This is a guest post written by Graduate Coach, a company that helps graduates turn their degrees into a career. You can find out more about them by visiting their website.
Landing that dream job after graduating from University has always been a challenge. But during these unprecedented times, that task has become even more difficult.
Despite this, there are ways to drastically increase your chances of getting a graduate job.
In this post, we will explain some of our top tips that can help graduates get a job after university.
Learn New Skills
While you are job hunting, it is a good idea to supplement the time that you spend searching for jobs with learning new skills.
This is because when you do get to the point of having an interview with your potential employer, you can showcase your newly acquired skills to them. This will give you a big advantage over candidates who have spent their post University time solely applying for jobs.
Digital skills are important skills to acquire. This is because nearly every graduate job nowadays requires at least some digital knowledge.
An example of a company that can teach you some digital skills is SEMrush. They offer a range of free online digital marketing courses that are really in depth and useful.
Digital marketing is quite a specialist field, so even if you are not the slightest bit interested in that industry, it is still worth your while to check out those courses.
This is because, completing some of those courses will show your potential employers that you possess some digital skills (very important), but also that you are willing to go the extra mile to better yourself. If you show that you have these traits, then your employability will massively increase.
Internships
Whilst you may be after a well paid graduate job, rather than an unpaid internship, there are still many reasons as to why an internship could benefit you in your graduate job hunt.
The main reason is experience. If you want to get a graduate job in an industry that requires some prior experience, then an internship can be a great stepping stone.
If you gain some practical experience in your desired industry through an internship, then you are much more likely to be favorably viewed by potential employers.
There is the argument that part time jobs are superior alternatives to internships as you get paid, as well as gaining experience. But whilst this is true, the experience gained from internships is normally more relevant to future job roles and is viewed in a better light by employers.
There is also the chance that if you excel in your role as an intern, you will be offered a permanent job when your internship finishes.
Websites such as StudentJob UK provide dedicated pages that focus on various types of internships. So, if you like the sound of taking on an internship, then be sure to check them out.
Contact Your University
There is no reason to think that once you have graduated from university, that is it, all ties are cut. It is always a good idea to reach out to your university to see if they can help you.
Universities are normally more than happy to help their alumni and most of them offer career services. These services may be able to point you in the right direction, as to where to apply or they can help you with other tasks, such as revamping your CV.
Universities have a lot of experience in helping students increase their employability due to the sheer volume of pupils that enrol with them each year.
It is also possible that the careers officer at your university could have some contacts at companies that they have worked with in the past. These contacts could be extremely beneficial to you, as they may have some knowledge of new roles that will be opening up soon.
Hone Your Interview Skills
If you can get into a position where you are invited to an interview, then that is great news! It lets you know that your potential employer sees you as a realistic candidate for the job.
But due to the current climate, it is difficult to know whether your future interviews will take place, in person or through a virtual medium, such as Zoom or Skype. This is why it is exceptionally important to hone your interview skills.
Face to face interviews
In terms of face to face interviews, the main skills that you need in order to succeed are pretty apparent. These are skills such as speaking confidently, being personable and having a good knowledge of the business and the role.
However, whilst knowing the skills that will help you to succeed is relatively straightforward, practicing them is not as easy.
There is no hard and fast rule when preparing for an interview but one exercise that we recommend is to hold a mock interview. You only need one other person to help you with this, such as a friend or family member.
The idea of this is that it will allow you to run through your answers to potential interview questions. Doing this will help you to perfect your answers and hopefully give you a confidence boost for the big day.
If you would like a more indepth list of interview skills and tips then Monster have provided a comprehensive list on how to improve your interview performance.
Online interviews
The skills that are needed for online interviews are pretty similar to the ones that are needed for face to face interviews but there are some crucial mistakes that are often made.
One of these mistakes is not dressing up for the interview. Just because you are in familiar surroundings at home does not mean that you should lower your standards. You should always dress smart for an interview, whether in person or online, as you want to make a good first impression.
Another common mistake that is made regarding online interviews is not checking your background. Due to being a graduate, it is likely that you will be conducting your online interviews within a space such as your bedroom.
This means that you need to consider what will be in view for your potential employer to see. If there is a massive poster or something inappropriate in the background behind you, then we strongly recommend that you take this down for the interview.
Ensuring that you do not fall foul to these mistakes will mean that you will create a better first impression for your potential employer. This will in turn increase your chances of getting hired.
Summary
We hope that this post has been helpful and that these tips will give you that extra push to help you land your dream graduate job.
Once more, if you would like to know more about Graduate Coach and how they help graduates turn their degrees into a career, then please be sure to visit their website.
