7 Common Mistakes Made By Graduate Job Seekers

7 Common Mistakes Made Well the time has come â€" you’ve graduated from university and you’re ready to start looking for a job.  The job market is a complicated place and to make sure your job search is a success you need to make sure you hit the ground running and try and avoid any school boy errors. When I first began my job search I found myself making mistakes that really could’ve been avoided those mistakes seem quite obvious to me now that I’ve got a job, but at the time it wasn’t quite as clear. So in this post I’ve shared a few common mistakes that graduates can make when looking for a job â€" in the hope you won’t find yourself making the same mistakes and wasting your time and (let’s face it) feeling slightly irritated. 1) Rushing Into Your Job Search I know that you’re so excited to get into the working world and begin your job search â€" which is great! However you need to make sure you take time to research exactly what you want to go into. You don’t want to find yourself applying for all kinds of different roles that you aren’t actually that bothered about it so do some research on your industry and the roles that would suit you. This way you avoid going to pointless interviews and can spend more time preparing for your perfect role. If you’re looking to go into the digital industry but have no idea what is the right job for you have a look at our Digital Career Portal. 2) Not Keeping A Log Of All Your Jobs Once you’ve decided the industry and role you’re looking for it’s time to start applying to them!   But don’t make the common error of applying to loads of jobs and then getting a phone call and not having a clue who you’re speaking too and what role it is. Make sure you note down properly what you’ve applied for and the recruiter/company. It looks really unprofessional if you’ve no idea what you have and haven’t applied for â€" so keep that list close to hand just in case you get a surprise phone call. 3) Accepting A Call From A Recruiter/Employer At The Worst Time I know you want to seem really eager and speak to your recruiter as soon as possible â€" but if you get a phone call and you’re in the middle of doing your weekly shop with rubbish signal then just arrange a time to ring back. Try and schedule it within that day and make sure you’re in a quiet environment with good signal so that you can answer any questions with no interruptions! When I first started my job search I remember trying to answer my phone call from a recruiter in the Library at exam period (not one of my finest moments). You’re better to say you can’t speak than make the recruiter feel like they haven’t got your full attention. 4) Applying For Too Senior Roles There are so many roles available out there â€" and I’m sure you will see that there are some senior roles that have some very nice salaries. It may be tempting to apply for these â€" but you’re only wasting your time. There will be people out there that have started at the bottom of the ladder and worked themselves up â€" which means they will have a lot more experience than you. So you need to do the same â€" have a look at  entry-level/ junior roles which will suit you so much more. You can check out our junior-level digital jobs here. 5) Not Using Spell-Check If an employer/recruiter is receiving 50 plus applications for each role then they need to differentiate why each application will be better. Things like grammar and punctuation will be a real turn off for them and if they have another applicant that has flawless punctuation and spelling with the same skills as you â€" they’re probably going to favour the other candidate. So proof-read again and again to make sure you send off the perfect application. 6) Giving Up When Times Get Tough I’m sorry to say it â€" but your job search isn’t supposed to be loads of fun. There will be times when you’ve been to so many interviews and made loads of applications and you don’t hear anything back. Trust me I know this is so disheartening but moping around feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to get you that job so dust yourself off and start searching again. 7) Waiting Around For Feedback You may have found your perfect job, had the dream interview and think you’ve bagged the job â€" but if they haven’t got back to you after a week then it’s time to move on. They may still get in touch with you â€" but a big mistake of mine was waiting around thinking that this job was going to be the one! It’s a rather ugly truth of the recruitment industry but at times employers/recruiters just don’t get back to you.   So make sure you keep looking whilst you’re waiting! If you’re struggling to work out whether the interview went well have a look at our top 10 signs that an interview was a success. So there we go â€" the most common mistakes graduates make when they are applying for a job. Try and bear these in mind when you’re applying for your job to avoid too many disappointments. Good luck!