What employers look for

Employers may consider the following attributes in a graduate:

• Academic performance
• Personal development
• Relevant work experience
• Career reasoning
• Generic skills and attributes
• Putting your best foot forward

Academic performance

This means the relevance of your degree to the job. They will look at the quality of your tertiary results. Some employers may apply a grade point average criteria. However, most recognise it is a combination of factors and will discount failures if a logical reason is given (don't leave it up to their imagination – explain yourself). The range of subjects and whether grade averages are improving over time or declining are also important. They may then observe any academic achievements, such as awards, scholarships, dean's honours list or post-graduate study. Don't be too concerned if you do not have these – the employer is not only looking for awards you have received, as there are considerable aspects contributing to whether you are suitable for the job.

Personal development

Employers look favourably on activities that develop your personal skills in organising, planning, communication, business acumen, influencing and negotiating. They will look for activities you participate in that develop skills which can also be applied within the job. These may include being in sporting groups, community clubs or participating in work for charities. If you don't participate in any such activities you should start now by getting involved in a club or activity that is in an area that interests you.

Relevant work experience

All work experience is well regarded. However, the more relevant it is to the job for which you are applying the more value will be placed on it. Vacation programs are one of the best ways of achieving relevant work experience and learning about future potential employers at the same time.

Career reasoning

This is where the reviewer will look across the combination of your education, work experience, personal interests and activities to gauge the extent to which they point towards stated career goals and the employer's job opportunities. They will be looking for a common thread. You can influence their thinking here by talking about this inter-relationship in your resume.

Generic skills and attributes

When deciding between two equally qualified candidates these are the skills and personal qualities that the employer will target. They encompass skills such as leadership and teamwork, and traits such as reliability and motivation. There are a range of key Employability Skills and Attributes (*PDF 47 k) that are desirable in employees as perceived by employers.

This range of skills can be summarised as follows:

• communication - contributes to productive and harmonious relations between employees and customers 
• teamwork - contributes to productive working relationships and outcomes 
• problem solving - contributes to productive outcomes
• initiative and enterprise - contributes to innovative outcomes
• planning and organising - contributes to long-term and short-term strategic planning 
• self-management - contributes to employee satisfaction and growth 
• learning - contributes to ongoing improvement and expansion in employee and company operations and outcomes 
• technology - contributes to effective execution of tasks 
• personal attributes - contribute to overall employability 

Putting your best foot forward

As you can see, you will need to clearly differentiate yourself if you want to get to the interview stage in the recruitment process. You will need to ask yourself how you rate against the above criteria and begin building a case.