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.

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.