Amy Edwards
Got your degree results, smashed your graduation ceremony and looking for your first job in the digital sector? You’re not alone! The digital industry is a really popular option for lots of graduates this year because it’s dynamic, fast-paced, diverse and there are lots of jobs available across a range of companies and brands.
Now, although there are lots of opportunities, as I mentioned, the digital industry is extremely popular with graduates – which means competition can be tough and getting a job in the sector probably isn’t as easy as you might have thought.
With that in mind we thought we’d highlight a few of the major mistakes graduates tend to make when applying for digital jobs – in the hope that next time you’re applying for digital jobs, you’ll avoid these like the plague.
1. Failing To Display A Passion For The Niche:
Whether it’s Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Analytics, Design or Media, a lot of graduate job seekers make the mistake of not demonstrating their passion for the niche they’re applying for on their CV. What do I mean? Well, if you’re keen on a Digital Marketing career, it’s a good idea to mention this in your personal profile/career summary at the top of your CV – and to ensure you’ve got relevant marketing skills and related skills eg. communication etc, listed on your CV.
If you fail to do this, an employer might struggle to see how your CV is relevant to their business and might overlook you for a role. We’ve said it before and I’m sure we’ll say it again; the more relevant you can make your CV to the role and company you’re applying for, the further down the application process you should get. Not sure where to start? Check out Lauren’s blog on how to tailor your CV.
2. Including Every Job, Relevant Or Not:
Listing every job you’ve ever had on your CV is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when applying for graduate jobs in the digital sector. Why? Because most of the time they’re just not relevant. OK, so you want to demonstrate to an employer that you’ve had jobs in the past – but by including jobs which are in no way relevant to the role you’re applying for, you’re just wasting space on a CV and wasting an employer’s time.
If there’s no way you can make a role relevant, eg. a waitress job to a web developer vacancy, just leave it off your CV – and instead use this space to list key skills or information you learnt during your course which is relevant to the role.
3. Poor Formatting/Typos:
When it comes to the digital sector, whether it’s a banner, landing page or marketing email, presentation and detail is incredibly important – but unfortunately a lot of graduates seem to forget this when applying for jobs in the industry.
Big blocks of text, endless lists of tools/key skills and typos are all common mistakes graduates make when submitting their CV for digital jobs – and unfortunately these mistakes can take a candidate out of the running. Why? Because they suggest the job seeker doesn’t have a strong attention to detail and can’t put content together which looks visually pleasing – two elements which are vital for a lot of roles in the digital sector.
So there you go; three of the biggest mistakes graduates tend to make when applying for jobs in the digital sector. Have some more common mistakes you think graduates need to be aware of when submitting their CV for digital jobs? Leave a comment below.
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