Graduate does more to stand out from crowd

An unemployed Leeds University graduate landed a graduate job with Legal & General after standing for nine hours in The City of London with a placard around his neck, which read "Leeds graduate looking for job in financial services". Giles Metcalfe, a 23 year-old European Politics graduate, stood out from the crowd to land a job in a market where there are over 50 applicants fighting it out for every graduate position.

Recent data from Job Search Engine Adzuna.co.uk shows that there are 21,748 graduate jobs currently available in the UK, but hundreds of thousands of graduates fighting it out for these positions. This means over 50 applicants per graduate position across the board.

Giles Metcalfe, now an Investment Communications Executive at Legal & General Investments in London explained: "In a tough employment environment, and following various unsuccessful online job applications, I knew I had to do something to make myself stand out in a crowd. The stunt at Liverpool Street Station in June proved fruitful thanks to handing out over 80 copies of my CV and speaking to loads of people. I was invited to interview with a number of companies, and took the job at Legal & General Investments in July as their professionalism, brand and the role they offered fitted perfectly with my ambition.”

London and the South of England are the most competitive areas as many university leavers migrate to these regions in search of attractive £29,000 p.a. average graduate salaries, compared with £25,000 in Yorkshire.

Simon Ellis, MD Investments at Legal & General Investments commented: ”Giles’s stunt was how he came to our attention as one of our employees saw him and took a copy of his CV. We had a position that we believed he would be suitable for and were impressed by his initiative and somewhat unique way of making himself visible, so we felt we should invite him to an interview. Giles had to undergo the normal interview panel process and online testing which he was successful in, landing him employment...”