The number of graduate jobs is finally on the rise, with British businesses planning a surge in junior hiring in the coming months.
While an increase in vacancies is undoubtedly great news for this years' soon-to-be graduates, it creates worrying questions for those who've graduated in previous years and have since struggled to secure their dream job. How should you compete with this year's crop of fresh graduates? How can you pitch your time out of university as a benefit, rather than a drawback, to graduate employers?
Here are several simple tactics you can use to ensure you remain a competitive candidate in the graduate job market.
Learn how to talk about your stop-gap job
Lots of graduates undersell stop-gap cafe, bar or shop work, or shy away from talking about it altogether, as they fear an employer will look down on their lack of formal graduate employment. Just because a job doesn't require a degree doesn't mean you haven't developed soft skills which will be of huge value to employers.
Scrutinise the description of the role you're applying for – what are the key skills they're after? You'll be surprised by how many of these skills you've either picked up or developed further in your stop-gap job. Organisation, communication, attention to detail and tenacity are all skills almost always listed in graduate job descriptions which you'll use day to day in a stop-gap role.
As well as drawing out the transferrable skills you've developed, be sure to highlight any successes, as they will always pique an employer's interest. Have you taken on extra responsibility in your position? Have you been promoted? Have you trained another member of staff?
Market travelling as purposeful and skill-enhancing
There are two key things to bear in mind when selling your travels as a benefit to employers.
Firstly, pitch your travels as a deliberate, conscious decision rather than something you drifted into because you didn't know what you wanted to do; employers need to be assured that you know you want to work for them and aren't likely to take off again anytime soon.
Just as you must draw out transferrable skills from your stop-gap job, you need to do this for your travelling. If an employer is looking for a hard-working, industrious candidate, talk about how you worked 40-hour weeks in a call centre for six months to save up the money for travelling. If a job description specifies the need for outstanding interpersonal skills, highlight the time you led a team of people from all around the world to successfully complete a volunteer project or taught English as a foreign language.
Fill in all gaps on your CV
One thing all graduate employers are suspicious of is lengthy gaps on your CV. Any intermission of more than a month or two needs to be accounted for.
Avoid filling lulls in full-time employment with phrases such as "Searching for a job". You don't want to explicitly highlight your lack of success. Instead, flesh out gaps with volunteer work, work experience or internships, positions of responsibility in sports teams or drama groups, college courses, self-taught skills, or part-time work.
Make the most of your personal statement
A year or so out of the graduate job race may make an employer question whether you know what you want to do. Whether you've been travelling or working in non-graduate employment, you need to show prospective employers that you're as determined as ever to enter their industry.
The easiest and most effective way to do this is by crafting a tailored personal statement (those first few sentences at the top of your CV). Make sure you match the sector you say you're looking to go into to the job on offer. For instance, if you're applying to be a business development executive within a marketing agency you might say something like: "Searching for a sales position within a bustling creative environment." Also, be sure to highlight which skills and experiences make you a great fit for the position – employers want to know not only that you are passionate about what they do, but what value you can offer them.
Be honest but positive about your job hunt
Many graduates dread being questioned by employers about why they haven't yet found a graduate job in their chosen sector or how long they've been job hunting. The trick is to keep your response honest, succinct and, crucially, positive. Complaining about the competitive state of the graduate job market, while undoubtedly true, paints you as a pessimist.
Likewise, avoid anything that implies your situation is someone else's fault and steer clear of any air of desperation. Phrases like, "I've been to tons of interviews for graduate positions, but no-one will give me the break I need," will have an employer running for the hills. Instead, opt for something positive and punchy: "While I've found it tricky to get a foot in the door, I've used my time out wisely doing A, B and C and developing skills X, Y and Z. I'm extremely passionate about sector D and feel that I would make a productive addition to your team."
Jenna Allcock is a marketing executive at graduate recruitment agency, Give A Grad A Go.
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