Application Tips

We asked some of our students and graduates for their best advice on achieving their first career goal – getting their ideal graduate job. With the graduate marketplace becoming increasingly competitive and ‘employability’ being the buzz-word of the day, the extra qualities that make a candidate stand out are more important than ever. But what exactly does that mean? We spoke to the people arguably most familiar with this topic – students and recent graduates – to get their advice on how to make a lasting impression.

Attend careers fairs and events with the right attitude

One for the first-year students: don’t think that the careers events happening on campus are only relevant to second or third years, make sure you get out there as early as possible! You’ll find that many employers are actually keen to speak to first years, and are particularly impressed when they meet one who shows a real interest in their organisation.

If you’re in your middle or final year, don’t get too distracted by your mounting workload, these events are excellent opportunities to engage with employers and find out more about the roles that are available.

Do your homework and get out there as early and as much as possible. If you’re feeling brave, you could even ask for representatives’ business cards (so you can get in touch at a later date with any questions) or ask to join their mailing list.

Try out a lot of different activities and make sure you stick with a few

Balance is the key here. If you’re anything like most of us, you’ll have eagerly signed up to the mailing lists for a huge number of different societies in Fresher’s Week, only to find that your workload and other commitments make it challenging to keep up with all of them. Your time at university is incredibly valuable and while focusing on your studies, you can still be involved with a society or two without getting swamped.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to gain ‘CV points’. Getting elected to a committee, or being involved with planning events and budgets will help you develop key skills and gain experience that sets you apart from other candidates with equally good results. It can also be lots of fun.

Keep on top of industry and general news

This is a simple tip but one that many neglect. Read the newspaper, watch the news, and subscribe to any specialist publications and trade press for the industries you’re interested in. Firms expect applicants to understand the wider context of the industry they want to work in, and having a good general understanding of events beyond the world of university will help to prove that you’re the right candidate for the role.

Don’t neglect your studies

With all of your event attending, newspaper reading and activity doing, it can be tempting to forget about the main thing you’re at university for – to study. With a saturated graduate jobs market and more and more qualified people searching for roles, the bare minimum many firms look for is a 2:1. Some will even specify a 1st. Having good grades isn’t everything but they do make it a lot easier to get through the door at the most competitive graduate recruiters.

Start building your network
You know you should be networking and you have peers who seem to be naturally gifted at it – they always know somebody who knows somebody who works at a place. But how do you actually do it? The fact is that everybody can be a useful connection.

Talk to students who are thinking of going into similar career areas to you, find out which companies they’re applying to and why. Build good relationships with your tutors too. They’re the people who can give you that brilliant reference or recommend you in a couple of years’ time. Once you realise that there’s really little difference between your ‘career network’ and the people you know in day-to-day life, networking becomes a little easier to understand.

It’s never too early to make a start

This one sounds like a cliché, but it really is true: it’s never too early to start working towards getting your ideal graduate position. Start looking at careers sites and scope out what undergraduate opportunities there are for first and second years, to make sure you’re prepared when it comes to securing that graduate role. Read as much as you can on application processes, assessment centres and interview techniques, practice online aptitude tests and get into a more commercial mind-set. It all adds to your employability and value to a potential employer.

Get the most out of your university careers services
This is probably the most common thing that students fail to do. Your university has freely-available services dedicated to helping your job search. They also have years of experience in helping to guide students into their preferred industries as well as advising them on what else is out there.

Find out what help is on offer and take advantage of it. You may even find openings that are only advertised through specific university careers services.

Get experience
The single biggest thing that most students lack when they start looking for work is experience. It’s tempting to see this as a catch-22 because you need to do the job to get experience, but you also need experience to get the job.    

The truth is you don’t need to have experience in the role you are applying for because we all have transferable skills, so any job experience is relevant. You can be creative in how you categorise it. A part-time retail role in the summer holidays may have given you some useful commercial nous, and being captain of your university sports team will no doubt have tested your team management skills. Make the most of the opportunities available to gain experience and insight into an organisation via internships and placements. Don’t worry if you’re not sure about the industry or role just yet, apply for the roles that interest you and narrow down your options later. Experience can be useful even if it’s not directly related to the field you end up applying to.

Smarten-up your image

Getting suited up in appropriate business attire for attending networking events and interviews is essential, of course, but be aware that your image extends beyond this. It’s well-known that employers frequently look at potential recruits’ social media profiles, so now is as good a time as any to make sure you have a presentable picture and double check your privacy settings. Beyond that, you can use social media proactively to create a favourable image.                                                                                                                        

In the age of social, everybody can be their own publicist. The first port of call should be LinkedIn. Get a profile, if you don’t have one, and make sure your description reflects your experiences, skills and career aspirations, as well as what you are currently studying. Use Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date and connect with the employers you’re interested in. This can be a useful way of engaging them directly, for example by asking questions during a Q&A session on Twitter.

Relax, have fun and learn how to balance your time
Finally, remember that employers are usually looking for well-rounded people, not just workaholics. University is a great time to learn the vital skill of time management that could end up getting you through the busy working weeks of years to come. As well as your studies and extracurricular activities, make time to socialise – you’ll make great friends and have a lot of fun in the process.

How to get the information you need and make a good impression at the same time.

Asking people about their careers is one of the best ways to learn about the kind of career you could one day enjoy. A common problem I see young people coming up against when trying to work out what career’s right for them, is not really knowing where to start. I’ve seen school leavers attend careers fairs with hundreds of employers present, and they don’t make the most of the opportunity to get the best information about how industries compare or which companies are a good fit for them.

To help you avoid falling into the same trap, I’ve divided the questions into three key categories:

1. Questions to ask when networking and meeting new people

What do you do?
Most people enjoying talking about themselves and the elements that make their role interesting so use it to your advantage by asking them what they do. The best way to gain an insight into an organisation, industry or specific role is to ask the right questions of the person in that position. Understand what the job really entails and what a typical day looks like.

What does that mean?
Quite often you’ll find that a job description is wrapped in lots of technical jargon or a grand title – don’t be afraid to ask what all those flowery words really mean. Don’t be caught in the cycle of being another ‘noddy dog’ i.e. the people who just keep nodding even though they have no idea what the person is talking about. Asking questions, being honest about what you know and being inquisitive isn’t a sign of weakness – it’s quite the opposite, and people will likely be impressed by your honesty and enthusiasm.

What do you most enjoy about your role and what would you like to change?
Ok, I’ve cheated a little bit as that’s technically two questions… but they’re both relevant because to really get into what that career choice means, it’s important to know what the good, bad and the changeable look like.

2. Questions to ask at a Careers Fair

What is this type of firm or business and who are your clients?
Or to use EY as an example, ‘What is a professional services firm and who are your clients?’

This is similar to the question you might ask an individual. Often large multinational organisations like EY use titles that you may not have heard of before, or if you have you may not know what they actually mean. So, ask what the company does, who its customers are, what the staff do to help in the organisation’s ambitions, what the workplace culture’s like, and so on.

I’ve had plenty of conversations with recruiters who complain that not enough students ask them questions and just come up for the free goods and the odd leaflet – they’d rather see an enquiring mind.

If I decided to join your organisation, what does your graduate/undergraduate programme look like?
I’ve seen it happen time and time again, where students go to careers fairs but are too shy to ask the questions they need to know. You absolutely want to know what the programme is like – does it offer a rotation? What does the future look like in this organisation? What does my career in your organisation look like in 5-10 years?

What do you look for in the candidates you recruit?
This is the question all students should be asking of potential employers during careers fairs. This little gem - if asked of the right person (usually the ladies and gents at careers fairs are recruiters for the firm) - should give you the guidance you need to write an excellent application. Remember in any job search the company has a problem – the problem is there is a vacancy and all they are looking for is the solution. So why not ask how you can become that solution?

3. Questions to ask in an interview

How are people in this organisation supported in their career growth ambitions and personal development?
This shows you are interested in a future in the organisation and that the time and money they invest in you won’t go to waste. Also, if you have an extracurricular interest that may be valuable to the organisation this may be a good time to share it and explain why it’s relevant to your personal development.

What are you looking for in the ideal candidate? 
This question is so important. It allows you to throw the ball back into their court towards the end of the interview and get them telling you what they look for. It also acts as a tick box exercise – they tell you what they want and you can work out any opportunities you may have missed telling them about, and tick the other boxes.

Have I answered all of your questions to your satisfaction?
If you haven’t and they tell you, this is your opportunity to correct or reaffirm what has been said. It might seem like a silly question that breaches interview etiquette but really, it’s a smart way to get an idea of how you’ve performed while you’ve still got a chance to do something about it.

How do you find working in this organisation?
The interviewer has been listening to you the whole time, give them an opportunity to talk about themselves (where relevant).

What are the next steps?
This helps to clarify when you will hear from them next and how the process works.