What Recruiters Look for in Graduate Sales and Recruitment Candidates

We speak to a lot of graduates, and we see a lot of CVs. Most of them are trying to say the right things, but the ones that stand out are almost never the ones with the most impressive academic records or the longest list of experiences.

Here's what we're actually looking for.

Evidence of drive outside the obvious

A 2:1 from a good university is a baseline. What we want to know is what you did beyond that. A sport played competitively. A job held consistently through university. A side project, a society presidency, a year abroad. These things tell us about character in a way that grades don't.

Clarity about why you want a commercial career

Vague enthusiasm is the most common thing we encounter, and the least useful. "I want a role with good career progression and earning potential" applies to every commercial job that has ever existed. Tell us specifically why sales or recruitment, and why now. If you've done your research, it shows.

Resilience you can evidence

We want to hear about something that was hard. Not a manufactured "weakness" turned into a strength: an actual difficult experience and how you moved through it. That evidence matters far more in a commercial role than it does in many other careers.

If you can speak honestly about what motivates you and give us specific evidence for it, you're already ahead of most of the people we meet.