Graduate schemes are a great way to kick off your career straight after graduation. Usually, a graduate scheme is a structured training programme run by an employer to develop future employers of their organisation. They usually last between one and two years, and at the end of the programme you can expect to be offered a permanent position within the company.
The scheme may be focused on a job role or split into time-specific placements, such as spending six months at a time rotating across various business functions, teams and possibly locations. This means that a large degree of flexibility is required. These are just some of the benefits of a graduate scheme:
Opportunity to stack up your skills
After uni, there’s no doubt you’re brimming with knowledge, and you just can’t wait to put it all into practice (hopefully). A grad scheme lets you do just that through placements, whilst broadening your skills through development workshops. So you’ll finish the programme knowing that you’ve got all the skills you need to go out into the working world and be a success.
Gain experience working at a large company
Having a household name on your CV is a wise career move, especially if you have less experience and need your CV to stand out. Experience working for a large company that everyone knows will certainly do that, especially if they’ve got a good reputation.
Achieve something you can be proud of
You should think of a graduate scheme as your chance to show what you can do. Whether it’s applying what you learnt at university or learning to navigate the working world. The feeling of being able to contribute to company’s success and then being apraised by more senior colleagues is a truly wonderful feeling!
Get to work with other graduates
Work isn’t just about turning up to get the job done. Many companies employ lots of grads throughout the business, so you’ll get to work closely with people who are at a similar stage of life as you. That means, that you will most likely one or two work besties, and get to share your educational and work experiences!
Earn a competitive salary
Most graduate schemes offer generous salaries. Entrants earn an average of £25,000 per year and the top graduate recruiters pay much higher (with the highets one being at around £55,000 per year). Large organisations use graduate schemes to recruit for the long term and develop the best talent for future leadership roles. There is a relatively small pool of candidates to choose from, so attractive salaries have become the norm.
However, schemes are generally oversubscribed each year, with places limited - especially those offered by high profile companies in major industries. You’ll therefore have to ensure your application stands out from those submitted by other candidates. Any work experience, volunteering, and every additional training you’ve done can help you stand out to the companies. Moreover, recruitment for such schemes usually begins in the beginning of September and finishes in about February, so students interested should be ready to apply fast, to get a chance of securing a spot at the top companies.
Here are some websites that are great for finding future graduate schemes opportunities:
- LinkedIn,
- Prospects,
- Bright Network – Graduate Jobs & Schemes,
- Milkround,
- Target Jobs – Graduate Schemes.
So, a grad scheme is a great way to kick off your career. It’s also a very competitive opportunity, so no one should ever feel discouraged if getting rejected. If anything, any experience you get, whether it’ getting to the interview stage or assessment centre, will prove to be a useful one!
Keeping all this in mind, would you be interested in applying for a graduate scheme in the future?