The Speculative Approach To A Graduate Job

A speculative, "if by any chance" approach to enquiring about job availabilities can be an affective method of landing a graduate job.
Let's face it once you've graduated, you spent countless hours trawling through all of the graduate jobs boards and newspaper adverts, but no doubt there are going to be a lot that do not impress you in the slightest. Many people out there do have the approach of only wanting their dream job, until then they will continue working in their current, most probably part time job that they used to fund them whilst in University.
Although I can't really recommend that you take this approach and sit and wait patiently for your job of choice to arrive, many graduates and people who have been in full time employment for a longer period of time tend to take a speculative approach in an attempt to gain employment with the company of their choice.
In truth, a speculative approach could prove to be more affective than responding to a job vacancy advertisement. As well as this, a speculative approach is indeed one of the few ways of actually gaining employment in some industries.

Do not rush in and send your CV to your top five companies or so, you do need to have a logical reason for approaching companies. If you don't, your most likely going to wasting your time and you won't make the impression that you'd have hoped! Without reason to approach a company, your cover letter or CV may find its way into the "special filing cabinet" after the briefest of glances.
You need to create a shortlist of potential employers (i.e. companies) who you are certain that they have a graduate recruitment policy. If you're not sure if they do, see if they at least appear to do. If they do, research further and find out if they recruit graduates in the subject that you earned your degree in.

Once you think you have found your potential employer, you should begin to work ob a general CV. This CV needs to be of a high standard. As well as this, you need to write a cover letter of a higher standard than your CV. Your cover letter could earn you a chance at an interview, so make sure it is a good one! Your covering letter should be geared towards the industry that your potential employer operates in. Unlike your CV, your covering letter should be unique to each company that you apply for. If you're struggling to put useful information on your letter, why not discuss your dissertation or final project (if it is relevant)?

When writing your covering letter, please remember to state what you are looking for. Your approach needs to be focused otherwise you wont be successful. If you're looking for a job, say so. If you're looking for shadowing work or work experience, say so! You need to be upfront and focused to keep the reader interested.
Here's another tip, before you send your CV and covering letter, spend a little bit of time to do some research about the recruitment department. You need to find out the name of the recruitment manager or human resources personnel to address your letter to. It's a harsh reality that genetic letters don't make the impact that you need.
If you're struggling to find the contact information, ask one of your old lecturers or head of school in the University. They are likely to be able to help you find the information that you are looking for. In fairness, they may have helped somebody with the same thing in the past and kept hold of the information.
After you have sent your letter, it is advisable to make a follow up call a few days later to reconfirm your interest and to attempt to arrange a face to face meeting, or even gain some further contacts.
Unfortunately speculative approaches are not always successful. However if you approach it in a constructive and well prepared fashion, you do drastically increase your chances of success.

Good Luck