2020: The Pandemic, Job Applications and Me

My name is Freddie Dickson and I graduated from Leeds in 2020 (the worst year to graduate!). My degree was in Chemical and Energy Engineering MEng. Despite studying a degree in engineering, I decided not to go down the engineering route as I am now a technology consulting analyst at Accenture. Throughout my time at university, I did not do any formal internships at consulting firms. However, I did do a few extra curricular activities such as doing a summer abroad, attending networking events, and being a student ambassador.?

My advice on how to approach the post-graduation job hunt ?

To begin with I would say congratulate yourself on getting yourself a degree- it’s a huge achievement that should be celebrated!?

Whilst applying for jobs I would consider these things:?

Understand the industry/role you want to go into, and the skillset required to succeed in the industry/role and highlight these skillsets in your CV.?
Consider applying for internships as well as graduate roles just in case the industry you want to go into requires previous experience, that you may not have as this may lead to a full-time role.?
If a company hasn’t opened its applications set up alerts to be sent to your email so that you will be notified about when applications open.?
The earlier you apply to a role in big companies such as KPMG, Accenture and PWC the better it’ll be for your application because some roles are filled on a first come first served basis.?
Despite how hard you work on a job application, a recruiter may still reject your application; in these cases, it’s best to use this as a learning experience and try to get feedback from the recruiter. Never take rejection personally. ?
This last point is going to sound counterintuitive but enjoy not having to be in full-time employment. This is because when you start working your time is not your own anymore and depending on your role, you’ll have to work from 9-5, Monday to Friday, with only 28 days annual leave (including bank holidays).?

Overcoming setbacks

For my personal experience, applying for jobs during a global pandemic was extremely mentally difficult because every day on the news the global death rate was increasing due to the virus, BLM was very prominent and when it came to rejection, I couldn’t deal with it how I usually would because I was stuck at home; I couldn’t travel or eat out or easily meet up with my friends. Moreover, I still had setbacks which included:?

I had applied for one role and I had gone through five stages. These stages included:?

an initial telephone interview
a two-stage assessment including a maths test and a verbal reasoning test?
an interview with two senior members of the company?
a presentation with 5 or six senior members of the company?
a final stage interview with another two senior members?

Despite going through all these stages I was rejected because there was another person who had completed a one-month placement at the company in 2014.?

Doing virtual interviews from my childhood bedroom was usually stressful as there was always someone at home, due to the stay-at-home restrictions. To overcome this, I had to book a hotel to?comfortably and successfully complete a half-day assessment centre.?

A few recruiters reached out to me on LinkedIn about a role, however, once I showed interest in the roles, they would stop communicating with me. Luckily the roles were not related to what I wanted to do as a career.?

?My experience of job hunting as a Plus Programme student

In regard to?applying for jobs on a day to day, I didn’t feel the effect of being a first-generation university graduate. However, I do understand the wider impact of not having parents that work in the industries that I was applying to work for in terms of being able to utilise a well-established network to gain employment. At the end of the day as first-generation students, we do just have to accept, where our parents are at and go out and search for outreach programmes that aid disadvantaged students and graduates. Some examples of these outreach programmes will be at the end of this article.?

One thing that should be pointed out is that my name doesn’t give any indication of my Ghanaian ancestry or my actual gender. Therefore, sometimes I do wonder if my name gave me an unfair advantage in getting further along with certain application processes. However, with my current company I was able to apply for a role through a?scheme?(currently?taking applicants) specifically targeted?towards people of African-Caribbean descent.?

How I used LinkedIn during my job search

When it comes to using LinkedIn as a job seeker, I would recommend only going to LinkedIn when you need to, as it can become difficult seeing other people post updates on their career successes.?

I would recommend using LinkedIn to reach out to people who are currently working in the role you would like to apply for. In doing so you can find out more about the company, find out if the role is for you. Moreover, if you get to the interview stage of your application process reaching out to people in the company shows the interviewer that you are serious and well informed about the role that you have applied for.?

?Here is an example of a message I sent out to someone that had worked for a company I was interested in getting to know about:?

“Hi [Name], ?

I recently saw from your profile that you currently work as an analyst with [Company] and I recently applied for a similar role with the company. I was therefore wondering if it would be possible for me to ask you a few questions about the role and the company. ?

Best wishes, Freddie”?

I would also recommend putting on the open to work feature on LinkedIn, as this lets recruiters know that you are looking for a job. Take a look at this guide to using the Open to Work feature.

?Overall, I would like to say good luck in your job search and feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn if you would like to find out more about my job role or the company I work at!?

Here are a list of outreach programmes you may be interested in:

https://www.10000blackinterns.com/??

https://www.rarerecruitment.co.uk/?

https://www.aspiringsolicitors.co.uk/?

https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/?