Career Outlook for 2020 Graduates

Career planning for new graduates has always been challenging but the challenges facing the class of 2020 increased substantially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which stood at 4.8% in January,  has increased to 15.0% in September 2020, although the true rate is probably being masked by governmental supports to workers.

While the impact of the pandemic has been felt in all industries, some have been effected more severely than others. The aviation, tourism & travel, event management and logistics sectors have been effected most severely. For a detailed analysis of the impact by industry sector, go to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation Focus on Sectors 2020

So what can graduates do during this, undoubtably temporary, setback?

Reflect

As we have all become accustomed to a new way of working, with many of us working in a virtual world for the first time in our careers, employers will be interested in learning how we adapted to the new way of working. How did we adjust to the lack of structure by not being able to work in the classroom or office? How did you cope with online exams? What previously hidden strengths did we discover about ourselves? Graduates and job seekers will be asked these questions during the interview stage so now is the time to reflect.

Documentation

The need to stand out from the crowd will be of increased importance when applying for vacant roles. Our CV is the first opportunity to make a positive first impression with recruiters so we should take the time to ensure that ours is produced to the highest standard. Avail of the support provided by the DBS Careers Hub team by attending as many career workshops as possible as you prepare to start your career search. A full schedule of workshops can be seen on the Careers Hub page on the DBS Current Students website.

Network

Building a strong professional network has always been important but is now more important than ever. While opportunities for face to face meetings are currently unlikely, LinkedIn is an ideal platform for virtual networking. Conduct a job search on LinkedIn for roles that you are interested in and it will return a list of companies currently hiring. That is your market, so follow those companies and try to connect with their talent acquisition team through personalised connection requests. The Careers Hub team regularly present workshops on how to perfect a LinkedIn profile. 

Career Planning

It is very common that some graduates may not have fully decided on what route to take in their career. It is important to be open to the many career opportunities that will come up during career planning. The Careers Hub team can help in evaluating career choices for students that may not have made up their minds.

A typical career planning model involves 4 steps;

Understand yourself by completing self-assessment exercises to explore your skills, interests, personality and core values. 

Then, with the self-knowledge gained through completing these self-assessment exercises,  Search for opportunities that are a good fit. Try not to confine yourself to a specific industry as careers rarely follow a linear path and we need to be open to opportunities from unexpected sources.

The next step involves Making Choices and narrowing the focus to those opportunities that will fulfil our career desires. Most people change careers several times during their working life so your initial choice will not predetermine the path you will take in the longer term.

The final step is where we Take action to secure the role by perfecting our CV, LinkedIn profile and interview technique.

Finally

The COVID-19 pandemic is the defining world event of our age. We have not faced a challenge as great since the Second World War and we will talk about this time for the rest of our lives. Nothing lasts forever and the previous pandemic, the Spanish Flu of 1918, had passed by 1920.

Employment prospects are improving and a search for ‘Graduate in Ireland’ roles on LinkedIn on September 15th returned 1,067 results. In addition, companies are offering more part-time, flexible and remote working opportunities as they adjust to the current economic circumstances. The DBS Careers Hub group on LinkedIn is refreshed daily with open opportunities which you can access on the DBS Current Students website. 

There are also links to Graduate Programmes on the same site.

For further advice, contact the DBS Careers Hub team at careerdevelopment@dbs.ie