How to get a position on a graduate scheme?

Yes they are competitive, yes there are far more applicants than jobs.

However the good news for the people on this thread or reading this thread who are yet to go to uni or in first year is that if you plan and prepare from the start of uni and do the right things you will be well ahead of the rest of the competition and from the experience of people I knew from my course, the ones that did all the 'right things' all got grad jobs.

The 'right things' IMO include

1 - Most important - learn what different careers are and what they involve IN DETAIL, research them on the net, use forums like this, go to careers fairs, talk to employers/careers service etc. Eg say you are vaguely interested in being an accountant or actuary or working in insurance etc, learn the ins and outs of what they all involve, what training you have to do, how long to be qualified, what the different professional qualifications are, the difference between different types of career (eg in accountancy, tax or audit, or for an actuary, risk or pensions), find out the pros and cons. I found that of people I knew at uni, the ones who really knew everything about what their chosen career involved, all got jobs, the employers can tell this when they ask questions about why you have chosen this career or why applied to this stream in particular, they want to filter out the many thousands of drones who apply for every grad scheme because they want a 'grad job'

2 - Take 1st year seriously and make sure you at least get a 2:1, if you get a 1st great, not only will this put you in good stead to start 2nd year where it counts by hitting the ground running, but also most grad schemes ask you to list all your module marks and its a good signal if you took 1st year seriously, rather than lounging around. This might sound like a given when you are used to working hard for your A levels but when 1st year comes round and the marks don't officially count, you will find loads of fellow students telling you "all you need to do is pass".

3 - Use extra curriculars properly and get something positive out of them. Everybody goes on about ECs but lots of people don't get anything out of them. You don't develop the 'interpersonal skills' that grad scheme employers want, just by going on socials and socialising, anybody can chat rubbish to people when they are drunk, but employers want somebody that can network and build bridges and work with people when sober, so use your ECs to get some experience of something where you have responsibility for setting something up, organising something (it can be organising socials), if its got a budget, or relies on dealing with external businesses then perfect.

4 - Get a part time job, even low paid jobs in cafes/bars/shops etc give you customer service experience, if you show some interest in learning how the business operates you have stuff to talk about on application forms and jobs.

5 - Go all out to get some kind of internship in between 2nd and 3rd year, find out when you need to apply (early in 2nd year) and apply, use the careers service etc. If you can't get something formal try and set up something informal even a brief stint of work exp unpaid if possible, but a lot of the grad schemes operate summer internships. As a rule of thumb if you get an internship then unless you are absolutely dire on the internship, you are going to end up with a job in that industry even if not with the same company.

Normally it takes around 40 applications, along with a reasonable amount of luck to get these roles. If you get rejections, don't give up, it happens.

My sister got a place with Ernst and Young in a graduate scheme as a tax auditor but hated it and left after 2 years because it was just travelling around the country staying alone in hotels. Her friend also got on, and is now earning £60K a year already and she's only 25, but she is still travelling around/hasn't got a partner and rarely see's her family...generally she isn't very happy but feels it's better to have a good job than to chuck it all in and have nothing. My sister's now earning £30,000 at the same age and has 2 more exams to do before she becomes a chartered accountant so still has a long way to go till she's earning anything like £60,000 but it's a decent job which doesn't require lots of moving about. She's been at 2 jobs since leaving though and both of them paid for her to take her exams to become fully qualified, I think it's quite common for businesses to employ someone in an accountancy position and pay for the exams/course materials.

Neither of them were part of any clubs or anything but my sister did get work experience at an accountancy firm when she was 18 (they offered her a job actually!) It'll probably be way more competitive now but I think the key is to get interview practise and just come across well.

Hmm, yeah, a lot of what you said is true, I think EY/KPMG push you harder than DTT/PwC but all in all, they're all relatively the same, chasing big contacts and needing to complete quickly. I think you're right about the contracts not being too hard to get, I don't know what it is, but I think many can't be bothered with more exams after graduating, that's why it tends to be easier to get into ACCA and get a decent TC. Although the 30k difference between your sister and her friend is a bit odd. Usually it's not that big. Is your friend chartered and your sister is close to becoming chartered? Because you certainly earn much more when you're qualified, I imagine your sister will move onto at least 40k once she's passed the two exams and by the time she's 30 she should be on around 80+, she'll catch up because most big 4 people leave and you'll compete with them to get jobs in other sectors that need ACCA accountants.

Her friend has been promoted to an overseeing position within her audits, hence the decent salary but neither have fully qualified yet. My sister is very close though, she has her penultimate exam in June I think. They both got 1sts though in Accountancy degrees at decent uni's, I reckon I'll get a 2.1 in my History degree at a poor uni...soo I doubt I would get a look in even though they're supposed to look at all degree types! Good luck though

Hey guys I am new to The Student Room, hello everyone I just got into the software testing industry, I started a graduate programme 1 month ago for a company that is owned by Capgemini. They are having a large graduate intake this year... If anybody is interested in getting an interview, just message me and I'll give you the name of the firm and a link to details of the graduate programme and I can pass your CV on to them to ensure you get a telephone interview

Everything else in your post I agreed with, however the 'luck' element and your estimate of 40 applications, I can't agree.

Getting your application form through the initial HR process may involve a bit of luck but essentially, if you're good they'll put you through.

40 applications? I managed to get a few "graduate" job offers from finance firms in the city, I only applied to a few as well. I'm not the only one in this position either, I'm also not one of those people who had done everything to get a job, my extra curriculars? football team captain....o wait I wasn't really the captain. Work experience? I did an internship with a local company. Degree? A standard 2.1 . You don't need to be amazing to get a graduate job, whatever a graduate job is....

I applied to PwC on a whim and got fairly far with little interest, stopping the process when I had an offer to do work in research. Surely most of the application questions are the same on different forms? write them this summer, post them in year 3?

I don't see why you can't make a few applications to top 4 firms. They have a lot of places.

What sort of firms/positions were these? I'm talking about my own experience only, where I was applying for roles that, on paper, I shouldn't have been getting (investment roles when applying from a mid/non-target uni). It is often different if you are applying for the 'right level' roles, and is probably different for many other grad schemes.

I stand by my comment about luck, especially from my position. At the end of the day, the people who are going to make the decision about yes or no are going to be the people who you work with. If you get on well with them that greatly improves your chances. Luck also comes into play when you have extensive screening before interviews. E.G., one company I applied for had 2000 applications, and they chose 16 people from those to go to assessment centres, with just the application form and online tests to go by. You can't tell me that you don't need a certain amount of luck to get through processes like that.

Barcap, Deloitte and a private equity firm, all in the city. However that doesn't make my point anymore valid.

I believe that if you're good enough you'll get through, sure you may be unlucky occasionally, but depending how good you are you can reduce the reliance on 'luck'.

what did you study, and at which uni? Did you take up the BarCap offer? Could someone from Manchester uni make it into Barcap in a non-quantitative degree?

I just got on to a grad scheme for a top 100, so hopefully I can offer some advice.

The initial application isn't so bad - you've plenty of time and don't have to think on the spot. Answer the questions they ask, proof read, and you should get through the first sift. The next stage is usually psychometrics. Your success here depends on practice, rather than natural ability. I downloaded twelve SHL practice tests from assessmentday.co.uk and these helped massively.

After that, you might have a phone interview. I researched the likely questions online, and had answers prepared for them all. I kept my iPad in front of me, with the answers PDF'd. So that was OK too.

The assessment day is the hardest part, but you'd be surprised how many people don't prepare properly. Or that come across as too 'educational'. They're looking for professional individuals that will fit into their organisation. To this end, you need to be dressed well, appropriately deferential to those above you without resorting to sycophancy, and avoid obvious mistakes. Stop writing when you're told to. Ask before leaving the room. Little things.

Related to the point above regarding professionalism is the use of notes, cue cards, etc. Try and avoid this. I used no notes for the presentation, and actually saw people bringing pages of notes to the competency interview. Which is an interview about themselves!

The group exercise will be your chance to shine. Don't overestimate your opposition, and don't be intimidated. They will screw up, but be careful in remonstrating with them when they do - you don't want to come across as a bully. If they say something wrong, suggest an alternative. With my group exercise, one candidate failed to read the brief - at all, he admitted - and another asked for a vote, having been told in writing and verbally that no votes were allowed. Use names when speaking to people

Research the company. They probably won't ask you directly, but it's useful to slip snippets into the presentation, group exercise, etc. For my written report, based on the group exercise, I made sure I used an introduction, middle and conclusion. Even though that meant leaving out content. When somebody says something notable, write down the name of who said it, then use that name in the written exercise when you refer to the idea.

For what it's worth, I went to a completely non-target university. About as far from target as you could get. I had less experience than some, who had graduated two years ago and worked full time since, but the experience I did have was hard won, and carried out both on placement and during second year / final year. I had demonstrable proof of holding positions of responsibility, and absolutely no society involvement. Actual experience > societies, every day of the week. I was also a candidate that would require relocating from quite a distance away, and was chosen in preference to others living nearby, so don't let location put you off.

Hope that helps.

Hey, sorry to come back to you. I found this table for PwC: http://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student/applicationprocess/application-timetable.jhtml

So I think I'm okay for them. Do you mind me asking what your GCSEs/A2s/Uni/Degree you have? It would be amazing to get into PwC, I should be starting History and Economics at Manchester this September, will I have a good chance if I got experience/societies/part time jobs + 2:1 of course?

Hi everyone,

I've been enjoying reading this thread, and it's good advice that you are all advised to undertake relevent work experience as early as you can. I am just asking for some advice myself here, if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

My background is that I have a first class degree in economics from a russell group university (graduated in 2008). While working in the public sector for 6 months, I managed to obtain funding from a research council for a masters and PhD; I completed the masters in 2010 and am over a year into my PhD.

However, I have realised after much thought that a phd is no longer for me, and will be leaving soon to try to obtain employment, hopefully getting onto a graduate scheme in the near future. The question I ask is, is it too late for me to get onto a graduate scheme? Would leaving my phd early/age (26) put off future employers? Any advice on what my next steps should be to achieve my career ambitions would be really appreciated.

Best wishes everyone