Graduate Schemes

tr3mor

I'm in my final year at university - only 12 weeks of lectures left now. It's scary stuff.

I've been looking into management graduate schemes with some of the big companies and was wondering if anyone had any advice.

Any recommendations of who to work for? Any big dos and don'ts?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

03022242

hi i have filled in a couple of apps online, the closing dates are around now, and some have already closed!

Oldernotwiser

I'd approach this from a different angle; apply for anything that interests you and if you're offered more than one position, that's the time to consider which would be best.
Another point; get a move on! You're not too late to be applying for this sort of thing but time presses on. Another few weeks and you may well be too late.
Good luck.

dmg24

NHS Graduate Scheme - don't touch with a bargepole. Would explain but must sleep now! x

jenny_f

dmg24 wrote:

NHS Graduate Scheme - don't touch with a bargepole. Would explain but must sleep now! x

Can you explain?! I went to a campus presentation on this and was impressed as is my mate whose on it.

jenny_f

I've decided not to apply for things this year - the time and effort i'm going to spend getting a good mark.

next year - year out, temping getting a job that doesn't involve study and just having a break from study/revision/education

apply next year for starting 2008

Blacksheep1979

would advise applying in september/october as alot of places close by part way through nov/dev. Not much use to the op but maybe for others for next year.

Do prepare for the interview - expect q's on Why do you want to work in this field and in particular this company?, when have you been in such and such a sittuation etc. Plan and practice for team exercises.

Little bit of research helps - ie they were top in xyz in 2006, top employer in times 100 places to work etc.

asot

I don't think there is really a definative list of who to work for and who not to. It really depends on the individual. Even if you take the so called "top 100" employers your not necessarily going to be working for a great company. Different people appreciate different company cultures, you will get an idea from your interviews and company websites etc. as to who you want to work for.

Going slightly off topic but still on the subject of graduate job applications I would offer the following advice. Some people are lucky enough to get accepted early on, however the majority of people have to make a number of applications.

I would say focus on quality not quantity -take time to perfect your applications as best you can. Learn from previous applications and get good advice (e.g. Careers Service). By focusing on quality even if you don't suceed you will learn more about what you need to improve. If you shoot a load of CVs off then it usually doesn't succeed all it does is leave you with a load of rejections making you feel depressed.

Also I see you specifically mention "graduate schemes". There is nothing wrong with these but all I would say is that don't purely focus on these; there are many jobs out there which are equally as good which are not labelled as "graduate schemes". The majority of graduates do not go on to these schemes but this is still where the focus seems to lie for so many people.

If you ever consider agencies then unless you have a degree in a specialist subject (e.g. IT) then the online agencies/job sites are pretty poor in my experience.

Finally I recommend signing up to prospects.ac.uk for their newsletter, it contains useful information and job adverts. I found my job there.

libertino

I think the temptation to look at 'graduate' jobs is that they start once you've finished your degree, whereas any other jobs you look at want someone to start immediately, pointless for students to look at when you've still got a few months stufying left. It's really difficult, you want to plan ahead so you know you've got something lined up to move onto when you finish uni, but you can't!