It's tough. If you're a recent graduate, I'm sure you're going through the same situations I find myself stuck in daily. I want to talk about these difficult and frustrating times.
Don't get me wrong, graduate job hunting has been exciting! It's the very start of our career journey, we've just spent how long in education?! Seeing a vacancy at an amazing company, doing the research on the position. That feeling when you truly believe you're a perfect fit and love the company's ethics and working style. It's something special. You feel excited at the thought of starting a career and getting out of that hospitality or retail job; the job which we feel no passion for. With all that excitement and hope comes a range of negative emotions. Feeling attacked by rejections left, right, and centre because you applied for a graduate, entry level job, although they expected you to have five plus years of experience... You lose hope, you question yourself and your capabilities. It's a tough time to be looking for a graduate role, or any job in that sense.
I've been graduate job hunting for nearly two months now, and I know that isn't a long time compared to others. Although it's long enough for me to see the struggle. Let's discuss my journey so far and my findings.
The day I realised I wanted to start up my career and leave hospitality, I spent a good 4 hours creating three different CV's. One was a generic, basic CV, this was designed for non graduate jobs. I wanted to keep my mind open when it came to job hunting, so I went for a few jobs which don't require a degree, but aren't retail or hospitality, like receptionists for example. The second was a graduate CV, this is for the graduate jobs, it highlights my skills and displays my personality. And the third was a creative CV, this is visually appealing and is for jobs within the industry, which weren't so 'business-y'. I logged onto LinkedIn for the first time in years, updated my profile and went to work looking for jobs.
The first thing I discovered when job hunting: Some recruiters are unaware of what "entry level" means.
This one really irritates me. I see "entry level position" written at the top of the page, I read the entire description and like the sound of the position, to find right at the bottom they expect so many years experience in various roles. Any company which expects a fresh graduate to have years of experience behind them in the industry is delusional. That job is a mid-senior, or possible an associate depending on how many years they're looking for. I'm unsure if these people just accidentally put the wrong levels in the advert, or if they genuinely believe it's possible. Even if you have a university degree with a sandwich year. The keyword there is YEAR. Yes, we're lucky enough to have been offered a sandwich or placement year. Although it is only a year of experience, and businesses need to remember that. Not to mention that my sandwich year along with thousands of other students was during the peak of COVID-19 which meant many people lost out on experiences and even lost their placement jobs due to it. This is one of the reasons I started up my own business, to gain experience. It's great I have some basic knowledge outside of a university course, however it's difficult as I've never worked in a fully professional manner. My business is just me, myself and I so I don't have to report to someone, I don't have to organise a team etc.
Secondly: 'Remote jobs'
Remote jobs and hybrid working made its rise during the pandemic. There's lots of controversy around working from home, although I personally believe it's great! It allows individuals to have more opportunities. As someone who doesn't live in a major city, graduate jobs can be difficult to find especially if you're like me and want to find one which really feels right for you. I know people say 'you cant be picky' but I feel like you can when it comes to a job which is kick starting your career. I want, and kind of need to work in a company which I feel a connection to, a job role which I feel fits me. The last thing I want is to apply for everything and anything and end up with another job I'm not passionate about.
As I've just mentioned, I really like the idea of remote jobs. Although once again, I don't think those creating these job adverts know what remote means! I've seen so many advertisements, specifically on LinkedIn, which shows their job as remote, for you to read the description and find out they require you in the office once a week or even every single day! This screenshot below is from a job description I came across on LinkedIn... it just made me mad. Twice, right at the top of this job advert it says "remote" and "this is a remote position" yet a few lines under, all in bold it's saying it is not remote. The bold font makes me think a lot of people applied for this, wanting and needing to work remote... and the advertiser just got fed up. But, it is really THAT hard to just say "hey this is a hybrid job we want you in our office twice a week". Surely being transparent and clear about where we would be working in this role would make the hiring process a lot easier?
Thirdly, My email inbox is dry. I completely understand that graduate jobs are hard to get, it's as if we're all in a wrestling ring, fighting for the role. And I should probably acknowledge that some of the jobs I apply for, I know I'm not qualified enough for the position. But what's the harm in applying! I'm one year short of experience or I don't have all the skills listed to an expert level. Oh well! I did this, and actually was contacted in regards to another role 'more suitable' for me. So it really doesn't hurt to be a little ambitious.
Although, when I've applied for roles which I can see I'm a great fit for. I don't get any response. I'm not asking for them to send me a personalised email but even an automatic rejection email after they've gone over my application would be nice! Not being given the chance to interview for the role is a tad annoying, but not even knowing if they've looked at the application or if they want you is even more annoying! I like to keep track of everything I've applied for and whether I've been rejected, given an interview etc and this is hard to do when the recruiters have basically gone no contact. I try to be understanding, they must have so many applicants and also other work emails, but even setting up an automatic emailing system would really be nice for us graduates.
So, you're a recent graduate too, and you've read this and gone "I know all of that!". It's a tough time, but here's some things you can do to help standout to recruiters:
Keep an updated LinkedIn profile - and no, I don't just mean update your bio and photos. Continuously check your skills and experiences alongside your photo, bio etc. Keeping a fresh and up to date profile shows you take this seriously. If you can post on your LinkedIn at least once a week also, that would be great! Share something you did at your current workplace, and how it helped you with your skills and knowledge. Share your thoughts on recent news related to your industry or talk about something you're doing outside of work to improve your skills and knowledge.
Learn more! Yes I know we've just done four years of university, but actively learning and teaching yourself skills once again shows employers you're interested in this field of work and you WANT to learn. This is especially important for graduate jobs. You can even use these online courses as your post on LinkedIn which I mentioned earlier. Depending on what you want to study, there is a great ton of resources out there. Even LinkedIn has some teaching courses. At the moment I am going through Google's skill shop as there's a lot of marketing and advertising courses; which is the industry I'm trying to get into.
Be confident and be yourself. This is something I cringed at when writing, but it's true! It's really important to get a job which fits with who you are. There's no point lying about yourself just for a job. Because the reality is, you'll end up hating the job. You'll hide who you really are, and it just isn't worth it. Believe in yourself, know your worth. You have a degree. You are skilled and talented and employers would be lucky to have you on their team.
Remember to not give up. I understand how frustrating it is. But we've got this. Have an amazing day, look after yourself and good luck on the job hunt!
Becca xo
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