Graduate schemes and preparing for psychometric tests.

What are graduate schemes and why should you apply?
Offered by top employers like Deloitte, PwC, and Unilever, these schemes provide on-the-job training and exposure to your industry of choice after you graduate from your degree. Graduate schemes can often lead to a permanent role after completion, with opportunities to develop technical, soft, and leadership skills across a range of responsibilities in a position at the company.
Current trends across schemes
With more remote and hybrid options included, many employers offer increased flexibility to new graduates to help them in their roles. However, current opportunities are limited, especially with such high demand and interest from students, leading to Increased competition across the board.
It’s important to prepare for a range of interview techniques, application questions, and tasks in advance (which your careers service at university can help with!) to give you the best head start in the process!
Choosing the right scheme for you
2:1 is often the most requested grade for graduate schemes, whilst it’s important to choose a company you have a genuine interest in working for as this will show in your application and can lead to a much more enjoyable role!
The top industries currently hiring include tech (such as AI and machine learning), healthcare, and sustainability, so it’s worth looking for opportunities in these sectors.
Psychometric tests
Used by graduate scheme companies to evaluate aptitude, various skills, and personality traits, psychometric tests often include a range of numerical, verbal, judgement, and personality tests.
More recent tests utilise ‘gamification’, whereby creativity and teamwork are assessed alongside your skills, as well as using AI, so make sure you’re hitting the marks and responding thoroughly, with some thought behind your answers.
How best to prepare
Some ideas to practise for graduate scheme application tests include regularly practising on free platforms such as SHL. Work on weaker areas of your skillset, such as numerical assessments if you’re not the best with numbers/not in STEM! They are often timed too, so be sure to work on answering questions under a little pressure!