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Top Tips for graduates - Making the most of your recruitment agency

by Helen Donnelly November 07, 2011
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​Prepare for even more competition

I’m sure we’ve all been keeping up to date with the latest doom and gloom news about the economy. Problems in Greece look likely to have a huge impact on the Eurozone and wider global economy.

An inevitable impact of this is a tougher jobs market with increased competition for each role.

When the going gets tough...

With more competition for each position, it’s vital to work harder and smarter to achieve your ideal role. On the Graduate team at Freshminds, we’re lucky enough to meet lots of high achieving candidates with excellent academic records and fantastic work experience. But unfortunately that’s simply not enough to get you into the graduate job of your dreams. Research and preparation into the role and company you’re interviewing for are vital and a sure fire way to help you stand out from the crowd.

At Freshminds, we like to meet and interview a long list of candidates and provide our clients with a shortlist of CVs that are the best match for the role. This means that we expect you to have done your research into the industry, company and job itself before coming in to meet with us!

Here are my top tips for being as well researched as possible before your interview.

1. Use the company website

Sounds like an obvious point, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t look online. Company websites are a great source of information about the history of the company as well as their USPs (unique selling points), and often provide ‘meet the team’ sections where you can find out a little bit more about the people you’d potentially be working with (or indeed interviewed by further down the line!)

2. Read industry press

This will allow you to place the company in context. Who are their main competitors? How does this company stand out from those operating in a similar space? What are some the trends or challenges the industry are experiencing? All of this information will help you come across as credible and knowledgeable about your chosen career path, and demonstrate that you have the passion and interest necessary to progress.

3. Know the role

Reread the job description thoroughly and think hard about what this position actually entails. What are some of the key skills we’ll be looking for? You need to be able to clearly and articulately explain the job function, and make your experience and skill set as relevant as possible to the role.

Good luck! We look forward to meeting you and being bowled over at interview.

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