08 Jul The Graduate Job Search

It’s that time of the year again. Third-year university students are about to make their first steps into graduate life and the working world after submitting all of their assignments and receiving their final grades.

The recent graduates of the last couple of years have had a challenging time already. They have had to adapt to online learning and complete exams and assignments in their bedrooms during the most crucial time of their entire degree. Their university journey also resulted in an anticlimactic ending as graduation were either postponed to a later date or cancelled completely.

As businesses cut back on their personnel in recent years due to the pandemic, internships, graduate programmes, and other entry-level positions were sometimes the first to be cut back within workplaces.

First of all, congrats if you are a new graduate looking to get into the workforce! Making it through university is an accomplishment, so be sure to take some time to enjoy yourself. Secondly, you are not alone. We know the job hunt is a daunting task, especially now more than ever, but there are plenty of organisations providing resources out there to help you.

Here’s our tips for navigating the graduate job search to help get you on the pathway to success.

Researching

Spending some time determining what position and industry you want to pursue is one of the first and most crucial things to undertake. This will improve your chances of landing a job because you can then adapt the rest of your application to this position and industry.

Investigate the industries to which your degree can lead in to. Before you start writing yourself off for certain roles, make sure you are aware of all your possibilities. Your degree may potentially open up more professional opportunities for you than you may realise, leading to an entirely different path for your career than you had originally anticipated.

Choosing what is best for you when you first start can be difficult. If you’re having trouble, consider the elements of your degree that you liked, your skill set, your personal hobbies, and the type of workplace you believe you’d do best in. Your responses to these questions will be useful in helping to guide you toward the careers and sectors for which you would be most suitable.

Of course, keep in mind that these choices don’t have to be final. After graduation, you’ll be searching for your first job, therefore it’s acceptable to still be undecided about your career path. You will start to discover more about your strengths and interests after you start working in a graduate job. You may utilise this information to your advantage as you advance in your career.

Stand out with your CV

Before you start making applications, it is crucial that you take some time to create a stand-out and up-to-date CV and cover letter.

While you might believe that sending out your initial few applications as quickly as you can is the best course of action, it’s worth taking the time to create a CV that sells you as effectively as it can. Your CV and cover letter are your first opportunity to make an impression on an employer, and they will ultimately determine whether you move on to the next step of the application process.

Include your past employment history, talents, academic achievements, and any interests and hobbies you may have so the employer has a complete picture of who you are. However, be sure to keep your CV as brief and to the point as you can. Make sure the employer doesn’t have to look far to locate the information they require because if they do, they will give up seeking. Even though it’s still early in your career, one A4 page of your CV should be sufficient. Your CV should not be more than two A4 pages in total.

Another important thing to do is ensure you are tailoring your CV and cover letter to each role you are applying for. This may seem time-consuming but making some small changes for each application can help employers instantly see if you’re a great match for the role. Study the job description carefully and emphasize the skills required on your CV, demonstrating where you’ve developed and used these skills in situations. Add a sentence into your personal profile that shows you want to work for a company like theirs, e.g. “An enthusiastic, hard-working graduate now looking for opportunities in start-up organisations.”

Boost your employability

Despite having a degree, some graduates fail to find the graduate jobs they want because they lack the necessary skills or experience. If this applies to you, it might be worthwhile to invest some time in upgrading your skills and increasing your employability.

If you believe this to be a worthwhile choice, you may accomplish this by going to back to university to get a master’s degree. You can also consider taking on a few brief work-related internships to assist you get the necessary experience and credentials.

Taking several free online courses in the field or position you want to enter is another affordable option. People wishing to upskill have found short online courses to be very popular throughout the pandemic, and they are great tools to increase your employability. Additionally, they’ll keep you current with the market and demonstrate to potential employers that you have a passion for it by taking the time outside of your university course to advance your abilities.

Find out what you’ll need to do the work, then look into the solutions that are available to you to help you fulfil these criteria. You can then choose the solution that is ideal for you from there.

Developing your Network

Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It’s a common phrase that we’ve all probably heard, and the reason for that is because it’s true. While the above advice will surely be helpful to you in your graduate job hunt, you should also put yourself out there, make connections with others in the field, and network with them.

Of course, professional networking has changed a bit over recent times, with most networking events still being hosted online for the time being. While virtual networking means you can’t physically meet and get to know people as well as you could at a physical networking event, virtual networking events means that location is no issue, meaning more events will be available that wouldn’t have been so accessible if they were in person.

Research and attend these webinars, virtual careers fairs and workshops. Make sure you get involved with them; Have your camera on, take notes, ask questions where you can. Look up the people involved at the end of the event and see if you can contact them; Let them know you attended the event, who you are, that you’re interested in the company and if anyone on their team has a few minutes free for a quick zoom call. Most of these events are free, meaning all you need to do is pre-register and attend.

Don’t forget to look at your current network as well. Sometimes, helpful connections can be found in the most unexpected locations. Look through your friends, family, and family friends’ friends, even friends of friends. It doesn’t matter whether you haven’t seen them in a long time or if you’ve never even spoken to them. However, make contact. You’ll be happy you did it if you can gain some work experience or an upgrade when a position opens up.

Register to a recruitment agency (Choose us!)😉

Applying to all these jobs can sometimes be an overwhelming task to take on by yourself. One way to help yourself with your graduate job search is to register with a recruitment agency.

You can find out what positions are best for you by speaking with a recruitment specialist. They may also assist you in your hunt by sending you emails with job matches as soon as any openings arise, putting your name forward for any you are interested in, helping you prepare for any interviews, and so on. This will help you market yourself as effectively as possible.

Approaching a recruitment agency, the same way you would an employer is always a good idea. Be respectful and professional in your communication with them. It will be much easier for you to land a decent job if you and your recruiting consultant can develop a solid working relationship.

There are thousands of recruiting agencies throughout the UK, so no matter where you are, one close by will undoubtedly be able to assist. Even if we might be partial, we believe Kiwi Recruitment is the best option for you.

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