Are
you a graduate or graduating this year and seeking a publishing career?
With
the job climate tough, the industry competitive and many graduates out of work,
it is no wonder that seeking your first job has become a daunting prospect. Perhaps
some of you are even thinking of staying in education because of the slim chances
of getting a job. However, quitters never win and winners never quit. Securing
your first job will be difficult; you will have to be motivated, proactive and
willing. Set yourself up with the graduate jobseeker pointers below.
1) Create
a wish list of companies and roles
Initially
this could be a mental or physical list of the companies that you would like to
work for once you graduate. These could be companies like Conde Nast, The
Guardian or Random House. Try to have a list with more than six companies on it
because the shorter your list is the more limited your job search will be.
The
next task will be to figure out what role/position you would ideally like e.g.
marketing assistant. Create your top 3 or 4 positions in preference order. This
way you’ll know exactly what vacancies to keep an eye on.
2) Set
up accounts
Now
that you have your lists, set up your social media accounts to reflect them.
This could mean setting up an account on Twitter and following the companies on
your wish list. Make sure that you have an online presence; this will probably include
having a profile on LinkedIn.
3) Speculative
applications
With the contacts that you have (if any),
compile a speculative cover letter and CV for each of them. Don’t miss out on
using your contacts because they could have a vacancy now that isn’t advertised
on their website, or one that will arise soon after. Make sure employers know
that you are looking for a job.
4) Collate
bookmarks
Utilising
the company list that you have created in task one, find the ‘career
opportunities’ page for each company and save them all as bookmarks. A good way
to organise and collate these would be to devise a ‘job seeker’ folder on your
bookmarks bar. This will give you easy access to the company vacancies and the
ease of simply clicking on these bookmarks will save you a lot of time in the future.
Additionally,
add job seeker companies to your bookmarks. For example, if you’re interested in
journalism or PR jobs then Gorkana should be on your list, or if you’re
interested in book publishing jobs then The Bookseller should be on your list.
5) Research
In
your spare time in between applications, you should be staying proactive and doing
some of your own research. This could be related to work applications or
interviews etc. There is a wealth of information about everything and anything
you need to know on the Guardian Careers website.
A
couple of things I have read that you may like to read-
-How
graduates can prove they have the skills an employer wants: http://careers.guardian.co.uk/cv-graduate-skills
-Career
options in book publishing: http://careers.guardian.co.uk/career-options-publishing-top-10?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
-Job
seeking: what to do when you keep getting rejection letters http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/keep-getting-rejections
Alternatively,
for those that prefer listening-
-Career
talk podcast: 5 steps for interview success: http://careers.guardian.co.uk/audio/careers-talk-five-steps-for-interview-success?intcmp=239
-Career
talk podcast: How to use Twitter to find a job http://careers.guardian.co.uk/audio/using-twitter-to-find-a-job
There
are many more on The Guardian website, and the rest of the web too, so make
sure you take the time to do some research – you could even incorporate it into
your everyday routine. Remember that being persistent, patient and proactive
will pay off in the end. You can make your own luck.
