Graduate applications - one step at a time

This year, I am going to be faced with the reality of applying for graduate positions and am working out some strategies to manage it all.

Graduate applications. Long, excruciating application processes filled with terrifying corporate interviews and weird psychological testing, or so I keep hearing…

Kidding! Everyone loves to dramatise these applications a little (including myself) but with some planning, we can all get through them. As someone who loves organising and writing, they fill me with shameful amounts of joy. However, I know that if I am to keep on top of everything I need to start getting organised pronto!

First things first is making sure my CV is solid. There are lots of services at university and externally which can help with this! The Career Services are a great resource for resume workshops, career consultations and general advice on applications. Be sure to book in ahead though as it is often in high demand.

Other options include grammar editing sites like Grammarly or there are even some sites where you can submit your resume to an AI checker – they’re not perfectly reliable but sometimes pick up things you never would have considered.

Next, I need some tailored cover letters. It is always so important to make sure you research the organisation so you can mentions a few things you think are great about them, but reminder to self – don’t oversell it! Again, career services and external sources are great for this kind of stuff. I also like to run my cover letters by family members or friends working professionally, or if your Manager is as awesome as mine, maybe even ask them for a cheeky review!

But before you even start tailoring your cover letters (I am not the best with chronology), you need to pick your organisations or graduate roles.....and this is the toughest part in my opinion. Check out my post on the graduate positions I am considering, which probably are most relevant to International Relations or Arts but some you might find are surprisingly cross-disciplinary!

And finally, when that is all put together, I like to make a calendar which has opening dates, closing dates, round dates and colour-coding just to get some of that sweet, sweet dopamine.

These strategies don’t necessarily work for everyone but they're some of the ways I am tackling graduate applications!