Honesty Is the Only Policy

Everyone wants to give themselves the best possible chance of finding the graduate career of their dreams and because of this it is very easy to get carried away when writing your CV. However, it is so important to ensure that you remain honest and, yes, write up your experiences to paint your abilities in the best light, but do not stretch the truth to the point of no return.

Exaggerating your experiences and skills may seem like a good idea when you are receiving calls regarding interviews, but what about when you are questioned on these during the interview? Any interviewer for any role will ask you extensively about your previous experiences to gage how transferable your skills are, if you have exaggerated within your CV or embellished beyond what you have actually done it will be easy for the interviewer to stumble across weaknesses and you will appear unorganised and come across as an unprepared candidate.

Think carefully about what you have been involved in outside of your academics and what skills and abilities your work experience has provided you that can be related to the role to which you are applying. We are sure you will have plenty to discuss with any interviewer, without having to stretch the truth.

Be Specific

Interviewers will have a lot of questions to ask you in any interview for any job, because they will want to make sure you are right for their company in many different ways. However, don’t make the mistake and ramble when answering questions, be specific.

Think carefully before the interview about your experiences to date and what they can be used as examples for. Due to the volume of questions interviewers have to ask, the more efficiently you are able to answer will mean they can fit in more, leaving you in a better position on completion of your interview. It will also ensure that you appear both prepared and knowledgeable as well as keeping the recruiter engaged, ensuring that you are able to impress the potential employer and convince them that you are the perfect fit for their company, bringing all the relevant skills they seek.

It's Never Too Late

A lot of graduates are now well in to their graduate job search, have begun interviewing and maybe even potentially have secured roles for the summer onwards. However, not everyone chooses to take this approach, some students prefer to focus solely on their exams and then think about their job search. Both approaches are completely fine, but if leaving it later, it is important not to lose motivation.

Leaving your graduate job search until after your exams avoids distractions, additional stress and timetabling conflicts between exams, revision and interviews. However, it also means that companies will have already started to fill their schemes and roles before you have begun looking, making your job search potentially more complicated, having to investigate less obvious avenues for applications. The most important factor is to not lose motivation; there are roles out there and a whole hidden market to discover. Join as many recruitment agencies and consultancies as possible to get the best overview of the job market as a whole and remember to always tailor your applications and avoid trying to cut corners.

Always Proofread

As we write this we are sure many graduates are sending off numerous job applications and CV’s to potential employers. But are they perfect? When sending out numerous applications it is very easy to make little mistakes that go undetected by you but can cause you to be screened out of the process.

Important things to check are you email address and mobile number, if you have these wrong you aren’t contactable in the first instance. May sound silly? It does happen, numbers get typed incorrectly and email addresses change without being replaced.

Also ensure the dates on your CV are all correct and concise. Even if this is wrong but doesn’t give a bad impression, if the mistake is misleading and this comes up in an interview it will be an issue and make your eye for detail seem weak.

Finally, remember to check spelling and grammar in every instance; cover letters, CV’s, Thank you notes etc. Ask family members and/or friends to proof read them; they will bring a fresh pair of eyes and pick up on errors that you will miss, preventing you missing out on job opportunities.

Make The Most Of Every Opportunity

In today’s current climate it’s more important than ever for graduates to have work experience when entering the job market. Most commonly are summer internships and industrial placements whilst at university; both are invaluable when it comes to your graduate job search.

While at university, a lot of courses and universities offer the option of an industrial placement or, more and more commonly, require it to get the degree. Don’t shy away from this opportunity, leaving university with a degree that included a year’s work experience helps give you an edge.

For those who haven’t had that opportunity, the summer is upon us and a lot of graduates are still in the midst of their search for employment. A great utilisation of time would be to secure work experience in the form of an internship within a field of interest and that you are applying to. On your CV this shows a proactive approach to your spare time and helps ensure you have less of a gap on your CV as well as highlighting to employers that you will have the skills and attributes they are searching for.

Don't Be A Couch Potato

It’s easy to fall into a routine of university life and wanting to just do nothing after the stress and pressure of the exam period. However, this won’t help your job search or yourself in general.

Exercising is a crucial element of improving wellbeing and in turn positively affecting your job hunt. Through increasing exercise not only do you lose weight and tone up, subsequently feeling  happier, you also start to eat better and sleep sounder, which your energy levels improve leading to an increase in productivity. In turn this leads to reduced stress levels and increased confidence, two great characteristics to have when searching for your graduate job and attending interviews, leaving you with the best chance of success.

So why not get fit for the summer and improve your employment search, get together with friends, join a gym or commit to a form of weekly exercise and have fun.