Every one of the thousands of reviewers on TheJobCrowd is asked the question 'What advice would you give to someone looking to land this job?' – and remember, these are the people who actually have the experience of landing the job – so each review has great, insider advice on how to land the job in questions.
We've waded through all of our reviews to seek out the very best of this advice – both the must-do things that everyone recommends and the one-off gems that individual reviewers mention – and brought it together to provide a definitive checklist of advice for landing your perfect job!
This is the first section – Advice on the vital things to do Before You Apply. More sections on how to write a great CV, what to do in your Applications and how to nail Interviews will follow in the next couple of weeks!
(N.B. All the quotes come directly from our review writers).
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED.
Before you even make your decision about the career and companies that you are interested in, let alone start firing off applications to every firm on your (long) list, there are some key things you should do:
Must-Dos:
1. Use Your Careers Service. Careers Services can really help you to research, choose and prepare your applications:
- “Careers offices at universities are fantastic in the amount of literature and resources they have to help, it is definitely worth spending some time there or seeing a career's advisor”.
2. Load yourself up with competencies. There are some core competencies that almost every job will want to see (like organisation, responsibility, teamwork, professionalism, problem solving, commercial awareness etc.) and others which will be specific for your industry or role (like maths skills, a particular language, computer know-how etc.) so ensuring you have examples of how you have these will be time very well spent:
- “Try to get into activities that provide you with competencies like responsibility and that you can relate to working well within a team”.
3. Get Experience – Wherever and however possible (this will also help build up those competencies!):
- “Get as much experience in the profession as possible as this will not only help your chances of gaining a job but also give you the opportunity to get to know the profession better and decide whether or not it is for you”.
- “Do as much work experience in the industry as possible, whoever it may be with… It's all demonstrating a commitment to the sector”.
Top Tip:
- Lead, don’t just participate in extra-curricular activities as it will show a whole bunch of extra, stand-out competencies, like initiative and leadership: “Do as much extra-curricular stuff as you can but don't just participate. If your university doesn't have an American Football team and you love the sport, then set one up”
PREPARING TO APPLY. “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail!” – the number one thing that our review writers advise is that you do “research, research and more research!’" prior to applying. The truth is that applications can take a lot of time and thought if you want to stand out but it’s well worth doing the things at this stage that will give you an edge for the whole application and interview process. Put simply, this means that you should do your research: “on the company, on the role and on the market”.
1. The company:
Must-Dos:
- “Read the Company website extensively!”. Most firms’ graduate careers websites provide a great insight into “how to prepare, what the firm looks for in its people, and should help you to prepare your CV and for your interview”.
- “Know what is going on with them, what types of strategies they have, whether they have been in the news recently. If you show that you've done your homework this will substantiate any claim that you make when saying that you are interested in the field”.
- “Try to meet people (former students for instance) to get some insights”.
Top Tip:
- Go the extra mile to understand how their business works. Applying to a consumer goods company? “Go into stores and have a look at the different brands – this is a must before any interview!!!”; An online retailer? “Do an online shop yourself”. Even for industries where this may seem more difficult, there may still be things you can do. For example, a Jaguar Land Rover employee suggests: “Take a factory tour prior to applying for a job in a lean manufacturing environment or production line”.
2. The Role:
Must-Dos:
- Try to think about the role that you are applying to analytically and look at the company and their products through the perspective of this role. Ask yourself lots of questions from this perspective. For example, if applying to a marketing role: “Who you think their consumers are? What are their range of products? How are they unique? What messages/claims do they communicate? What does their packaging look like? Where are they sold? Deduce from this what they are trying to say to consumers about their brand”.
- “Speak to the HR team, they are usually very helpful and friendly”.
Top Tip:
- “The best way to research the role before applying is via an insider view – try to get the perspective from as many people as you can who are actually in the role before you apply”.
3. The Market:
Must-Dos:
- “Gain an understanding of the market that the company operates in through industry magazines, online media etc.”
- “Trawling through the company's website will provide an understanding of their business area. Recent news and developments will help demonstrate your interest/commitment to the sector”.
Top Tip:
- “Do a small amount of research on the firm’s main rivals. Be prepared to explain why you want a job with this particular firm over their competitors”.
We hope that helps get you started!
Advice on how to write your application and prepare for interviews is coming soon! In the mean time to find out insider tips and advice for particular companies and careers, you can read thousand of individual reviews, written anonymously by employees in the know, http://www.thejobcrowd.com/read-reviews
