How to get very creative with your cover letter – We are Dylan blog
As we saw from last week, the bar is constantly being raised in the race to get the perfect job. Now, take a look at Gareth Cash's cover letter to put himself forward for a production assistant role.
This charming, creative, and well-produced video cover letter received thousands of views and landed Gareth a wealth of dinners and meetings with potential employers. On this blog he writes that his best response was from the head of creative at 4Creative, who replied with a similar-style response video. Gareth also urges graduates to ignore the inevitable negative and automated responses, and prove what you're good at – just as he did.
The benefit of social media sites – Grad Plus
So, in previous Grad Links, we've looked at LinkedIn and Google+ and seen how useful they can be for job seekers. But they're not the only job hunting platforms you should use. Here you can find short summaries of what else is out there, such as Visual CV which focuses on personal branding – something I have been working on in preparation for my graduate job hunt.
You may not create something as bespoke as the Ceefax CV from last week, but this is a great step towards standing out from the CV pile.
An MBA vows to graduate without any debt – Beat the GMAT
As competition for graduate jobs intensifies, and if the Guardian Careers forums are any measure, lots of candidates are considering further qualifications to increase their employability and chances of finding a job. But if financial problems are putting you off studying for a master's, this story might appeal. This article describes how a woman in America challenged herself to graduate from business school completely debt free. Here you can read about her extremely tight one-year student budget, and her underlying motivation and measure of success, freedom and flexibility.
Value of holding a degree shrinks for 21st century graduates - Education Guardian
There's been a flurry of stories reporting on the decreasing value placed on a degree (I included one of those stories in last week's Grad Links too). But rather than concentrating on the bad news, I've picked out some more encouraging statistics for grads.
Despite the reported decreasing value placed on holding a degree, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that graduate employees are earning 85% more than those who left school after GCSEs.
In this Education Guardian article, the chief executive of Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge said "The [ONS] figures showed the graduate premium had held up over time." So, it is pleasing to hear that the three years of hard work will pay off.
Although, this article also points out that a degree is no guarantee of highly paid employment, keep the faith, I say. Your hard earned degree is an asset - imagine what the struggle to find a job would be like without one.
Using recruitment agencies – All About Careers
I thought this was a great tip and a very useful insight into the way employers think: "The ideal graduate candidate for a recruiter is not just one who is bright and has good work experience, but one that knows what they want, has energy, drive, ambition and will do what needs to be done to get a job."
This piece, on how to get the best from recruitment agencies, advises graduates to respond quickly, be open-minded and to not be afraid of driving them hard.
