• MONTHLY ROUNDUP

Annual recruiters have graduate jobs but aren’t rolling out the red carpet

With the Office for National Statistics indicating that 722,000 people aged 16 to 24 are out of work finalists may be entitled to feel pessimistic going into their last year. However there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

Graduate roles might be down but they certainly aren’t out. There are roles available across the sectors and disciplines but this year corporates have taken back the power. Gone are the days when companies were throwing everything they could at graduates to get them to sign on the dotted line, this year it is the students who need to be savvy about how they go about proving to recruiters that they are right for their businesses.

With reduced budgets expensive activities are likely to be cut in favour of activities that allow recruiters target students rapidly and accurately. With this in mind students need to find ways to engage with recruiters face-to-face and make not only good first impression but also know how to make a lasting impression at every stage.

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Is employability message still falling on deaf ears?

As statistics reveal that only 44% of students use their University careers services it poses the question how else can students engage with employability message?

For some students the location of the careers service remains a mystery until their third year, whilst others will never fully engage with it to its full potential. The challenge therefore is providing a complimentary message that engages students who don’t naturally seek out their careers service.

As a student, committee member and corporate the questions always at the forefront of your mind needs to be; ‘what would get me involved?’ if your idea doesn’t excite you it won’t excite your toughest critics.

Making the most of careers fairs

Across the UK this month careers fairs of all shapes and sizes will be happening with a huge range of employers and opportunities on offer however they can be time consuming, so how do you make the most of a careers fair?

Firstly and importantly understand the three types of fairs

• National
• Held somewhere like Glasgow, London or Birmingham
• Recruiters from all industries on very large scale [approximately 150 companies]
• General
• Traditionally held on a university campus
• Recruiters from a variety of disciples, eg, Utilities, Law, Finance, FMCG
• Normally 20-30 Companies
• Industry or role-specific
• Often held on a university campus perhaps in a relevant department
• Either related to a specific type of role, for instance a Marketing and Advertising fair or for a particular industry such as Power and Utilities Fair

Secondly do some research before you go. Understand…

• Who will be there
• Who you want to talk to
• What do you want to find out about the application process [that you don’t know from the website]
• Can they offer you any tips for making a successful application

Thirdly walk away from every employer asking yourself:

• Do you know whether you want to apply to them and why?
• Do you know how to apply to them?
• Do you know what they are looking for in their applicants?
• Have you made a positive and lasting impression?

REMEMBER

Don’t be afraid to go up and talk to recruiters, walking past open-mouthed or slinking in round the side to pick up a leaflet won’t allow you to get the best out of a careers fair. Go and talk to the teams on the stands.

The recruiters will be sussing you out as well as you looking at them to decide whether to apply to their scheme. Good people are frequently fast tracked at this stage so a good first impression really does go a long way!

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• NEW FEATURE - Ask us

The questions I have been most commonly asked this month revolve around the best and worse questions to ask recruiters at careers fairs so I have listed a couple of the gems I have been asked below.

• POOR OPENING LINES
• What is it you do? /Who are you?            
• This instantly turns a recruiter off, if you haven’t paid any attention to us why should we pay attention to you?
• I want to be a zoo keeper, is that something I can do if I join your sales programme?
• Ok so I haven’t actually been asked this question but I have had had similarly irrelevant enquires
• Any question that screams 'I have done no research and have no idea who you are' is not a good way to start!

• GREAT OPENING LINES
• Hello I’m … we spoke on the phone last week

• I am doing a marketing degree and have just finished my industrial placement with [a competitor] can you talk to me about how that will help me to succeed on your marketing scheme?
• Both of these demonstrate a student who has done their research, they have called and spoken to the team or read into the programmes that are offered, the types of roles available and who our competitors
• With both of these I am instantly engaged in who you are and what you can offer me

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• HOTLIST - Your Future Bright Talent

Thanks to our student network of Bright Futures Societies and constant activity within the graduate recruitment marketplace we know who the best talent is not just on paper but by working with them. So to help you benefit from this knowledge we have pooled the details of some of our top graduates segregated by just some of the types of role they are seeking.

This month’s hotlist focuses on Research and Development graduates and give a snapshot of the talent graduates currently seeking roles.

CORPORATES: If you are currently recruiting and would like to know more about the candidates on the hotlist or others like them please contact us.

STUDENTS: If you would like to be considered for the hotlist in any sector please give one of the recruitment team a call [01242 236 415] to have a chat with us.

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Ref

Role

University

Course Title

Degree Result

Relevant Experience

RB

Research and Development/  Science

University of Leeds

Pharmacology and Physiology

2:1 [Obtained]

BCC at A-Levels

Year Long Industrial Placement with Covance

RL

Research and Development/  Science

The University of Sheffield

The University of Edinburgh

Chemistry with year in industry

PHD Synthetic Chemistry

2:1 [Obtained]

ABC at A-Levels

Year Long Industrial Placement with GlaxoSmithKline

JH

Research and Development/  Science

University of Hull

Chemistry

2:1 [Obtained]

ABC at A-Levels

Service Chemist and at Cray Valley

SB

Research and Development/  Science

University of Leeds

Pharmaceutical Chemical Engineering

2:1 [Obtained]

AAA at A-Levels