Be Kind, Unwind

As obvious as it sounds during the January exam period, having the ability to switch off, is of huge mental and physical benefits in the present and future. There’s nothing worse than spending your whole day in the library, to come home to a stressful, sleepless night and be living on coffee for an entire term just to stay awake in the core working hours of the day; it’s not healthy. The first piece of advice most students get when it comes to work load at university, is to treat your studies as a full-time 9-5 job, which leaves a further 8 hours a day for recreational, unwinding activities. There are many ways to calm your mind at the end of your day including stretching, meditation, reading a book, watching a film. In order to get a good night’s sleep which is essential in times of thick and fast deadlines, you must leave at least 2 hours before bed away from the books just to give your brain a bit of a break. It may make you feel comparatively lazy now, but if it avoids you burning out in the future, it’s more than worth it.

Graduate Job Searching with the January Blues

It’s not uncommon in the midst of our darkest months of the year for the January Blues to be having an effect on your day-to-day mood. This tip applies to you if you are letting these shorter, colder days get to you in too many aspects of your life. The key is not to let the generally downtrodden mood affect your graduate job search or the all-important January exams. Your number one rule for the month should be to keep a cool head (excuse the pun). If you haven’t heard back from the graduate schemes you would have liked to have heard from, there are plenty more graduate opportunities out there of which you can apply for all year round. Get your priorities in check and don’t fall into the trap of panicking submitting 50 sub-par applications.

Tip of the Week Notices

Note: Apologies for the absence of tips in the last couple of months as we have had a change over in writers. Not to fear, we have some exciting new tips to bring to you in the new year!

Thinking Outside of the Box

There are a plethora of opportunities out there in the big wide world but finding the right one is key to lifting off into a successful career post-university. Applying to every single vacancy that fit your description on the basic level is not really ideal, both for yourself (it’s very exhausting to churn out hundreds of quality applications a day) and for the companies you’re applying to (the company that you’ve applied to both the buying and the finance scheme to will be a bit confused as to your motives and ambitions). Below are a few suggestions of how you can think outside the box, but at the same time be a little more specific as to what you’re applying to.

Firstly, use the alumni service at your university, there may be useful contacts that you can perhaps contact by email or arrange a coffee on campus with to discuss what they have done with their careers. Try finding members of the alumni who have studied the same degree as you, been part of the same societies or have had the same work experience with you, something key in common.

Secondly, discussion boards on social media sites are grossly underused, for example, twitter have a discussion group called ‘Hire Friday’ under #HFChat, which is of great use if you want to hear suggestions and hear other peoples stories, a key destination for job seekers.

Thirdly, if you’ve been applying to some opportunities based on your work experience and others based on your degree, combining the two elements of your application could stand you in good stead for something you haven’t necessarily thought of before.
For more alternative ways to conduct an alternative job search, follow the link: www.grb.uk.com/hidden-job-market

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.

Be Patient

We know it isn’t easy to be patient when it comes to your graduate job search but it is important for a number of different reasons.

Firstly, be aware that you won’t be the only applicant for a role. It may take a little bit of time for you to receive feedback, do not chase progress after a few hours or a day, they probably haven’t even had time to look at any applications yet. It’s always good to be keen, but you don’t want to risk annoying your potential employer and seeming high maintenance.

Secondly, if you have any questions that’s great, but don’t expect an immediate answer. Questions about the role will more than likely be easy for the interviewer to answer, but if it isn’t and they have to find out give them time to do so. Questions you have after an offer of employment may also be simple to answer, but there are many variables here, such as number of new employees, number of the years the company have run the role and logistics of the job. It can be frustrating if you do not have all the answers immediately, but remember, they want you to work for them and you are in a great position. They will be doing their best to sort everything; it just may take some time.

Finally, everybody will receive rejection at least once before finding the graduate job for them, do not get disheartened. Be patient and keep going, you will succeed and it will be worth it when you do.

Your Graduate CV Guide Part 2

Last week we told you how to introduce your CV with an opening statement and your education history. This week we are covering how to present the rest of your CV starting with your work experience. List the jobs that you have had starting with the most recent, including the job role, employer name and a brief outline of your main responsibilities along with accurate dates. Be prepared to explain any gaps in employment and anything that is not relevant to the role you are applying for needs to be kept very brief with just a line or two explaining what you did during this time. Bullet points are the best way to display this information on your CV.

The next section should be a summary of your achievements and skills, list any extra curricular activities including your hobbies, but make sure you can justify how they make you a more interesting person. Relate them to the job specification and the company's requirements wherever possible. You should also include extra qualifications, awards and training plus any positions of responsibility within societies.

Lastly you should note that your references are available on request so when you come to this stage you are able to provide up to date and appropriate references.

Your Graduate CV Guide Part 1

We can't stress enough how important it is that your CV is serving its purpose effectively so over the next two Tip of the Week's we will be covering the best way to present it and what information to include.

It's true that employers will make a judgment on your suitability within the first 30 seconds of looking at your CV, so make sure it accomplishes the following: Start with your name and contact details and consider an opening statement of no more than 2-3 sentences to outline your career ambitions. Be sure to customise this to the job you are applying for so you stand out as a perfect candidate. List any important references to yourself such as your blog, if you write one, your website or your professional social media profiles such as LinkedIn. You could include a photo to add a touch of personality but this is not compulsory.

Your education history should begin with the most recent and detail where you studied, courses, dates and grades or predicted grades. Overall the tone of your CV should be positive, straight to the point, relevant to the job and it should not exceed 2 pages. Next week we will cover the work experience section, achievements/skills, interests and references.