The financial world's gone crazy... but what does it all mean for graduate programmes?

I've been asked by a few former followers to restart this blog - which I'm happy to do if you keep the questions and suggestions for topics you want to hear my general musings on coming! Specifically a couple of you have asked for my perspective on the current market and what it means for graduate recruitment.

What's behind the numbers?
It's important to understand the dynamics of graduate recruitment relationships at times like these. Grad Rec teams at big companies have long-standing relationships with the big universities in this country - say the top 20-25. They depend on the careers services to promo their opportunities, give them prime time slots and venues, help them make connections with faculty members to point them to the best students, allow them to sponsor prizes to increase visibility, etc. In good times and in bad, grad rec teams and career services need each other - and the 'balance of power' shifts along with the economy depending on the level of demand. The careers services depend on them to give jobs to their students, which in turn allows them to be seen as universities with great conversion rates into employment at top firms. Beneath the relationship dynamic is the unspoken rule that the big firms will visit the big unis on the Milkround year in, year out, regardless of how many grads/interns they are hiring, with few exceptions.
Thus, it's important that you do what you can to understand what the 'real' picture is with regard to hiring. What's behind the numbers? Asking the question straight out will only get you so far - if numbers are down you will only likely get a fairly loose answer, especially from the graduate recruiters themselves. At the careers fair or evening receptions, try to corner the graduates or business reps, with more of a "I saw in the careers guide that you're expecting to take 20-25 grads this year - is that still the case?". If you're a real planner, bring along a friend and ask him/her to pose as being interested in the internship programme and ask him/her to ask what the conversion rate was last year. (They are more likely to want to 'promote' the conversion rate to a potential intern than a potential grad as they are trying to sell the positives of the internship programme.)
You might also want to ask at the careers service as they might know more on the numbers as they have employer liaison officers who specifically develop the relationships with the graduate recruiters. A contact at the firm is of course also a great route, but not many people have this.
If a company is not really recruiting reasonable numbers, then you don't want to have to spend endless hours on an application if there is no real opportunities available.

Company Prospects...
More than ever before, you need to think about the company you join and not just the role or the graduate programmes reputation. Getting a solid 2-3yrs of experience is important in this market if you want to start out on a career journey if this is to be your chosen direction for a while. Companies in difficulty are increasingly having to brutally cut costs. Joining a grad programme only to be made redundant after 9-12mths can be a real kick in the teeth, and it can be difficult to get back on the ladder again, not least because that amount of experience is likely to mean having to re-start as a grad again - and facing back into that level of competition and the rigidity of the cycle can be difficult. Read the papers, read the blogs, read the forums and then make the best judgement you can about where you want to work - but I think in this market, you need to be more open-minded than might have been necessary in the past.

The importance of 'Reputation'
From day 1 in your new role, be that a grad programme, temp role or internship, it is more important than ever before to impress. In a world where people are moving on a lot because of level of redundancies and level of temporary workers in the marketplace, your reputation will travel faster than ever before. Don't make enemies and dont do anything stupid on those nights out with the MD.
In a market where people are not willing to take any risks when it comes to hiring decisions, a recommendation from someone internal about a known individual is worth more than ever. Likewise with companies watching every penny, employee referral programmes are infinitely more preferable (because they are so much cheaper!) than agencies - so again, networking and maintaining a strong reputation is key.

Rejection 
Do not take rejection hard. Don't let it knock you. Don't let it get you down.

In this kind of market, the level of rejection of CVs and applications is huge. Unfortunately there will be plenty of times where your CV has had little more than a glance - if that - before it's rejected. This is down to numbers, or the fact there have been loads of internal referrals, or just a busy, stressed-out manager not doing his/her job right. It sounds harsh, but it is the reality. Don't spend hours picking through the detail of your letter/application worrying about where you went wrong. If you're happy with your CV/letter, just move on to the next thing. Its disappointing, but the chances that it is nothing to do with your application or your profile are higher than ever before. Your application is a victim of these crazy times and, for now, this one isn't meant to be. Move on... their loss!

Do what's best for you
If you're lucky enough to get yourself into a position where you might get two offers - e.g. because you're invited to multiple assessment centres, etc - this might well be the year to hold onto both until the last minute. Yes, it annoys recruiters and might get you black-listed from a company for a couple of years, but if it means being guaranteed a job come next July... it's worth thinking about...

The temporary job market
More than ever companies are taking people on contract and temporary roles because they don't want to commit to permanent roles because of the costs involved. This makes this a great time to think about alternative routes into a company to 'try them out' or to get a mix of experience on your CV if you can get in the door. If you have temporary work or any internship experience make sure you are really doing a good job of that on your CV and not over-looking anything in terms of transferable skills that you developed. You might need to start at the bottom - data analysis, helping to fill admin gaps - but if you are willing to think about alternative routes to get into a company other than graduate programmes, this can be a good time for that.
If you do get something, work hard at making an impression. As mentioned earlier, its a very important time to do this. Don't winge or moan or feel the work is beneath you. There is a huge amount of that going on at the moment and anyone who rises above it and remains positive and professional immediately stands out from the crowd. Regardless of how tough times are, a great temp/ contractor who makes an impression is not someone anone wants to lose. I've seen it happen endless times where there are apparently no jobs and yet the invaluable temp is made permanent out of pure fear that they might leave. And if that doesn't happen, the impression you've made on those around you means you will be top of their list when someone asks "Do you know someone who....". Again, I've seen that happen many times - and indeed, made recommendations myself many times of people who have made an impression, sometimes years ago.

The old rules and advice of graduate recruitment all still apply - get your application in as early as you can, not the day before the closing date; attend the fairs and events to build up your contacts, etc. There are still jobs out there, you just have to look a bit harder and be a bit more open-minded.

These are just my views. The next recruiter might well give you a whole new perspective. Ask around, read the forums, read the articles on places like efinancialcareers, etc.

No job yet? What next?

So it's 2011, Christmas has come and gone, and you still haven't secured a permanent role much as you'd hoped to have one 'in the bag' by now. Where to go from here?

Well, firstly, all is not yet lost. Many consultancies and banks aspire to have everything filled by Christmas - and some do - but there are usually still graduate roles to be had right up into March/April if you are willing to be a bit flexible on the role / location / company you want to work for. You should also be sure to keep your eye open for roles around May/June/July time. This is usually when banks start to get reneges from graduates who have accepted 2, or even 3 roles, as they were worried that some might be pulled by the employers, or because they couldn't make up their mind. If guaranteed graduate numbers are required, some banks will look to fill these at the last minute. Efinancialcareers.co.uk is a good place to have a look, along with Targetjobs or Totaljobs.

The second major point is don’t panic and start applying to every job you see that is vaguely in the right ballpark. This will take time and effort. The most important thing to remember right now is don't sacrifice your 2:1 - keep studying!  As long as you have a 2.1, you are not closing the door to a whole range of options you have with regard to the way forward. Settle for a 2.2 and you can pretty much give up hope of getting a role on a banking or consulting grad programme, regardless of the route you take.

Many people at this stage wonder whether they should 'hold out' for another year and give the application process another go to see if they have any luck getting a role in the next cycle. To make the right decision, it is worth consider how close you came during this cycle. If you applied to 5 or more banks and didn't secure any interviews, then it's possible that your profile and background unfortunately are just not right for the industry and the level of academic and extracurricular endeavour it demands from its applicants. If you got through to a couple of interviews, or even an assessment centre, then you got past the first CV review hurdle, and so with the right practice, research and further "propping-up" of your CV with more employability indicators, its entirely possible that you might do better next time around.

For the entrepreneurial amongst you, it might be worth considering starting up on your own. There is great advice, and even some financial assistance available, if you go to the right place and have a good idea for development. Check out the Princes Trust website, Shell LiveWire. Local councils also offer advice and help to new start up businesses in their area. Also check out BraveNewTalent.com.

There are still graduate programmes in Financial Services that are open to applications at the moment. Try Man Group, Prudential Momentum M&G, ING, Markit Group …. all considerable players in the FS field, even though they are perhaps not mentioned in popular media as often as the Investment Banks.

Many people will also consider going on and doing a Masters if their graduate degree has not got them the job they were hoping for. This route proves successful for many, but with a huge number of Masters Programmes and candidates out there, it might be worth considering alternative ways of developing your employability. Perhaps think about a Mountbatten Internship in New York / London, or applying to TeachFirst UK Programmes if you have the right background? Volunteering may be an option for you - there are many of the other volunteering companies out there - although beware, volunteering is often a costly business - "voluntourism" companies can charge considerable amounts, so shop around. The Global Volunteer Network offers good value for money from what I've heard. If you have an ambition in relation to volunteering, it might be worth seeing if you could do some sort of fundraising exercise to help you on your way. Volunteering can be a great way to build management skills, leadership ability, entrepreneurial experience, etc, as well as many other life skills.

Hope that's given you some ideas. And remember, some of the applications you have made you may still hear back on, so don't give up on them completely just yet.... but maybe get a Plan B in place too, just in case. Think about doing an internship instead, if you can find one. Sometimes the application dates are later and they can lead to a full time role if you do a good job.

CV Structure and Format Checklist

There are thousands of decent CV structures out there that are perfectly good robust as templates for your CV. However, there are a few checkpoints which I think apply to most CVs.

Take a look through the list below to see if any apply to your CV and if it's worth reviewing the structure a little...

• Be consistent with tenses - either present or past
• Use no more than one level of bullets
  
• Keep the amount of space you use for "Personal Details" at the top to a minimum- don't leave loads of white space on either aide by centering the text. Use text boxes if necessary to get the look you want and to maximise space.
• Don't use generic dates for work experience: 2008-2009 could be two days, two weeks, two months or two years. As a recruiter, if you see generic dates you will assume it was a very short period of time that you are trying to make sound longer than it was. You are better off being honest upfront.
• Don't use the Word header functionality for any important information (like your name!). Headers and footers don't appear on certain Word views and it can look like you've forgotten to include your name... Also some of the CV scan technologies that companies use dont like headers/footers, and again can cut some of your information out.
  
• Try to stick to one tab level throughout the CV, or two at the most, otherwise it looks inconsistent and confusing for the reader
  
• PDF vs editable. My advice is probably go editable. Whilst the PDF is a great, robust format, if you've made any mistakes, no one can correct them and your CV will get binned (as opposed to someone doing you a favour and correcting it before forwarding to the business, which does happen occasionally).
  
• If you have more than one page, number the pages (pg 1 of 2, pg 2 of 2) and put your name on all pages as sheets do get separated quite easily.
  
• Make sure you include your degree result, or most recent result if you are not finished. If you don't include it, the reader will usually assume its below the required level and decline your app.
  
• Do include Hobbies/Interests - at a graduate level, they are good for showing you are a rounded individual with other activities to draw on experience from.
  
• If you are including a personal profile, my recommendation would be to not to write in the third person "Steven is a ...... " - "I" is better given that it is you writing the CV and that is acknowledged. (If you get a job in consulting, then you will often see CVs written in the third party as they are being included in proposals, etc, but outside of that first person is better).

Can't think of anymore for now, but will edit and and when I come up with more!

Have a nice weekend all.

What's different for grad recruiting in the downturn that you should know about?....

... and I mean apart from the obvious unfortunate circumstance that numbers are likely to be reduced. What are the things that you should know if you want to get a role in a downturn?

Type of Graduate

All graduates looking for jobs in finance or banking should be Risk-aware and able to answer questions about Risk Management - and not just those applying for roles specifically in Risk. No matter what part of the company you want to work in, be aware of what the risks they have to deal with are, and how they are likely to manage risk. Try to have some examples of where you managed risk as part of a project. That's a pretty tricky question to be asked, but if you have something prepared, it comes across that you are prepared and therefore aware of the importance of risk... if you see what I mean! 

Recent history
Make sure you understand the journey of the company in the last 2-3 years in particular. Have they made a major divestment of business, or mergers with other business; what has their results profile looked for the last couple of years - what caused the peaks and troughs? What was the impact on the firm of the major events - e.g. Lehman collapse, etc.  This is one of the few areas of an interview where you really can get an answer right/wrong. I had one grad last year do really well, but when asked about where the profit was mainly coming from in our business (which was pretty readily available in the press, on our website, etc), he obviously didn't know and took a chance and said the completely wrong thing and quoted an area where we were bleeding cash! I felt really bad for him as he did such a good job for the rest of the day, but the two interviewers who heard this answer were adamant that they didn't want to hire him as it made them doubt all the rest of his knowledge... such a shame!  So beware and make sure you have these answers to hand.

Flexibility
Company structures, teams, ways of working and activities are changing more than ever as a result of the downturn. Cost-cutting, regulatory requirements, the aforementioned risk management, and the changing market means that change is continuous. The result of this is the work people are being asked to do is different. Sometimes different to what their expectations are and what their aspirations are. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. People are being asked to 'step up' and sometimes there is a lot more responsibility involved than they were initially intended to have.
This impacts graduate recruitment because of the need to recruit people who are likely to be open to this and 'roll with the punches' a bit more - someone flexible and adaptable; graduates who do not have an exact picture in their mind of what they want for the next five years and feel that they employer is obliged to ensure they get to do all that they want to do.

More Risk talk

In addition to Risk being a likely topic of conversation at interview, it's also a topic of conversation at assessment day wash-up sessions. When times are good, you hear "let's take a chance on him/her" more. When numbers are tight, then the business are less likely to take a risk on a grad. So, basically, it's not a time to go for anything 'quirky' in terms of your approach to answers, clothing, application forms, etc, and it is a time when you need to be very, very prepared for assessment centres.  Whilst you don't have to be perfect across all the activities, you do have to be at least very good in them all. In the past, I've seen someone do badly in one exercise, but if they did well in the others, they get the benefit of the doubt perhaps. This is happening less now. The business want to 'wait' for the perfect candidate to come along, rather than take one that is 'good enough'.

A good representative?
The City has never been under more scrutiny by the press, by the public and by the Government. We want graduates who are likely to represent the City and our company well; one who understand the concerns of the public and can articulate responses to the challenges they raise with regard to our business. We don't want to hire a graduate who is likely to attract too much attention for the wrong reasons in the press - it happens more regularly than you think. In a world of things 'going viral', no bank wants to be in the press for the wrong reasons and it doesn't take much. When you work for a company, you represent them all the time 24/7, 365 days. It might not be fair, but unfortunately it is the reality. So even something you do on a saturday night on your own time will be reported as "The man, a City banker,...." etc etc. Keep in mind everyone that works in the bank, (regardless of role!) is always "a City banker" in the press!

Be creative with your approach
Finally, the reduction in hiring permanent graduate positions does not mean there isn't still the work to do - if anything, there is more work, not less, because of the markets.  If you really want to work in IB, don't think that there is only one way in as a graduate (i.e. through the programmes).  Contracts and temp workers are often hired in greater numbers during a downturn, including at graduate level, when an employer does not want to commit to permanent staff. Agencies are usually the best way to these types of roles and its worth investigating.

Hope that helps; yes, it's tough out there, but it is by no means insurmountable. Really hope the Milkround season is well so far for my readers.

Personal Profiles

Many, many CVs that you see now have personal profiles or 'personal statements' at the top.  There are a number of different approaches to writing these - some people write a summary of their career to date, some write about their aspirations for the future and some choose to call out their transferable skills in particular.  It can serve as any of these. 

However, personally, I don't recommend them for graduate or near-graduate level CVs. For someone with 5yrs+ experience, they are fine, because you have plenty of 'real meaty experience' that you can talk about. The problem with trying to write them on a graduate or near-graduate CV is that there isn't a huge amount to talk about and so you have to make rather vague / grand statements about your abilities that can sound a bit much without evidence to back them up. When I get a CV, I only ever read the personal profile at the end if I liked everything else on the CV. That's just my 2cents, please feel free to disregard as I guarantee the next person you talk to will have a different opinion again.  Interestingly though, in doing some research into this it seems like consultants at Harvey Nash - one of the top recruitment agencies in the UK - may be of a similiar opinion: "In a straw poll...not a scientific poll admittedly, but illustrative - not one consultant said they influenced their opinion on the candidate's skills and experience."  They write an interesting full article on profiles: http://www.harveynash.com/oam/career_manager/should_i_have_a_personal_profi.htm

If you do decide to go for one, then the Kent university website does offer some good guidelines for putting one together: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/CVProfiles.htm

If you include a personal profile, make sure that you have strong evidence to back up everything you say in the statement as you should expect to be challenged on it in any interview you do. Be very wary of using words like 'outstanding', 'superb'. Those are strong words.... better than 'good', 'very good' or even 'excellent'. So make sure you have the necessary evidence to demonstrate the level of expertise that you state you have.

What they say they want... and what they actually mean!

There are some standard competencies and skills that most companies say the want in their graduates. This is for all the obvious reasons why those skills are needed for the job, but also for reasons that they might not explicitly call-out to you - e.g. because of some of the less interesting elements of the job, because of the challenges you might face, because of the parts of the job that are not enjoyable.

I hope that by hearing what they are "really" asking for in part, when they ask for these skills/qualities, it will help you formulate your answers better, and help you think about what else the job might involve.

Flexible/Adaptable
- Are you someone who realises that change is continuous in most companies and being able to roll-with-it and not complain when it happens to you - e.g. you get a new manager / move teams / move offices / move roles?

- You are going to have to do some of the less-fun stuff in the beginning. That's the reality of joining the lower echelons of a company. Will you accept that, make a name for yourself as being great at it, and get something better, or will you be 'difficult and demanding' of more from the start.

- We might hire you for one thing, and in a year ask you to do something different. Are you going to be open to that?
- Sometimes you will work hard at something and do a great job on it only for it not to be used / be changed completely. Are you going to be ok with that and realise that is part of working life and a corporate environment, or is that going to make you really demotivated?

- Sometimes (or a lot!) you will have to work late and miss a big night out / weekend away / dinner with friends. You'll become the person who pulls out last minute and messes up the table bookings / plans. Will you cope with this? Will your friends/family? - and if not, how will you cope?

- You might have to do lots of traveling, which will be fun and glamorous and exciting. It will also cause you to miss parties, birthdays and big events. Are you ready for that?

Problem Solving / Analytical Ability
- Can you use data to tell a story and come up with ideas and recommendations based on the data?
- Can you work on your own without too much supervision?
- Can you think outside of the data or information that you are given to assess if anything is missing that might help provide the solution?

- Can you make sure the problem gets solved quicker next time arises, or even better, make sure it doesn't arise again?
- Do you know how to teach yourself new skills? This could be using online forums, help functionality in applications, books or tutorials, web research, but you must be able to teach yourself quickly - or J.I.T. training/learning ('just in time' - as in 'when you need it') as its called.

Communication skills
- Can we put you in front of clients and be certain that you wont say anything silly?* (see below for examples I've witnessed)

- Do you understand what it is to write good emails?
- Do you understanding email etiquette? (e.g. lots of grads resort to cc-ing someone's manager on an email if they can't get an answer on something - this is a big mistake to make as a grad!)

* "I'm just a graduate so I'm just here to observe and learn"
* "I don’t really know much because I've just started, so I'll have to ask my manager"

Hope that helps a bit. Remember ALL jobs have good points and bad points. Make sure you consider both when you are thinking about what you want to do.

Application Forms... don't you just hate them?

It is that time of year where on top of a looming final year project, a mountain of work and trying to enjoy your last year at Uni, monstrous application forms for companies await you. Trying to maintain a balance between doing them as well as you can, doing the right number of them, and keeping track of deadlines and what you've sent where can be a nightmare… here's my take on application forms.

Why do companies use them?
1 - BECAUSE they are frustrating and take forever to complete. Many of the top companies figure that if you can't be bothered spending 3-4 hours filling out an application form to them correctly, then they can't be bothered with you either. It is a filter that applies to applications before you have even hit the submit button. The top IBs that receive tens of thousands of applications would receive hundreds of thousands of applications if it was as simple as just emailing them your CV. Unfortunately, despite the last couple of years of turmoil, that is still the reality of the market.

2 - They allow us to compare like-for-like. With the variety of CV formats and styles available, in particular across different countries, the application form process offers a fairer way for all applicants to provide the same details to the employer in order that they can assess their suitability for the roles available.

3 - They allow the auto-filtering to work. If everything is in the same format, it is easier for systems to filter out candidates that don’t meet the required criteria.

4 - They allow companies to pull Management Information together quickly. E.g. How many people applied from Cambridge? How many people applied with Maths degrees? How many people applied with 3 As at A-Level? This allows us to target more carefully on campus - e.g. if no one applies from LSE, then we do more promotion on campus there the next year….

Answer the Question Asked
I know you have heard this again and again and again, but it is the crux of a great application form. When you start into a paragraph, and it is sounding good and you're into the flow of writing and you get to the end of your 400 words and it sounds FANTASTIC, it's a great feeling. But then you look back at the question and you think…. Mmm… well, it wasn't quite what I was asked, but it sounds great, and its close enough, so I'm sure they'll like it anyway. We wont!  Please, please answer the exact question asked.  It is very frustrating for us as recruiters too to read a great paragraph and think "this could have been a great candidate, but they didn’t read the question… so 'reject'".

Think competencies
Most questions will have a competency behind it that they are trying to assess. Figure out what this is and then make sure that you address this competency in your example, rather than just explain a story of what happened without necessarily proving that you did demonstrate that competency during the activity.  Try to use a variety of examples across your answers. Read through all of the questions before starting and fit the example to each question before you start. This avoids getting to the last question and realising that the example you used for the first question is better suited to another.

Apply early? Apply last minute? Does it matter?
Most grad programmes that I have worked having received up to 50% of their applications during the last 3 days before the deadline. When you look on jobs boards or agency websites these days, all jobs will generally have a deadline that is a week or ten days away. And then after that deadline has passed, the job will promptly appear re-posted with a new deadline the week after. That is because lots of people will only apply when pressed to do so - i.e. when a deadline is imposed. Agencies/companies know this and that is why there is always a deadline...

The reality of this is that when you apply late you are in a very big pile of late applicants. If you apply early, you show that you are keen, on-the-ball and organised enough to get your application in early. This does not necessarily imply an advantage - there are definitely companies who don’t take any action until the deadline has passed (even though they all say they doing rolling recruitment) as they provide CV books to the business at that stage.  However, to some extent you make your own luck and there can be instances where an early applicant is 'luckier' than a last-minute one who is one of many (e.g. a place comes available on a fast-track scheme, invites to a company event are sent out to early applicants, etc).

If anyone has any specific question on application forms that I can help with, drop me an email on gradjobsuk@yahoo.co.uk

Any ideas for future blog topics also welcome!

What REALLY happens to my application?

Most of you will have some idea of what happens to your application or CV once you hit 'submit', but it strikes me that no true 'insiders guide' is really that without actually taking you through the steps that your application will take before they come back to you with a yay or a nay.

Obviously the process is slightly different for each company, but broadly speaking, the journey is usually pretty similar...

So... you hit submit / go / complete.... most companies that recruit more that 30 grads these days have a system that manages the applications. The most common ones are by GTI and WCN, but also Taleo or Stepstone to name but a few of the big players.

Those systems have a few key features that are used:
1 - they flag anyone that doesn't meet the minimum requirements when it comes to degree results (i.e. less than 2.1), A-level results (300-340 is often the min), etc.  If you have a genuine 'legitimate' reason for results that don't meet the minimum (e.g. illness or death of close family), then it can be difficult to flag this appropriately. Even if you add it to your cover letter, etc, then if they have a system like this, you will get rejected before anyone even looks at your letter.  If you do have a circumstance like this, it is worth writing to HR (if you can get a response) or visiting them at a careers fair to ask the question.
2 - they help identify star/key candidates. Based on the criteria you have completed, they can flag 'top 10%' candidates to a recruiter. e.g. a combination of a particular uni, with an internship, with certain results, might get you classified as a 'top candidate'.  This functionality allows recruiters to get to the top candidates quickly without having to go through the whole pile of applications. These are the candidates that everyone will want, so they want to get back to them quickly, get them in for interview, and, if appropriate, get jobs offered quickly. The system helps with this.

Once the system has 'done its stuff', a lot of firms will have a review by the graduate recruiters. They are looking for evidence such as:
- strong uni and degree
- strong modules and results
- interesting internship
- evidence of extra-curricular activities
- overall good CV structure, good grammar and spelling
- good cover letter with evidence that effort was made - personalised and tailored

If you get through that stage, then the final stage is a review by the line/the business.  This is the major hurdle... after this, you're in for an interview and you can really show what you can do and not be relying on a CV to represent you anymore...

The CVs will be supplied to the business according to their preference. Some are happy to log onto the system and review them online. However, lots like to get paper copies so that they can review them in some 'spare' time - e.g. in a meeting where they are only passively listening, on the train, on a business trip, etc.  Or some just block book an afternoon with their team and blast through 500 CVs together making piles of 'yes' 'no's and 'maybe's.

They will be specifically looking at the detail on your CV around your internship and your modules and really judging whether the skills and modues you've developed are relevant to the area they recruit in. Often if a CV is good but not quite right for this particular area, they will flag to HR that it needs to be sent elsewhere / put in someone elses 'pile'.

No matter what anyone tells you, and no matter how 'slick' the process is, there is an element of luck required at this stage. The things that can influence your 'luck' are:

- the 'Halo' effect:   if you have a similar background to the reviewer
- if you have an interest that is of interest to them... (sailing, shooting, boxing, ballet...)
- if you did the same degree / went to the same uni as the reviewer
- an internship at a company they used to work for

Unfortunately CV reviewing is subjective, no matter how many guidance notes a company has. There are ways to make your own luck - I've mentioned many of these in my other blogs... (e.g. visiting them at careers fairs, etc).

I hope the above highlights HOW important your CV/cover letter/application are. It doesn't matter how good you are, how many people say you are amazing and will have no problem getting a job, etc etc. The CV is the golden ticket to getting in the door....

Very few companies will provide you any feedback specific to your CV. This is partly because they may not know - 98% of the time, the business will just send back the CV with a 'no' - they wont give a reason.  Equally, for legal reasons they don't want to go into the detail as to why they rejected you incase you sue them for some reason...

I hope that gives you a flavour of what goes on 'behind the scenes'. Once we as recruiters have the pile of 'yes' CVs back, the excitement starts. Somewhere in the pile are the 400 stars that we will hire for this year.... let the search commence!!

Some straight talk on Cover Letters

I get a lot of questions at this time of the year about cover letters and what we look for in cover letters. There is an art to writing cover letters, but ultimately there is no right answer. What one recruiter likes, another recruiter might not, and so there is an element of luck to writing in the style that appeals to the person who reads your letter.

The other thing to keep in mind of course is that they might not even get to your letter if you don’t have a good CV, but that's for another blog… Personally, I like a letter that is well-structured, well-worded, to the point and makes an impact with the opening lines.

Remember that the CV and cover letter together are just a key to get in the door for an interview. If the key fits, it opens the door. Once the door is open, it is how you perform at interview/assessment that will get you the job, not the CV.

Physical structure 

Before I get on to talk about the content of the letter, some comments on the physical structure to be careful of:
- 8pt is the absolute minimum size to go to. 10pt is perfect. 12pt is possibly too big - try getting more content onto the CV by using smaller font

- Don’t use a Word header and/or footer for key information, especially not for your personal information. Headers are notoriously troublesome for printing. And worse, when a CV is viewed in outline/normal mode in Word, you can't see the headers at all so recruiters think you forgot to put your name on your CV, which results in an immediate rejection obviously…

- Don’t use logos or emblems from your previous employers/universities. They might make it more eye-catching, but they also show lack of commercial awareness: you're not allowed to use the emblem/logo of a company without their explicit written permission.

- Using PDF. More and more grads are converting their CV to PDF before sending in. This is fine with most recruiters, and indeed is often easier to read/manage than Word. However, a word of caution: if you've made any small spelling mistakes that a recruiter might be willing to forgive if they are in a good mood, they can only correct them on your behalf if they can edit the document (which usually means Word). If they can't edit it, they are unlikely to put you forward to the business because it will a) make them look bad and b) the business are most unlikely to be as forgiving.

1 page or 2 pages? 

Check the website of where you are applying to (look in the FAQ section). If you are applying to one of the major banking or consulting firms for example, the majority request 1 page. If you are applying to somewhere that takes a relative small programme of grads on board, they might be less strict about this criteria. Realistically, the majority of graduates should be able to get their experience onto one page with the right structure and succinct content description. If you do more than 1 page, be sure to number the pages and include your name on both pages incase they get separated.

Content 

The cover letter needs to answer the question why are you applying to us, why this particular role, and why should we hire you. I'm sure there is a long, complicated and multi-strand answer that you could provide - life doesn't tend to be very straight-forward when it comes to choosing for our future. However, you need only provide a straight answer - don’t try to give all the background as to why after years of soul searching you've decided that e.g. marketing is for you.

Every sentence needs to form part of the answer to each of the three key questions. Again, they are:- 

- why are you applying to us, 

- why this particular role, 

- why should we hire you

So, let's look at some of the most common lines we see in cover letters. 

"I am a second year student studying management at Bath." 

Does this really contribute to the answers?  In my opinion, it doesn't. It provides background, yes; but it could do more as a sentence to contribute. E.g.

"As a second year management student at Bath, I studied a module in macroeconomics, and became interested in pursuing a career in fundamental econometrics."

This sentence provides the background of your degree and university, but also why both have influenced your applying to this role.

"Having read the description of your Risk Management graduate programme on your website, I believe I am a good match to the skillset that you require."

Again, this sentence is fine, but it doesn’t really contribute towards answering the questions. Try: 

"My modules in financial statistics and corporate finance at Imperial have equipped me with skills which, having reviewed the programme description on your website, I think would make me a good match for your Risk Management graduate programme."

This adds value in that it justifies both your interest in and your suitability to a particular programme.

Grab attention 

The first paragraph of your letter is definitely the most important. First impressions are key when reading a cover letter. If the first paragraph hasn't caught the readers attention, then if it’s a large pile of applications (which is often is), then they might well not even bother with the rest.

Take a step back from everything you know and have learned about writing cover letters. What is the one thing about you that you think gives you the best chance of being chosen for an interview? Whatever that is, you should try to get it into the first paragraph.

There are a few ways to catch someone's attention in the first paragraph. Mention:- Something impressive - a (ideally relevant) scholarship/prize/award that you have won Something different - an overseas semester, an unusual internship, a key position in a society Unusual reason for applying - if you have something to mention that might be different to the usual reasons A contact name - if you met someone at a fair who impressed you and you remember them by name, mention it.

Don’t be obvious 

Definitely no to including any of: "I read the Financial Times every day." "I have always wanted to work for your Firm since I was young." (or any iteration of that)

"My father worked in banking, therefore I want to work in banking."

Don’t finish badly. 

The graduate recruitment process at most major firms is a well-oiled machine. They will process your application as soon as they can, within the bounds of their process. Don’t demean a good letter by appearing needy/arrogant/annoying/presumptuous/over-eager/desperate.  Don’t sound like you assume you will get an interview. Don’t provide a million contact details - put the standard ones on your CV and the top of your cover letter and leave it at that. Some examples of this are:

"Please contact me as soon as possible to discuss further" 

"Please call me at your earliest convenience" 

"Call me asap so we can discuss how I can help your firm." 

"I can be contacted on <this email>, <this mobile>, <this home number>, <this skype name>, <this twitter address>" etc.

"Please call me urgently to arrange an interview." 

"I look forward to speaking with you further at interview to elaborate."

Once you've written your cover letter, share it with some friends/family whose opinions you respect. It can be good to get some feedback from a third party. However, as I mentioned at the start, cover letters are very subjective, so don’t try to incorporate everyone's opinions, or you will end up with a very muddled letter.

And that includes not following all of my advice if it doesn't suit you, or you don’t believe it. That is absolutely fine - this is just my opinion. The next recruiter you talk to might well tell you something completely different.

If you want any help with your cover letter, I'm happy to take a look and provide some feedback. You can email it to this address: gradjobsuk@yahoo.co.uk 

Please let me know in your email any particular concerns you have about it so I can address them...

"Weak-speak"ing

Do you "weak speak" on your CV?

I've noticed a trend whereby in an effort to be completely honest about their achievements on their CV, many graduates are actually detracting from them because of the wording they are using. Use of "weak speak" language on your CV can significantly reduce its impact on a recruiter and often does not do justice to your achievements or deliverables. 

Weak speak is especially damaging when it is the first half of each of your sentences / bullets where you explain the tasks you did / responsibilities you had during your work experiences. Words or phrases to watch out for are: 

- "Assisted" - "Helped with" - "Helped out with" - "Worked with" -"Under the supervision of.." - "Supervised by"

Keep in mind that for the vast majority of your career you will probably work in teams to deliver things, and you will have a manager / supervisor / team leader. If you look at CVs from more experienced candidates, you will not see lots of "Worked in a team to…." on there.  Don’t devalue your achievements by spreading the credit for it before you've even explained what it is. Obviously I am not talking about trying to take the credit for delivering something major when you were in fact making the tea for the team, but if you were involved in delivery, then don’t down-play your involvement. If you want to call out that it was as part of a team, do it in the second half of sentence, not in the first half. The first half is the half that has the biggest impact and is the half that captures attention. 

Some examples:

Weak speak: "Worked as a summer intern in a team that looked at data output to figure out what the issues were in the system"

Stronger: "Diagnosed issues with system interfaces by examining large amounts of data for patterns and making recommendations for changes, seeking input from more experienced team members during the activity."

Weak speak: "Was a member of a team who organised a concert for 1,000 people raising £3,500 for charity." Stronger: "Organised a concert for 1,000 people in the role of Marketing Manager in a team of 5, raising £3,500 for charity."

Look to use words like developed, delivered, managed, executed, recommended, examined, devised arranged, persuaded….. These are all action verbs which have impact and suggest that you made real change.  I won't go into detail here about using action verbs as there are loads of articles already available out there. Here links to some good ones. Use thesaurus.com to find variations on a word rather than reusing the same one repeatedly.

http://www.writeexpress.com/action-verbs.html 

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/actionverbs.htm 

http://www.cvtips.com/resumes-and-cvs/resume-action-verbs.html

"Weak speak" is also something to watch out for when you get to interview stage. Overusing phrases like "I suppose…", "I guess…", "I think…." retracts from you appearing confident and decisive.

Do an analysis of your CV to see if you use too much 'weak speak'…. Small changes could make a big difference.  

Great CV quotes...

I do my best to help grads along with their applications, but unfortunately sometimes grads do not help themselves. I cannot put a CV forward to the line that will make it look like I haven't read it. And whilst I do occasionally (only very rarely) correct a spelling on a CV, usually I don't have the time, or the CV will be in PDF so I can't change it anyway. 
Some of my favourite quotes / mis-spellings from CVs recently are listed below. I know that when you have been over it a thousand times and you are almost blind from looking at it and re-wording it again and again, that it is easy to miss simple things. That is why it is really essential to have a fresh pair of eyes on it.

"I am an experienced user of the internet"
Really? Amazing.

"CIRRICULAM VITAE" 

Oh come on!

"I have worked at Macdonal’s as a supervisor".

I'm sure you got some great experience and skills. Just a shame you can't spell it.

"Refrences available on requst" 
Does he have something against 'e's?

"I believe I will be as brilliant as the Credit Suisse people, if I have the chance to work with and learn from them. Therefore, I would contribute my all enthusiasm and energy to Credit Suisse."  

Unfortunately I was not working for Credit Suisse when I reviewed this CV...

"Persuaded Prat A Manger to sponsor us"

Nice....

University Careers Fair Series: Part 1 - Who's who?

No matter what university you attend these days, you are bound to have a number of options when it comes to career fairs and company presentations. Given the time of the year, I'm going to start my blog with a series about fairs in particular, and how to make the most of them.  Let's jump straight to on-the-day:

What to wear?

Let's start with the boring stuff. You should look tidy and neat, but the majority of companies do not expect you to show up in a suit to a careers fair. There are some advocates for wearing something distinctive - a tartan scarf, a purple shirt, a brooch - so that you can be remembered - "oh, you mean the one with the red chunky necklace?" - in conversation later (because believe me, there will be conversation). But, be careful, there is a fine line between a distinctive shirt and 'quirky'. And you want to stay on the safe side of quirky for most graduate jobs.

What you need to bring, even though you probably wont need them:

- Some copies of your updated CV 

- Business cards, if you have them

- Pen and paper

- For your top 5 employers, a printed copy of some of the details from their graduate website so that you have the exact details and programme names to hand so you can demonstrate that you have done your research... even if it was only when you were hidden around the corner 5 seconds before reading through it.

Reconnaissance

Once you have figured out the stands you want to visit, do a fly-by. Figure out who is manning the stand. This is generally quite easily done. There are three types of attendees at a company's stand at a careers fair. One or two will be from the graduate recruitment team, at least two graduates from the last 2 years or so, and maybe a couple of people from 'the business'/'the line'. This basically means someone from a manager or slightly more senior level in the company.  They are fairly easy to categorise into one of these three.  The recruiter is often a woman - it is a HR-based career that even in this day and age, is still dominated by women - although don't take this as a given. There is nothing more career-limiting than assuming the Partner is the grad recruiter....

The Grads

They are easy to spot. Keenly wearing their company name badges when the pros often just pocket them absent-mindedly. Graduates love attending these events. A year ago, they were in your position... wondering where to go next, and then figuring out how to get there. Now they are sitting pretty in a top graduate job with a new ready-made set of friends to spend their steady income on overseas holidays and nights out with. They are a mixture of relieved, overwhelmed, out-of-their-depth and just a little bit smug too. And who can blame them? It's tough out there.  

All of this means that they are a great source of information. Being on the 'other side' at the assessment centre is still fresh in their mind. The reasons they decided to join, the people they met along the way, how their first impressions are different to their expectations....  Use the conversation with the grads to ask the questions that you should not ask a recruiter or senior staffer (sorry, but that's the reality....):  "What are the working hours really like?", "How much travel is involved?", "What's the social scene like?", "What type of work do grads really get in their first six months?", etc. The repercussions of asking a grad these questions are usually minimal. And if you need to know the answer before you would join the company, then they need to be asked. If they like you, they will do what they can to give you tips on how to join them.

Business attendees

Making a great impression on a business representative is the gold at the end of the careers fair rainbow.  Business reps are the 'customer' of the graduate recruiters. They are not always ones for due process around applications.  If you make a good enough impression, they will want to get you into the company, or even into their team. I once had one hound me for weeks after an event where he talked to a girl called "Carly wearing a pink coat" (not being a pro at the graduate recruitment thing, he did not get any further detail from her...).  He made me go through all the applications from that university and interview all the Carlys... Thankfully her name wasn't something more commonplace!  Anyway, four Carly interviews later, I found her and she got through to the final assessment centre stages with us. 

To make an impression on a business rep you will have about 2 minutes.  (If I'm being completely honest, I would probably say you have about 10 seconds - the length of time it takes you to ask your first question - but let's assume that it is early in the day and they are still engaged). You need to ask a question which demonstrates recent knowledge of the company/industry, without just showing off (although obviously this is what you are trying to do).  It also needs to be a question relevant to the job, an answer you need to know to help you decide whether to apply / what to apply for. Do the best you can in the short time you have to build a rapport with them. Concentrate on where you are, don't get distracted or start thinking about the next stand. These two minutes could change your life. I might sound melodramatic, but I've seen it too many times not to stress the importance of first impression. Don't press your CV or business card on them. If they didn't ask for it, then they've been instructed not to take them and are following orders. If you haven't slam-dunked on getting them to take your details, don't beat yourself up. Most of them don't. And you have plenty more chances at the job.

Grad Recruiters

The vast majority of grad recruiters are on your side. They do the job because they enjoy working with young people and are excited about the vitality and new ideas that you will bring to their company.  Help them to help you. To make a friend of them, don't ask anything that you can get from the website - timescales, what programmes they offer, how to apply, etc. Talk their language by asking about key competencies they look for, what the different stages of the interview process are. What tips would they offer to a candidate for succeeding to get a job at their company?  Again, make sure you write down that information as soon as you leave the stand. Any info you get from the graduate recruiter is info that you have over the many other applicants (often thousands) who will apply without having met anyone from the company. We will talk another time about how to use this during your application.

As you leave the stand, take a copy of each brochure. They are great for using later when making an application to talk the same language as them. If it's a busy fair, don't take up more time than you need. Don't hang around staring longingly at the stand. Once you've got the information you need, step aside and move on. Perhaps listen to someone else's question & answer if it is a really busy fair and people are having discussions in groups.

Finally, as soon as you move away from the stand, if they are a company that you might want to work for write down the name(s) of the people you have met - even if it is only briefly. Quote that person's name in your cover letter / application.  A letter/app definitely catches the eye if it says "A conversation with Joe Bloggs at the LSE careers fair on Oct 6th advanced my knowledge of your graduate programme....etc", or something to that effect. This is definitely one way to make your app different to the hundreds of others a recruiter will see in a day. (Note: this does not mean saying "I met Joe Bloggs and he encouraged me to apply" (unless he did, which would be great....))