You must have paid your tuition fees in order to learn and understand the graduate programmes you opted for from a university. But what if I told you that there will come a point in time during your final year of study where you can get paid to learn? That’s what top paying graduate schemes are about. You are offered training programmes by an employer/recruiter from an organization during your last study year where it’ll be a refreshing change from paying to learn to getting paid to learn. Now your next obvious question would be: How to find graduate schemes and apply to them? We, at UniScholars have answers to the FAQs that could pop up while you’re applying for graduate schemes.
FAQ 1: What Is A Graduate Scheme?
Graduate schemes are work-based training programmes that offer mentoring and practical industrial experience. It usually lasts for a period of one to three years and will either prepare you for a specific role or will give you an introduction to the business from an organisational point of view. In this article, you will learn about how to apply for a graduate scheme with some of the top organisations and if all goes well, your training period might even land you with a permanent role.
FAQ 2: Where Can I Find Top Paying Graduate Schemes?
Before understanding how to apply for a graduate scheme, you need to know where to find them. Once you’re in your final year and you think you’re ready to start applying for these schemes, here’s what you need to do; Discover the leading employers offering graduate schemes in 2021 and decide which industry you belong to. You can check a few categories below in which graduate schemes are offered.
- Charity
- Finance
- Healthcare/Management
- Human Resources
- IT sales
- Law
- Marketing/Media
- Public services/intelligence
- Retail
- Transport
You can now forget the myths about applying to a graduate scheme only in a business related sector and start applying for the field of your choice before the graduate scheme deadlines .
Now that you’ve understood what is a graduate scheme, let us understand when and how you can apply to them.
FAQ 3: When Do I Start Applying For A Graduate Scheme?
Generally, the application windows to graduate schemes open from early October and go on till February. However, make sure that you apply before the graduate schemes deadlines end because if you miss out on the application, you’ll only be left with 2 options:
- Wait for another year for the next round of applications to begin, or
- Look for graduate jobs
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FAQ 4: How To Apply For A Graduate Scheme
Our guide to apply for graduate schemes has in store for you a few steps that you should look into in order to get started with your application process and they go by:
- Start looking for recruitment agencies: There are many graduate recruitment companies that offer training programmes to final year students wishing to kickstart their careers. Most of them involve an online application process and you can find recruitment agencies on websites such as Milkround and Target Jobs that will assist you in your application. If you have a specific organisation in mind, you can apply directly through the company portals or via their social media pages. Alternatively, there are several industry specific magazines that advertise about openings, so a subscription to them would help you out too. To top it all, if your university’s career services include helping you in the process of applying for graduate schemes, you know you are sorted.
- Tailor your application: Working on your application and tailoring it as per the specific requirements of the organisation is the next step in understanding how to apply for a graduate scheme. Out of several applications, what are the chances that yours will be shortlisted? It is important that your CV is adapted accordingly. Make sure that you avoid making common resume mistakes. Don’t be put off if you do not have sufficient work experience. Since this is a training programme, employers are looking at your skill sets. Find out the different skills you’ve gained during your course of study and incorporate them into your CV.
- Apply only to relevant fields: Narrow down your focus to only those fields that are of interest to you, only to those sectors you’re engaged with. That will make it easier for employers to understand your areas of interest. If you try applying to various sectors that might not even be related to you, it may confuse the recruiter and he/she may find it difficult to understand what career, what company and what role you actually fit into.
- Interview and test preparations: Once you got the hang of how to apply for a graduate scheme, and you’ve sent in your application form across, it is advisable to immediately start delving into possible interview questions that could be asked. Check if you will be assessed on psychometric tests and numerical reasoning tests. Most of the organization websites and social media sites include the step by step procedure and guide you through the steps involved. So make sure you read up thoroughly and prepare accordingly.
Take a look at the UK’s graduate market below till 2021 in the chart below and read it to understand the changes to graduate vacancies.
Despite a dip in recruitment in 2017, due to the Brexit process, graduate vacancies increased again in both 2018 and 2019. If you do the math, you’ll notice that during the 10 years between the recession period in 2009 to 2019, graduate vacancies rose by 39% in the UK and again fell by a small percentage in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the market is still coping up with the pandemic, learning how to apply for a graduate scheme, can always prove useful to you.
I hope this blog on How To Apply For A Graduate Scheme was useful to you. If you find tips, tricks, and guides helpful, make sure to read these blogs:
- The Perfect Travel Checklist For International Students In 2021
- Master Writing Statement Of Purpose For Scholarships
- Graduate Record Examination [GRE]: A Complete Guide
If you need financial assistance for your further education, UniScholars has a plethora of scholarships that you can apply for.
1 thought on “Top PGDM Courses In Canada: Universities, Specialisations & Eligibility”
I have done Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts from India and completed my graduation in the year 2022 .I am 22 years old. After graduation, I have done 1 year paid internship from USA .Now, I would like to take occupational experience and learn culinary skills and also do masters in Culinary arts.How can I find the college n best course / country where I can persue studying further