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.

University Careers Fair Series: Part 3: Following up

I've been getting quite a few queries from you lately with regard to if/how to follow up after an event / fair / company presentation if you got 1 or more business cards from people that you would like to leverage to increase the chances of getting an interview.

Are you prepared for no response?
The biggest point to realise up front with a follow-up email or conversation is that in 95% of cases, it will appear to you are if nothing came of it.  By this, I mean it is extremely rare that someone will respond and say "yes, it was great to meet you and I'll make sure we get you in for an interview". They need to be seen to follow due process and also don't want to set a precedent that that is the way to get an interview.
You might never know if your email had any impact on you getting an interview. I know countless grads that have gotten interviews (or sometimes even internships or work experience) based on someone they met who really liked them, but they will never know how hard that person worked 'behind the scenes' to make sure they got the opportunity.
So, be prepared for the unknown - I flag this upfront only because I know a lot of grads tend to be very disappointed if they hear nothing back and either send another email (which can start to look too eager) or get very disillusioned with the company.

What media to use?
I strongly recommend email. Whilst some students opt for a formal thank you letter in the mail, and it possibly does 'look' better, the problem is that paper is so rarely used now in grad recruitment that the chances of it getting lost/filed away is high. Unfortunately its unlikely someone will go to the effort of scanning it in. Equally phone calls, whilst personal and usually quite amiable, area easily forgotten and are not recorded. An email can be easily forwarded, file, revisited, uploaded to a recruitment system or attached to a candidate record. In my opinion, it is definitely the way to go.

The follow-up content
It is absolutely worth doing a follow-up if you got someone's details. Many people will do something with an email they get - e.g. pass it onto recruiters or colleagues, etc.
The content of your email should be dependent on three factors:
1- who they are and what their role is
2- how you left things with them at the event
3- what your next steps are / have been

Typically the 'who' will be either a recruiter/HR person, someone from the business, or one of the previous years grads.

If your card is from someone in the business / in a line role / manager level, then you need to write a concise, solid email - nothing too long or they will just take one look at it and decide they don't have time to read it. Figure out what you want to say - is it a thank you, is it to express interest in their particular area or team, is it to ask a further question?  I would urge you to keep it to no more than 1-2 short paragraphs. Try to link to the conversation that you had so that they might remember who you were and the conversation you had. If it's your intention to apply, or you have already applied, then I wuld let them know. And in some cases, if you're feeling that you got along very well with them you could potentially attach your CV. I would not even make reference to it, but maybe just sneakily attach it on the end regardless on the off chance they open it.

If your card is for a recruiter, again, I would make reference to the conversation you had. If you want to get on their good side, perhaps offer some feedback on the parts of the event that you found particularly useful. If the purpose is a thank you, then I would keep it fairly short. If you have further questions, then I would ask them (but make sure the answers are not already on the website or in the brochure). Let them know if you have applied / intend to apply and to which programme/internship/role.

If your follow-up was with former grads, then you should ask them for any more info you need fairly openly. They are usually pretty quick to help applicants as they were in the same position a year or two before. They are least likely to try to pass it onto HR to influence the process though - just something to be aware of.

Other actions?
If you did leave the conversation with someone a certain way - a promise to send a CV, a link, have a call about something, etc, then make sure you do so within 1-2 days of the event, otherwise they will have moved onto the next Uni and you will have faded in their memory - they are often meeting hundreds of students a day.

Behind the Scenes
There is usually some sort of follow-up activity after most events - conversations between the business and HR about candidates met that they would like to keep an eye for applications from, etc.  However, from there everyone usually goes through exactly the same process as everyone else - so once you've leveraged the follow-up once to get the interview, I wouldn't try to use it again to 'guarantee' yourself the job. It won't work and it will only look like you are trying to get in through a backdoor because you are not confident enough you will make it through the interviews.

So, in summary, it is definitely worth doing a thoughtful follow up soon after the event if you have a name. And to be honest, even if you dont have a name, it might be wort a short thank you to a generic grad recruitment address.  People are only human and after a long day / night talking to grads (and countless weeks before planning it), everyone appreciates a thank you and you never know how it might help you behind the scenes. Sometimes, you can make your own luck...

Making the most of a Company Presentation

There are usually as a minimum two opportunities to hear from companies that are interested in your university as a source of graduates. One is at the careers fair, and the other is at the company presentation and/or reception which the company will arrange in order to visit the university and talk to an audience about their offering in particular. At the company presentation, attendees are usually a bit more accessible as there isn't quite as much of a crush as at the careers fair, and you will usually get the opportunity to have a more meaningful discussion where you can ask several questions, as well as see a presentation or video which gives you a bit more detail into what the company has to offer. If you know you are interested in a company, but trying to find out where exactly you might fit, the presentations are usually worth a visit.

Company presentations are organised in many different ways - sometimes targeted to an invited audience, sometimes sign-up in advance, sometimes open doors policy.

Presentations are a good opportunity to hear about specifics related to the role/job that might not be on the website, or that you might not have had the opportunity to ask about at a careers fair. Some examples would include:

- particulars of the training offered - how long, what content, where held, who delivers.
- what study opportunities are available - CFA, CAIA, ACCA, etc.
- if rotational, what are the typical rotations that graduates undertake, how frequently they move, how they are assessed

- how is a full-time role is found/decided upon at the end of the programme

Presentations are always a great way to pick up on what the culture of a company is like. Definitely more so than at a careers fair, where the layout and structure is fairly formulaic for all the companies there. At a presentation, there is a lot more scope for individualism which should give you lots of tips as to what the culture of the company might be like. Some things to observe:

- how do the team of people from the company interact with each other? Is it all quite formal, or is there plenty of banter and fun?

- how does the interaction between superiors and juniors appear - e.g. if there is a Partner or an MD there, how do they treat the rest of the team, how does the team react to them?

- what media do they use to communicate? Standard Powerpoint bullets approach, or do they have videos, maybe a Prezi, YouTube clips, cartoons?

- how engaged/enthusiastic/passionate do they seem? Do they sound like they believe in what they are saying, or are they just going through the motions?

- what are they wearing? Formal suits, business casual, casual?
- what drinks and food does the company provide (if any)? Cheese/wine? Beer/sausages? Cocktails? Are they trying to impress you with fancy food or are they trying to give you food they think you might prefer?

The other opportunity the presentation and reception can provide is a chance to help you get ahead when it comes to interviews. At these events, in most cases the attendees will be fairly open to answering any questions that you can come up with. So have a think in advance about the kinds of questions the company (or similar companies) would ask you at interview, and then ask them for their opinion on those topics. Essential then you should try to remember the best of what you hear / the things that sounded most knowledgeable/impressive, and rehash them at interview! Example questions that you could think about asking include:-

- what changes do you see happening in the industry in the next couple of years?
- what are the major challenges facing your particular company/department/division at the moment? What are you doing about them?

- what competencies would you say are most important for roles on the <name> graduate programme?

As with the careers fair, my advice is to jot down what you heard and learned as soon as you can after the event, as well as the names of the people you have met if you can remember them. The information fades / merges with other info very quickly after you've been to a few events, so its worth capturing it somewhere.

In many cases, the company presentations can be very close to a deadline, or sometimes even after a deadline has passed. It is still worth going as if you do get invited to interview, you can pick up a lot of useful from the presentation, and also it could help you decide whether or not you would ultimately accept the role if it was offered.

Equally if you are in 1st or 2nd year, it is worth going a long in order to get more information for if you decide to apply to them in your final year.

Good luck everyone. Enjoy the Milkround…

"Networking is key" - but what does that really mean?!

Many people you meet in the course of looking for a job will tell you how important networking is and how it is the key to a successful career. Not many will actually tell you what that MEANS from a practical point of view - how to start a network, how to develop it, and how to utilise it.  I want to outline for you some ideas to help you make a start.

Get Organised

If you really want to network successfully, you need to start treating it like a professional activity that you are undertaking right from the outset. Decide how you are going to keep track of your contracts from a practical point of view - will it be using an address book in your gmail account, a filofax, on your laptop, on your phone, LinkedIn, etc.  Don't feel obliged to use the most technologically-advanced option available - use the one that is going to work for you because of the way you like to work - this is the only way you will remain committed to it. Lots of executives still use a rolodex or file of business cards because that is what has worked for them over their careers.  Never assume that you will remember names, contact details, roles, etc, because you wont… capture everything.

The most successful Networkers… 
… are help providers. The people who have amazing networks across the globe of people who are willing to help them, are those who have helped others the most. If you make your overall objective to help as many other people as you can, in any way you can, then you yourself will have favours owed to you all over, that people will be keen to repay.

From a practical perspective, in order to be a great resource provider, again you need to be very organised. Not only does it mean having contacts and ideas to provide to people, it is about having practical things that you can provide. This includes, (but is not limited to), links to great websites you've seen on a huge variety of topics, articles you've read in the news/magazines, any presentations or advice you have been sent that might be of help to others, blogs/podcasts/lectures that you have downloaded or links to that might be of interest to others.

The key to being a great resource provider is not waiting to be asked for help. On overhearing someone mention something they are looking for, or a passing comment that someone makes that you have ideas on, pro-actively provide some of your collection in order to help them. Don't ask for anything in return, and don't make it your explicit objective to have loads of people owe you favours. But if you provide help to lots of people, inevitably, that will be the result. 

Be Culturally Aware Networking in different cultures can be fraught with unintended faux-pas. E.g. In many Asian countries, including Japan, it’s insulting to pocket a business card in front of the person who gave it to you, and even more insulting to write on it.  In the USA, networking is much more open than in the UK and you could find yourself being asked for a favour by someone you only met once quite frequently.

Practical Examples of things you could do to help enhance your network - If you've done an internship over the summer, offer to help the HR team / the school team at the company with their events on campus. This could include advising of the best venues, or trying to get some of the top students in your class to come along. An offer to do a presentation of what you did over the summer there could work. These activities will enhance your profile at the company and can help if you are going back there, or if you're not. They will also expose you to meeting a breadth of people inside the company and the university.

- Keep in touch with those you were involved with in various societies at Uni. They will go off into many different walks of life, any of which you could find yourself crossing paths with again.

 - LinkedIn has grown massively as a networking tool in the last eighteen months or so in the professional workplace. Make sure you set yourself up with a profile there asap and start linking in with those you know. It is a great way of keeping track of people when they move companies.

Remember, a professional network is not the same as a network of friends. You do not need to be on lets-go-for-drinks terms with everyone in your professional network. The terms you need are 'we are both responsible, successful people who have helped each other or worked together in the past in some small capacity, and we might well do it again in the future'. For most people that's enough, as long as there is give and take. So make sure you give, so that when the time comes, others are definitely willing to share with you too.

Other articles that might be of interest:

http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/networking-advice-community

http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/9-steps-towards-genuine-effective-networking/

University Careers Fair Series: Part 2 - Preparation

In a world where there are always a thousand things to do, it is easy to overlook preparing for a careers fair in advance. I know I didn't when I was at uni. After all - what's to prepare? You just rock up and ask the same questions at each stand....  But in all honesty, if you are going to go, it is worth taking an hour or two in the weeks before you go to think about what you are going to do there. It could make a big difference to what you get out of the day.

Some things to think about:
- Who's going to be there?
- Who am I interested in?
- What do I know about them?
- What don't I know about them that would:
a) help me decide if I want to work there
b) help me figure out which programme/role would be of interest
c) make me sounds knowledgeable about the company if invited for interview
- Who is attending that I haven't heard of? Who are they? Are they someone I have overlooked?

Make a note of the physical positioning of the hall / area. If you are planning to arrive early (which you should) go to the furthest away from the door companies first as they will be quietest early on and likely to give you more attention. It also shows real interest that you are targeting them.  Last year, I met a young man at a Cambridge fair. We were on the top floor of three and the fair opened at 1:00pm. He was first at our stand at 1:01pm and was incredibly well-prepared, motivated and knowledgeable. He made a great impression on me and I made it my mission to get him an internship with us, which he did as the business found him just as impressive when they interviewed him.

For companies you are interested in, DONT ask the following questions because 1) the information is always on their website and 2) if you ask them, they are liable to lose interest in you because it is therefore clear that you haven't bothered to look before you visited them:

- Do you do internships?  (If I had a pound for everytime I was asked this at a fair, I'd be a rich woman).
- I'm studying engineering/maths/languages/marketing, what can you offer me?
- Do I have to have a 2:1 to apply?
- When is the closing date?

Find out the answers before you go if you are really interested in the company. When a graduate or intern asks a specific question. e.g. "I'm interested in your Retail Graduate Programme which starts in July next year. Can you tell me more about the three weeks training that you offer and what is involved?"

As opposed to what regularly happens - a graduate walks up, reads what written on the stand before me for key words and says "I'm interested in....your....Asset Management graduate scheme..."  There is a world of difference in the impression that graduate makes.  And believe me, recruiters remember names and faces. It's the job.

Make sure that you are attending the right fair for the companies that you are interested in. Fairs are often categorised both by industry and by profession type. e.g. somewhere like BSkyB, who offer a huge range of graduate programmes, might well be found at a fair for Media type companies. But they could equally be found at an Advertising/PR/Marketing fair, an internship fair, a technology fair or a finance fair. Don't focus exclusively on the industry fairs as the profession-type fairs might be more suitable for what you are looking for.

You should also check out your university careers office website - they often have guidance as to how best to prepare for careers fairs.

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....))