Business Bold

Its never been tougher for graduates as more graduates than ever are progressing from University with better degrees. The economy is in a mess. Investment banks and the city are laying people off right, left and centre whilst many white collar firms are freezing and reducing graduate recruitment.

However, there are still companies recruiting and help is available. In my opinion, it is not actually that difficult for a clued up graduate to really stand out from the crowd. Whilst your peers has good degree classification, many of them think all the hard work has been done. They are so wrong.

The keys to success are:

1) Polish up your curriculum vitae.  Many careers advisors will do an okay job on advising you but some have been away from the workplace too long. Get advice from a range of people and I have often found the best guidance comes from recruitment agencies as they work closely with employers and know what they look for. No more than two pages are needed and unless you truely have an exceptional CV. Many college jobs don’t really add much value and resemble filler. Succinct and to the point career information should be enough.

2) Identify a year in advance the companies you want to work for. For many businesses, an internship is required. Regardless, preparation is key.  Make use of recruitment days, the milkround, invitations to company talks, etc, to really find out about your next employer. Build a network of contacts with the employer. Get business cards, question the company’s HR and staff and ask  “what do you love about company x?”. You want them to feel positive about their interaction with you and remember you specifically. I once called a company director up after an initial meeting to ask some questions and he confided that he had already recommended me on seeing my application.

3) Look at the company website and find out the core values of the business and the mission statement. Use the core values in your applications wherever you can.

CEO’s, in their annual review statement will often make speeches on the main business issues and industry changes.  Any banks will be reducing liabilities at the moment so look at any projects or work experience you have where managing costs was a concern. 

You can probably think of many examples that demonstrate these skills and qualities.

4) Apply for as many jobs as you can as there is likely to be rejections before even getting to an assessment centres. Plus the more applications you make, the better.

My first attendance at an assessment centre was awful. This was partly because I had a bug,  but regardless I was terrible in my performance. I allowed other candidates to boss me around bully me around and I also didn’t clarify the rules and requirements of the written and numerical tests, The assessors were not actually interested in the total points scored, but the accuracy (and this was a general management program).I never asked and they didn’t say until the call to reject me!

Needing some training, I went and visited a business presentation trainer. He advised me that the recruitment centre sounded poor based on my feedback. The recruiter was vague as to their assessment criteria and I was misfortunate to have been in a group of bullies. Although they had ignored me throughout and I could not get a word in edge ways, they then involved me right at the end when they were in trouble. They played me!

He demonstrated how to control the group in a project assignment.  I was to ask for a “chair” to be volunteered from the group and someone to take the time. You would then establish yourself as the “leader” whilst empowering others in the group. If anyone protests over who will be the chair, explain that the key is for them to allow everyone in the group gets to speak and that the chair keeps the group focused on the objectives. She also showed me how to use my body language, nodding, eye contact, subtle cues (lightly pen tapping on the table if someone was boring the group, etc. She got me to raise my hand when I asked for agreement and to look directly at the more submissive members first. They would probably raise their hands anyway, particularly if you asked the question quickly, and this would increase the likelihood of the stronger members to feel compelled. By raising the hand, its a powerful non-verbal signal that I see almost every professional speaker use and people tend to raise their hand without actually knowing why.

I was also to keep referring to the timekeeper at appropriate times (I won’t give away all her secrets) and how to deal with power players; you know those people who are just naturally magnetic and how to play them at their own game.

Whenever you get the chance at an recruitment centre, take a business card wherever possible from company representatives. Tell them that you particularly enjoyed the their assessment and would really welcome their guidance and advise. This is not “sucking up”. Its usually some juinor Human Resources member who wasn’t even at the centregiving feedback.

After getting a presentation skills expert I went onto succeed at four assessment centres where I was made offers. I strongly advise you follow my advice.

Tags: graduates assessment centres | graduates assessment centres | graduate recruitment tips | graduate recruitment tips | presentation skills | presentation skills | graduate jobs tips | graduate jobs tips | presentations | presentations

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Professional business services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.