How To Get Onto A Graduate Programme
If you’re wrapping up your tertiary education and starting to look around for work, you might be facing a rather difficult predicament. Potential employers, you’ll quickly find, don’t just want you to be qualified, they want you to be experienced too. But how can you have any practical experience under your belt if you’ve been studying full-time? Enter the graduate programme.
Many major companies use graduate programmes to find young, talented graduates who they can mentor and nurture into successful, long-term employees. The programme usually lasts for a certain period of time, and offers practical work experience and on-the-job training. In this way, it also helps you, the graduate, gain valuable first-hand knowledge of a position, company and industry. In South Africa, big corporates operating in almost every field offer graduate programmes. Accenture, Discovery, MTN, Mercedes Benz and all the major banks have programmes in place – to name just a few. But how do you land a spot in these sought-after positions?
Attend your university or college’s job fair
In your final year of study, your university might host a job fair for you to attend. This event gives companies the chance to meet up-and-coming talent, and gives graduates the chance to learn about what these companies look for in their employees and what their graduate programmes involve. Don’t miss this great networking opportunity.
Make a list of companies you’re interested in
And make sure your list is long. Competition for graduate programme positions can be fierce, so cast your net fairly wide. Who knows, your graduate programme experience at a lesser-known company might be the very thing that earns you the attention of the hiring officer at your dream job. Also remember that, to be an accountant, you don’t necessarily need to work at an accounting firm – car manufacturers need accountants too.
Search for graduate programme offers online or in your local paper
Use the Internet to your advantage. Many corporates will advertise their graduate programmes online. If you live in a smaller town, perhaps close to a mining operation looking for new engineers or metallurgists, don’t neglect your local newspapers. Graduate programme offers are regularly posted there.
Be informed and be inspired
If you land an interview, make sure you’re properly prepared. Educate yourself on the company as much as possible and demonstrate this knowledge. Also don’t be shy to show your enthusiasm and passion. A graduate programme placement is an amazing opportunity – the employers giving it to you want to know that you want it.
The graduate programme process can be intense: applications are demanding and it can take ages if the company conducts several rounds of interviews. Keep at it. Your graduate placement could be more than a steppingstone into the workplace – it could be a launch pad.
