Anya is a Psychology graduate from Loughborough University. She secured a graduate role as a Human Resources Assistant at Goodwin in London. 
First, we’d love for you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
“I love learning, so going to university was a must. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career so I chose Psychology as it was something that fascinated me.
I am so glad I did. It is so broad and was not only incredibly interesting, but it has helped me in so many ways.”
What motivated for you to apply for your role?
“I applied for the role because it involved such a wide range of tasks across each department, meaning I could learn a lot about general HR, which is perfect for someone who doesn't want to narrow things down early.”
What was the application process like for the role?
“The application process was actually really easy and nothing was out of the ordinary to me luckily!
I applied to the role after seeing it advertised on Bright Network and heard back a week or so later. The whole process took around 3-4 weeks and it included two interviews.”
How did you prepare for the interviews?
“I prepared by creating a big document with everything I could about the role. This included the job spec, company research, and my competencies. I highlighted the job spec and compiled a list of the repeated/most important skills and came up with STAR answers for each one.
I did a lot of research into common interview questions and prepared for those, as well as developing some genuine questions of my own.
Rather than copying generic questions, I really thought about what was important to me in a role and figured out ways to ask. This was really beneficial in the interviews and should I genuinely cared.”
What are you most proud of about your journey?
“I went for my first in-person interview for this role and it was incredibly daunting, but I actually made it so much easier to build rapport with the interviewers.”
What have you learned from going through the process?
"I learnt a lot from my research throughout the process, but I was very lucky to have only been job hunting for a short period before finding my ideal job.
You really have to dedicate time to job hunt wherever you can and personalise each application to the company by editing the key skills or roles according to the job spec. Personalising it in this way doesn't take long if you keep a list of your skills and jobs in another document, but it makes all the difference.
I also found that reading and re-reading the job spec in order to make the application helped me figure out where the job was on my list of priorities."
What are your tips for people looking to follow in your footsteps?
“The best advice I could give would be to over-research the company: it's values, mission, recent news and achievements, and bring them up if you can, to show you care about the company.
As a graduate, you have a LOT to learn. They don't expect someone to be the perfect candidate straight away, but you have to be willing to put in the work and learn.”
Tell us about the future. What’s next?
“I am really hoping to learn a lot in this role. I hope to complete my CIPD certification and meet professionals in the field.”
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