Improve your career prospects as a graduate in 2012

It can be an anxious time for students poised to graduate in 2012 as well as for those that have graduated in recent years when it comes to searching for full-time employment.

Getting that first foot on the career ladder can be difficult as close to one million people in the UK aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed. Competition in the job market is immensely fierce, meaning it’s more important than ever to stand out from the crowd.

Here LondonStudent.co.uk offers a few hints and tips on how to improve your career prospects as a graduate over the coming 12 months.

Skill set

Potential employers will be looking for candidates that have a broad skill set as well as being the right ‘fit’ for a particular company’s ethos. While the qualifications you gain at university are vital, other formal qualifications or experience gained outside of higher education could just prove the difference when it comes to getting through the application process. It’s important to have and highlight as many skills that are relevant to a role as possible. Get up to speed with as many computer software packages as possible, get social media savvy and become familiar with things like setting up and using a teleconference or voice conference because having good communication skills is a real must and you may be expected to use these tools at a later date. It’s really all about adding value to a business so play to your strengths and continually be looking at ways to evolve.

Searching

The job hunt for students should really get under way towards the start of your final year to give yourself the best chance to getting employed as leaving it too late could mean you miss the cut-off point for applying for graduate training schemes. Forward thinking is the way forward. Scour job websites, regularly check the websites of companies you’d like to work for and even directly contact them even if there are no job opportunities at present. A speculative email may just reap rich rewards, which brings us on to our next point.

Enthusiasm

Never underestimate the importance of enthusiasm. Emerge yourself fully in the industry that you want to work within and get as much work experience under your belt as possible, even if it means working for free for long periods. Formal qualifications are all well and good, but without relevant work experience they are just a fancy certificate and something to put on a CV. Start your own website and blog. Get familiar with all the social media platforms – like LinkedIn and Twitter – and use them to interact with people in an industry you’d like to be part of. It’s never been easier to reach influential people. Social media can play a part in the search for a job as you can showcase your skills and knowledge, although obviously be careful about what you put on the social media sites.

CV

A lot of emphasis should be placed on your CV. After all, it’s the document that will make or break your chances of getting an interview so it’s vital you give a lot of thought to how you present yourself.  Avoid ‘Apprentice’ talk and cringe-worthy phrases that effectively mean nothing. A CV should be succinct and to the point, not page after page of flowery waffle. By all means talk yourself up, but just be mindful of going over the top. Less is more sometimes, especially as there’s a train of thought that more and more employers are reading CVs from bottom to top, which again hammers home the point of needing as much experience as possible. Finally, be patient. It could take years to ultimately get into industry you want to work in. Good luck!

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Tags: career, employment, graduate jobs, prospects 2012

Category: Featured, Student News