MSc Admissions Blog

Long gone are the days when academic excellence was enough to secure you the job of your dreams. Now employers are looking for much more than academic ability, they are also looking for a range of skills and competencies that will allow you to perform well and add value to their business.

Each employer’s requirements will vary from company to company and between roles, however there are some common themes that are important to most employers.

Common skills and competencies

Motivation – what interests you about the industry, company and role that you’re applying to? A common question we have seen this year at interview is “What differentiates us compared to our competitors?”.

Commercial awareness – do you understand what is going on in the industry / company that you are applying to, what are the challenges (threats) and where are opportunities – these are external factors and what are the strengths & weaknesses of the company – these are usually internal factors?  A common question we have seen this year at interview is “Tell me about something that you have read about that is having an impact on our industry?”.

Teamwork – A key skill for most companies is that they want to know that you can contribute effectively in a team environment and also take on board the views and ideas of others. A common question we have seen this year at interview is “Give me an example of a time where you have worked as part of a team successfully, what makes you a good team player?”.

Communication/interpersonal skills – Whether it’s communicating with people in your team or with clients, employers expect you to be able to communicate both effectively and professionally. A common question we have seen this year at interview is “Give me an example of a time where you have successfully influenced someone to your way of thinking”.

Problem Solving – Ability to look at a problem and solve it in a logical way, demonstrating persistence and not giving up. A common question we have seen this year at interview is “Tell me about a time you overcame a challenge”.

Responsibility – Do you pro-actively seek to take on more responsibility? A common question we have seen this year at interview is “Tell me about your most significant responsibility to date”.

So how can you develop the skills you haven’t got?

Employers will want to see evidence of these skills so you will need to be able to demonstrate you possess them.

Start thinking now about the skills you need in your chosen career route, if there are skills you feel you would struggle to give examples of in an interview, you probably need to do something to develop these skills further, there are a range of ways in which you can do this, join a society or club and take an active role on the committee or organising an event, part time work, volunteer work, are just some of the things you can get involved in that can help you with some of these skills,

With regards to demonstrating Motivation and Commercial awareness skills, you need to do your research, think about what it is that motivates you to the company and industry as well as the role that your applying for, keep track of what is happening in the industry you are applying to, what are the challenges and opportunities are for the industry, are there any major political, economic or environmental factors that are having an impact on the industry? There are a number of resources you can use to keep up to date with this information, from the Financial Times to industry specific publications.

The key is to start thinking about it gaining these skills now so your prepared when you start going through the recruitment processes in a couple of months’ time.

Look out for our next blog on Thursday 14th August about building your commercial awareness.

Typically in the UK, there is a lot of activity in September to October in the graduate recruitment sphere with many of the big names in graduate recruitment such as PwC, Deloitte, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank (to name but a few) opening  their applications for graduate programmes for the following year, effectively starting their recruitment process a whole year before you step through the door as a graduate hire the following summer. So for this year applications will tend to open in September 2014 and close as early as November 2014 for a summer 2015 start.

However some companies are opening their doors for applications as early as August 2014(Trafigura) and Barclays have already opened applications for their Asia Pacific region for 2015.

Every company will have different opening and closing dates so it is important to know when these are.

It is also important to note that many internship programmes will also open applications at the same or similar times as the graduate schemes so if you intend to take up an internship once you have completed your course then you also need to take this into consideration.

Why do they open so early?

A question we get asked every year by students is why do some graduate recruitment schemes open so early?  One of the main reasons is due to the number of applications that some of the large organisations receive (up to 33,000 per year for 120 places) so recruitment teams need to start this process early.

When should I start applying?

It is becoming more and more common for organisations to open their applications without a closing date. This effectively means that organisations open their applications and when they deem they have enough, applications close. With this in mind our advice would be apply as soon as possible.

We are also seeing some companies opening rolling applications which effectively means they will accept applications all year round as well as recruiting at various points throughout the year for off cycle internships, which tend to be longer internships (typically 6 months +) that arise throughout the year and availability will depend on business needs.

How long does the process last?

For many graduate programmes the application process can be quite lengthy, typically lasting several months with first round interviews and psychometric testing taking place towards the end of the year and further assessments happening the following spring.

What can I do now?

Given the above we would recommend the following:

• Research companies you would like to apply to in your desired sector using resources such as:

Inside Careers http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/professions/

Prospects: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/sectors.htm

Target Jobs: http://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors

Efinancial careers

• Sign up for e-mail alerts/ follow organisations on social media so you are alerted when their vacancies go live
• Look at website that have deadline diaries such as:

Save the student.org

Graddiray.com

(We would recommend that you don’t just rely on these sites for information on deadlines and that you also keep track of them independently)

What if I don’t want to join a graduate programme?

Graduate training schemes are not the only route into the jobs market and there may be some of you who don’t want to join a graduate programme if you have more experience. Typically we would expect to see more activity for these individuals 2-3 months before you complete your course as lead times to employment are much shorter. However you can start networking as soon as you arrive at Cass as well as using this time to consider your options and build knowledge on companies and industries that you might be interested in.

Look out for our next blog about What are employers really looking for? on Thursday 31st July.

If you have any questions please contact us at cass-careers@city.ac.uk