Apparently, a ‘Spring Week’ is not a snappy marketing tagline for a sale on mattresses. As a state-educated fresher navigating first term at university, this was news to me.
It’s easy to feel like the only way to crack on after uni is through a handful of rigid, pre-approved routes; the ones that get all the airtime in careers talks, or are quietly passed down through family connections. But that’s not the whole picture, and once I realised there were other, more realistic routes I could actually access, things started to shift.
At 18, I was stunned at how well-informed my peers were. While I was trying to squeeze another bottle of wine into my weekly food budget, my coursemates were breezing through 'Application Tracker' spreadsheets and lining up internship interviews. I’d never heard the term “insight day”, and couldn’t believe that people could afford to spend their summers in unpaid internships, or already had 'contacts' in top firms. If ‘your network is your net worth’, let’s just say that I was in the red.
I’m proud to be part of the 93% of the UK population that are state-educated and, in many ways, very grateful for my experiences. But in those first months at university, I couldn’t help feeling slightly bitter about how little information I’d been given to prepare for the humbling reality of breaking into the world of work.
And it goes beyond a lack of information - I remember registration periods where anyone who wasn’t planning on applying to university was dismissed halfway through the session, for us higher education hopefuls to have focused time on our UCAS applications. While I appreciated the support at the time, I doubt that the others were offered alternative sessions on apprenticeships or vocational routes. Were they just left to figure it out alone? It’s not that our teachers didn’t care - I’ve had some incredible teachers who offered all the support they possibly could. But the huge disparity in pupil to teacher ratios between state and private schools means that there simply are not enough hours in the day to dedicate to students’ professional development, on top of getting them through final exams.
That’s why programmes like Wiser Academy feel so important to me now. They exist to bridge that knowledge gap – giving all students real opportunities, support, and experience they might not otherwise have had access to. I just didn’t know it existed yet.
The preparedness of some students was frankly intimidating. The AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) First-year Student Career Readiness Survey reported that undergraduates from private schools are significantly more confident in the key competencies required for application processes than their state-educated peers. At that stage, knowing that my competition would be students who’d been preparing for up to five years longer than I was incredibly disheartening. It felt like I had fallen behind in a race I didn’t even know I was supposed to be running. At this point, my dream career was ‘nepo baby’.
So maybe I did miss the boat on Spring week season, and the idea of a summer internship felt like a bit of a glass ceiling, but the concept of a placement year looked somewhat achievable. I had a little more time to prepare for applications and armed myself with logins for every single job board in existence. My placement year at Wiser completely changed my outlook – for the first time, I saw what a career could actually look like, and more importantly, how I could shape one that felt right for me. When I went back to uni for final year, I joined the Wiser Academy as a student ambassador. It was fulfilling to be able to help people like me take their first step, or help them see that it wasn’t too late to start.
And when I graduated? I came straight back to Wiser – being surrounded by people who care about early careers access this much is something I’m not quite ready to give up.
The early careers world can be confusing, intimidating, and skewed in favour of the well-connected. But there are ways to start carving out your own path. If, like me, you missed Spring weeks, haven’t touched your CV, or feel like everyone else is ten steps ahead, take this as a sign that you are not out of the race.
Being part of the Wiser Academy gave me way more than a CV boost. It gave me real, tangible work experience – the kind that builds confidence and credibility. I learned how to promote opportunities in an authentic way, made connections with brilliant clients and like-minded students across the country, and built a personal brand that actually reflected what I stood for. It’s a role that grows with you – you can ramp things up or down depending on what uni throws at you, and you get paid for the time you put in. There’s also loads of support on offer: you’ll get training, mentoring, and L&D opportunities that actually feel relevant. If you’re serious about building up your employability without burning out, this is a great place to start.
Applications for the 2025/26 Wiser Academy cohort are now officially open. Whether you’re keen to help your peers find their way, boost your personal brand, or get some standout early careers experience under your belt – this is your chance to join a tight-knit community that gets it. We’d love to see your name in the mix.
