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www.graduateopportunities.com >> career advice
job
search faqs
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How do I make my CV stand out if I have similar experience to others that are applying? Employers use a résumé to make a hiring decision; they look at your past to predict your future.
Your involvement in any student associations, part-time jobs, volunteering and sports clubs, or any other activities you do outside of your degree can all provide an employer with a good range of information to make a decision about whether to hire you. Make sure to highlight these!
Employers are also interested in any training or professional development courses you have undertaken, so list those that are relevant or have provided you with additional skills. As a younger student with limited work experience don’t be afraid to list courses such as team building, umpiring, coaching and first aid. These demonstrate that you are open to up-skilling. In presenting your employment experiences, extracurricular activities and academic studies, make sure to provide insight into how you have worked and therefore what you can do for the company.
Employers aren’t just looking at how you fit the job and skills they have advertised, but also how well you’ll fit into their team and organisational culture. You also need to do your research on the nature of the organisation and its achievements and then communicate your skills and experience as best as you can to match this.
the interviewNo.5
What sort of questions can I expect to be asked at an interview? Your interviewers will ask some generic questions that will allow them to learn about you and your reasons for applying for the position: Why should we employ you?
What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years? What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
These questions allow you to market yourself and the skills you possess that make you right for the job. They also provide an opportunity to mention past achievements and demonstrate your motivation and ambition.
Behavioural-based interview (BBI) questions are becoming more common. This line of questioning assumes that future behaviour is most accurately predicted by past behaviour, and employers assess this through questions that probe for specific skills:
Describe a difficult situation in which you had to think quickly to resolve the issue.
Describe a time when you had an unhappy customer/ client who proved difficult to satisfy. How did you handle the situation, and what was the result?
On average, larger organisations recruit around 30% of their graduate employees through undergraduate programs. Smaller organisations, on average, recruit nearly 60% of their
graduate employees this way. Graduate Outlook 2010, GCA; a ‘larger organisation’ has more than 500 employees.
Describe a time you worked in a team environment. How did you contribute? What did you learn?
To respond to a BBI question, use the STAR technique: Situation: a specific scenario you were in. Task: your role and project you were required to complete. Action: what you did to complete this task. Result: the outcome of your action and what you learnt.
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