Career Advice for Graduates: How to Find a Job in Today's Market

It is becoming increasingly hard slog for talented new graduates find employment in today's market, but with the right skills and experience that is achievable, no matter how bleak Outlook May do. Our consultants believe that experience is the key to kick starting your career, so here are some tips on how to get yourself noticed and get some experience.

Why do you need

Start valuable experience with the right company will allow you to establish and develop the necessary skills for your chosen industry. This often involves a long time, a lot of hard work and a bit - if you can not pay, but it can seriously increase your chances of securing full-time position in your dream job. Many agencies offer internships and graduate training programs that can last for anything up to 18 months. Most pay their own costs and to offer an intensive schedule designed to teach you as much as possible and eventually you will train until the junior level.

foot in the door

There are many high profile agency helps grads get their foot in the door. London Saatchi and Saatchi are voted in the UK the most popular graduate recruiter in 2009, graduates in marketing and advertising sectors at the national Graduate Recruitment Awards. They continue to invest in their graduate scheme and offer a fantastic, in-depth introduction to the advertising industry. Another organization that takes seriously the global graduate recruitment communications agency, Leo Burnett Group. Their Graduate Foundation Programme is due to open this September 2011 for their input and puts the budding students through their paces for more than 15 months, offering a fully integrated training program that covers advertising, digital, experiential and vendors promocije.Skupina offer placements for Junior Account Executives and Junior Planners. Jess Farahar, Graduate Account Executive at Leo Burnett spoke very highly of the scheme, "Leo Burnett graduate scheme has proved brilliant! Last eight months have provided me with a cohesive understanding of the Lion as the agency, and the broader industry. They want us to succeed. I think we all feel very fortunate that they get the opportunity to work here ."

How to get involved

best starting point is to make a list of all the companies you'd like to do, then make sure you do your research for each year and cover letter tailored to each of them. Covering letters are usually big stumbling block for many people, it can be difficult to strike a balance between being informative and waffling. To emphasize to try going through the social networking sites like LinkedIn, it's a great way to show potential employers that you are proactive and passionate about getting experience. For more information about themselves through the promotion of social media, check out our blog on the wall.

Avoid obvious

If you are planning to go on a creative role, then it might be wise to try and make the most of your prospective employer's attention from something original instead of just e-mail covering letter. We know the candidate who wrote her biography on a piece of toast - the original, if not somewhat attractive, this stunt got an interview. Another candidate was sent a box of doves for a high profile advertising agency with your CV attached to one of his legs in hopes of dazzling MD.

Unfortunately at the time the box arrived at their offices birds to disappear. This is perhaps an example of what not to do. People Manager at the top advertising agency Profero, Tina Brazil gives some great tips on how to get noticed ...

If you still need convincing about the benefits of participation in the graduate scheme you see what Dan Noller, Junior Creative at Elvis Communications has to say. After graduating from Saint John Moore University, Dan signed up for a 3 month internship with an advertising agency, and has since gone on to become a permanent member of staff. To give you a head start, we've listed some of the best grad scheme that we believe will help you develop the necessary skills and experience that goes in your chosen sector.

Leo Burnett
Saatchi and Saatchi
Proctor and Gamble
Dragon Rouge
BBH