Final Year Students: Get Yourself Work Ready!

Now that you are approaching graduation, it’s time to start thinking about your next steps. Are you keen to secure a graduate job? If so, you’ve come to the right place, as we’re going to provide you with some top tips on how to get yourself prepared for the workplace.

Find the right job

After finishing your studies, you may have no clue what type of job you’d like to do. Rest assured, this is a dilemma that a significant number of graduates face, so you aren’t alone.

Your degree may open up opportunities to work in a wide number of fields, so it may be an idea to consider which aspects of your degree you enjoyed most and how this knowledge could be applied in the working world. Perhaps there is a sector of your degree that you’d like to explore further?

Thinking carefully about these factors will provide a solid foundation for your job hunt and give you a greater sense of direction as to the industries that may be suited to your interests and skills.

Demonstrate you understand what the employer is looking for

So - you have found a job that ticks your boxes. How are you going to stand out from the crowd?

The trick is to show the employer that you have a clear understanding of what they’re looking for.

As a basic rule of thumb is to scan the spec for three or four skills that the employer requests of the perfect candidate. Then consider some of the experiences you have acquired through university and how they match these listed skills. It doesn’t necessarily have to be through work experience or placements, but simply group projects or even societies and clubs during your studies.

Update your CV

A CV should read no more than two A4 pages long – or an employer is likely to get bored.

Your CV should begin with a brief personal statement summarising your experience and distinctive talents.

Next, outline your work history in bullet points using the STAR approach (Situation, Task, Activity Result) to demonstrate your suitability for the job role, followed by a section outlining your education and your key skills.

Find work experience

Need experience to get a job, but can’t get experience because you’re not getting hired? It’s very much a catch-22.

To break out of this cycle, keep a look out for any placement or volunteering opportunities that enable you to gain essential skills required in the workplace – such as the ability to work under pressure, using initiative to overcome challenges, and great organisation – all of which are skills employers always look favourably on.

Get signed up to a recruitment agency

A recruitment agency works on your behalf to help you find the most suitable graduate jobs in your chosen industry. Therefore, signing up to Inspiring Interns a few months before graduation gives you plenty of time to become acquainted with top employers and find the most suitable graduate job or internship for you. Register today!