Throughout my years a graduate coach I have heard two consistent yet opposing voices:

Voice 1: There are no jobs, from the graduate job-seeker

Voice 2: We can’t find good people, from employers

And throughout my years a graduate coach I have discovered the answer to both voices: Graduates haven’t a clue how to sell themselves to employers.

For the majority of students it has been straight from school and college to university where the emphasis has been on educational facts, not job-finding skills. Imagine that, graduates turned out to a world where you need a job to survive without the skill to find one!

Because they haven’t been equipped by being taught how to find a job, the graduate hasn’t a clue what to do or where to start when he or she eventually leaves university and starts looking for a job.

Proof of this can be seen in the number of CVs we see. There is lots of help on getting your CV right but yet still over 90 per cent of those received by an employer goes into the rejection pile.

Why do so many CVs end up in the bin?

Because the CV hasn’t been tailored to the role. Because the employer cannot see the skills, achievements and experience he needs to convince him that this person can do the job.

There is a skill to finding a job: from writing a CV that will speak for you to knowing how to speak for yourself in a interview situation to knowing what you can do after the interview to increase your chances of success.

This summer, as another cohort of graduates emerge from beneath the exam revision papers and escape out of the exam halls, the reality will hit: you need to find a job.

Some of you will have already begun. Good on you, for it is a tough market out there where for every graduate level vacancy advertised there are around 85 applicants.

The reality is that you will join 250,000 other new graduates leaving university to begin their careers. Of course you will not have to compete with them all, as they will not be all seeking to find a job in the same area.

Besides, some of them will give up and settle for just any job.

As a graduate you will want to ensure you are equipped with the necessary skills to stand out against the candidates headed for the same jobs as you.

It is possible to be taught how to find job. That’s what we do here at GraduateCoach. If you want help to find a job this is the place to start.