How to get your first job after graduation

Earlier than most students do. Large employers often recruit a year ahead. In the UK, Prospects notes that most graduate schemes accept applications from September or October for places starting the following summer, usually until the end of the year or early January — and some close early once they have enough candidates. In the US, many large employers recruit through campus careers fairs and internship programmes in the year before you graduate. Smaller employers hire year-round, closer to when they need someone.

A realistic plan is to start researching and building your CV six to nine months before you graduate, apply to structured programmes in the autumn and spring, and apply to entry-level roles from a few months before your final exams. If you have already graduated, start now: many employers hire graduates all year, not just in September.

They are three different routes in, and most graduates should apply to more than one.

• Graduate schemes and graduate programmes: structured one-to-three-year programmes at larger employers, often with rotations, training and a cohort of other graduates. Highly competitive — the UK’s Institute of Student Employers recorded 140 applications per graduate vacancy among its members — with fixed deadlines and multi-stage selection.
• Entry-level jobs: ordinary jobs with “junior”, “associate”, “assistant” or “coordinator” in the title. Less structure, far more openings, and hiring happens year-round.
• Internships: short, often paid placements that frequently lead to a job. NACE found that 63.1% of US interns in 2024–25 were converted into full-time hires. Worth taking after graduation if they are paid and in your target field; avoid long unpaid ones that replace a real job.

Do not put everything on schemes. They get the attention, but ordinary entry-level jobs are far more numerous, and a year in a good entry-level job leaves you just as well placed.

You do not need a life plan to choose a first job, just a direction you can test. Search job boards for your degree subject plus “graduate” or “entry level” and read what comes up. Sort the postings into three piles: jobs whose day-to-day work interests you, jobs you could do but would not enjoy, and jobs you do not understand. Take the first pile to your careers service and to two people who do those jobs. Pick the one or two role families you could explain in a sentence, and aim your CV there for the next three months.

Keep it to one page and lead with what is strongest. For most graduates that means education first — degree, university, grade if it helps, and two or three relevant modules or a dissertation — then experience, projects and skills.

Everything counts as experience if you write it as achievements: internships, part-time jobs, society roles, volunteering, and course or personal projects. A café job shows reliability, customer handling and working under pressure; a group project shows teamwork and delivery against a deadline. Use the achievement formula — action verb, what you did, and a result or number — and cut duties nobody needs explained.

The internship resume example shows a student CV built around one placement, and the no-experience example shows one built on projects and part-time work. In the US and Canada the document is called a resume, and the content is the same. Tailor it to each application using the posting’s own terms, because many employers screen with software first — the keyword guide explains how.

Start with the people who already want to help you: your careers service, your lecturers and your university’s alumni. Alumni are the easiest cold contacts you will ever have, because you share something. Find them on LinkedIn by searching your university and your target employer or job title.

Ask for information, not a job: “I’m graduating in economics from Leeds this summer and looking at analyst roles. I saw you moved from our course into the analytics team at Northway — could I ask you three questions about how you got started? 20 minutes on a call would be a huge help.” Most people say yes to that, and many will later tell you when their team is hiring or pass your CV to the right person. Keep a simple list of who you have spoken to and follow up when you apply.

Larger employers usually run several stages: an online application, aptitude or situational judgement tests, a recorded video interview, and a final interview or assessment centre with group exercises, a presentation and a case study. Smaller employers may simply hold one or two interviews.

Most interviews for graduates are behavioural — “Tell me about a time you…”. Prepare five stories using the STAR structure that cover teamwork, leadership, a problem you solved, a setback and a time you persuaded someone. The STAR examples show the level of detail interviewers want. Practise aptitude tests before you take real ones; they are timed, and familiarity with the format makes a real difference.

A long search after graduation is common and says little about your ability. In the US, the New York Fed put the unemployment rate for recent college graduates at about 5.6% in the second quarter of 2026 — higher than for workers overall — and about 42% were underemployed, working in jobs that do not usually require a degree. Treat your search as a funnel and find where it leaks. If you are applying widely but hearing nothing, your CV or your targeting is the problem: tighten the target, rewrite the CV around the postings and ask your careers service to review it. If you get interviews but no offers, invest in interview practice. If you are not applying much because you are stuck, set a small weekly quota and a routine.

A bridge job in a related area — customer-facing, admin or temporary work at a company you would like to join — keeps money coming in, adds a reference and often leads to internal openings. Be careful about a master’s degree as a way out of a hard search: it can help in fields that require it, but it will not fix a CV or targeting problem, and it adds cost.

If you need permission to stay and work after your studies, the post-study route in your country of study decides how long you have to search and which employers you can realistically target. Check the rules before your final year, not after graduation, and prioritise employers that already sponsor graduates. The guide for international students compares post-study work routes by country.