We at Pure don’t need to remind you that competition for graduate employment is very tough these days but something that can help your mission is a work placement or an internship. It will boost your career prospects and make job seeking significantly less daunting.

For starters, you’ll feel a lot more confident than other candidates and you may be able demonstrate solid, professional experience. Additionally, employers will see that you’ve invested time in developing key skills; in short, you’ll probably be more valuable to a company than another graduate without your expertise.

Indeed the advantages of work experience are numerous – here are a few more to inspire you to take action and track down a work placement:

• Make contacts while you’re working and familiarise yourself with the industry. You can also ask colleagues about potential roles that are yet to be advertised so you are fully prepared when a vacancy goes public.
• A permanent job could come out of work experience - you could even be interviewed by the person who has been managing you, giving you an advantage over hundreds of other graduate applicants.
• You’ll get the priceless opportunity to develop ‘people skills’, as well as specificjob-related skills. Knowing how to get on with colleagues when everyone is working under pressure and learning how to deal with sensitive issues at work is very helpful. So-called ‘soft skills’ add value to your CV.
• Learning more about what you wantand your talents is an added bonus to a placement. So when a recruiter asks why you want a job, you can give a heartfelt response – a benefit to you since interviewers can often tell if an answer is not genuine!
• Problem-solving is part of everyday working life and work experience enables you to use your initiative to find solutions alone or as part of a team.
• Professional etiquette such as knowing how to conduct yourself in meetings with clients or colleagues is essential. Being exposed to such situations during your placement will give you a running start ahead of other graduate job seekers.
• Still studying but planning ahead? Maybe you can find an internship or a work placement that is an accredited part of a degree course.

With so many benefits to your graduate career you should be feeling very motivated to find the right opportunity! Why not take a look at our job search to find the latest vacancies in your chosen sector or, contact us at Pure to speak to one of our recruitment consultants for more advice.