2011 is the year of the Graduate Job Revival-00-4607

When the recession hit, it was the graduates who felt it the hardest; fresh out of university, even those with the best graduate degrees from the best educational institutions found it hard to get a job. Some found it hard enough to get an interview or even a response from a prospective graduate employer, let alone the job itself.

However, 2011 is looking promising for graduates who are still out of full-time employment. It will come as no surprise that this is mainly due to the fact that the economy is (finally) recovering. As companies are finding their fiscal feet again the job positions are opening up. Many online job boards have recorded a rise in the number of adverts they have live at any one time, one that is considerably larger to last year.

So what does this mean to the currently unemployed graduate? Carry on as usual, surely? No matter what the job market is like, we should all keep applying as much as possible surely? This is true, no one will land a graduate job without first applying. However, this news can give hope to many, lift the spirits and often, as many recruitment agencies have reported recently, increase the quality of applications. It is clear that when people feel they have more of chance of landing the graduate job they are applying for, that their applications' quality is a lot better; optimism breeds results.

But what are the key elements that should be remembered when job applying? First things first, make sure your CV is very neat, that means everything is in the same font and that all text is correctly aligned so for example, headings such as 'Education' and 'Work Experience' are justified the same width from the left hand margin. Keep everything relevant; mention your hobbies and interests but state how the skills from that are transferable to the working world; if you enjoy chess state how that requires an analytical mind that is great at problem solving and often with time constraints (if you play tournaments).

Finally, remember to always, always write a fresh covering letter for every job you apply to. This may feel time consuming but recruiters see a lot of these and know when they're looking at a standardised covering letter, where you've just edited the company name and job position. Also, really use the covering letter, it's your chance to give your application some kind of voice and human element, so ask yourself Why would I be the ideal candidate for this job?" and then tell them! List the skills, experience and qualifications you have that will be put to good use in the profession but also expand on them, something you cannot do in a CV. For example, you might want to mention a module in your degree that is especially relevant to the job, what you learnt on that module and how you can apply this knowledge if employed.

Keep this all in mind the economy is rising, more jobs are becoming available and it is becoming ever easier for graduates to land one. So more than ever, it's time to apply and time to land that graduate job!