Just graduated? No, sorry we need someone with at least five years of experience.

Have you just graduated? Have you ever heard that excuse? Or the right question should be: how often do you hear that excuse when applying for a job?

The truth is that for students it is extremely difficult to find a good, well-paid job qualifying the preparation they have received from the university and the sphere in which they want to develop professionally. Any employer wants to have experienced people working for them. Very few people are willing to take the risk and trust someone who has just graduated and has no experience.

However it is a matter of negotiation and ability to persuade the employer that you deserve the job position more than someone who has much more experience. In order to achieve this, everyone needs to go prepared to a job interview with a developed BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). Your BATNA determines the lowest value acceptable to you for a negotiated agreement. You should be able to make the other party an offer that is within their BATNA. You need to make sure that you offer something unique to the potential employer and list other qualities and achievements which compensate your lack of experience.

However there is another problem which stands on graduates’ way. It is true that many big companies have alumni schemes which help young people make a start in their career. But the problem here is that most of these companies are located in London. So does it mean that anyone who wants to have a bright career start needs to go there, where it is at least three times more expensive than in any other town or city in UK? Graduands, welcome to the real world...