-7689f8ba-1528-41cd-8304-28890785e5f5.jpg)
How to make yourself stand out as a graduate
After working your way through a university degree, you are
likely to come up against the fresh challenge of finding work as a graduate. With
the competitive nature of the current job market, it’s becoming increasingly
difficult for graduates to stand out in a post-pandemic world. This is
especially true when you are compared with the thousands of other graduates
applying for jobs in your desired industry. However, before you throw in the
towel and give up too quickly, there are some proactive steps that you can take
to get closer to your dream job.
Volunteer
Volunteering can be a real help if you are struggling for
experience to boast about on your CV. Unlike, what you might experience with an
internship, volunteering doesn’t have to take up all of your time. In fact, you
can volunteer at the same time as working a standard job. This will allow you
to gain experience in your area of interest, while having an income to pay the
bills.
By volunteering, you will get the opportunity to network
with industry professionals and you might even be offered a full-time job by
the company. However, if you volunteer for a company that isn’t related to your
speciality, you will still gain an array of transferable skills.
Find temp work
Sourcing some temporary work is another clever way to get
experience. By registering with several temporary recruitment agencies, you can
gain access to jobs quickly. The advantage of doing temp work is that you get
to try your hand at a variety of different jobs and industries, giving you a
more in-depth understanding about what you like to do.
Upskill
With graduate schemes more competitive than ever, upskilling
can often be a crucial part of making yourself more employable. Nowadays,
employers will likely be interested to see what you have done in addition to
your university education. Not only can upskilling provide you with experience
to speak about in interviews, it can help you to close any gaps in your
skillset.
Taking a training course to develop a specific technical
skill is one of the more common methods of upskilling. However, it’s important
to remember that upskilling comes in many forms and doesn’t necessary have to
be limited to traditional training courses. In fact, you can even develop your
soft skills through upskilling and then later use them during a period of
employment. For example, communication, leadership and teamwork are all soft
skills that can be gained through some sort of work experience or hobby.
Maintain an online
presence
In the modern day, the digital world is instrumental to
everyday life. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that this same sentiment has
filtered into the recruitment side of things. With employers likely to check
their applicants’ social media profiles, it’s important that you present
yourself in a positive light online.
It isn’t just the employer who has to benefit
from social media. If optimised correctly, you can use these platforms as a
tool to search and apply for jobs. While, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are
generally considered to be the most popular platforms, LinkedIn is where you should
concentrate most of your efforts. As well as allowing you to connect with other
like-minded individuals in your industry, LinkedIn has a credible job search
function. It’s also heavily occupied by recruiters, meaning that you’re never too
far away from hearing about the latest jobs.
-f96dff91-d059-449a-a9ff-84e3bc500f3c.jpg)
