Tips for graduates in a tough job market

You’re a qualified graduate. So why can’t you secure a job?

Practical tips to help graduates stand out, build experience and find their way into work in a challenging job market.

Graduating from university and starting your job search can understandably feel tough at the best of times. But for graduates and young people entering the UK job market right now, there are some very real reasons why it may feel particularly tough at the moment.

One survey has suggested that the number of graduate vacancies has fallen by around 50%. At the same time, there are signs that employers are becoming more cautious about recruitment, while the way candidates are assessed is changing too.

So, if you’re sending applications and not getting interviews, it’s important to recognise that this isn’t necessarily a reflection of your ability, your degree or your potential. The job market itself has changed.

Why does it feel so tough?

There isn’t one single reason.

The cost of employing people has increased. Changes to employer National Insurance and increases to the National Living Wage mean that taking on an employee costs more, which can make employers more cautious about creating new roles, particularly at entry level.

At the same time, AI is changing the nature of some entry-level work with more and more tasks being automated. That doesn’t mean AI is simply replacing graduate jobs specifically, but it is contributing to uncertainty about what some entry-level roles will look like in the future.

And when there are fewer jobs, there is naturally more competition.

A role that might once have attracted say 30 candidates can now attract hundreds of candidates, many of whom now might be higher qualified and employers simply have to turn down many qualified and perfectly good CVs.

But there are other things happening in recruitment that can make the process even harder to navigate.

Why aren’t great candidates getting interviews?

Sometimes, the answer is simply that there are more strong candidates than there are available jobs.

But recruitment itself has also changed.

AI screening

There’s an increase in automated tools to screen and shortlist applications. Yes they can help recruiters manage these large volumes of applications, but they can feel unfair on the candidates.

Automated systems can introduce hidden biases, lack transparency and filter out qualified candidates who don't fit the patterns or criteria they have been designed to identify. Something as simple as not using the terminology an employer or screening system is looking for can potentially mean that a strong candidate never reaches the next stage.

There is also an increasing irony around AI and applications…

When graduates are under pressure to apply for large numbers of jobs before they get an interview, it’s understandable that they might use AI to help tailor their CVs and applications. But employers are becoming increasingly familiar with AI-generated applications too. When lots of candidates use the same tools to produce their CVs, applications can start to look very similar, even identical. The result is that applications intended to help candidates stand out can actually make them look less distinctive.

So remember that authenticity and evidence matter and it might be worth taking that bit more time to personalise your CV even if it means you are making fewer applications.

Ghost jobs and rolling recruitment

You may also come across the term ‘ghost jobs’.

These are job adverts that appear to be recruiting but where an organisation may not actually be actively looking to appoint someone at that point. There can be different reasons for this. An employer might be building a talent pool, testing the market, keeping an advert open for future recruitment or simply leaving a vacancy online after its immediate hiring need has changed.

There are also jobs advertised on a rolling basis, where recruitment can effectively happen while you are still refining your application. By the time you have carefully tailored your CV and written your covering letter, the employer may already have enough strong candidates to progress and will remove the ad.

This doesn’t mean that every job advert that has been online for a while is a ‘ghost job’. But it does mean that the number of vacancies you see advertised online isn't necessarily the same as the number of opportunities where an employer is actively looking to hire right now.

For graduates already spending hours applying for jobs, that can be incredibly frustrating. It can help to check the employer’s website and see if they have the same vacancy actually advertised on their website with a deadline. Where they show you the hiring manager, drop them an email and ask if they are still open to applications and when they are looking to interview.

Is there any hope?

Yes! The graduate job market is difficult, but difficult doesn’t mean closed.

There are still industries where demand for new staff remains strong, including areas such as energy, engineering, fintech and digital finance. There are also many organisations that may have reduced or removed formal graduate schemes but are still recruiting graduates and young people into junior and entry-level roles.

And this is important: not every job suitable for a graduate will be advertised as a ‘graduate job’.

A small organisation may never have had a graduate scheme. Another employer may have stopped recruiting through a formal graduate programme but still need people for junior roles. A job description may ask for some experience but be open to someone who can demonstrate equivalent skills through their degree, part-time work, volunteering, projects or other experience.

This means that how you approach your job search matters…

Get clarity on your career direction

When you graduate and start looking for work, it’s understandable to reach a point where you think: I’ll take anything!

But applying for everything can quickly become exhausting, and it doesn’t necessarily make your applications stronger.

Taking some time to think about what you actually want to do, and why, can make your job search much more focused.

What interests you? What are you good at? What kind of work brings out your strengths? What problems do you enjoy solving? What kind of organisation or working environment appeals to you? You don’t need to have your entire career mapped out.

But having some sense of direction will help you identify opportunities that are worth pursuing and, importantly, explain why you want the job.

It will also help you submit much more authentic, focused and evidence-based applications.

Be agile

Don’t limit yourself to something with ‘graduate’ or ‘graduate scheme’ in the job title.

Look at the organisation. Look at the role. Look at the skills they are asking for.

Does the job description excite you? Does the organisation interest you? Does the role align with your skills and strengths? Getting your foot in the door doesn’t necessarily mean taking a job that has nothing to do with your ambitions. It might mean taking a slightly different route towards the same destination.

And if you’re having no luck in one particular field, look at the adjacent career opportunities. For example, if you're interested in sustainability, there are roles across energy, consulting, policy, communications, project management and finance. If you’re interested in technology, there are opportunities beyond software development. If you're interested in finance, there are roles across data, risk, operations, compliance, analysis and technology.

Rather than searching for just one job title, map out your skills and strengths and consider the different types of roles where those things could have value.

Be visible

Employers won’t hire what they can’t see.

Your CV shouldn’t simply be a list of things you have done. It should be a list of evidence of your skills and what you can contribute.

A summer job in retail might not appear relevant to the career you want, but it could demonstrate customer service, communication, problem-solving, teamwork and working under pressure.

A university group project could demonstrate collaboration, research, project management and your ability to deliver something to a deadline.

The important question isn’t just what did you do? It’s what did you contribute, what did you learn and what does that demonstrate about how you work?

Your CV should give a recruiter a compelling snapshot of you in the first part of the page their eyes land on. That should ideally be supported by an online professional profile.

LinkedIn is increasingly useful as a professional shop window, but it isn’t the only option. Depending on the industry, a personal website, portfolio or even a Substack with examples of your work and writing might be more appropriate. Whatever platform you use, make sure that what a potential employer can find about you online supports the career and type of work you want to move towards.

Network

Networking can feel particularly difficult and awkward early in your career. You might feel that you don’t have anything to offer, that you’re bothering people or that everyone else already has professional connections that you don’t.

But networking doesn’t have to mean walking into a room full of strangers and selling yourself. Who could you connect with on LinkedIn whose career you admire or whose work interests you? Could you attend an industry event? Is there someone you could ask about how they got into their career? Could friends, family or university contacts introduce you to someone working in an area you’re interested in?

You don’t necessarily need to wait until an organisation is advertising a job either. Building relationships before you need something can make your job search much less transactional.

In a sea of applications, having someone recognise your name, being able to make a genuine connection with someone inside an organisation or reaching out to someone personally when you apply can all help you stand out.

There is an important caveat here, though: not everyone has the privilege of having a professional network through family or friends.

Look for free mentoring programmes, careers events, university alumni networks, professional associations and community organisations that can help you build those connections.

Build a targeted and competitive CV

You might look at your CV and think that some of your experience simply isn’t relevant.

Perhaps your summer sales job has nothing to do with the career you want. Perhaps you haven’t had an internship. Perhaps you feel that your degree hasn’t given you any ‘real world’ examples.

That doesn’t mean you have nothing to offer. Almost any experience can be relevant when you clearly evidence the skills it has given you.

Think about the responsibilities you have had and the situations you have navigated.

Have you managed competing priorities alongside your studies? Worked with people from different backgrounds? Dealt with difficult customers? Led a university society? Analysed complex information? Organised an event? Solved a problem? Communicated something complicated clearly? Learned a new technical skill independently?

Your CV should translate those experiences into evidence of what you can do. A good CV gives recruiters a fantastic snapshot of you in the first quarter of the page their eyes land on. It should quickly communicate your strengths, relevant experience and the value you could bring.

And remember that your CV and online profile should work together. Your CV might get you into the conversation, while your wider professional presence can give an employer a fuller picture of you.

Practise interview questions out loud

When you’re inevitably asked in an interview why you want the job or to tell the recruiter a bit more about yourself, it shouldn’t be the first time you have said it out loud.

Practise.

The same applies to questions such as:

Why do you want this job?

Why this organisation?

What are your strengths?

Tell me about a time you solved a problem.

What have you learned from your experience so far?

The aim isn’t to memorise a script. It’s to become comfortable talking about yourself, your experience and your skills.

The more you articulate who you are and the evidence behind your skills, the more confident and agile you will feel in an interview. You’ll also be better equipped to adapt your answers to different questions rather than trying to remember a ‘perfect’ response.

Gain experience while you’re searching

If you’re struggling to secure formal work experience or an internship, think about whether you can create your own opportunities.

For example, if you’re looking for a graduate job that involves writing, could you start writing about something relevant to you? Could you create a substack or blog on your interest in current affairs, technology, culture, business or frankly any area connected to the work you’re interested in?This could all provide opportunities to develop and demonstrate your skills.

If you want to get into marketing, does someone you know have a small business, project or organisation that could benefit from some help with their marketing? You could potentially offer to take on a project, whether paid or unpaid if that feels appropriate to you.

The point isn't to work for free indefinitely or to substitute unpaid work for properly paid employment.

It’s about thinking creatively about how you can create evidence of the skills you want an employer to see.

A portfolio, piece of writing, campaign, project or other self-directed work can give you something tangible to talk about in an application or interview.

Get professional support

Career coaching for graduates and young people is growing for a reason. You’re not meant to navigate the transition from education into employment entirely on your own, particularly in a job market that is changing so quickly.

There is a lot to navigate: working out what you want to do, identifying the right opportunities, positioning your experience, building your professional profile, making applications stand out, preparing for interviews and staying motivated when you receive rejection after rejection.

Parents, friends and teachers can provide invaluable support, but they aren’t necessarily equipped to provide specialist careers guidance and coaching. While university career advisers are experts in the graduate job field and can offer invaluable support, they often have many students they need to support and can’t necessarily give you that 1:1 CV support, mock interview sessions and personalised approach that you might be ready for.

I’ve seen an increasing number of graduates explore career coaching as part of their job search. Through my work with graduates and young people, I’ve supported clients to gain clarity about their career direction, strengthen how they present their skills and experience, build confidence in their approach and ultimately secure roles.

Sometimes having an independent person to help you step back from the process, see what isn’t working and develop a more focused strategy can make a significant difference.

Investing in your career early can be one of the most valuable investments you make. Book a no obligation call here on my webpage.

A difficult job market doesn’t mean a difficult career

If you’re a graduate struggling to find work right now, remember that the difficulty of the current job market is not a measure of your potential.

You may need to be more strategic about where you look, more creative about how you gain experience and more intentional about how you present yourself. It may take longer than you expected, or your first role may not look exactly like the role you imagined when you graduated.

But there are still opportunities!

Your first job doesn’t have to define the rest of your career. Your career will develop through the skills you build, the experiences you gain and the opportunities you create along the way.

And you don’t have to work it all out alone.

If you’re a graduate or young person or the parent of one looking for the next step and would like some support, I offer career coaching to help you get clearer on your direction, strengthen your approach to the job search and feel more confident about what you have to offer. Book a no obligation call here on my webpage.