Four Reasons Why Taking A Gap Year Could Be Good For You
Graduating from school or a private university singapore can be scary, even if you are an A-star student. After all, the working world is a whole different ball game — and we’ve all heard stories about the difficulties of getting a job, the steep learning curves, or even the horrors of navigating office politics as a newbie. Well, if jumping from school straight to the corporate ladder sounds absolutely dreadful to you, perhaps taking a gap year should be on the cards.
In the past, taking a gap year may have been frowned upon, but today, it’s often seen as something that helps to accelerate individual growth. More and more people are starting to realize that a gap year, while it may seem daunting and uncertain, is an unmatched opportunity to help a person develop discipline and tenacity. If done well, it reflects strong character traits like determination, self-awareness, and an appetite for adventure — all of which are more than welcome in any workplace.
If you’re still not convinced, here are four more reasons why taking a gap year might be a good choice for you, along with some tips on how to make the most of it.
1. Beef up your resume
A padded resume is a surefire way to grab a recruiter’s attention, and a gap year is an excellent way to achieve that. Not only will you have more time to accomplish more things, but you can also get experiences that are more relevant to the field you are keen to go into in the future.
For instance, if you’re looking to go into advertising, it might be useful to get some experience on a production set or in a public relations agency. Having a wide berth of experience will grant you the advantage of knowing the different stages of ad creation and the confidence to communicate with the various stakeholders down the line.
With the extra time from a gap year put into actual industry experience, you’ll be one step ahead of your peers. Having additional networking opportunities also means you can also look forward to rubbing shoulders with many more professionals in your chosen field. Think useful perks like long-term mentorships, insider connections, even strong recommendation letters you can use in your search for a job after the gap year is over.
A great way to get started is to apply for internships, fellowships, or volunteer experiences. Moreover, full-year internships are relatively easy to attain compared to full-time jobs, as they usually require less prior experience.
2. Gather a sense of direction
Another huge reason why many people decide to take a gap year is to get some extra time to figure out what they want to do for a career. After all, it’s hard to decide and make such a life-changing choice right out of school.
What a gap year does is give you both time and experience to help you make that choice. Especially for those graduating without a clue about what they’re interested in or what job they wish to pursue, this can be invaluable. If that’s you, don’t skip out of this opportunity for fear of lagging behind the peers who graduate with you. The last thing you want is to deep dive headfirst into a job you don’t enjoy or are not good at, and find yourself struggling for years on end.
Even for those who already have an idea of what they wish to pursue, a gap year opportunity in the form of an internship or an attachment will greatly help to solidify that. There are countless stories of people who have taken a gap year trying out small roles in the industry of choice, only to find out that it’s not what they want to do after all. On the flip side, a positive experience in the industry will make you more certain of your chosen career and give you the added motivation you need to perform well later on.
Needless to say, whichever situation you’re facing, taking a gap year is a useful strategy to help you figure out where to go, as well as what your next course of action in life will be.
3. Make some side income
Being in school for so long means that most of us haven’t held full-time jobs in a while. The lack of a consistently sizeable income coupled with mounting student loans can be a stressful position for anyone.
Instead of clinging onto your pocket money for dear life, why not make the most out of your free time after graduation to earn some extra cash? Working in your gap year not only gives you the freedom to explore in your free time but also lets you earn some money on the side. You can actually earn quite a significant amount in a year, even if your job only pays minimum wage.
With this money, you can offset burdensome loans and expenses even before you land your first full-time job. Paying it quickly helps you save on the interest the loans accumulate, meaning you’ll pay less overall in the long run. With an eased burden, these funds will also grant you valuable flexibility and time when you actually start job hunting after the gap year.
Of course, this doesn’t come without some effort on your part to budget early on before you take your gap year. It’s good to make a plan so that you don’t splurge too much during your gap year and get to reap its full financial benefits.
4. Learn new skills
School is great for learning, but it’s no secret that it doesn’t teach everything you need to know to transition into working life smoothly. In particular, many working professionals will agree that soft skills like teamwork and responsibility are truly learned only after one leaves a schooling environment.
As such, it may be good to take up new skills in a gap year before proceeding to work. Whether it’s an internship or a short part-time stint, the experience earned will definitely help smoothen the transition into your first corporate full-time job.
If not soft skills, then taking a gap year is a fantastic opportunity for you to master other skills relating to your interests, even if unrelated to your future job. Looking back, you won’t regret taking up things like cooking, sports, or crafts in your gap year.
Conclusion
All in all, taking a gap year is certainly a viable option for graduates today. Upon a closer look, you may even stand to benefit much more from it than if you were to join the workforce straight away. After your gap year, you’ll be walking away with a better resume, new connections, financial independence, and even new skills — all of which puts you in a great position to tackle the future head-on.