Graduating This Year? Here's How You Can Secure Your First Job After Uni.

With 1 in 3 students not feeling confident when applying for jobs, we're looking at top tips for finding and securing your dream job.

When you're in your first, and even second year, the thought of graduating and being propelled out into the real world feels like a very distant fever dream. Third year comes around, you blink, then you graduate. This comes with all the super serious grown up things, like starting your career and getting a job… Sorry to be a buzz kill.

Luckily, you're not alone. By next year it's predicted that 27% of the workforce will be Gen Z. But our Student Beans User Research team has spoken to nearly 2000 students about jobs after uni, and you're not all feeling great about the prospect of entering the job market. With a third of students (30.1%) feeling unconfident about job applications, we're breaking down tips for nailing your job application, and what types of work are out there for graduates.

Where do you want to work?

There's been a seismic shift in where people are working these days, with the rise of remote working since the pandemic. But the tide is turning, and remote workers dropped from 38% in June 2020 to just 14% in 2024.

Interestingly, our survey found that remote working was the least appealing environment for students looking for jobs after uni (15.1%). With hybrid working appearing the most popular choice (45.5%), it seems flexibility in your job is high on your priority list. Maybe you're already anticipating a lack of remote jobs being available anyway, or you just want to experience the classic 'water-cooler' culture of being in an office.

The three main types of environment are:

• In-office working: as the name suggests, in-office jobs means you'll travel to be in the same building as your colleagues every day.

• Hybrid working: a combination of working in the office and at home, for example, 3 days in the office, 2 days at home.

• Remote working: working at home all the time.

Degree-related job or not?

You've studied for at least 3 years in your chosen subject, you know it inside out. Now it's time to apply for jobs, but do you still have the same passion? Our survey revealed that over one in five (21%) of you aren't sure if you'll apply for jobs that relate to your degree subject.

There's a few reasons why you might decide against it, most obviously being that if you're not studying a vocation, then your career path isn't always clear! The good thing is that most degrees have a lot of transferable skills. So your history degree where you learn analytical skills, critical thinking and research means you could make an excellent teacher, archaeologist, or an HR manager.

Having said this, a study we conducted last year showed 42% of you chose your degree specifically for the career or opportunity it could give you. So if you want to apply for a job directly related to your degree, then it's worth thinking about what type of experience you might need and refining your CV.

Top tips on applying for your dream job

Now you've seen some of the different types of jobs you want to apply for, what do the experts think? Ilias Elsdon-Rentoulis, a qualified and accredited careers coach, has developed a simple acronym model to help you with job applications, called G.R.A.D.

G: Gather Information

Understanding the industry and companies you're applying to will help you tailor your applications. So gather as much information as you can about market trends, key players, company cultures, and job roles. Then when you come to scoring an interview, you'll be able to show an actual interest and knowledge about the role.

Ilias recommends creating a document to store information about each company and role, as well as a spreadsheet with the job requirements and how you cover them with your experience. "You can use this to tailor your CV and cover letter for each application".

R: Refine Your Skills

Identify and refine the skills relevant to the job you want. Focus on both hard and soft skills to make yourself a well-rounded candidate.

• Hard Skills: These are the technical abilities required for the job. These could include a language, typing speed, coding knowledge

• Soft Skills: These aren't specific to a role, but things you've picked up on during your experience. These include communication, teamwork, problem-solving, time management.

There are lots of online courses, workshops and certifications you can take to help hone your skill set. Platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy offer lots of courses across different industries.

A: Apply Strategically

Applying for jobs strategically means focusing on quality over quantity, and leveraging any networking to help your chances.

Tailor your CV and cover letter for each job application. Ilias adds, "I cannot recommend this enough – it's a very common mistake I see – candidates using the same CV and cover letter for all the jobs they are applying for". Highlight the skills and experiences that are most relevant to the role.

Use LinkedIn to find and connect with other graduates from your uni who work in your desired industry. Reaching out and asking for advice can feel awkward but most people are happy to help where they can.

D: Demonstrate Professionalism

Professionalism can make a positive impression on potential employers. This includes your digital footprint, communication skills, and behaviour during interviews.

The internet is forever, so as well as making sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date, it's worth scoping out your old social media accounts. Make them private or delete any old content that you wouldn't want them to see, no-one needs early tweets being accidentally discovered.

It's worth practising common interview questions and preparing some answers (without reading from a script). Competency-based interviews are becoming more popular, and the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) can help structure your responses. Ilias adds, "you might feel that you can do this 'on-the-spot', but having interviewed 100s of candidates, I can tell when someone is properly prepared or not".

After interviews, sending a thank you email can help show your appreciation and reiterate your interest in the position.

If you're not feeling confident, try practising interviews with friends, family, or career services at your University and ask for constructive feedback. You can also video record yourself answering questions and watch it back, which can help especially with things like body language.

Methodology:

• In June 2024, the Student Beans user research team internally surveyed a sample of 1929 UK students attending University.

• The findings were analysed to find out how many students are confident with applying for jobs after University and which working environment they prefer to have a career in the most.