by Kai Lee, 2nd Year BA BA Management, Leadership and Leisure.
So, what makes you employable? There are many potential employers out there with many people competing for the role. But how can you make them be able to help them notice you for the right reason?
Networking
One effective way to get to know someone in the company you are applying to or contact someone within the company to keep an eye out for your application is networking. In the era of technology, it is not as difficult to find a list of companies you are interested in and find out who is working in the company. This can be done by LinkedIn or other social media.
If someone at the company is giving a talk or hosting an event, go along and get in touch via social media by messaging them a compliment and asking them questions, this will very likely get you a response.
Once you have a contact, build the relationship until you feel comfortable asking for advice. However, this networking might not be for everyone, and I will talk about other ways.
Improve your CV to make it easy to read
Often with many applications, your applications will only be given a glance to be put forward or tossed aside. Use good examples online for inspiration and think of ways for the information you want them to read to stand out.
For example, highlight the skills you had gained in your work experience. I had sectioned my information in my CV and highlighted the skills gained which have made my application to Goldman Sachs successful and I am currently on the second stage of this process.
Don’t be afraid to be creative with your CV and use short sentences or add a specific design. A great example would be Emma Bostian’s CV which landed a job for Spotify.
Interview Practice
After you passed the first stage, you will usually get an interview, usually, it can be a pre-recorded video interview or an in-person interview, then a final interview after you have passed.
Either way, you should research the company and prepare your answers in a concise and informative way. Practice the STAR technique which is a great way to give real-life examples that demonstrates a skill to answer the questions in the interview.
The STAR technique is:
- Situation (The job/course at the time)
- Task (what you needed to do)
- Action (what actions did you do)
- Result (How it turned out)
There are many websites out there to practice interview questions and it is useful to write a list of experiences that you are proud of and make them into the STAR technique format.
Finding work is time-consuming but once you are familiar with the process, in the future this will be a great skill in life as well as boost your interview or employability skills.
Good luck to everyone that is applying and remember there is careers support in the university to help you out.