 By Graham Trickey, Editor, Prospects. It's becoming increasingly common for well qualified students not to apply to graduate training schemes while at university. Five months after graduating, will they get a second chance? The schemes that are now inviting applications may be offering a start next summer and their promotional material will, in most cases, focus on final year students. But this doesn’t necessarily mean they are closed to graduates. Most recruiters know that being a student, particularly a final year student, has changed a lot in recent years. And recruiters have contributed to this change. Faced with increasing numbers of students pursuing their vacancies, companies aim to get the best possible recruits by asking for candidates who have 2:1s and certain competencies. Short-listed candidates are then usually tested out at assessment centres. The result is that students face conflicting pressures from a more drawn out and complex application procedure and the need to get the best possible degree. But if you chose to concentrate on your studies in your final year where does that leave you now? The delay in a graduate applying should not be a problem, says Carl Gilleard of the Association of Graduate Recruiters which represents leading employers: ‘There wouldn’t be any discrimination against that individual. The key, of course, is for the application form to show how the graduate has put the extra time to some good use. It wouldn’t be sensible just to ignore the time from when you are graduating to when you applied. Always market positively what you have been doing in the meantime.’ The points that graduates should make, says Carl, are that last year they focused on their studies and now they are using their time meaningfully by working, paying off student debts and developing skills. He adds that last year the market was very tight, so ‘only a very hard employer would not recognise that some graduates who may have applied for jobs in 2002 and not been successful might be of good calibre’. A number of leading companies have responded to the availability of talented job-seeking graduates by recruiting throughout the year or have more than one entry point in their training schemes in the year. Carl Gilleard also advises going to The Graduate Fair in London on 11th and 12th December. Gaining a place on a graduate training scheme is not easy, whether or not your application has been deferred. The Association of Graduate Recruiters estimates that its members account for 25,000 graduate vacancies a year. Only ten percent of the approximately 250,000 UK graduates who leave universities annually. Anyone who has already graduated should put together the best possible applications, presenting those extra months as a positive point. After all, it’s better late than never. Related topics
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