Why Do Some Employers Prioritise Experience in a Graduate Job?

Finding a graduate job is never easy – and one of the biggest hurdles you may be faced with is the type of experience that is required of you. The graduate job hunt can be a never-ending cycle: employers want candidates with experience, but how can you get experience if no one will hire you?

The good news is that there are many other ways you can gain relevant experience for entry-level and graduate job roles, such as volunteering or taking on an internship.

In this blog, we’re going to look at some of the key reasons why employers focus so heavily on experience when looking for new graduates:

You’re likely to have developed key skills for the graduate job

Employers in all industries are looking for candidates to demonstrate key skills, which gives the impression that they could become valuable, versatile employees.

While you may believe you possess certain skills, employers are often looking for evidence – and this can be typically achieved through prior work experience.

Some hard skills that are required may be necessary to perform the graduate job advertised, while soft skills are typically those which can be transferred to any role in any industry and are, therefore, highly valued:

Soft skills include:

• • Critical thinking
  • Teamwork
  • Communication skills (oral and written)
  • Leadership

Graduate job employers want to know you’re reliable

If you have never worked a day in your life, how will an employer know that you are a trustworthy candidate? Employers need proof that you’re a valuable asset to the company, which can be determined by evidence given from previous employers in the form of a reference.

A good reference offers an indication of your abilities, skills, personality traits and any disciplinaries you may have received they believe should be raised. The amount of detail your former employer includes is often up to them, however, some employers do have specific procedures that must be met.

Proven dependability and credibility in any candidate is looked favourably upon during the hiring process.

Companies don’t always want to train employees

Although you will be given a certain amount of guidance within your new graduate job role, some companies may wish to hire a candidate that is already familiar with certain practices and systems, as opposed to having to train them up from scratch.

This is especially true within small companies with few employees since they don’t always have the time or resources to train a fellow employee alongside their own tasks.

Therefore, proving that you have the relevant experience under your belt could make you a much more attractive candidate as it could save the company both time and money.

Helps employers narrow down their search

It’s not always a necessity for candidates to meet every single requirement that’s listed on the graduate job spec, however, by asking for relevant experience, employers can slim down their search to find the best potential employee. After all, if every graduate job required little to no experience, they would be swamped with thousands of unsuitable applicants.

If you’re keen to find a graduate job London in your desired sector, check out our job board.