The Grad Soc

🤝 WHAT WE LOOK FOR WHEN WE INTERVIEW STUDENTS AND GRADS 🤝

Yep, we’re seriously just giving you a cheat sheet for landing that next internship…

🧩Skills
It goes without saying, if the job description wants a certain skill then we’re going to be looking for how you’ve developed these skills (and it doesn’t have to be professional experience, it can be personal projects, extracurriculars, side hustles, etc)

👋Communication
You don’t have to be the most confident but being able to get your point across and speak about yourself well goes a long way

✏️Research and prep
It’s usually obvious who has looked at the company website, socials, and knows about the mission - all of which shows you’re super keen and want to learn more

🎉 Enthusiasm
If we can sense a genuine passion (and you tell us you’re super keen!) for the role AND the company, we know you’re likely to put your all into the work and stick at it

Make sure to save this for your upcoming summer internship interviews!

3 common CV mistakes we see all the time and HOW to fix them 👀

🔗Broken links or links to portfolios that aren’t finished
Make sure if you’re including project links that they’ll take the hiring manager to the right place and that your portfolios will give the best impression of you

🌈A design with too many colours or fonts
Before sending your CV, ask yourself “is this easy to read” or “do these extra colours and fonts add anything” - a simple word doc and Arial font will do for most CVs

📝A list of responsibilities with no use of SAR
If you’ve got a list of responsibilities like “created content”, “wrote blogs”, “managed the till”, a hiring manager can’t take much for this… use SAR to talk about the skills you developed and your positive results

Let us know if you found this useful and drop a 👋 in the comments if you want a copy of our free CV guide!

4 WAYS TO FIND A SUMMER INTERNSHIP ☀️💼

If you’re a student or soon-to-be grad looking for a summer internship, here are a few ways to help you find one 👇

✅Us (obvs)
If you’re not already following us, we post our latest internship roles over on LinkedIn (and we’ve got some cracking ones coming your way)

✅ Get your network on
If you’ve already got a couple of companies in mind that you’d love to work for, slide in those DMs… shoot your shot, if you don’t ask then you don’t get

✅Ask your lecturers and tutors
Maybe they’re looking for an intern themselves (remember most lecturers have their own research and projects going on too) or they might know someone hiring

✅Use socials
Did you know if you type in on Twitter or Instagram, you’ll find some hidden gems

❌ AVOID LINKEDIN NETWORKING FAILS WITH THESE SIMPLE STEPS ❌

If you want someone to accept your LinkedIn request - personalise it!

👉Use their name
Do you know how many connection requests a founder/CEO/hiring manager gets saying “hello, give me a job pls…”,

👉Mention a post of theirs you like
Keep the focus on them (people loveeee talking about themselves) and what made you interested in connecting with them specifically

👉Say WHY you want to connect (politely!)
Make it short but sweet and tell them why you want to connect - is it to stay in touch about potential job opportunities? Are you asking them for a summer internship? Do you want to know the hiring manager for a role they’ve advertised? Make it really clear

👉Follow up
If they don’t reply the first time around, follow up - it’s really easy for a message to get lost in a busy inbox

3 THINGS THAT EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS/GRADS DO WHEN APPLYING FOR A MARKETING INTERNSHIP 📱🎓

💻 Create a good quality portfolio
Whether it’s a website or a Canva PDF, capture your previous marketing experience to showcase your work

If you don't have a lot of experience, make your own! Create projects for your favourite companies, write blog posts as a hobby or draft up marketing strategies for your own socials

🧠 Come to an interview prepared to share ideas
Alongside your standard research, come prepared to share marketing ideas you’ve had based on your company research and WHY (e.g don’t just say they should be on TikTok because they don’t currently have an account)

Consider their target audience - what platforms are they on? What kind of influencers do they interact with? What type of content do they prefer? Share your ideas with a reason why you think they’d work!

🚀Show a willingness to learn
Nobody knows everything about marketing but a willingness to learn and stay on top of new changes makes you invaluable

Talk about new marketing courses you’ve completed or webinars you’ve attended to stay ahead of the game

Students and grads need flexibility too…

We know…
➡️ you’re studying at uni
➡️ you have family responsibilities
➡️ you’re working part-time to top up your student loan

Which is why it’s SO important to us that you have flexible, remote internship opportunities so you can gain valuable and relevant experience, without breaking the bank on transport every day, or stretching yourself too thin working a 9-5

If these internships sound like a bit of you, make sure you’re following us for the latest opportunities and are signed up to our email internship alerts 🔔

accessible opportunities 🤝 us

WHEN YOU’RE APPLYING FOR INTERNSHIPS OR JOBS IT’S QUALITY > QUANTITY

Make sure you’re…
💼 Applying to roles and companies you ACTUALLY want
You’re going to have to do some serious research to stand out, actually wanting the role makes this research feel less like a chore

👀 Researching like your life depends on it
It’s time to get stalking, everything from company socials (all of them!) to recent hires on LinkedIn

✏️ Using a tailored CV
This means using keywords from the job description, weaving the company mission and values into your personal summary, and highlighting your relevant skills throughout

👋Interacting with them online
Everything you need is at your fingertips, from sliding into the hiring managers' DMs to commenting all over their socials

If you really want a role, you have to do the most!

STUDENTS AND GRADS 👉 to land that internship or job, you have to PROVE you have the right skills 🧩

Anyone can say they have the right skills, but how does a hiring manager actually KNOW that you do?

You need to share an example, and the deets to go with it👇

Q: Can you tell me about a time you’ve utilised your organisational skills?

A: As a university student, I’ve utilised my organisational skills preparing for 5 lectures and 3 seminars a week for 3 modules this term. This required me to stay extremely organised, creating daily to-do lists and blocking out chunks of my calendar for focus work time ✏️

Q: Can you tell me about a time you’ve demonstrated your creativity?

A: During my free time, I like to stay creative by working on my student blog, this requires me to brainstorm new, creative ideas every week to engage my audience and stay relevant- for example {give example of 2 blogs you’ve previous written} 💻

Give a hiring manager the proof they need to hire you!

Your friendly midweek reminder that it’s okay to not know what job or career path you want to pursue…

Or to get a degree and realise you want to pursue something different entirely…

It’s never too late to change direction 👀

There's no one 'correct' path to follow after secondary/high school! 😇⁠
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Does the thought of leaving university and not knowing what you want to do scare you? Comment below and let us know how you're feeling 👇⁠
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Follow for relatable student content, employability advice and access to exclusive internships!⁠
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🚨 12 WEEK REMOTE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY 🚨⁠
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Want to gain experience in...⁠
👉 Content creation for Instagram and LinkedIn⁠
👉 Affiliate marketing⁠
👉 Amplifying reach on socials⁠
👉 Forming social strategy⁠
👉 Developing marketing funnels⁠
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Email [email protected] letting us know why you'd like to take part in this internship and we'll guarantee you an interview - no experience required!⁠
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Training and support will be provided by The Grad Soc team throughout the 12 weeks to ensure you have the best experience possible 😇⁠
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⏰ APPLY SOON - APPLICATIONS CLOSE THIS WEEK! ⏰

When the interviewer asks "have you got any questions?" never say no! ❌⁠
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This is your opportunity to find out more about the role/company (to see if it's a good fit for you) and to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the role ✅⁠
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Here's 3 questions you could ask at the end of your interview...⁠
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About your role:⁠
"How will my progress and success be measured in this role?"⁠
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About the interviewer's role:⁠
"What do you enjoy most about your role?"⁠
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About the company: ⁠
"Can you describe the working culture of the company?"⁠
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Have a stalk of our profile for part 1 to this series, and stay tuned and follow us for a part 3!⁠
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🔥 SAVE FOR LATER 🔥⁠
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