“I need the experience to get experience, but if I had the experience I wouldn’t need experience!”
Businesses are screaming out for top talent at the moment, with the market being so competitive, it is so important that you are marketing yourself in the right way. What is it that makes you stand out from the 50 other graduates that have applied for the same role as you? Future talent is so high on businesses agendas at the moment that I have been looking at ways in which you can help yourself stand out from the rest of the graduates looking for that perfect role.
Having worked within HR Recruitment for 16 months now, I have come to the realisation that HR Graduates are well sought after by many businesses- so why are graduates finding it so difficult to get on this illusive job ladder? I meet numerous people daily who are fresh out of University and are always asking about HR graduate positions but still find themselves in the situation of needing ‘more relevant working experience’ when applying for roles.
That brings me back to whether companies would rather experience over a degree? Even after recruiting for HR Graduate roles, there still isn’t a clear trend to me. But what I do know is that is so important for a business to consider all options. Just because someone has been working within a role for a year doesn’t mean they will have the tenacity and passion to want to develop compared to a new HR Graduate who has the hunger to learn.
What is it that companies are looking for then when recruiting graduates?
Good academics
Productivity levels; just saying you’re hardworking and driven won’t quite cut it I’m afraid... Prove it!
Why do you want to work for that business? Simply looking at their website doesn’t explain what has drawn you to wanting to be a full-time employee for that organisation. Go the extra mile and do a SWOT analysis for that business.
Cultural and team fit – If the business has the resources to train and develop you into a superstar, get your personality across and show you can work with and not just for the wider organisation!
What skills have you learned whilst studying? These can be related to your course or even life lessons.
At Macildowie, we offer Mindmill which is an online Psychometric Analysis and natural ability assessment tool.
This will allow you as a candidate to really prove why you are the best person for the job rather than just saying it. This will support you in interviews to build up your self-awareness and give you an overview of your natural behavioral preferences. If you are interested in doing your own Mindmill, please get in touch and I will get this set up for you.
So what is this myth that there are ‘never any graduate jobs out there’ – I don’t know where this has come from….?
If you're a graduate looking for advice, check out our other blogs.