May 20, 2014, by Beth Dawson

Get advice from those who know best at our Graduate Jobs Fair!

Our Graduate Jobs Fair on Monday 9 June isn’t all about vacancies. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to carry out your research by hearing the first-hand experiences of employers, some of which are recent graduates that have been in your position, and to discuss your plans and get top tips for applications from our team. We answer your questions about using the fair to enhance your careers knowledge. 

I’m an arts student and want to get involved in the world of business, will employers want to speak someone with my experience?

Absolutely! As an arts student your communication and research skills will appeal to many employers. Lots of companies, including finance and IT organisations, will be hiring students from a variety of disciplines, as they look to recruit across their company, with some positions not requiring a specific degree. Look at the table of employers in the back of our fair guide, here you’ll find details of the areas employers are recruiting from. For example, Ikano and International Procurement & Logistics (IPL) are looking for graduates from a range of subjects, while Ikano have specified history and English as subjects they’re eager to recruit from.

If you want to find out whether you’re the kind of person a company wants to hire, it’s worth asking them what their ideal candidate is like and seeing how your skills and experience match up to the type of person they’re describing.

Don’t just take our word that companies will be interested in your skill set, hear what previous year’s attendees had to say about discovering opportunities where they didn’t expect to find them in our video.

I haven’t spoken to many employers before, how can I start a conversation with them?

Firstly, take some time to prepare before you attend the fair. Look through employers’ websites, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, and think about questions you could ask them based on this information. Some topics you may want to ask about include their job roles, training opportunities, the number of vacancies they have available, locations they’re based at and international opportunities.

When approaching an employer, it’s important to remember that they’re interested in talking to you! Start off by introducing yourself and saying what you’re studying. You may also want to state why you’re interested in their company or how you found out about them.  These topics are useful for opening up a discussion for example, talking about your course can lead to a discussion about the experiences and skills you’ve developed and how you would suit the opportunities available.

I’m planning to bring along my CV. How can I make it stand out when applying to vacancies I find at the fair?

There’s certainly a lot of ways we can help you at the fair. Our careers advisers will be offering CV reviews throughout the day and they’ll be able to help you to tailor your CV and suggest ways you can make the most of your experience. You’ll also have the chance to attend our ‘five top tips for CVs’ workshop, where you can get even more advice about producing a stand-out CV.

If you want to prepare your CV before the event or improve it afterwards,  be sure to check out the CVs page on our website. It features information about creating an effective CV and you always can book an appointment with  a member of our team. Don’t forget, you can get in touch after you leave Nottingham.

You can find out more about our Graduate Jobs Fair and see a full list of employers on our website. Are you unsure about what you want to do after university? Read our top tips for making the most of our Graduate Jobs Fair when you’re not sure what you want to do and our reasons to attend this year’s fair.

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