- Start early - you can start applying for the programs during late November and you can apply (usually) till end of January/February. To choose companies to apply for, filling in all online applications and taking part in the assessment center will be time consuming. Get ready for it...and start early!
- Choose companies wisely (more here) - how to choose the best companies for you? Try to consider following:
- company's industry - what I did first was I selected industries I find interesting and then selected companies from these areas. So if you find banking boring (as I do) do not apply for banks. However this is very subjective and therefore not very scientific but it can help reduce the number of companies to choose from.
- Image of the company - everyone wants to work for cool company so try to involve this factor in your choice - again very subjective, but if you want to be satisfied with your job it is a lot about feelings which are subjective. You do want to be proud of a company you are working for!
- Structure of the graduate dev. programme offered - try to get some info about what you are going to do if you get the place. Is it just a work or are there possibilities to develop yourself in other areas (languages, international placements, getting certifications etc.).
- How difficult it is going to get the place - when you are selecting your companies do not focus only on the industry leaders. It is probably very difficult to get a job within such company. So do apply for jobs in "less cool" companies. It is not a good idea to apply only for Google, McKinsey & Company and IBM.
- company's industry - what I did first was I selected industries I find interesting and then selected companies from these areas. So if you find banking boring (as I do) do not apply for banks. However this is very subjective and therefore not very scientific but it can help reduce the number of companies to choose from.
- Do some research - you need to do some research before you take the telephone interviews (see here and here). The research should take at least 30 minutes for every company. What to read?
- Wikipedia entry about the company
- Company's webpage with focus on products and services
- Google out some recent stuff about the company (use news.google.com)
- Wikipedia entry about the company
- Do even more research before the AC (see here) - during the assessment center you will take part in several different tasks. Usually you cannot prepare for them. One of them will be interview and you will be talking about yourself. This is a great selling point but only if you are prepared. Try to link your experience/theoretical knowledge to the company's industry - but you need not know a lot about this industry, so do your research!
Showing posts with label job hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job hunting. Show all posts
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Job hunting - Summary
So called Graduate Development Programmes offered by many companies are basically dream jobs for fresh graduates. You have a opportunity to be involved in more teams and departments of the company, you can still develop your theoretical knowledge but you also work on real-world projects and...it is all well paid! What more to wish for, right? Only problem is to get to one of those programmes. As far as I know there are usually 30 applicants for 1 position offered. On this blog I tried to describe my experience with the selection process. This article is kind of summary - the essential stuff you should know if you want to succeed and get your dream job so it will not be as consistent as the other articles. So here is my advice:
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Job Hunting: Toyota Assessment Center
Toyota AC was my last assessment center I have been to. I took place in Brussels in the European Headquarters of Toyota. I did not like it much - poorly organised, some of the activities were too difficult and worst food ever - I stayed in toyota for 5 hours and I got one lousy baguette. They should at least offer decent lunch. So what did the activities look like?
- Interview with HR - typical competency based interview with young HR girl. It is easy to prepare and tell them what they want to hear. I had to 'pass' this one to get to the next stage. Important! If they ask you what do you want to do in 5 years do not tell them you want be managers. HR girl told me that in japanese companies it takes lot of time to become manager and if you tell them you want become one in 5 years they consider you overambitious and so. Tell them some stuff that you want to improve your theoretical knowledge and practical experience...
- Tests - I was told to retake those online tests. Easy.
- Meeting with the managers - I have met 5! managers (I guess the managers only hire people, they actually do not work...why there has to be 5 of them to hire one graduate? If you imagine that toyota europe hire about 200 graduates and AC lasts for at least 5 hours, than the managers really do not do anything else but talk to gradutes.) This meeting consisted from 2 parts. The first one were basically questions by the managers - mixture of competency based questions and questions about IT (what is important for page rank in google etc.). This was pretty ok. However, the second part was difficult. I was supposed to show the managers how I would deal with preparing party for people from toyota. I could use whiteboard. I did not get any time to prepare. What they wanted to hear is that preparing party is a project, which means there are several aspects (time scale, people, money and other resources). I do not think I did well.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Job Hunting: Shell Assessment Center
Shell assessment center took place in The Hague in the Netherlands in Shell main building. The Hague is BTW very nice city full of beautiful blond girls. The evening before AC we had a meeting with Shell representative and two graduates who has already been working for Shell for about a year. Next day the AC started at 8.30. I have to admit that this AC was pretty demanding. Shell focuses on so called CAR skills (capacity, achievement and relationships - for more, visit shell's career page). It is good to know, that Shell AC differs a lot from other ACs. For example there is NO competency based interview.
- Business scenario was about reading A LOT of information and identify key issues the imaginary company faces. There were basically 3 issues to identify. Then you had to present your conclusions to the managers. After that you were supposed to select one of those three and offer a solution. They wanted exact plan what you would do if you were responsible for solving the problem (ex. 1) I would contact somebody from the markenting, 2) I would do this and that...). They had pretty mean questions.
- Group exercise - there were several corporate responsibility projects in which imaginary company could invest. Within a team we were supposed to choose two of them (we had a budget). Basically to come up with a conclusion and defend this conclusion. Each manager represented different stakeholder (one was city major, other represented press etc.). Difficult since the group was pretty big (6 people).
- Business scenario 2 - I do not remember the official name for this exercise so I will call it BS2. Task was to choose one function within a company (IT, finance, HR...), then you were given several information about problems the company faces in this area, find solutions and present to managers. Again, pretty mean questions.
Job Hunting: Bentley Motors Assessment Center
Just few day after my Allianz AC I had my Bentley Motors AC. It took place in Crewe in the Bentley factory in Pyms Lane. I was surprised than only two of us came to this AC, but I was told that for some exercises we will be mixed together with AC for purchasing programme (I was IT). So, what did Bentley AC consisted from?
- Presentation to managers - as usual, it was a decision making problem. You were supposed to solve and than present on a solution. Our task was to read internal email and notes from meetings of a fictional company which was looking for new premises. The presentation went well, the managers were not mean, but had some tricky questions.
- Interview which was pretty long. I was interviewed by two managers (both women) and asked about my competencies. What was interesting about this interview was that during the second part they asked more specific questions about project management and IT (mainly about data mining and so.). It was not extremely specific, but I had to know something about data-mining, data-modelling and business intelligence. This has never happened to me before - interviews were always very general.
- Group exercise was quite funny. We had to build a tower from Lego blocks. Fortunately the guy I was competing with was little bit shy, which gave me a space to breathe. I think I did pretty well.
- Online tests verification - we had to retake the online tests. We also took some computer skills test, which were little bit crazy since they were too specific (ex. detailed knowledge of ASP syntax etc.).
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Job Hunting: Allianz assessment center
Allianz assessment center was one of the worst I have been too. It was extremely demanding and the people (managers) were very unfriendly. I understand that they want to hire the best people possible and so they are little bit mean when asking questions, but this was too much. Also the whole day was little bit overwhelming - for example there were 3 interview in a row! So what did the day consisted from?
- 3 interviews in a row with 5 minute breakes! I don't know why they demanded 3 interviews, but it was crazy. Each lasted for about 30 minutes and they asked nearly the same questions. All were basically competency based questions.
- Presentation given by me to the managers about a decision making. The presentation itself wasn't super difficult, but the questions of the managers were. They were really mean - in one hour you simply cannot prepare argumentation for all the questions they have asked.
- Role play - another crazy thing. You were supposed to play middle management role within a insurance company. There was a problem to solve and you were to meet other managers. Two assessors played those managers and together you simulated the meeting. You should have come up with a solution for the problem. Again, very very mean...only thing to recommend is that you should offer you help = there is a problem, how to solve it? I will be active part in solving the problem...I will not just propose the solution, but also be part of this solution.
- Career path interview - this one was easy. Just to tell them what you want to do etc.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Job Hunting: AXA Assessment center
For one month my blog was without any new post and the reason is simple - it's summer time and I was on holiday. But now I can continue with my series about assessment centers I have been to. The next one is AXA UK, which is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. The AC took place in Bristol, which is by the way, very nice city - I really liked. AXA building is located about 15 minutes (with train) outside the Bristol and is new and bright. The AC started at 9.00 with short overview of the positions offered. Then it continued with the following activities:
- Interview with manager was the same as usual - asking questions about your skills and experience. I really felt like a vending machine - insert a coin and I will tell you everything about my professional life in 30 minutes. You should be prepared to give some insurance industry related examples - I have studies mathematics so I know lot about probabilistic models used in insurance...so I have kind of a relationship to insurance, which was very useful during the interview.
- Tests - again they did not believe us our test results so we had to retake the tests. There were two kind of tests - numeracy and 'computer ability' test. If you have done few of them, then you will pass it...no problem with that.
- Presentation was quite difficult. We had one hour time to prepare presentation about a decision we made based on materials provided. It was typical decision making - two locations for new factory, some data provided. It was more about presenting than decision making since both locations were good. You should persuade the audience (one manager) that what you chose is the right thing. Don't forget some financial analysis!
- Group exercise was quite OK, since the fellow candidates were easy-going. We had to prepare a schedule for visit of representatives from collaboration company. Try to push your ideas, but do not push hard...persuade others.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Job Hunting: Ernst & Young Assessment Center
During my job-hunting period I have applied for all Big4 companies but made it to Enrst & Young assessment center only, which is pretty interesting since all the companies have the same requirements. The AC took place in Leeds and was quite easy, which I did not expect. It consisted from only 3 exercises - interview, case study and group exercise. So let's have a look at those:
- Interview was typical competency based interview with partner of the company. It was lot focused on two things - teamwork (you were asked to provide examples of teamwork you were involved in) and reasons why you want to work for Ernst & Young. Big4 companies ask you a lot about why you want to work for them. The trickiest question is whether you know what are you going to do during the first 1 - 2 years. It is essential to answer this question well, otherwise you will not succeed. Quite good answer is: a) I will develop my skills in area of my interest + audit (everything what they do is connected with audit), b) I will build up a strong social network (basically teamwork) and finally c) I will gain certification like ... (by this you show that you are aware of the fact you need lot of certification for audit).
- Case study is 2 hours long - you get a lot of materials (emails, ads, analysis) about a hotel chain, which have to decide whether to sell its restaurant branch. Your task is to analyse these materials, find key issues the company faces and decide whether the company should or should not sell its restaurant branch. It is also important that you should offer ways how E&Y could help with selling the branch. I guess they do not read it, at least I am not aware of any comments from their side. This is mainly preparation for the group exercise.
- Group exercise lasts about 1 hour. In the first 40 minutes you asked to discuss your findings with the other applicants and then to come up with solution = the company should / should not sell the branch. You should also provide reasons why did you decide to do this and that. The last task is the plan, how will you proceed with your decision (the company should do this and that). Cooperation is crucial - do not force others to accept your proposal and ask others about their opinions.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Job Hunting: 3M Assessment Center
In the beginning of March I attended assessment center of 3M in Bracknell, where the headquarters are located and now I would like to share my experience with you...
The assessment centers tarted at 9:00 AM with short presentation of the IT Graduate Programme and the company. Then we were told that only two of us have arrived so the group exercise will be cancelled and schedule must be adjusted. At 10:00 AM we started with competency based interviews, there were 2 one hour CBI in a row! Both of them were very difficult and demanding. After these interviews we had time for lunch and after the lunch other graduates showed us the company building (mainly the IT department). Then we had to retake the numerical and verbal tests in order to prove that we did not cheat and finally the day ended with a presentation, which we were supposed to prepare at home. The topic was: My Idea of a Good Leader, so typical bullshitting stuff. The presentation was difficult because you had to present in front of 8 managers and all of them asked you one question.
Summary
In general I did not find this AC extremely difficult, it was kind of demanding, mainly due to 2 long interview in a row. The presentation was also tough, but the managers were OK.Monday, June 9, 2008
Job Hunting: npower assessment center
In the end of February 08 I attended npower assessment center for IT graduate position. Now I would like to share my experience with readers of this blog...
npower assessment center took place in Swindon, where the npower headquarters is. The RWE npower building is new and nice. The day started at 9.00 sharp with short introduction both of the candidates and the assessors. There was the same number of assessors and the candidates (8 of each). The whole day consisted from the following activities:
- Competency based interview - typical CBI with two managers who were asking lots of questions about your experience, why you want to work for npower and why it that role and so on...this one is easy to prepare for.
- Group exercise - it was a kind of role play; our task was to read brief description of imaginary organization and each of us represented a department within this organization. Then we had to discuss how the budget will be spent - there were some proposals for each department prepared and in 1 hour we should have come up with an idea how the budget will be divided. Of course, the there were much more proposals to finance than it was able to finance. I have to admit, this was quite difficult and I don't think we cooperated well. I guess that there were too many people, which makes it extremely difficult to cooperate, when you are under press (assessors and time).
- Presentation - 1 week before the AC we were sent three topics on which we were supposed to prepare presentation. They were: 1) major university project (I chose this one), 2) how to motivate people in energy industry and 3) what do you see as the pros and cons of a captive supplier relationship (RWE systems vs. Rest of RWE). Since you had enough time to prepare the presentation, it is not difficult, but you really should link the presentation to RWE.
Summary
This was my first assessment center and I think I did ok, but not excellent. There were a lot of other strong candidates (8 of us made this AC the most populated I have been too). The environment was very friendly, even the assessors were helpful and easy going. However it took them more then 3 weeks to make decision and I did not get any feedback, which they promised.Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Job Hunting: Assessment Centers
Were you invited to assessment center? Congratulations! You are pretty successful because only the best ones make it to AC. If you want to succeed, you should read this article :-).
Assessment centers vary a lot but they have one thing in common - you will not be assessed for your knowledge but for the way you are able to solve problems and deal with time pressure. If you make it to AC they suppose you posses deep theoretical knowledge of the area you have applied for and therefore they do not assess your knowledge they rather focus on your ability to solve problems. How do they do it? Through several exercises. Here are some, you might be involved in:
- Competency Based Interview - pretty similar to the telephone interview. They ask you about 'a time when you had to solve a problem...'. For more info, please click here.
- Presentation - you receive a lot of information about a company or a problem, you have to analyze it, prepare presentation of the key topics and finally present it and answer questions. You usually don't have much time so it is a lot about time management. IMHO you should not prepare detailed slides, but just bullet points and then present self-confidently. There are usually no right or wrong answers. They also assess the way you can persuade them about your solution.
- Group exercises - you and your fellow candidates have to solve a problem together. In this exercises, they assess your interpersonal skills and team-work. Some people think you are supposed to talk as much as possible, but that is not true - try to express your ideas but ask other about their ideas! In my opinion, this is the toughest exercises, especially when you meet wrong people.
- Role play - very similar to presentation, but you 'play a role in a company' and discuss the problem directly with the assessors without presentation. Extremely difficult, but I can provide one hint. If there is a problem to solve, involve yourself = offer help.
- Case study - again, very similar to presentation, but you write your notes down and then discuss it with assessors. They usually want you to offer a plan of solution, so tell them what people you would contact, what exactly you would do etc...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Job Hunting - telephone interview (2/2)
In the previous post I was talking about motivational questions. Now it's time for competency based and analytical questions.
Competency based questions
The theory behind competency-based (sometimes called skill based or behavioral) interviewing is that past work behaviour is a good predictor of future job performance. This means that during competency-based part of the interview interviewer will ask you about specific time when you had to solve a specific problem. This means that you should provide real-world experience rather than theoretical ways you would solve the problem. Typical CBQ start with "Tell me about a time when you..." and here are some of the endings:- ...had to work as a part of the team? - all the companies use this one. Teamwork is very important and they want to find out if you can deal with it. Provide an example of a time when you worked successfully as a part of a team. Focus on how did you interact with other, how did you gain feedback and decision making.
- ...had to solve a problem you have never faced before? - very common, other question like "What was your plan of solving this problem?" follows. This one is about planning and learning. I strongly advice you to use some kind of methodology for describing your plan, for example PDCA (plan, do, check and act).
- ...helped a somebody else? - again, typical question. Tell them how did you helped somebody. They like examples when you helped somebody even without being asked to help (= you offered to help).
- ...asked for a feedback and how this feedback influenced your performance? - I guess they want you to know if you are interested in your ability to improve based on a feedback. Again best example is the one, when you proactively asked for a feedback and used this feedback to change your approach. For example: I worked on a project and did not know how to move on, so I asked my supervisor if he could give me some hints...
- ...had to persuade somebody about your solution? or ...had an argument with a team member and how did you solve it? - questions about your ability to persuade and influence other people.
Analytical questions
Analytical questions are tricky, they differ a lot and it is very difficult to prepare for such a questions. They usually ask you to solve case study or something that proves you understand industry you applied for. These questions are very company specific, here are some examples:- What does Web 2.0 mean for you? (Cisco)
- What is a virtual team and what are the advantages and disadvantages? (Shell)
- Why do you think Apple computers is so successful lately? (Allianz)
Job Hunting: Telephone Interviews (1/2)
Have you made it through online tests? Congratulations! Usually just about 40 - 50% applicants pass online tests. Now you have to schedule and prepare for your telephone interview. Following posts might help you with your preparation...
In general, telephone interviews are very similar - I have been through 14 of them - and have to say I was really stressed out before the first one, but after I did four or five of them it felt much more natural. It is the same with the online tests - practise makes perfect. So how does telephone interview look like? It usually takes about 45 - 60 minutes. In the beginning the interviewer introduces and gives you some information about the interview itself. Than you have about 5 minutes to introduce yourself. After that the interviewer starts to ask you questions. In general there are three different types of questions:
- motivational questions - in these questions they try to assess your motivation and why you want to work for their company
- competency based questions - usually the longest part of the interview; they ask you about your skills and experience
- analytical questions - some companies gives you case studies you are supposed to solve quickly; for these questions it is impossible to prepare and I think it is the most difficult part of the interview
Motivational questions
Motivation or "about the company" questions are questions relating to the company and the job. They try to find out if you are really interested in their company or you just apply to every company possible. They usually want to know if you are able to identify with the products or services they offer and if you enjoy the job. Especially Big4 companies are obsessed with these questions. So what you should expect?- Q: Why did you choose our company?
A: try to provide 2 - 4 reasons why you chose to apply for their company; for example: 1) I have studied IT and I see my future in IT department of big multinational, 2) you provide excellent trainings, 3) I strongly believe that your company will allow me to travel and meet different people and so on... - Q: Why did you apply for this job?
A: Again, you should rationalize why you chose that job; this should be simple since you know why you applied for this job; you can answer this question in the similar way as the previous one, but don't say the same! - Q: What do you know about our company
A: Very simple one; do your research about their company and talk about 1) history, 2) main products or services, 3) future, 4) mention main competitors - Q:What do you think you will be doing first year?
A: Big4 companies ALWAYS ask this question and it is not easy to answer it. Some suggestions: deepening theoretical knowledge and gaining industry recognized certification, building social network of contacts etc. - Q: What are the main issues in our industry?
A: Provide the main news about what is going on in their industry. For example: SOX in Audit (for Big4) or Web 2.0 and collaboration in IT (for Cisco). It is essential to do some research to be able to answer this question.
For this part of interview you should do some research - read about the company and the job on their webpage, use wikipedia.org and servers like wikijobs.co.uk. It is quite easy to prepare for these questions, it just need some time. Next time I will be writing about competency based questions.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Job Hunting: online tests
Did the companies you applied for find your application interesting? If yes, you have probably been invited for online tests...and this article is about online tests...so you should read it :)
Companies use different types of online psychometric tests, fortunately most of them outsource this activity to company called SHL. What does it mean to you? You can practice! In the beginning these tests might be tough for you (especially if you have not done math for longer time), but after 5 tests or so you will improve a lot. The first and the most important advice is: take every test you can, because you can learn how to do well.
But how does these tests look like? There are basically 4 different types of SHL tests you may face:
- Numerical reasoning is about counting. You usually don't have much time and it is difficult to solve all the problems you are supposed to solve (usually 1 minute per 1 problem). For this test it is neccessary to be good at elementary mathematics and have logical thinking - it is sometimes not neccessary to count everything, you can guess.
Example test - Verbal reasoning is supposed to asses your logical thinking abilities. You are supposed to read short paragraph and then decide whether the statements bellow are true, false or you can't decide. I find this test more difficult than numerical reasoning - some of the questions are tricky.
Example test - Diagrammatic reasoning is a test for IT guys. I have taken this one only once, during AXA assessment. It is actually very interesting and quite difficult.
Example test - "Picture reasoning" test is a test which official name I don't know. It is very similar to IQ tests - you got set of pictures and your task is to select picture from other set that logically fits the first set. I have taken this test only one during Toyota Assessment.
- IBM IPATO test is very stressful and quite difficult test. It is impossible to do everything unless you are a genius. It was one of the first tests I took and had lot of trouble with it.
- McKinsey Problem Solving test is the most difficult I have ever taken. You don't have much time, lots of very difficult questions. It is impossible to prepare for such a test. I guess only the smartest get through. Pass level is 65%.
Example
Hints
- Take as many of them as you can - if you practice your performance will improve a lot!
- According to previous you should take the tests of the companies you really want to get in later than those you are not that interested in.
- Insider information: HP UK does not use online tests and Allianz UK has lower pass level :-)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Job hunting: online applications
Online applications are long and demanding to fill in. To come out with smart answers for those tricky questions is not easy. This post might give you some advice.
Let's assume you have chosen about 20 or 30 companies you would like to work for and let's assume they offer the positions you are interested in. To make it simple let's also assume you are interested in graduate programmes I mentioned in the last post. Now what? Now you have to apply for those programmes and companies using online application. Unfortunately these applications are very long and demanding. The good thing is that the companies are not very creative and ask you the same questions again and again so you can became really efficient in filling in those applications. When answering most of the questions you don't have to be very creative since it asks you only details about you - where you live, what have you studied and so on. But there is one tricky part, that usually asks you these types of questions:
- Why do you want to work for our company? - you should really explain why you want to work for them and answer "You are big and offer lot of money" won't do. If you want to successfully answer this question, you really should find reasons why to work for them and support it by a real world experience. Here is an example for IT position in KPMG:
"During winter semester 2006 I had an opportunity to work as IT consultant for a GreatITCompany Inc. and I simply loved the work – we worked on interesting project with smart people – and since then I am convinced I would like to work for a consultancy company. Last month of my studies I had an opportunity to see presentation of KPMG on my university and have several friends working in KPMG, who recommended me your company. To sum up: I want to work in consultancy company and KPMG brand is the most appealing for me."
- Why are you interested in the position you are applying to? - again, you have to have a clear idea why you apply for that position. You should do extensive research about what the position is about and try to link what they offer to what you want and support it with your real world experience. Example for AXA Graduate Programme:
"I am passionate about IT since I was a grammar school pupil. This is why I decided to study Applied Computer Science for my bachelor and Information System Design for my master. After graduation I would like to use my theoretical knowledge gained during studies in real life. I am convinced that Graduate Programme offered by your company is the best opportunity to do so. I believe that Graduate Programme will allow me to gain wide experience and build a strong skills base not just in IT but also other disciplines. I also want to stay business oriented and that is the reason why I apply for IT position in non-IT company – to experience how IT supports business from inside. After finishing Graduate Programme I would like to stay in your company and develop my career further."
- There are several other questions asking you about your greatest achievements, team work, time you have to help somebody etc. All of them ask you about giving real world example, so do not try to bulls**t, you should really give them example and to make it trustworthy you should provide some details (when did it happen, where and what was your role are the basic ones).
Hints
- do research about company you are applying to, use not just their web pages, but also wikipedia.org, news.google.com etc.
- try to answer honestly, but little exaggeration is OK :)
- spell-check is essential
- and if you use one answer for more companies (you should not do that but everybody loves CTRL+C and CTRL+V), check if you changed the name of the company!
- Choose the companies you really want to work for and apply for them later! You should start with those you are not that interested so you can practice. I my case, start with IBM was really bad idea :-(
Useful links
- vault.com - useful source of information about companies; you have to pay for access :-(
- http://www.wikijob.co.uk/ - very useful, for free, you really should have a look at this one; unfortunately focuses mainly on Big4 and other consultancy companies
Job hunting: choosing the right companies
Want to get a decent gradute level job? But where? Which companies to apply for? This is the first question you should solve...
The first step in your job hunting efforts is usually to make the decision to which companies you are going to apply for. If you are a fresh graduate as I was you usually don't have so narrow scope as for example experienced professional. On the other hand, it is not a good idea to apply for every company available. The best thing you can do is to choose the right area you want to work in - for me, it was IT or more precisely Information Systems. The second thing you should decided is what type of job you are looking for - do you want to work became valuable expert in one field or you would prefer to be a manager in the future? In general you can choose between two kind of jobs - so called graduate programmes or regular job position. Here are the main differences:
- graduate programmes are more suitable for those who want to became managers rather than focus on one area and became expert. It allows you to go through 2 - 4 assignments, which every lasts for about 6 months. You should receive trainings not just in the area of you interest (example: IT qualifications) but also so called soft-skills training (presentation skills etc.).
- regular job position is about being assigned to a certain department within a company for a certain role. In my area of interest the best example is developer/programmer. If you are good in coding and you want to do it, it is probably better for you to get a regular job position as a developer rather than more general graduate programme.
If you made all the decisions - area you want to work in, the kind of job you want to get and finally industries you are interested in, you are ready to choose the companies to apply for. You should choose about 4 - 5 five companies for every industry you are interested in and I really recommend to apply for at least 20 companies, because it is pretty hard to get in one of them!
Hints
- specify well the area you want to work in (IS, HR, Marketing etc.)
- specify what kind of job you are interested in (graduate programme, regular job position...)
- select the industries you are interested in (banking, technology, manufacturing...)
- select from 20 - 30 companies accordingly to previous criterions
Useful links
- prospects.ac.uk - very useful source of information for fresh graduates seeking for a job; only for UK jobs
Job hunting: The beginning
As a fresh graduate I was looking for a job for more than 5 months. I have applied for 30 companies and been to 8 assessment centres. In the following articles I would like to share my experience and give you some useful advice.
In November 2007 I have graduated from my University and had to decided what to do in the future. Since I was running my own business I did not have to thing about this question before. I have decided that I would like to try a corporate career, preferable in foreign country. I come from the Czech Republic and English is the only other than native language I can speak on a business level (but working hard on my German). This is why I have decided to apply for a job in the UK. Fortunately I do not need visa or work permit to work in the UK, so there is no administrative obstacle. The whole process of getting job in the UK consisted from the following steps, which I will describe in detail in the following posts:
- Choosing the companies
- Applying online
- Taking online tests
- Telephone interview
- Assessment center
- Accepting offer
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