Feeling left behind, anxious that you should be applying for an internship but don’t know what to apply for? Or did you make an unsuccessful application and now believe that you are at a disadvantage compared to your peers who have been an intern? Does it really matter if you haven’t done an internship?

Student Opportunity have run numerous events over the Autumn and Spring Term here at Warwick – from the flagship careers fairs to the ‘meet the professionals’ series. But at a time when student timetables are jammed full of lectures, seminars and socials, is it worth finding the time to attend and what are the true benefits?

Detailing your own work history may sound simple enough, but writing a CV can be a lot trickier than it first sounds – particularly when it comes to creating one that’ll really stand out amongst a pile of applications.

Researching an employer can make the difference between an application or interview that feels generic and re-purposed and allowing you to come across as a prepared and knowledgeable candidate who knows why they want to work in this role and with this employer.

Many recruitment processes rely on competency-based interviews that identify the skills a candidate has. Applicants focus their CVs, cover letters and interview responses on demonstrating how they meet the required set of skills to fulfil a certain role. However, more and more organisations are beginning to use strengths-based recruitment practices. So how are strengths different from skills?

Video interviewing has become increasingly popular with recruiters, as it provides benefits by streamlining recruitment processes. From an applicant perspective, understanding the different types of video interview is important, as it will impact on how you prepare and perform.

Many students and recent graduates may think graduate schemes are the only career options available to them, they aren’t! It is a popular misconception. There are also graduate entry level jobs which also remain highly popular and even oversubscribed. Understanding what a graduate scheme is and what it offers can help you make a better decision about whether you want to apply for one.

Graduate Assessment Centres are a hurdle in the interview process faced by many applicants to graduate schemes. One that is often daunting for prospective candidates, balancing the challenges of standing out from other applicants while demonstrating effective teamwork with them.

What feels worse, receiving the ‘sorry your application was unsuccessful’ email from a graduate employer, or not even receiving any acknowledgement of your application? Either way, it’s a very frustrating experience.

When at the last stage of the assessment process, you may be asked to attend an assessment centre. You and a group of candidates will undertake a series of exercises and assessments that test your suitability to demonstrate you possess the competence and skills for the job. These often include e-tray exercises, case studies, presentations, and group exercises.

Presentations are very common at assessment centres. They give candidates a chance to show their presentation skills which will be important in the workplace. The assessors want to see if you are able to deliver a well-structured, clear, confident presentation. Presentations can be the most terrifying part of an assessment centre. Many people are nervous about speaking in public, but with plenty of preparation, candidates do really well.

An e-tray exercise is presented online and usually forms part of an assessment centre. It involves providing a candidate with numerous pieces of information which vary between emails, memos, letters and so on, on a computer screen. The candidate is required to prioritise the tasks contained in each piece of information by dissecting the important and critical tasks that require immediate attention, against those that are of lower priority.

The group exercise is a common part of many assessment centres as it allows an employer to see how you react in a job simulation whilst working with others. Teamwork is a skill that you will see crop up on many job advertisements and, even when not explicitly stated, it will likely be a crucial skill for most graduate roles and internships.

We can often find that we live in the anticipation of an event much more than the event itself. Why is the anticipation of the weekend the exciting part? (think ‘thank God it’s Friday’). The ideas our minds conjure as to what will happen can often leave us suffering at the hands of our own imaginations when it comes to something we’re nervous about.

Motivation is an interesting topic. You really want that job but can you explain why you want the job? Can you make your passion truly heard? Or do you worry that you sound fake?

Don’t feel daunted when you are completing an application form or getting ready for an interview. You can use a framework such as ‘STAR’ or ‘CARR’ to help you structure your answers and focus on the evidence. It’s a good way to optimise your responses and use the space or time available to persuade the employer you have what it takes.

Have you ever considered a career in Video Games? When I started making video games professionally after graduating 26 years ago, I didn’t really consider it as a life-long career, it was just something I fell into rather than a conscious career choice. I’d programmed my own games on my computer whilst at university, which helped me land my first job, but I never thought I’d still be doing it over 25 years on. As the industry continues to mature, there are numerous opportunities that the videogame industry can offer to people and provide a long and rewarding career in games.

As a student it’s always a good idea to do what you can in uni to make your life a little easier for when you graduate. One of the best things you can do as a student is set yourself up on LinkedIn and start building your personal portfolio.

Entering the job market as a new graduate is intimidating, especially when you don’t have relevant work experience to include on your CV. With such heavy competition for good entry-level positions, the pressure is on to make sure your CV is compelling enough to win over potential employers.

Rather than treat the notion of career planning as a serious endeavour, why not have some fun playing with some questionnaires to see whether what you find may help you contemplate alternatives?