Improving Your Career Prospects: Graduates
Today’s job market is highly competitive with more and more graduates entering the employment market. From a recent study by High Fliers it is expected that the majority of key industries are expecting to hire more graduates in the upcoming years.
The competition for these graduate roles are premium so what can you be doing to ‘stand out from the crowd’ and improve your chance of securing a good career with a reputable organisation?
Volunteering
So why volunteering? How can it help me? We hear a lot from employers we work with on a regular basis say they like to recruit based on “attitude” and not whether they have 1st class degrees.
Volunteering does promote a positive attitude. Someone who is willing to give their time to benefit others and at the same demonstrates a strong work ethic and a desire to add value. Volunteering provides pretty much everything a successful career or working life can bring: challenge, confidence, chance, communication and personal goals. So if you have a career in mind try to network and see what options are available. If it is not possible to volunteer in your preferred profession try any type of volunteering in works wonders on your CV.
Enhance Your CV
Your CV should become a priority, most of us are guilty for not proactively updating our CV as our career progresses because if you’re not looking for a new role what’s the point? I suppose it’s about vision where do we want to be? It comes down to a lot more than just your school grades, degree and hobbies.
Maybe you have so many skills and achievements already that you simply cannot elaborate on? Perhaps you are struggling for some confidence? I mean you may not have been in the job market before or wouldn’t know how to approach it. It’s easy to simply forget how far you’ve actually progressed! Remember to revisit your accomplishments, it will give you confidence and sense of achievement, which ultimately should end up on your CV. Remember to update every so often, you will be amazed how far you’ve come!
Network!
As most of us we all had/have goals beyond school or college and if you want to get where you want, networking is a vital aspect. There are so many benefits to possibly mention but generally you are speaking to tried and tested professionals who have overcame the obstacles are hurdles you are about to face. Not every career route is the same and it’s important to learn from different professionals in regards to their path and how they have progressed to where they are today.
Networking and building relationships are a key way to get through the “door”. It’s a very old saying but the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” does come into play. If you are at university or college there are usually support networks such as student groups, conferences, careers days that usually run allowing you to meet employers, it is definitely recommended to attend as many as possible.
However, the likes of Facebook and Linked in are great for joining like-minded professionals/groups for sharing content, idea sharing such as dissertations etc.
Research
Research can depend on what stage you are at with your career and how a plan is formed. However now if you are at university/college I would hope you have at least given this some thought. I suppose if you know what you want you can find out what is expected and then proceed to work towards your career.
Try to connect with recent graduates or trainees who may have worked towards your career path already and share experiences. Again you never know in the future how this might benefit you.
If you perhaps not as sure where you want to be it could be useful to start doing some research about your interests or some fields you have interests in and start to list some of your current skills, experiences and gaps to develop.
Don’t Forget, Leap29 Are Hiring!
The recruitment industry in the UK alone is worth a staggering £32 billion. It’s time for you to be part of this ever growing industry!
Leap29 have graduate training programmes commencing at regular intervals throughout the year so now is the time to apply to ensure that you don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.
If you are hard-working, motivate and career driven then we want to speak to you to join our award winning business. Email your CV to [email protected] to start your journey today.
