Summer’s nearly over and it’s the start of the 2014/15 graduate recruitment cycle. Traditionally graduate employers start their recruitment drives in the autumn term, but more and more now start in late summer. These will mainly be the larger recruiting companies with graduate schemes, particularly in the finance and law sectors and for the Civil Service Fast Stream (applications open 1 September 2014 for this, with one closing date being 30 September!).

There are a host of online vacancy sites, many of them listed on our Graduate vacancies information sheet (see www.york.ac.uk/careers/infosheets for this and other titles to help you with applications and interviews).  Other resources, such as www.graddiary.com, can help you keep a check on when recruitment opens and closes for a range of companies, and organise your applications’ timings.

Internships

Equally, if you’re going to want to secure an internship or relevant work experience for next summer, be aware that some of these will start to be advertised now as well. Check out the resources in How to get work experience and internships information sheet for help with where to look and what to consider.

Not interested in graduate schemes?

Of course, graduates don’t just work for international and national employers, many will work for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or go into sectors where graduate schemes are not part of the recruitment process.

In these cases, it’s just as important to start thinking now about the sorts of companies you’d like to work for, so you can research both the sector, the players in it, and related labour market information.

Things you can do

While you keep a check on job sites and employers, you can also start preparing to make applications. Start drafting your CV (there’s plenty of help – have a look at the Writing a CV and covering letter information sheet as a starter). You can also record the things you’ve been doing while at University – your work experience, involvement with activities, volunteering and your skills. Listing these will give you some ready examples when you come to start complete application forms. The Employability Tutorial on the VLE will give you somewhere to record your skills and experience and help with considering your next step.

So if you’re about to start your final year or are going to be looking for an internship, don’t leave the start of your job hunting until your return on campus, start now!