Overcoming The Experience Gap In A Graduate
Interview
By:
Jonathan Walker
Graduation is an exciting time for anybody has had earned a
degree by working hard throughout their time in University. Once
you have graduated, the long process of delving through the many
job
sites available to you begins. No doubt you've
registered with many and may have had a few interviews, however it
is likely that you have been unsuccessful due to a "lack of
relevant experience".
As a Graduate seeking a
job, it its vital that you understand what
"experience" is and why it is always relevant for employers. For
example in any interview, the employer will ask a few basic
questions which will establish the candidates suitability for the
role. These are likely to include asking what the candidate has
done before to asses if it is relevant to the role. If it is, then
they will try to ascertain how successful they were.
When asking these questions, a few simple recruitment "methods"
will come into play. It's well known amongst those who work in
recruitment that people's basic traits and behavior are consistent
over time. To put this in perspective, if a candidate has done
well at a previous task to the one that lies ahead, they will more
than likely be a success again. An interviewer will be looking to
establish if this will be the case with you.
How is this relevant to a graduate with little to no real
work
experience? Well a potential employer will have
a list of traits or experience that they would like to see. If the
interviewer can find somebody being successful in the job
advertised for a different company, then the decision could be
pretty much made on the spot. However there will still be some
questions that would need to be addressed. For example, if
somebody is that successful in the similar role, why would they be
applying in what would be considered to be a sideways move?
Perhaps they aren't as successful as they appear to be? Have they
fallen out with
management or co-workers. This could then make
them think that a fresh faced, determined graduate who is highly
motivated to make an impact could prove to be the better option.
In the interview, your aim is to find achievements from your
past that can be related to the job you are applying for. For
example, you could be are applying for a
sales
job, but have never been employed in that
capacity before. To begin with, consider the definition of
selling. Selling is ultimately persuading somebody to decide upon
something. Have you ever done this before? There is no doubt you
have and you would have done this by selling the benefits of your
proposition against their current choice of thought. For example
if you convinced somebody to go out instead of stay in, you have
persuaded them by selling the benefits of your proposition.
All you will need to do is to demonstrate that you understand
what is required in any role and show the processes that you can
go through to be a success. This will show your potential in the
role and many employers do favor to employ graduates.
You should also make a conscious effort in the interview to
remind employers that whilst you may not match others of more
direct experience, you do have transferable skills you can
demonstrate and also that you are hungry to prove a point and want
to make your mark.
Finally, please don't be put off if you are not successful
immediately by not getting the first job that you apply for. The
truth is very few people do and interviews are like anything, they
take practice.
Article Source:
http://www.articlerich.com
This article is written
by Jonathan Walker of Graduate Vacancies
