Congratulations Graduates

3 Things you must know before heading off to University

With rising tuition prices topping £9,000 the burden resting on prospective university students means that many are opting to go straight into work or pursue other interests such as travelling before they take the plunge into a university degree. A university degree is becoming more and more crucial as employees look to find the sharpest tool in the tool box therefore the £9,000 spent on the process should be used wisely. 

Having now finished my four year degree in International Hospitality & Tourism Management and successfully landing a job for the future I can tell you what it is like and have come up with three things you should remember if you take the plunge to go to University.

University is about being professional – Your college days are behind you. Just because you have fewer lectures than your college years, doesn’t mean less work. With £9,000 resting on your success, the time for you to be professional is now. Liaising with lecturers, getting into the inner circle, attending networking events, is only going help you to become a more professional person.

Experience, Experience, Experience – I cannot stress this enough; University is no longer about being good at academia. Some employers are looking way beyond your degree and now at how much work you have done or achieved. Experience counts for a lot in business today, the more experience you can secure the better all round candidate you can become and make yourself more attractive to individuals. 

Networking – Again this is a must and some times under-utilised in University today. During the recession networking was a crucial part of graduate’s process to securing a job. No matter who you are, your interests and your ambitions someone in the world will be sharing that same passion, all you have to do is utilise these networks effectively. Outlined are some good examples of networking sites or events that you can join to make your networks bigger.

Finished university and planning on going into the world of work? I would like to hear from you. Leave a comment and I will respond to your message as soon as possible. 

Is your CV headed for the graveyard?

In light of new technologies and on-line recruitment sites, could your CV be becoming more and more obsolete? Social experts are predicting that whilst your CV is good explaining your credentials and relevant work experience, on-line tools which express your CV in so many more ways than just 2 sides of A4 ever did are becoming increasingly popular.

Whilst these new ways of expressing yourself are a new avenue for career building they should be treated with caution. With a rising older population resulting in less technical savvy individuals, some people still demand a written CV, but these new avenues outlined below allow you to stand out from the crowd.

Video CV’s – Graham Anthony’s Interactive CV landed him a high profile job at a leading PR agency. In his video he explained his CV in depth in rich detail. Converted it to a YouTube video and the viral marketing campaign began attracting 95,000 YouTube hits. It became a viral success and has been hinted as the   video that changed the original CV.

  

Infographical – Infographics has taken off in recent years, displaying information in a visual form allows the reader to gauge a lot more about who you are and makes you to stand out from the crowd.

Social Networking CV – With advancements in social networking, more and more employers are looking on Social Networking sites to find out who you say you really are.

Personal Website – Creating your own personal website has been relatively easy in recent years, with so many free web based and freeware available creating your unique domain and web page has been easy as a couple of clicks.

Whilst these avenues have been highlighted as beneficial to stand out from the crowd you should be careful. What you think is a good expression of yourself could be treated negatively by your future employer. In most cases a written A4 CV is sufficient enough to be included in your application. Likewise in many cases many high profile companies have written application forms offering little room innovation and expressionism.  

Can you apply a formula to getting a job?

After numerous interviews and a few assessment centres I have now landed a graduate job, starting two months after graduating in July. Numerous authors have put to debate how graduates can achieve that dream job. I am now one of the lucky ones, and now that I have reached the other side, I can share my thoughts and experiences on how to land the job that you want or for that matter get your first foot on the job ladder. 

As you maybe aware, I am currently approaching my final couple of months as a Surrey University undergraduate, but my campaign to secure a graduate job started a long time previous, in fact September 2009 to be precise. I had tried numerous times to secure a placement as part of my degree, an optional year out in the industry to gain crucial experience in the field of my studies. Having tried in-vane to secure a role, I began the daunting task of securing internship after internship and slowly building up experience in the fields of Social Media, Marketing and Hospitality. I felt that I had a lot to offer, but I kept being put down at the last hurdle, either because someone was better than me or they had further experience that I didn't. 

But the process of securing Internship after internship meant that I was building up much needed experience. In addition working for a notable charity such as Macmillan Cancer Support meant that I was offering services in area's which would create a good cause. Furthermore charity work on a CV is seen as a must by most employers in today's lucurative job market. Likewise I had opportunities during my placement year to do things that I wouldn't have been able to do on my placement such as set up and run my own catering business, develop blogs and publish websites for clients. I really found that the year was a tremendous success and felt that I had got enough experience under my belt to secure a graduate job.

A further 9 months after finishing my placement year I have now been offered a role with a leading wholesaler in the hospitality industry, amongst other offers I felt this job represented a real achievement for my successes in the past and further may lead to new openings in the future. The following shows the key tips on how to succeed in the job market, having gone through a lot to secure a job I believe I am well positioned to show you the secrets of getting that dream job.

• Use your initiative - Among other things on my irregular placement year, I showed good use of my initiative when I set up and ran my own drinks catering service. I carefully managed the brand, including promotional work and also was capable of securing person ell for bigger events which I could not manage on my own. Today more than ever graduate's need to show good use of initiative taking something and making it better or starting your own business is only going to add to your array of skills.

• Networking - Believe it or not, I didn't think much of networking when I was applying for placement applications, I am regretting that now though. Who ever you are, what ever you know there will be someone out there that will share the same knowledge and idea's, you connect to them and future opportunities may arise. Networking is seen as a fundamental new approach in the work place, but it should be utilised more so now, post recession. I am heavy user of social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter these not only allow me to gain new connections but also expand my horizons on subjects that I may not have had opportunities to develop in the past. 

• Act Professional - gone are the days of University being about the late night antics and the two days recovery period and maybe turning up to a couple of lectures. Your university degree means something and with a £9,000 a year burden resting on your shoulders the time to act professional is now. Creating business cards, developing your own corporate website will only strengthen your on-line presence and make you become more noticed. 

• Utilise the recruitment websites - What is familiar about the jobs that myself and my colleagues have all got is that they were mostly through recruitment sites. Peoples perception of these sites are strange, with many criticising there usefulness, I was one of these before when it was common for me to receive job notifications for jobs which weren't entirely related to my degree. The perception now is completely different, recruitment consultants will take your CV and give it a make over, provide you with the excellence and professionalism to make you get that job. It must be said that these people often know what they are talking about and therefore should not be disregarded. 

• Be resilient - You may have got rejected from one or two jobs, you may feel that your are the exact match for that role and no one else could have beaten you. Graduates especially, need to learn that even if you have the skills sometimes you fail. The best graduates are the ones that can pick themselves up and brush themselves down, the more you learn the more you will gain and this has never been more true in my search for a job.

Although this is isn't a formula it is certainly advice from someone who has got to the other-side of the river. It shows that determination, professionalism and a great deal of courage is needed, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and graduates need to learn that there will be times when it is tough, but you will get there eventually. You do your degree for a reason, those who show there initiative and show they have learnt from their mistakes will most likely be rewarded in the future.

Are you a future graduate? Looking for your next career move after you graduation? Leave a comment and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Nick Clegg Vows to break 'Who you know culture'

We have all been told countless number of times that you need experience for any type of job you apply to. If you don't have experience, then it is just going to be harder to get your foot on the job ladder. 

Within certain industries such as finance or banking there has been an evident culture in the past years whereby its not 'what you know' but 'who you 'know' and this culture has enabled many students to explore opportunities in fields which undoubtedly they wouldn't have dreamed of getting into without the connections they have made. More recently it has been noted that of all parties 'The Conservatives' who are proposing this ban with the liberal democrats, have auctioned off internship opportunities to raise party funding with many Internships in specific sectors such as Finance going for as much as £3,000. 

From a organisation point of you the 'who you know' culture is evident whereby, its easier for a CEO or Managing Director to employ someone who they believe that can do the job, or as a matter of fact, help friend out to provide their daughter / son with experience. It takes much longer for a CEO to interview potential candidates for possible Internships  and more importantly advertising on recruitment sites is expensive. 

Its good what the government have said about proposing a 'blanket ban' on the 'who you know' culture but in hindsight it is difficult for a complete blanket ban as many people know a lot of people and it is difficult for people to stop growing their connections or invade on their privacy. 

You can see the full interview on the BBC News Website below.  

It turns out that Nick Clegg got his first internship through internal networks

Internship game heats up as competition for graduate jobs rises

Last week I published a report written by High-flyers a leading graduate recruitment researcher. Some of the key highlights from the report suggests that more and more graduate jobs are filed by students that have already worked within than company before on a placement or summer Internships. 32% in fact, that's around 5,500 vacancies according to high-flyers will be filled by graduates who have already worked for that organisation. As graduate job applications intensifies, people are looking for new ways to find employment within businesses and Internships go some way to achieving this.

Internships is a practical work or training experience that allows students to build upon theoretical bases that they have learnt at school, college or university. Much criticism has been made as to whether Interns programmes are both beneficial to the organisation and also the employees. With many interns often being treated like part of the furniture and not actually gaining any real life experience at all. A even bigger issue is the issue of pay, as interns are there to gain an experience this often the reward, rather than a financial incentive. I would like to point out that this is wrong and any person who is a intern should be paid at least minimum wage. Internocracy a leading campaigner for fairer Internships suggests that only 10% of under 35's actually know that unpaid Internships actually break the law.

From my eye's Internships are perceived to be a grey area, on the one hand students are keen to gain experience to build on the theoretical understanding on the other they can't all work for free. Furthermore students importantly need the experience to further their career progression, with graduates job being even more difficult to come by, Internships are probably seen as the first stepping stone into these companies

How do I go about getting an Internship then?

• Enternships - People often say that you get more of a buzz out of working for smaller organisations, Enternships offers Internships from a range of small to medium sized enterprises.
• WEXO - Work Experience On-line - a community portal offering access to a range of Internships opportunities within small, medium and large corporations. Downside to WEXO is you have to pay, but on the positive side most of the Internships on this site are advertised as paid, so if you are successful it will be quick to recoup your original investment.

Whilst these sites may improve your chances of attaining a Internships and career progression, in reality we live in a society where it is not what you know, but who you know. It is crucial that you know your rights when accepting an Internships, if they can't afford to pay you then at best you should be seeking expenses.

Internships game heats up as competition for graduate job rises

Last week I published a report written by High-flyers a leading graduate recruitment researcher. Some of the key highlights from the report suggests that more and more graduate jobs are filed by students that have already worked within than company before on a placement or summer Internships. 32% in fact, that's around 5,500 vacancies according to high-flyers will be filled by graduates who have already worked for that organisation. As graduate job applications intensifies, people are looking for new ways to find employment within businesses and Internships go some way to achieving this.

Internships is a practical work or training experience that allows students to build upon theoretical bases that they have learnt at school, college or university. Much criticism has been made as to whether Interns programmes are both beneficial to the organisation and also the employees. With many interns often being treated like part of the furniture and not actually gaining any real life experience at all. A even bigger issue is the issue of pay, as interns are there to gain an experience this often the reward, rather than a financial incentive. I would like to point out that this is wrong and any person who is a intern should be paid at least minimum wage. Internocracy a leading campaigner for fairer Internships suggests that only 10% of under 35's actually know that unpaid Internships actually break the law.

From my eye's Internships are perceived to be a grey area, on the one hand students are keen to gain experience to build on the theoretical understanding on the other they can't all work for free. Furthermore students importantly need the experience to further their career progression, with graduates job being even more difficult to come by, Internships are probably seen as the first stepping stone into these companies

How do I go about getting an Internship then?

• Enternships - People often say that you get more of a buzz out of working for smaller organisations, Enternships offers Internships from a range of small to medium sized enterprises.
• WEXO - Work Experience On-line - a community portal offering access to a range of Internships opportunities within small, medium and large corporations. Downside to WEXO is you have to pay, but on the positive side most of the Internships on this site are advertised as paid, so if you are successful it will be quick to recoup your original investment.

Whilst these sites may improve your chances of attaining a Internships and career progression, in reality we live in a society where it is not what you know, but who you know. It is crucial that you know your rights when accepting an Internships, if they can't afford to pay you then at best you should be seeking expenses.

"Younger generation most affected as unemployement rises yet again"

How the bankers bonuses are affecting graduates?

Students are motivated by Money? With rising tuition fees and rising debts, students have far more to pay back than ever than the predecessors that came before us. It might be a wild statement, but I am beginning to think that it is true.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, graduates are faced with uncertain future, with masters degree's replacing graduate jobs, and more experience gained by students before they graduate, the future for graduates isn't the type of degree you have got and more about the practical uses of your degree in the real world.

Reading a recent article combined with the news, that Barclay's PLC has reported that its pre tax profits point towards £6.5 bn, it gives me no hesitation to suggest that most graduates will be applying to these types of companies. A recent report by High-flyers, a leading graduate research agency points towards graduate salaries have risen from £22,000 in 2003 to £29,000 in 2011.

Who is to blame for this rising trend? In my opinion it is the banks, although others may state to rising inflation and increased living costs. Investment banking in seven organisations intend to pay upwards of £40,000, including two banks that are offering packages worth at least £50,000 or more to new joiners. The resurgence of recruitment within the banking sector during 2010, combined with a reorganisation of how remuneration packages are structured at a number of banks has meant that average salaries at investment banks have jumped around 10% over the last twelve months.

You can read the rest of the report by following the link here.

The Graduate Gap

Prospective graduates have been told for the last couple of years that there is a shortage of graduate jobs out there. Moreover employers can now knit pick from the top universities to get the most high calibre graduates for the role. Having nearly graduated myself and from my experience thus far from the last couple of years, the story is a bleak one.

It is of my opinion that there is to exist something called a graduate gap, where the graduates graduating this year, may end up in the role or job, they do not want or not related to their degree programme, but it is the only job they can find at this time. This may even be part time employment which for some probably didn't even cross their mind when they started their degree.

The problem with the whole university degree system, is that there is no limit on the age you are allowed to go to University, furthermore graduate schemes don't restrict on the age you can apply, for some though you must have graduated within the last two years, but in terms of age there is no enforced restriction.

Some key points I keep hearing about my colleagues coming back from assessment centres "When you ask what university your fellow competitors went to? Cambridge, Oxford. It is OK if you can afford to go there.

"Do you have any experience? I have worked for Goldman Sachs for two years prior to University, then another financial placement. Over qualified perhaps? But these are the people we are up against. Another example and this is true, a friend said she was up against someone who had been in a graduate scheme, before for 7 years. Why would you want another graduate scheme surely if you were in one for seven years then it must have been worthwhile?

Altogether this will create something called the graduate gap, where thousands of prospective graduates, graduate and go into a job they aren't entirely set on as a career, of which they may have had different opinions when they started their degree.

Are you a graduate? Are you graduating in the next four to six months I would like to hear from you. What competition have you come up in interviews, assessment centres?

Graduates warned "You will struggle without experience"

Graduates without work experience will struggle to find jobs this summer, despite an increase in vacancies, research has suggested.

Three-fifths of employers are warning that graduates who have no previous work experience have little or no chance of getting a job offer, according to a study by High Fliers Research.

Around a third (32%) of this year's graduate vacancies are likely to be filled by applicants who have already worked for the employer as an undergraduate, and in some sectors, such as investment banking and law, this rises to 50%.

The study says: "Many recruiters commented that irrespective of the academic results that a graduate had achieved, it would be very hard for an applicant to demonstrate the skills and competencies that they were looking for if they'd not had any prior work experience."

The report, called The Graduate Market in 2011, analysed graduate vacancies and starting salaries at Britain's 100 leading employers. It found that employers expect to hire 9.4% more graduates this year than they did last year, with three-fifths of firms expecting to recruit more people than in 2010. But graduate recruitment has yet to recover to 2007 levels, it says. A quarter of entry-level vacancies at the UK's top employers were cut during the recession in 2008 and 2009.

Vacancies at high street banks have risen by a quarter, the study found, while there are also more job opportunities at city investment banks and accounting and professional services firms. But recruitment at many public sector firms has been cut. Half of employers questioned for the study said they had received more applications from graduates in the early part of this year's recruitment season than they did last year. In 2010 overall, employers received an average of 45 applications for every job - this could be higher this year.

Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: "Today's report includes the stark warning that in this highly competitive graduate job market, new graduates who've not had any work experience during their time at university have little or no chance of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer, irrespective of the university they've attended or the academic results they achieve."

Employers have been marketing their vacancies at between 10 and 20 universities in the UK, the study found, with Cambridge, Warwick, Manchester, Oxford and London institutions including Imperial, University College London and the London School of Economics the most often targeted, the study found.

For students seeking to boost their employment chances, almost all of the UK's top graduate employers are offering work experience programmes in the 2010-11 academic year. In total, 10,665 places are available. Graduates who do find a job are likely to earn around £29,000 on average, but a quarter of programmes will pay more than £30,000 and seven organisations are offering at least £40,000.

Universities Minister David Willetts said: "Whilst we welcome signs of an improvement, the job market remains competitive for new graduates, as it does for everyone, and graduates need to work hard to maximise their chances of success. However, a degree remains a good investment in the long term."

Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

How to make your mark on the jobs that you want?

Proper practice for interviewing you over the phone

I recently received a call from a graduate employer asking me if this was a convenient time to ask me a few questions about my application I had submitted. I thought to myself that this was a convenient moment and I would be happy to answer the "few" questions she had.

The only prior warning I had was that the person in question was going to contact me within 28 days to review my application, no mention here of what communication method.

It made me wonder though, do companies have the right to phone you up speculatively about your application. Of course they want to know who you are and to know what you know about the company you are applying to but in essence is it fair that they can do is.

To be fair companies want to know what you are like on the spot, in a real world scenario they want you to be able to think on your feet, you won’t have time to research the situation.

Obviously they want to employ the right people, those people are the people who can think on their feet, but in hindsight what about the people who have applied and really want to work for that company, but have really been caught unaware. What about them? Companies say that you have to be commercially savvy, being able to think on your feet is one of the most important elements in business today and this should follow through in your phone interview.

Furthermore should there be more guidance on what they should phone you up to ask you. They say is this a convenient moment, if you say no, you feel rude, if you say yes then they can ask you what ever question they like.

You can’t win!

The truth behind the Statistics

Recently a University (From now on label this university x) recorded that they had an 96.1% of graduates employed after they graduated, that is startling figure especially during the current graduate unemployment crisis.

But what does that statistic actually mean, does it mean that university x is a great university to go to if you are looking for full time job after you graduate or is that number extrapolated to justify that university x is a great university for employment. In my opinion it probably means both.

Students looking to go to university now should be weary about the future job prospects after they graduate. This might seem a strange thing to say, but by the time you have got through your first couple of years, you should have a mental and physical picture of what you want to do when you graduate, therefore the statistics of people employed should be a very useful guide on which university you want to go.

However there is more to these statistics that originally first thought?

What you have to consider is what the statistics do not take into account, is your job entirely related to your degree. Is this job part time / full time or even is this casual work, just to stop the annoying people who conduct the survey to stop bugging you.

Css-tricks conducted a survey based on how related is degree to current job. Of 5,500 votes casted online, 40% (2,187) said that it was not related and only 37% (2,011) said it was directly related. This suggests that graduates leaving university are most likely faced with going into a job which isn’t entirely related to your degree. Would you say this was money well spent?

It would also be interesting to see how many of the students were actually employed on graduate schemes? Obviously these figures would reveal the naked truth of our education system. Furthermore whether there are enough graduate schemes for the number of students coming through. Of course research organisations would be scared to release this information and the detrimental impact it could have.

Persistent Pays | Persistent Pays off in the End

Typical Scenario: You have just submitted an application, you have spent ages attempting and filling out the questions and it’s been two weeks and you haven’t heard anything? They said they would get back to you in ten working days but this is clearly not the case.

What do you do? Sit back and wait for them to contact you? NO that will only leave you pondering where your application has gone. Should you Call, Email a follow up to your application? YES, you have got your foot in the door its time to widen that door now and follow up your application.

The key here is that persistence pays off in the end. By following up your application with an email or phone call, reiterating your interest in working for Insert Company then this could be beneficial to support your application.

A typical follow up response could be as highlighted here:

Dear Mr. James,

I submitted a letter of application and a resume earlier this month for the programmer position advertised in the Times Union. To date, I have not heard from your office. I would like to confirm receipt of my application and reiterate my interest in the job.

I am very interested in working at XYZ Company and I believe my skills and experience would be an ideal match for this position.

If necessary, I would be glad to resend my application materials or to provide any further information you might need regarding my candidacy. I can be reached at (555)555-5555 or jdoe@abcd.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Following up your application with an enquiry also means you are catching the employer unaware, this could mean they have been slow to react to your application and actually they should pick their feet up and review your application. Employers love candidates to catch them unaware, it also shows your are persistent and you want to reiterate your interest and that you are still very much interested in working for the company you applied in the first place.

Moreover the phrase 'If you don’t ask you don’t get' is never more so true in this scenario, the ability to follow up your application with an email enquiring about the status is much as important as submitting it. You want your employer to know about you, you want to work for this organisation not that they want you to work for their organisation.

Why Graduates need to be dimensional

Every year the media, universities, colleges are telling you that you need to become dimensional. In today’s job environment and climate this is becoming more of a major strength in securing that dream job.

What do they mean by Dimensional?

Being dimensional can mean a number of things; firstly don’t just apply to one job. Just because you have applied, doesn’t mean you automatically think you should get an interview. There are millions of graduates out there all looking for the same thing, you need to be dimensional, just because you have had dreams of working at the organisation you have applied doesn’t mean that they will take you on. The minimum average for graduate’s applications is 35. This shows that not only do you have to apply to more than one job but there is a lot of competition within this industry.

Don’t just apply to one industry. Just because you want to work in marketing, doesn’t mean you won’t be good at finance or HR (Okay, so maybe you really hate numbers and this would be a bit of a problem). Marketing encompasses a broad range of industry sectors, including Market Research, Advertising, PR, Social Media the list continues as you would imagine. To cement your position you should apply to a broad range of industry sectors, you should not just focus on one specific industry you should also be aware of other sectors and companies in this industry too. Use your degree to the best of your ability, you may have done a module in consumer behaviour or marketing research and you may have enjoyed it, this opens up your career options and makes you become more dimensional in your job search.

The best graduates are those that are commercial aware. To be dimensional and improve your chance of securing your dream job, you need to make the most of the knowledge around you. Applying to a finance role? The importance of being commercial aware is crucially highlighted here. How has the recession affected the company you are applying too, what are the major strengths and weaknesses of the industry you are applying too maybe just a few questions that could come up in a typical job interview.

In summary then, the key to securing a graduate job or job then is you have to be dimensional. To be dimensional you need to expand your career options, the phrase ‘You never know until you have tried it’ is never more so in today’s environment, just because you haven’t dabbled with social media, doesn’t mean you won’t be any good at it. It is about taking your piece of the cake and eating it.

Graduate Schemes or Jobs or a mixture of both?

My friend recently attended an assessment interview for a finance leadership graduate scheme. When he got there he was startled to find out that the company had over 30,000 applications for all graduate positions within the company he was applying too.

This statistic proves that it is increasingly difficult for perspective graduates to get their foot on the career ladder.

I am in the process of submitting applications for graduate programmes, although this is still my main focus; I am applying speculatively to other companies too, just because they don’t have vacancies on their website, doesn’t mean they don’t have vacancies at all. In some cases they will have vacancies and want people to fill.

Furthermore there are loads of companies out there who don’t have graduate schemes, but have vacancies for jobs instead. Yes graduate schemes are impressive and if you are fortunate to land yourself on one then congratulations, but what’s really the difference between a normal jobs in the industry, than a graduate job? They both still pay equivalent or near enough the same amount. They both allow you to progress within the company.

It seems every article these days in the media is centered on how many graduate jobs there out there for prespective graduates. What is a reality however is that you are probably better off just applying for a normal job in the industry such as a sales executive, marketing executive. These roles aren’t specifically graduate jobs, but the process in which you apply for these may be shorter and may lead you to less competition with other prespective graduates all in the same position as you.

Moreover I am concentrating on finishing my degree. Your degree is one of the most important elements, without a good degree these days you will find it difficult to get on the career ladder. Whilst graduate programmes are important and after you graduate you want to be able to work in several big organisations, the foremost and most important element should be your degree.