Graduate Prospects - September 19, 2007 - (Page 2)

2 PROSPECTS GRADUATE Issue 51 · 19 September 2007 · Fortnightly www.prospects.ac.uk BLOGGERS AT WORK IT’S NOT TOO LATE ‘I don’t really fancy going back to uni’ KIRSTIE ON THE SHOCK OF WORK ‘She never eats important translations’ NIAMH AND THE OFFICE DOG IN THE NEXT ISSUE Rachel missed out at her last interview, but another looms. out too that there are outstanding candidates coming straight out of university. In the eyes of recruiters, various sorts of experience can be valuable as an opportunity for graduates to develop and demonstrate required skills. Examples of where candidates showed these skills will be called for during the application and interview process. Inevitably graduates have less chance to build up evidence of such skills if they are submitting an application four months after leaving university than if they have taken a whole gap year, so experiences gained in various activities while still an undergraduate may also have to be recalled. What’s the job? While Barclays and Transport for London are in the mainstream in their attitude to dates of graduation, not all recruiters for graduate schemes can be counted on to take the same view. A delay in taking career decisions can be misconstrued as showing lack of motivation. The use that is made of time after graduation is regarded as important, and the qualities and qualifications of candidates in other respects will continue to play their part. The diversity of graduate schemes is something for potential applicants to keep in mind. There are other schemes beyond those of the best known and highly sought after blue-chip ones, not all demand 2:1s, and they are publicised in different places. The traditional scheme was a broad preparation for responsibility. Increasingly the focus is now on doing real jobs straight away. Paul Siaens advises: ‘Make sure you know what the role is that you are applying for. A lot of people apply to a company because it has had a very successful marketing campaign - they don’t know what else is out there and they feel that they need to get on to a grad scheme. So if you’re going to apply to a company make sure you know what you’re going to be doing on a day-to-day basis.’ Graduate schemes are recruiting again for, well, graduates If you managed few if any applications to graduate schemes in your final year of university, you have not missed the boat. A new recruitment round is about to start and recruiters say graduates have as much chance of success as undergraduates. In years gone by applicants who had already left university were not welcomed so warmly but recruiters recognise that student and graduate life has changed. Increased student numbers mean intensified competition for jobs, so many students are concentrating on their studies to get the best possible degree grade rather than thinking about careers. And after university, applications may be further delayed by gap year activities. Recruiters who ignore such trends miss out on good candidates. Barclays with around 200 vacancies is one of the major recruiters not concerned with the date of graduation. ‘It’s not an issue for us – we’d just need to know what someone had been up to, to fill in the gaps, as in any application,’ says Samantha Stringer, head of graduate recruitment. ‘Often, if a candidate mentions that they have spent the time since graduation travelling, gaining work experience or getting involved in voluntary projects, it gives them more of an opportunity to demonstrate some of the skills that we’re looking for, for example, showing initiative or teamworking.’ Going travelling In the public sector Transport for London recruits 100-plus graduates a year. ‘We have indeed a lot of candidates who graduated from two to three years ago - we have a lot of experience of people who have gone travelling, taken gap years or had a rethink about the organisation that they originally applied for,’ says Paul Siaens, graduate resourcing manager. ‘There are various reasons why people don’t apply to us straight away and we are very aware of that. So it’s not a case of why you haven’t – it’s a case of what can you offer at the point of application and how do you fit into being a graduate trainee at Transport for London.’ Paul says that there is evidence that extra experience gained since graduation can make applicants better able to adapt to the work areas that they are going into, but he points INFORMATION AND ADVICE All about applications www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews Job-hunting tiops www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobhunt Loads of questions answered www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs Graduate chat online www.prospects.ac.uk/links/gradtalk WE NEED BLOGGERS WHO LEFT UNI THIS YEAR OR IN 2006 Contact editorial@prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2007/Kirstie_s_job_log__7/p!eeXlakL http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2007/Niamh_s_job_log__15/p!efbmcpL http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobhunt http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/gradtalk

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Graduate Prospects - September 19, 2007

Editorial: It's Not Too Late Editorial: Bloggers At Work BMRB Ltd Editorial: Desperate for Change National Graduate Recruitment Exhibitions London Autumn Graduate Fair Community Transport Deltatre Media Enterprise PLC Scottish Graduate Fair Hanovia Limited Perriam and Everett Berkley Homes University of Brighton ITFC Manchester Ethnic Diversity Fair Editorial: Business Plan

Graduate Prospects - September 19, 2007

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