Forgot password?
Don't have an account? Sign up now (its free!)

Gradpool Profile Tips

  1. Why bother filling out a Gradpool graduate profile?

    2. Your Gradpool graduate profile is your online CV.

    Rather than sending the same CV via email to every potential graduate employer, it is far more efficient to create your private Gradpool profile once. This allows you to apply for any graduate job posted on Gradpool by simply clicking the 'Apply for Job' button on each job post.

    The graduate employer will see that you have applied for their job and will look at your profile. The closer your graduate profile is to 100% completeness, the more you will stand out, which increases your chances of being contacted by the graduate employer for interview. Please make every effort to ensure that your graduate profile is as complete as possible. You owe it to yourself.

  2. Why is your graduate profile important?

    3. Your Gradpool graduate profile is the first chance you get to advertise yourself and secure an interview. As the old saying goes, first impressions last. This is true in particular for graduate recruiters. Make sure your profile stands out from your competitors - other Irish graduates.

  3. Make your Gradpool graduate profile stand out from the crowd

    4. Your Gradpool graduate profile is basically an advertisement of your skills and what you have to offer. How you describe your experience and skills is by far the most important consideration in making your graduate profile relevant and interesting to Irish employers.

    Employers are not really interested in the type of experiences you have had but rather what you 'did' in any situation you found yourself in and what your achievements were. It is really important to quantify the things you did to illustrate the impact you had on any given situation. What results were achieved by initiatives introduced by you - this is what employers really look for. You need to demonstrate to employers that you are results orientated.

    Example 1:

    Say you were a member of the organising committee for 'Engineering Day' in your college. In the 'Interests and Achievements' section of your Gradpool graduate profile (i.e. when you click on the 'Add University' link), you could write:

    'Member of 'Engineering Day' committee'

    You could also write:

    'Elected to organising committee of 'Engineering Day'; raised EUR 6000 for annual fundraising day'

    Do you see the difference? Although you are describing the same experience, the second statement paints you as a much more results orientated graduate. Not only does this convey your organisational skills, it shows the employer exactly what you achieved using these skills. The word 'elected' is an important word too - the first statement doesn't get this across.

    Example 2:

    Say you were a member of your soccer team in college. In the 'Interests and Achievements' section of your Gradpool graduate profile, you could write:

    'Member of college soccer team'

    You could also write:

    'Member of college soccer team that won league and cup championship. Helped grow membership of the club by 20% within two years by organising social nights and a trip to the UK'

    Again, the second statement is much more action oriented, while the first statement is much less colourful.

    Example 3:

    Say you were chosen to work as an intern with a certain company, Company X. You could write:

    'Worked as an intern at Company X'

    You could also write:

    'Selected from class of 50 as intern at Company X. Sold EUR Y worth of services in my three months there - was best performer amoung my peers (the five other interns)'

    You can now see that its the details that are really important in painting a picture of what you did in whatever situation you found yourself in. Without these details, your Gradpool graduate profile will get lost in the crowd. Do not let this happen.

    Take time out to think about your previous experiences, and how you can convey the impact you had on a particular situation. What did you do and what were the quantifiable results of your actions. This will really make you stand out from the crowd.

  4. Gradpool graduate profile dos and dont's

    • Do be as concise as possible in your graduate profile - brevity is so important
    • Do sell yourself as much as possible - if you don't sell yourself, noone else will!
    • Do check your graduate profile for spelling and grammatical errors - attention to detail is extremely important
    • Do make sure everything you have written on your graduate profile is relevant. Every word counts! Grab the employer's attention.
    • Don't forget that your Gradpool graduate profile is about quality not quantity
    • Don't complicate things. If in doubt, keep the content of your profile simple.
    • Don't exaggerate. At the interview stage, you will likely be found out, so don't waste your time or the graduate employer's time.
    • Don't forget to read the contents of your graduate profile and re-read it before you post it.
Gradpool Profile Tips