How To Deal With Deadlines

Deadlines can range in importance as we all go through life, from exam deadlines, to deadlines for essays and applications at university, or presentation deadlines in landing a big client when you’re in the workforce. Here are 3 simple tips that should help to change your approach to meeting a deadline from day one.

Firstly, get organised. As obvious as it sounds, organisation is key, get a diary or write notes on a calendar. Whether it’s going to be one big deadline or a few medium sized ones, it’s important to know when they are and how long you have to spread the work load and reach the date.

Secondly, use the wise words Aesop in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady does win the race. It’s a lot healthier to spread the workload over the week, two week or month long period you have been given to complete the task, this way the task won’t feel as intimidating. Essay deadline? You may find yourself reading and learning more about the subject you’re writing about, giving you time to get more interested in it. Application? You’ll be giving yourself more time to think about the answers and paint a truer picture of who you are within the confines of the typical application format. Presentation? Practice does indeed make perfect.

Finally, if you find it difficult to meet deadlines, treat yourself for reaching certain points. Set a goal, achieve the goal, get you’re treat; and it’s as simple as that.

Making The Most Of Recruitment Fairs

The season is almost upon us for recruitment and career fairs, these can be a priceless resource for your graduate job search and when approached well can really rocket your job hunt forward.

Firstly, make sure you dress appropriately. Ensure you make an impression by dressing smartly and appearing confident and professional.

Make sure you are prepared too, take copies of your CV with you. Don’t hand them out aimlessly, but if you are really interested in a role then ask if they are accepting CV’s currently.

Be careful not to take too many free items, you don’t want to appear as if this is the main reason for your attendance, and if you do take the free merchandise make sure you have a bag to stash it in, that way you keep your hands free for handshakes and accepting company literature.

Finally, practice your sales speech beforehand. You will have only a couple minutes to make an impression and inform the employer about yourself, going with a short, snappy pitch helps make sure you leave a lasting impression.

Also, collect business cards of the people you have spoken to and follow up immediately thanking them for speaking with you and reiterating your interest in the role you spoke of. You may not receive a reply but it could help bring your CV to the company’s attention.

Know The Hidden Market

There are loads of graduate jobs advertised directly from companies each year, however this isn’t the complete overview of what is available. In order to gain a complete insight into the job market it is important to consider a number of different avenues.

The internet is pretty much everyone’s primary resource these days, with instant ability to search for graduate jobs. But there are other useful sources, such as job boards and recruitment consultancies that can offer a broader insight into what is available.

Signing up to just one of these resources is not enough though, different job boards and consultancies will have different clients and therefore different jobs to recruit for, so signing up to as many as possible increases the opportunities available to you. These can be registered for either online or through events such as Fresher Fairs and Recruitment Fairs that the university will be holding at some point during your time there, so make sure you attend these and make the most of every opportunity available.

Rejection From A Graduate Job Interview – A Worthwhile Lesson

Chances are at some point you will have to face some sort of rejection from a graduate recruiter, but it is how you deal with this rejection that sets you up for your interviews for future graduate jobs. Criticism can be a good source of useful information, as long as you can take it on board and learn from it.


If you receive, or do at some point in the future, a rejection from a job application always ask for feedback. It doesn’t matter what stage of the process you are rejected at, always request the reasons behind their decision. Once you have this do not let it negatively affect you and your motivation, instead use it as an excellent means of improving. Now that you know what your stumbling block was you can set actions in place to resolve it, whether it is something on your CV, your attire or perhaps even something you said during an interview. Criticism can definitely be a worthwhile lesson, just make sure you take the good from the bad and move forward.

Stand Out In The Eyes Of Graduate Recruiters

Always doing extensive research on the company you have your graduate interview with is a given and we’re sure you do it but so does 99% of your competition for graduate jobs. So how do you set yourself apart from the rest?

The answer is research. You may have done loads, but there’s one thing the majority of candidates forget; the person who is going your graduate interview. We have such a broad range of networking mediums at our disposal these days that it is incredibly easy to do some effective research into your interviewer. When being offered an interview always ask who it will be with, if not already told, and make a note of the name and their job position within the company. Take advantage of resources such as LinkedIn to find out more about this person; what have they done in the past? What do they enjoy in their spare time? Etc. Try and find a common interest, such as sport or subjects studied, and use this to your advantage in the interview to strike up interesting conversation. Such an approach will instantly build rapport and make you memorable.

Don't Leave Your Graduate Interview Preparation Too Late

You’ve worked hard on applications to graduate jobs, your graduate CV is great and you have landed yourself an interview. This doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax though, you will need to start preparing for it straight away so that you have the best possible chance of impressing those graduate recruiters.


Before attending a graduate interview you will need to have done a lot of in depth research. Make sure you know their market position, their latest moves, their products and services and their strengths and weaknesses. Ensure you know their history, their target markets, their marketing campaigns and their competitors. In fact the information you need to know goes on and on. Make neat notes from your research on a nice paper pad or in a folder that can be taken into an interview with you and keep them short so you can easily refer to them. Take a pen for making notes in the interview and jot down lots of questions you could ask so that you won’t be left with ‘no you answered everything’ and instead will be able to ask intellectual questions that will impress.

Tweet Your Way Into Graduate Jobs

There are many different networking opportunities to explore when searching for graduate jobs. Recently social media has been becoming a popular medium for reaching out and finding potential graduate recruiters, one of the most notable being Twitter.

As a micro-blogging site Twitter allows its members to remain up to date with the lives and events of the people and companies they choose to follow. This is beneficial as it keeps you up to date with latest graduate job postings and prepares you for graduate interviews by keeping you informed of latest company news. It’s also a good opportunity to show off your writing skills, especially if interested in a literary career path. Taking advantage of Twitters many functions can result in your appearance under key word searches, giving you more presence.

If you haven’t yet created an account sign up today and begin building your presence. If you do have an account but don’t use it much, keep it fresh, you never know when companies may view it and if you do use your Twitter frequently be careful of what you post, your online identity says a lot about you to graduate recruiters.

Careers Fairs and Putting Yourself Out There!

You don't always have to put pressure on yourself to find a graduate job. Sometimes the right start could be as easy as just putting yourself out there by networking at any of the upcoming autumn careers fairs in the next few weeks. The GRB will be visiting The London Graduate fair from The Careers Group and Target Jobs next week on the 18th October. Don’t miss it, it’s a fantastic free event with 100’s of employers and workshops - take a look here. Another good step could be to get in touch with your department society, course rep or alumni. It’s never too late to get involved and learn more about your options. Perhaps you know of a friend or a peer that has already succeeded in securing a job? First list out everything you are doing and then take a look at their approach - is there something new you can add to your job searching technique? Remember, there is always something new to try, a new approach or a new area to research - your options are never exhausted.

Using Twitter for Graduate Jobs

If you didn't know, social media is playing a bigger part in the world of graduate recruitment than ever and aside from the more professional LinkedIn, Twitter is actually a fantastic tool to use in your search for graduate jobs. Don't see Twitter as just a social tool, as by crafting out clever searches you can uncover networking opportunities that could really open doors for you and impress key people. Try it - simply go to Twitter.com and type in a search for a job title or area of interest and look through the results to find people either advertising or talking about it. Connect or ‘follow’ these people to send them a message and find out more or even just click the link normally in the tweet. This approach is just the tip of the iceberg, the rest is down to your networking skills so get out there!

Working Together

Do your friends know what kind of graduate jobs you are looking for? In a tight market it’s important that your reach remains further than your own computer. Work together with your friend group and make sure that you all know what each other is looking for so you can help each other out. Sharing jobs via email or social networking links is a really good way to reveal new opportunities as everyone uses the internet differently. You can instigate it by forwarding a few jobs to your friends so next time they will think to do it back. Discussing application and CV ideas can be really enlightening as well. Learning from each other’s mistakes or successes can excel your skill at job hunting far quicker than on your own. If you are using a good service and you know your friend doesn’t know about it then recommend it! We offer £100 to you if we find your friend a job...

Secure Your References

Now the end of the academic year is approaching it would be a good idea to secure your references so you know that if called upon, they will be happy to recommend you. Bettering that, get a hard copy signed by them - it will really speed up the job offer process if you can present this at interview and also show that you're organised. Your reference normally comes from a tutor/lecturer or an employer whilst at university. It might sound obvious but make sure you pick people that you’ve worked hard for and you know you get on with!

Word of mouth - Graduate Networking

Are you networking as effectively as possible? Many jobs are not even posted online or elsewhere these days. Word-of-mouth and employee referral account for the vast amount of recruiting efforts. Make sure everyone you know is aware of what you are looking for and what you have to offer.

Use Freshers Week

Even if you're not a fresher, freshers week is full of fantastic opportunities that only come around once a year - make the most of it! Go along to your freshers fair and sign up with any societies that you're interested in, as extra curricular activities will add instant value to your CV. You could even help with any events in freshers week or work for your uni showing new people around. This role is commonly known as a 'Student Ambassador' - ask your university marketing department for more information.

Graduate Market Knowledge

How much do you really know about the industry you want to get into? For most graduate employers knowledge of their industry is extremely important. An in-depth opinion on the subject not only shows that you know what your talking about, but it also says a lot about your passion and interest. What do you like about the industry? Learn a brief history and be able to comment on where it could go in the next 5 years. Who are the big players and where is the company you are interviewing with positioned in the market? Remember, to an employer and the employees interviewing you their industry and service is something they think about all the time during the working week. By commenting or even complimenting you are establishing common ground as well as showing you have your own voice.' View our Sector Profiles

Don't Leave Graduate Job Hunting Resources Last Minute

Don't leave it too late to use a valuable job-hunting resource whilst at uni. Careers Advisors can provide face-to-face guidance and information to help you design a job-hunting strategy.