Careers Advice with Julia Yates

by Julia Yates

Hello Julia,

I’m really worried about the recession and how it is going to affect the prospect of me getting hired.

Are there any jobs out there, I just feel like I am looking into an empty void.

How can I make myself stand out with such a lot of competition for so few places?

Don't panic

It’s easy to get into a panic about the recession, but in truth, for students graduating in 2010, the job market is not that bad and there are a few simple things that you can do to improve your chances.

As fresh graduates, you have a few aces up your sleeves.

First of all, your skills are up to date, often more so than the skills of your potential employers.

Secondly, in many cases, you represent the target audience for some of the employers, so some will be keen on you because you are the people who read their magazines, watch their programmes or buy their clients’ products.

And finally, you’re quite cheap to employ, and many organisations, particularly since the recession, have decided that entry-level graduates or even unpaid interns can do jobs that they’ve given to more senior professionals in the past.

What makes you different?

So, how to stand out? Many graduates have responded to the economic climate by sending out loads of speculative CVs to loads of different companies.

The problem with this is that it’s usually clear to an employer that the covering letter that you’ve sent to them is exactly the same as the covering letter you’ve sent to a dozen other companies, and this doesn’t create a good impression.

You want each employer to think that they are the ONLY organisation you have written to and that you’ve really thought about why you want to work there and what you can offer them.

I recommend that you spend at least 2 hours tailoring your CV and covering letter to each organisation you apply for, and make sure that the examples of your work that you include are genuinely relevant to that particular organisation.

For more help please look at www.arts.ac.uk/student/careers