employers are
kept on the Vacation Work section. The vacancies themselves are advertised in our weekly
vacation opportunities bulletin, also available for you to view on our web site at
www.dur.ac.uk/careers-advice. The Job Shop, the Durham University student employment
service, has details of local vacation work opportunities and is based in the Careers Advisory
Service. More information at www.dur.ac.uk/DurhamJobshop.
Applications (advertised vacancies)
Apply in the format requested. Sometimes there will be an application form to complete and
return. More often you will have to send a letter and CV. Help on compiling a CV and letters
of application is available at the Careers Advisory Service.
Speculative applications
Most students get vacation work through speculative approaches to employers. The Careers
Advisory Service also keeps up-to-date directories of vacation work opportunities and other
useful information resources for addresses. Try all the possible approaches. Write. Phone.
Knock on doors.
Final message
Apply in good time. January is not too soon to apply for summer vacation work and if at first
you don’t succeed, persistence can pay dividends. If you get an initial non-committal reply
and it is something you are keen to do, contact the employer again a few months later,
stressing your enthusiasm. If the job is connected with your career interests, emphasise this
fact.
Good luck. Enjoy your vacation experiences.
© Durham University Careers Advisory Service 2002