What I have learned about applying to graduate roles

For many final-year students, the last couple of months have looked like completing assignments, doing regular university activities, AND applying to graduate schemes/job roles🧑🏽‍💻. This is certainly what my year has consisted of, so I thought I would share some words of wisdom with you👇🏽:

1. Apply early📆

One thing that I did not expect was for the application to last for several months. For me, I found that the application process can take up to 6 months. This is from applying for the role in September, to completing all assessment stages by December, and then completing all onboarding tasks by April. Therefore, my best advice to anyone entering their final year of university is to apply for the roles as early as possible. The earlier you apply, the earlier you can confirm your employment.

• Be selective🧐

You can imagine how time-consuming it can be to complete interviews, assessment centers, reference checks, and other onboarding tasks for one job role; let alone several job roles. For this reason, I would recommend applying to the roles that you can imagine yourself being happy to accept. Why? Because applications are an investment of your time and the employers. The last thing that you want is to have 10 assessment centers to attend (8 of them you might not truly be interested in) on top of university commitments! So be selective and do what’s best for you.

• Check your emails📱

The main thing to avoid during this process is missing crucial information! Keep an eye on your emails to see what application stage is next, what the key dates are, and what the call of action is. Use a calendar or reminder system to keep these dates organised!

Random pointers:

• You do not owe it to a company or organisation to disclose whether you are applying for other roles besides them. Whilst you should be mindful about wasting their time if you are not fully committed to the role, you are allowed to have backup options. So, if this is not something that you want to disclose, do not feel pressured to.
• For some job sectors it is typical to apply to several role opportunities (such as business, finance, and consultancy) so if applying to a large number of roles suits your needs – then you do you but beware of the time commitment attached to this.
• If you are not sure where to start (with finding job roles), first identify what your passion is, what you are good at and what you could potentially make a living from. Check out Prospects to complete a job-profile quiz and find job opportunities. Also, check out Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for a detailed list of graduate opportunities.

Feel free to contact me for any more pointers. As always, I wish you the best of luck💫.