Landing your first job out of uni can be challenging. You are unlikely to have much practical experience of the work area and, on top of that, limited experience of interviews and the application process.
Getting your first job requires some resilience: you need to keep going after getting multiple rejections and most importantly, learn from your rejections to do better in your next application.
Here are my top tips for landing your first job out of uni!
1. Quality not quantity
Firstly, the only way you are going to get a job offer is by doing a quality application. Yes I know each application is a lot of effort. You have to fill out countless forms, write personal statements, answer specific questions and do online tests. However if you half-arse the application, you are reducing your chances of getting a role by not putting in the effort required.
One good application is worth a lot more than 10 rushed applications so focus on one at a time and really give it your best try. Treat job applications like a job in itself and allow yourself a realistic amount of time to get the application done. You are probably going to need up to a week for each one, depending on how much time you can dedicate to applications every day.
Only once you are happy with your application should you submit it and move onto the next opportunity.
Because with this method, you need more time per application, you are not going to be able to apply to as many so make sure you are sure each role you apply to, is one you would actually want to do!
2. Research the hiring process
For each job application, spend some time before you start researching the company including the application process and what they are looking for. As well as the company website, see if there is anything about the process on student forums such as the student room.
Is there an online test element? What sort of test is it and how can you practice? Is there an assessment centre, video interview? In particular look for how each round is marked or specific elements that they are looking for.
Through doing my research, I was able to find all the standard questions that were asked in my PWC phone interview including a tricky one asking me about a relevant news article I had seen recently. Because I had researched this in advance, I was able to prepare for these tricky questions.
While you are researching, make sure you also spend some time looking at the company values, past important projects and any recent news articles to get a feel for what is important to this company.
3. Use the skills you already have!
Part of many application processes involve an interview or answering written competency style questions. In these questions you are asked to give examples of a time when you have demonstrated key skills.
It might not feel like it, but you already have lots of employable skills that you have learnt from university, clubs/societies and part time jobs. Don’t discount these examples because they are not from a formal working setting.
Building and selling your examples might require a slight mindset shift. You need to be able to identify your achievements and frame them in a way that would impress an employer. A good way to start is to think about someone you know who is very good at selling themselves and how they would make your examples sound like something special.
For example, if you have been responsible for planning socials for your netball team, you could frame it in the following ways:
- Teamwork : Organising activities to encourage team bonding and encourage inclusivity.
- Organisation & Management : Scheduling activities and ensuring everyone knows where they need to be and when
- Communication & negotiation : Agreeing group deals or discounts for the events the team attends
- Leadership : Leading the social on the day, sorting out any issues and thinking on your feet!
If there are particular skills where you don’t have strong examples, think about what you can do to gain a good example. Volunteering is often a good way to build up your skills (most universities have a volunteering portal where you can look for opportunities).
There are usually one-off opportunities that don’t require a big commitment such as helping at university open days or doing school’s outreach. For more specific skills, look for internship or work-experience opportunities.
4. Practice Interview Technique
A big part of landing your first job out of uni is being able to perform well in an interview. Being good in an interview is a skill in itself and something that needs to be practiced. Even if you are perfect for a job and have the skills to do it really well, you won’t be able to get it unless you can articulate that in words and impress the interview panel.
This is why a lot of the time, the people who get the job are the best talkers (and not necessarily the best at actually doing the job!).
The interviewers are marking you based on what you say and how you come across. Therefore you need to get good at selling yourself and getting across the key points that they want to hear.
The main thing that can improve your interview technique is practice. Just like in the online tests, don’t discount yourself as being “bad at interviews” just because you find it hard the first time. I promise you will get better over time the more you do it!
The best way to practice is firstly to research standard interview techniques. (For competency style questions – more people recommend the STAR technique.) Next write a list of possible questions and practice answering them on your own. Record yourself on your phone and listen to it back to see how you come across.
Finally do a mock interview with a friend or career adviser to get a feel for how to answer questions under pressure. Ask them for feedback and work at making those improvements for next time.
Each time, aim to answer the question better than you did before. Those 1% improvements add up over time!
5. Ask for feedback & stay resilient
After any job application, ask for feedback on your performance. This is especially important if you were unsuccessful as it will give you some pointers for how to improve next time.
It is easy to be disappointed when you get rejected from a role you really wanted. It is also easy to get disheartened when you get rejected from roles over and over again. The most important thing in this situation is to firstly stay resilient – you will never get a job if you stop trying. And secondly, to focus on improving each time.
With each job application you want to aim to get further in the process, get a higher mark on each test or answer each question slightly better than before. Use these small wins as encouragement that you are improving. If you carry on improving slightly each time then you will eventually land a graduate role.
On the side of job applications, focus on the skills you have from step 3 and continue to take on new challenges to develop these as you go.
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Good luck in landing your first job out of university! If nothing else, I hope you can take away these key points:
- Your performance in online tests, interviews, assessment centres etc. is not fixed. You can easily improve by practicing and putting in the effort.
- You already have good skills and examples from university. Emphasis them by framing them in the most impressive way possible.
- The skills required to do a job are different from the skill of convincing someone you can do a job. Stay resilient and focus on improving those application skills!
