Working hard to get a 2:1
By the end of my second year at University I was averaging 53.5% in my degree. In the beginning of my third year, as I started looking at careers, I quickly realised that I would need to average at least 60% to even get a look in at the investment bank graduate schemes I was interested in. It seemed every company required a minimum of a 2:1 before they would even interview you. Due to the weighting of modules in my final year I needed to average 64% in my final year exams.
Skipped lectures, missed tutorials and money making schemes did not seem so clever now. I made the decision to stop applying for jobs and focus on my degree. If I pulled it off I would apply for graduate jobs after university.
I began going to all my lectures, working in the library after tutorials and studying during the holidays. My final year was very much about hard work and it paid off.
In the end my final year mark was 69% bringing my overall average to 64%.
I had done it with a little room to spare.
(Written January 1st 2009. Republished from Tim's personal blog on startups & small businesses)
