Student of the week: Kevin Adom - Kingdom Clothing

This is a new feature we're going to try out. Student of the week will offer an example of some of the best students nationally, (or even internationally we don't know how popular this thing might get). It will give other students the opportunity to see how people are enhancing their CVs, through internships, work experience, additional courses, or even running your own business like our first Student of the Week, Kevin Adom. Here Kevin explains what drove him to create his own clothing line and the brand "Kingdom", which is rapidly expanding to be not only an online store, but a high quality media outlet.

"I’d have to say my first thought of wanting to start “Kingdom” was the first year of college when I began studying Media. Now, like 95% of the people who choose Media Studies for their A-Levels I instantly thought it would be complete a doss lesson and I’d get a decent enough grades to help push my UCAS points for my other subjects I was much more serious about. However that 95% of people including myself learnt really quickly that Media isn’t a subject which will have you plain sailing (contrary to popular belief).  

Anyways, the assignment for the year was to create a magazine, more specifically design the front cover, a feature page and then write an essay on it. We’d discuss who our target consumer was, how we’d market it and our unique selling point for the brand. So all in all we were being tested on 2 essential skills; firstly our design ability and secondly our understanding of brand to consumer relationships. I felt I had a real knack for it and thoroughly enjoyed the idea of creating something and then thinking about how I’d present it to a consumer. I really took this project seriously so much so that I got a B in it (I got an A in my second year so it’s all good). I got home and downloaded photoshop and started fiddling about with it making really embarrassingly bad designs to start off with.

Fast forward 2 and a half years and I’ve been lucky enough to be in University, not studying Media but English Literature with Creative Writing and balancing it with Kingdom, being able to release a few seasonal collections along the way. 

One of the main reasons I chose not to study Media in University was that I personally saw it as a field which appreciated experience over academic accolades. It’s a field I can definitely see myself working in after I graduate however but couldn’t envision myself taking the academic route with it further. Also I love English and writing, I’ve always thought about being a teacher but the thought of being in a room with a group pre-pubescent teenagers day in day out sometimes freaks me out!

Doing Kingdom has allowed a lot of doors to open up for me one of the most recent and helpful has been working with a marketing group and Converse where a collection of young male creatives  talk brand ideas and are overseen by professionals in their respective field that mentor us as well. Apparently I can’t say too much about it but it’s really cool stuff! This is sort of what I mean by “experience over academic accolades” although I don’t knock any University students studying Media in anyway because there’s most definitely a lot of stuff that they know and have learnt that I don’t have a clue about, I just feel as if the path I chose was the right one for me.  

My main focus right now is to finish University and get a Masters in English I really feel however that my degree ties in nicely into what I do individually because it’s about creating something but also understanding people, their motives, their thought process and acting on that. Whether it’s analysing a painfully dry chapter from Pride & Prejudice for hours on end or writing a novella it’s all about knowing how to read an individual, identify who they are and then display that to your audience.  

Hopefully by that time I graduate I’ve managed to get a lot of field work done with different brands and marketing companies as well as expanding my own brand with creative endeavours."

You can check out Kevins store at http://resideinthekingdom.com/ 

For your chance to be featured as Student of the Week contact us via twitter @StudentCtheory

Oh the Humanities

If someone has said to you, "so what are you going to do with that?" after you've told them your degree subject, the chances are you study a Humanities subject or a Social Science. So is it true, as many of the Daily Mail commenters profess, that it's all doom and gloom in terms of our employment prospects or is there light at the end of the tunnel for those of us not blessed with studying in the Maths and Science departments? 

Source: www.scientificamerican.com 

Although in the social standing of degree subjects you might not feel you're at the top, you definitely have something to offer. For instance, History students are highly valued for their ability to analyse information and present a good argument, whilst Sociology students are praised for their understanding of society and their ability to interpret research. That's right, useful research goes on in the other departments too! You may find it useful to try and think of the skills you think you're developing and if you get stuck, ask a member of staff on your course because they will be able to see it first hand. 

I haven't got anything against people into Maths and Science, I just don't feel a need for people who probably haven't even studied those kinds of subjects themselves to kill the self esteem of millions of students not studying those subjects with comments that they don't have justification for. 

If it were true that an English degree could only be used for being an English teacher, there would surely be a report on the mass unemployment amongst English graduates. But there isn't. And that's because the probability is you will get employed. Every department gives its students skills to take to the job market with them. Employers do value these skills and many graduate jobs don't ask for a specific degree because they know all graduates will come with a ready skill set and they want variety amongst their employees, which surely would not be the case if we all came tailored with our chemistry sets. 

It's also important to remember that you don't have to get a job related to your degree subject at all. You could ask people in years above you to ask what they did with their degree, but just because someone hasn't done it yet, doesn't mean you can't. 

I'll leave you with some examples of graduates I know who have gone into professions seemingly unrelated to their degree but which they were chosen for due to the skills they demonstrated: 

Politics - Food Factory Management Graduate Scheme 

Medicine - Lawyer

Nursing - Accountant 

English Literature - Human Resources Graduate Scheme 

Geography - Public Services Graduate Scheme 

Education - Consultancy Graduate Scheme 

Don't believe everything you read in the papers about which subjects are best, unemployment exists for students of those subjects too, just try and develop as much as you can at Uni and present your skills well when applying for jobs. Look out for our CV tips coming soon. 

"I can't get a graduate job but I really deserve one"

If I had a pound for every time I've heard someone say that. Far be it for me to respond to one of my dear acquaintances with the obvious question of "well why do you?", I sit and nod and agree, hiding my confusion that they feel they deserve every job they apply for.

Before I get carried away with a cynical rant, let's explore the notion that as a graduate you deserve a graduate level job.

What are you offering to an employer as a graduate?

Transferable skills of research, presentations, writing detailed reports, an analytic mind and the ability to network with people of all levels as you've lived with people from all different social classes in halls and you've attended some swanky networking events in your time so you've got this one nailed.

"I've got all the skills and I meet all their requirements"

So you've got the degree classification they're looking for, you've got the right kind of A levels and you've definitely got higher than a C in GCSE Maths and English. And of course we know that if you're fully qualified for the job then you must get it and you won't look at applying for anything that pays less than 22k because you've spent three years studying so why should you?

The main problem we have as students today is a misconception drilled into us by the media. This is the misconception that we all, having completed a degree, are qualified to do a well paid job. The follow up from this is that we feel we deserve to leave Uni and start on 25k a year, which let's face it, for the majority of us is not going to happen. Statistics are put to us all the time like.. "average graduate job salary is 25k a year". Yeah and let's not forget how an average is calculated; think of those remarkable graduates that get jobs in the city starting on 45k a year. Surely that will distort this average? Then consider the thousands of students that graduate every year and don't get a graduate job. Their salaries aren't considered as these aren't graduate jobs! Hence we all feel a salary less than this is beneath us, as is the job that comes with a title that doesn't include the word "graduate". 

This is the real point I'm getting to, if you leave Uni and you haven't secured yourself a fantastic graduate role, this is not the end of the world. I recently read a guardian article that said graduates couldn't secure graduate jobs and so were destined to work on shop floors and building sites. Really? Because that is the only other alternative we have? What about the thousands of jobs that exist in administration, or being an assistant, or just the generic roles which could still lead you to the career path you really want. Don't not apply for a job because it doesn't include the word graduate. Getting such a role may even help you in the long run as you gain the experience you need so that you fully understand a more developed role when the time comes for you to go into one. This may help build your confidence so you yourself feel ready and gain some more ambition.  

This is not a post to tell you not to apply for graduate jobs, you might get one and you might love life. This is a post to highlight the value of not getting a graduate job and that it is not game over if you don't secure one straight away. Avoid feeling like the world of work owes you something for your studying and go out there and get stuck in.

For information about the kinds of paths graduates follow to getting their dream job, keep following this blog for future updates.

Building Student Capital

Human capital is the concept that investment in people helps the economy by making it more productive. Here we aim to explore what students can offer to the workplace and what they need to know to give themselves the best start - welcome to Student Capital Theory.

Throughout this blog you will see regular updates on the issues most relevant and current to students heading out into the workplace, those convinced they will never get a job, those who don't know what job they want and those who are just looking for somewhere that will finally tell them they're not doomed for the future. 

If you are looking for some positivity, in a time when we are constantly reminded of the dire economic state around us and our lack of opportunity, and a place you can visit with genuinely helpful advice and inspirational examples, look no further. 

As we grow and develop we will include advice from employers, previous students, those creating their own work experience and people undertaking work experience, paid or unpaid. If you are interested in being featured please contact us via twitter @StudentCTheory