Research

Research is a skill you already have from your studies. Now you have the opportunity to apply it to start and/or manage your own career.

Every graduate employer will know that you are interested in a graduate position. How can the employer differentiate between you and another applicant if you don’t know why you are interested in the role and organisation? How can the employer differentiate between you and another applicant if you do not know which skills you will need and have not matched your demonstrated skills to the activities you are going to be undertaking?

Research the role

• What will you be doing day to day,
• What skills are needed
• Who will you work with
• Who will you be accountable to
• How does the role fit in with related sections of the organisation?

Research the organisation

• What is the mission and what are the objectives of the organisation?
• Who are its clients?
• What are the products?
• How big is it and what is its management structure?
• Who are its competitors?
• What is the organisation’s current status? (read their annual report).
• What has been written about them in the business pages (if relevant)?

Research the industry

• Who are the main players?
• What is happening in the industry?
• Where does the prospective organisation sit within the industry?
• What are the current issues in the industry?

Research your experience and skills

Having done your research on the role, organisation and industry, you are now ready to review your experiences, skills and attributes for relevance to the work that you are expecting to undertake. You should have done much of this work in developing your targeted resume for the position of interest. Now you need to expand on the information that you provided in the application.