Graduate vacancies slump: how to make sure you stand out from the crowd and get hired in this shrinking job market
As the graduate job market shrinks for the first time in 5 years, Sanctuary Graduates, the specialist graduate recruitment agency, talks to top employers, careers services and our campus connections to investigate how students can make themselves stand out from the crowd and land their desired graduate role.
2016 graduates have been left facing increased competition for employment opportunities, with the number of vacancies available decreasing for the first time in four years. Retail, engineering and construction were the industries hit the hardest, seeing a fall in vacancies of 16%, 14% and 11% respectively, according to the latest figures published last week by the Association of Graduate Recruiters.
Record university attendance, allied to the reversal of last year’s growth of 13% in the graduate labour market, an uncertain short-term economic outlook due to Brexit and pressure on businesses to hire more apprentices due to the Apprenticeship Levy make for a bleak future for the class of 2016. Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive of the AGR said: “The labour market for young people is shrinking for the first time since the financial crisis”. Total vacancies have fallen by nearly 8%, from 21,427 in 2015 to 19,732 in 2016.
So what should students do?
1. Explore all the options
Jade Harvey, head of graduate recruitment at Schroders, the global asset management firm, emphasises the importance of students being open minded and peruse all the different career options offered by companies through both refined research and early engagement with companies on campus. “At Schroders, we hire graduates for many more roles than just our investment programmes. All businesses have infrastructure functions that keep the business running, and there is scope to have great careers in those areas too. We do an awful lot of events and attendance is often poor.” If you find out (from your careers service, for example) when these events are on your campus and drop in on them, you might discover an entire career path you were unaware of. Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.
2. Get a wealth of work experience
James Corbin, Placement Development and Employability Manager at the University of Kent’s Careers and Employability Service, encourages students to gain as much work experience as possible. “I would also encourage students to be fearless and develop a breadth of experience.” Employers value any work experience you have under your belt, even your weekend waitressing job, just make sure you relate it back to the role in your application. Enduring a gruelling pot-washing shift into the small hours after a long day studying in the library can show employers you’re hard-working, resilient and reliable.
3. Check before you apply. Then check again… and again.
Katherine Dodge, the Early Careers Recruitment Manager at Atkins stresses the importance of students putting time and effort into their application, making sure they tailor it specifically to the company and the role. “We see a lot of generic cover letters which have clearly been copied from other applications – sometimes even with the wrong company name!”
4. Location, location, location
Be flexible on the location where you are prepared to work. Otherwise, you might have all the right skills and qualifications, but the employer may have filled all their vacancies in the one location you’ve selected. Many bigger companies have offices in multiple locations, often dealing with the same clients and with the same work so be open minded about exploring a new area. Grad schemes in London are particularly competitive while living costs and working hours can often be much higher than other large cities in the UK.
5. Try before you buy
Internships and placement years are the best way of testing whether you are suited to a role and even a particular company before applying for a full-time position. Particularly if you know which firm you’d like to apply to when you graduate, an internship is an excellent way to build relationships early on. At Atkins for example, you can be offered a position on the graduate development programme if you make a success of an internship with them. This means you could skip the recruitment process and get fast-track hired if you’ve interned with them before. Bonus.
6. Get your CV right
Eleanor, Head of Screening at Sanctuary Graduates, shares her top tips on standing out and getting hired.
Your CV must be:
- clear, well laid out and informative
- a factsheet about you with all the important information readily accessible.
Things that stand out on a CV include:
- relevant internships
- work experience of any kind
- positions of responsibility
- extra-curricular activities
- university societies
- interesting hobbies
7. Prepare thoroughly for your interview
Candidates who stand out at interview are:
- very well researched. They know why they want to work for the specific company, why they want the specific role and why they feel they are a good fit for it.
- enthusiastic and engaged throughout the whole process
- answer the question they’re asked
“It sounds simple, but basic manners are really important. Firms really want you to do well at interview so they can hire you, so kill them with kindness”.
If you’d like to hear more insights from our clients or campus connections, please get in touch.
