How to make the most of your Christmas break

So you’re in your final year. It’s fast approaching Christmas time and you’re not entirely sure where your time at University has gone. If your memory is a bit hazy, we’d hazard a bet that it meant too much focus on two-for-one deals at the student bar, and not enough time studying. But now we’ve reached the business end of your student days and you’re going to have to have a serious think about the next stage of your life. It sounds daunting, but if you’re reading this it probably means you’re ready to take the first steps in becoming a (semi) responsible adult.

The festive period is a great time to do research about the types of companies out there, and what graduate roles they are offering. The best place to start is your university’s careers office. You know, that dusty looking place that you chronically avoided as you shuffled passed with a midweek hangover. They will give you a good idea of what previous students have gone on to do with your degree, and the sort of things you should be highlighting in your CV. The good thing about the careers office is that they are not simply trying to lump you into interviews to fill some kind of quota; they are set up to help the future of their students.

You should also get online and search for graduate roles. gradjobs.co.uk has an extensive directory of current vacancies updated every week, which allows you to send your CV directly to a company’s recruitment team. The next stage is to prepare for rejection. Or not even hear back from companies you’ve applied to. Because, like Keyser Soze, chances are you’ll never hear from them again.

Unfortunately this is part of the process and everyone will have to go through it. Graduate recruiters are inundated by CVs every year, so it’s tough to stand out from the pile. Therefore it becomes a numbers game, with the amount of CVs sent out and applications made radically increasing the chance it will be read, which increases the chances of a call back.

Follow the links for further advice on how to write a great CV and cover letter. However, if you are sending out enough applications then eventually you’ll get some response. While this can be a laborious process, especially as you will have to slightly tailor each application depending on the company and role, it can be made bearable by setting goals and rewards.

For every five CVs sent out, take a break and catch up on an episode of Game of Thrones. The final stage is the interview, which can also be the most terrifying, and where most people will go wrong. However it’s important to remember that if you’ve been invited for an interview, then there is something in your CV that they like. (In-depth interview advice can be read here.)

One thing I would add is that you have to remember the person, or people, sitting in front of you at an interview are human as well. They aren’t there to trick you or catch you out. They’re not there to get pleasure of watching you humiliated and broken (unless you are applying for some kind of S&M role, in which case you’ll probably have to get used to the humiliation side of things). Most employers simply want to see if you will fit into their organization. They don’t want you to fail, but they will push you to see how you handle pressure.

As well as demonstrating that you have the right skills for the job, the interviewer will be looking to if you have social awareness skills. Unless you’re applying for the job as a night watchman at a lighthouse somewhere in the artic circle, then chances are you will be working within a team. Recruiters will be looking to see how you would potentially fit into this team, and how you interact with them will help them gauge this. This isn’t a social night down the pub, but building rapport with your interviewers wont hurt.

When I secured my current job, after an in depth conversation about my skills, experience, and the role itself, I spent the final five minutes or so talking about the previous nights’ football. It was by no means a deal maker, but it proved that as well as being suitable for the job, I wasn’t just another clone in a suit that was regurgitating answers that I thought the interviewer wanted to hear.

If, after the interview, you don’t get the role, it’s worth following up with the employer to ask why, and what you need to do to improve. Remember that these people will be busy so they wont always be able to respond. However, if they’ve got a spare moment for a follow up email or, even better, a phone call, then take note of their feedback, which will strengthen your application next time.

According to the High Flyers ‘The Graduate Market in 2023’ graduate recruitment is returning to a ‘new normal’ at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year and the number of graduate vacancies are continuing to rise.

As mentioned, you will experience rejection during the your job hunt and there will be periods when it feels like no one wants to hire you.

But everyone will go through this, and with preparation, hard work, and a lot of persistence, there is no reason why you cannot start your career on the front foot.

Written by Liam Jack, Senior Digital Sales Executive at Venture Marketing Group