The graduate scheme system is such that a university student would have to apply for the scheme one year in advance of start date. Naturally, this creates a number of problems for the student that has to balance time between attending lectures, writing assignments, group meetings, researching employers, writing application forms and constructing the final year dissertation.
Here are a number of things you could try:
1. Allocate a certain amount of time (1 hour a day/4 hours a week) on completing graduate scheme application forms.
2. Only pick 5 or 6 graduate schemes with December/January deadlines that you are really interested in and focus your allocated time on making sure each one of these are completed fully and without mistakes. (It would be a waste to spread your time over so many applications that they become half-efforts)
3. Attend only the graduate careers events you feel would be convenient, useful and with the opportunity for networking. Most of the time you will find similar employers attending these events, and a repetition of news - you do not have time for this. Pick wisely.
My personal solution to this problem was incredibly simple. I did not apply to one single graduate scheme. Looking back, this may have been a mistake but I'm not sure of it. I managed to attain a first at university, but I can almost guarantee that would not have been possible if I had been spending hours (and that is what you need to spend) completing application forms. Some of the applications ask ridiculous questions that require research of the company, different subjects, industries, concepts etc. Ultimately I stand by my decision to not pursue the graduate scheme during my final year of study. It is too distracting to be checking your email waiting for your responses, whether successful or unsuccessful.
I graduated this year, started my job hunt in September 2010 and I'm still jobless. I have had a number of prospects but they have not really ended up with anything solid. I have not taken the graduate scheme route, and I have no regrets. I do not like being treated like a number.
Please comment if you have experience with the balancing act of managing university work at the same time as making graduate scheme applications! It would be great to hear other opinions.
Saturday 27 November 2010
Friday 5 November 2010
The devil's in the details
I attended a first round job interview on Tuesday of this week with a management consulting company. This stage came after I had successfully passed the online testing round (consisting of an SHL numerical test and Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal). The interview was around 45 minutes long, and was competency-based. This post is to share my thoughts with you about interview techniques, following my experience at this interview.
Details, details, details. Unfortunately for me, this position is not a graduate role. They are only seeking to fill one or two positions, which already puts me at a disadvantage with my lack of experience. The HR person that I had my interview with had a list of questions to ask me that circled around the following main areas:
1. Analytical ability and problem solving/dealing with complex situations or data
2. Teamworking ability and skills/Leadership
3. Building relationships
I managed to successfully prepare to answer these questions by conjuring up all the relevant experiences I had in these areas. However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of detail I would need. Let me give you an example of what I mean:
Base Question: Give an example of a time when you successfully built a relationship with a client/customer?
Detail Question: How exactly do you think you managed to build the relationship, what did you do?
This is something that MUST be thought about before going into an interview, that I had not experienced until now. I had already known about having examples of where I had demonstrated a skill but I had not prepared to explain exactly how I carried out a task or my methodologies. The answer the interviewer is looking for is whether you have built up your own methodology for building relationships. Has your experience allowed you to make observations on what is and is not successful for building relationships. Another example:
Base Question: Give an example of a time you had to work under pressure.
Detail Question: How exactly do you think you managed to handle working under pressure?
I found myself being hesitant on such questions. Not because I was lying, because I wasn’t, but it is just something that is rarely spoken of. We can all make friends and build relationships but do we ever vocalise what exactly had to be done in order to build these relationships and make these friends? Now you have to.
The conclusion of this is that you have to know the details of every example you give and you have to know how you get things done. Therefore, you have to analyse your own behaviour, and also general human behaviour. For example you can build relationships by:
1. Listening to the customer/colleague
2. Using your (excellent) memory to remember their preferences/dislikes for next time you speak to them
3. Remembering what you say to them so you don’t repeat yourself too much
These are general things that humans do when making friends or building relationships with people. So for every experience you have like time management, team work, leadership, start thinking of how you worked well in the team and how you led the team and how you managed that time. Just another thing to think about!
Details, details, details. Unfortunately for me, this position is not a graduate role. They are only seeking to fill one or two positions, which already puts me at a disadvantage with my lack of experience. The HR person that I had my interview with had a list of questions to ask me that circled around the following main areas:
1. Analytical ability and problem solving/dealing with complex situations or data
2. Teamworking ability and skills/Leadership
3. Building relationships
I managed to successfully prepare to answer these questions by conjuring up all the relevant experiences I had in these areas. However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of detail I would need. Let me give you an example of what I mean:
Base Question: Give an example of a time when you successfully built a relationship with a client/customer?
Detail Question: How exactly do you think you managed to build the relationship, what did you do?
This is something that MUST be thought about before going into an interview, that I had not experienced until now. I had already known about having examples of where I had demonstrated a skill but I had not prepared to explain exactly how I carried out a task or my methodologies. The answer the interviewer is looking for is whether you have built up your own methodology for building relationships. Has your experience allowed you to make observations on what is and is not successful for building relationships. Another example:
Base Question: Give an example of a time you had to work under pressure.
Detail Question: How exactly do you think you managed to handle working under pressure?
I found myself being hesitant on such questions. Not because I was lying, because I wasn’t, but it is just something that is rarely spoken of. We can all make friends and build relationships but do we ever vocalise what exactly had to be done in order to build these relationships and make these friends? Now you have to.
The conclusion of this is that you have to know the details of every example you give and you have to know how you get things done. Therefore, you have to analyse your own behaviour, and also general human behaviour. For example you can build relationships by:
1. Listening to the customer/colleague
2. Using your (excellent) memory to remember their preferences/dislikes for next time you speak to them
3. Remembering what you say to them so you don’t repeat yourself too much
These are general things that humans do when making friends or building relationships with people. So for every experience you have like time management, team work, leadership, start thinking of how you worked well in the team and how you led the team and how you managed that time. Just another thing to think about!
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