Queen of Instagram, Kim Kardashian said: “Get… up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”
If you’re one of the people who DO want to work, read on.
The end of the academic year is approaching – you could be finishing for a lovely, long summer break, or you could be finishing university forever. Regardless, this blog is equally useful for all readers because it will share some valuable knowledge you all need but may not have.
The struggle to find a job after uni is real, and it’s only going to get harder because of how great graduates like yourselves are performing at the moment – truly, you guys are killing it.
I’m Amber, Kortext’s Digital Marketing Executive and I’m going to share with you some things that you should work on that will help you in the search for a role that is as worthy as you!
I’m going to preface this blog with some personal honesty – I struggled to find a graduate role – but that was in the midst of the pandemic.
Despite the soon to be financial crisis, I feel you’re in a better position than those in 2020 – your strength and determination helped you through the pandemic, and this may be another choppy sea but you’ll sail right through – you’ve got this!
So, let’s get to it.
Here are five things you need in addition to your degree to help you land a job after uni.
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A CV!
If you don’t know, a CV is a document that helps to summarise your education, skills and experience enabling you to successfully sell your abilities to potential employers.
Kortext’s Talent Acquisition Partner, Bradley Baxendale shares what he looks for when looking at CVs to fill vacancies.
“The CV is your first opportunity to sell yourself, so I like to see the CV written in first person, not things like “Colin is a fantastic communicator“, which is really disengaging.
“Along with that, if the applicant has tailored the CV to the job posting, this shows commitment.”
Formatting is also a very important part of your CV – Bradley said: “You should have good formatting and if formatted in Word then there should be uniformity in the layout and clearly displayed information, inclusive of data points, like time in previous roles, the company, etc…”
Your CV will be a tool to sell yourself, so Bradley’s advice is to: “List key achievements, both personal and professional. It’s great to see ambition and personality!”
And on personality, he said: “I look at so many CVs. If I saw one that just had a bit of comedy at the end of a well-formatted and informative CV, it would probably make my day. Whether that’s in the personal summary or a brief ‘about me’ or ‘hobbies and interests’.
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A cover letter!
A cover letter is a document that complements and expands on everything in your CV. Think of it as a product description on ASOS. You’re the product, your CV contains the product details, and your cover letter contains the description.
It should be used to add some context to your CV and help you to sell yourself to your full potential to future employers as it’s almost a personal introduction without being physically present.
A cover letter is absolutely essential to all job applications because it gives you the chance to explain to an employer why you’re the best candidate for the job. You can do this by highlighting all relevant skills and experience. That said, all cover letters should be bespoke to the position you’re applying for to emphasise how relevant you are for the role.
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Resilience
Resilience refers to your ability to adapt and recover after something difficult happens – which in this case could be several applications without receiving a response, a failed interview or a low offer.
As you move through life, your resilience will continue to develop – we’ll still react to every situation differently which will challenge us, and subsequently increase our resilience.
Life is truly a journey and, on that journey, you’ll see your resilience grow.
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Confidence!
Many students lack confidence when it comes to their own ability and potential. This lack of confidence fuels something called ‘imposter syndrome’, which makes you feel like you don’t deserve the opportunity in front of you.
Building your confidence will not only help you to believe what is true, but it will also help you to achieve what you rightfully deserve.
You can build your confidence by:
- Setting goals
- Dressing the part. If you want to dress fancy, you do you!
- Be kind to yourself!
- Put yourself out there and leave your comfort zone
- Observe other people who are confident – what makes them confident? Is it their hair? Eyeliner? Shoes? Figure out what it is and give it a go yourself.
- Focus on your strengths. What are you good at? Once you’ve figured that out, you should be loud and proud about it!
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The ability to network
I’m sure you’ve heard: “it’s not what you know, but who”, and to some degree, that’s actually true.
Networking is a great opportunity to create mutually beneficial professional relationships, and you should ideally start with your course mates.
For example, if you’re in a top business course, it’s likely you’re going to end up at a competitor company from the person who sits next to you in your seminar. Keeping tabs and open conversation with them at uni and beyond will truly benefit both of you.
Don’t believe me? We’ll let the data do the talking.
According to HubSpot, 85% of jobs are filled through networking, and data from LinkedIn suggests that 70% of professionals hired in 2016 had a connection at their company, with 80% of professionals considering networking to be vital to their career success.
How should I network?
A good place to start is LinkedIn. If you’re still working on your confidence, you can network from the comfort of your own home.
LinkedIn is a social network for professionals, and it’s truthfully one of the easiest ways to make connections in your prospective industry. Furthermore, LinkedIn also advertises job opportunities which will be great for helping you to find your dream job.
Your profile
Ideally, your profile should detail all relevant information, such as previous work experience, skillset and education history. It’s important to align yourself to all companies you’ve worked for and institutions you’ve attended which will put your in certain alumni and colleague networks. This will work in your favour because you can then use this to connect with companies and individuals to begin building your very own network of contacts.
It’s also important that you set your profile up correctly because you’ll be recommended jobs based on your interests and the companies you follow. You never know, by sweet serendipity you’ll find an opportunity you never knew existed.
Okay, I think that’s everything…
Wait… one more thing!
You’ve got this!!
And if you haven’t, hit this link to send me an email and I am more than happy to give you a pep-talk!
