How to increase my chances of being employed by a large company

turbo_sammie

Hi guys,

I'm hoping someone on here will be able to give me a bit of advice. I'm currently studying L4 (about halfway through) and I'm at a point where I need to think about settling down in a job long term. I've identified a company that I really, really want to work for as I'm completely passionate about their brand and love the idea of being able to work for a company that has been such a big part of my personal life. They frequently advertise new finance roles on their website, and I apply for all the roles that are relevant to me, but all I've had so far is rejection. I feel like my application is the strongest it can be, and spend hours on each cover letter to match my skills to the job spec, and also try to get across my passion and enthusiasm. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but all I can think is that they must get hundreds of applications for each role and I just need to make myself stand out a bit more, but I don't know how to do this. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can grab their attention?

Thanks in advance!

nick_989

Do you already work in accounts or would this be your first accountancy role? I'm thinking about retraining will AAT and my biggest concern is not being able to find suitable employment afterwards.

Once I get into the course, I'm going to send out prospective letters, possibly even call them if there is a job I like to introduce myself (not sure how that will go down though!).

StuartW

Hi @turbo_sammie,

Are you on LinkedIn? If the company you're targeting is popular with others they're probably receiving lots of applications for openings. In 2015 there are ways you can target not just companies, but people at those companies. LinkedIn can help you to do this.

Identify people on LinkedIn who work at the company you're targeting. What discussion groups are they taking part in? What topics are they interested in? Are you able to add value to these discussions and make yourself stand out? Do any of them write posts on LinkedIn, on which you could leave comments?

Even better - are there industry events where you notice someone at this company is attending, or speaking? There's a lot to be said for meeting someone in person, shaking their hand and expressing your admiration for their company (and awareness of its place in the industry, challenges, etc).

All of this might sound a bit overbearing, but if you approach these kinds of tactics subtly and intelligently, it may be a way to get your name to stand out above all the other people sending in CVs and cover letters.

If you're able to do this, you then have an opportunity to express your passion & enthusiasm to someone with whom who you have some measure of a relationship with (as opposed to a nameless mailbox where you send your CV).

Coincidentally, this week we've published an article on the importance of demonstrating commercial awareness in job applications, which may help.

Best of luck!

Stuart

Sharon123

It is possible that being a large company recruitment favours internal candidates. Don't underestimate business knowledge as an accounting skill. Is it worth applying for a lesser role to get a foot in the door if you are set on working for a particular company? As with the comment above, networking can be valuable, have you tried attending your aat branch events?