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.

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.

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....