Knowing how to get a graduate job isn't enough
I've been watching 22 graduates do exactly the same course.
They have access to the same videos, exercises, workbooks and support from me.
And their progress has been completely different.
I've been fascinated by why.
At first, I thought it might be confidence. Then I wondered whether the graduates moving fastest simply had more experience, stronger CVs or a clearer idea of what they wanted.
But the longer I've watched them, the more convinced I've become that something else matters enormously.
The graduates making the fastest progress aren't necessarily the ones who know the most. They're the ones who do something with what they know.
Knowing. Knowing how. Doing.
Most graduates I meet already know quite a lot of the things they're supposed to do.
Have a good CV. Tailor applications. Prepare for interviews. Research employers. Build a network.
But knowing you should do something isn't the same as knowing how to do it effectively. And neither is the same as actually doing it.
You can read about networking instead of sending the message. Make another adjustment to your CV instead of applying. Watch another interview video instead of preparing your own examples.
And there's a reason for that.
Learning feels relatively safe. Doing exposes you to an outcome.
Send the application and they might reject you. Make the connection request and they might ignore you. Go to the interview and somebody is going to assess you.
When your confidence has already taken a battering, staying in preparation mode can feel considerably safer than pressing Send.
Then I thought about what happens when you graduate
For most of your life, somebody else has provided a structure.
Here's your timetable. Here's the assignment. Here's the deadline. Here's your feedback. Here's your grade.
University requires enormous independence, of course. But there is still a framework around you.
Then you graduate.
Nobody tells you what to do today.
Nobody tells you how many employers to research this week. Nobody gives you a deadline for updating your CV. Nobody reminds you to make that contact. Nobody tells you whether you've prepared enough for Thursday's interview.
And the feedback? Sometimes it's “Unfortunately...”. Sometimes you hear nothing at all.
For perhaps the first time, you're responsible for creating much of your own structure, measuring your own progress and deciding what to do next.
That's a very different way of working. And I wonder whether we underestimate how difficult that transition can be.
The graduates creating momentum aren't waiting for perfect
The biggest thing I've noticed is that they're shortening the distance between learning something and trying it.
They learn something. They use it. They see what happens. They adjust. Then they try again.
Not everything works. A message may get no reply. An application may not produce an interview. An interview may not produce an offer.
But every action generates something useful: information.
Did that CV get me through the first stage? Which roles respond to my experience? Which interview questions am I struggling with? What should I change next?
Action gives you something to work with. That's how momentum starts.
If you're stuck, don't look for another 20 tips
Ask yourself one question:
What do I already know I need to do, but haven't actually done yet?
Pick one thing.
Tailor your CV for one real vacancy. Contact one relevant person. Research one employer you've never considered. Prepare one strong interview example.
You don't need to transform your entire job search this afternoon.
You need to close the gap between knowing and doing.
And don't wait for confidence
We often assume it works like this:
Confidence → Action
But watching graduates has reminded me how often it works the other way around:
Action → Evidence → Confidence
You send the message. Someone replies. You improve the application. You get an interview. You prepare differently. The conversation goes better.
Gradually, you accumulate evidence that you can do this.
It won't happen in a straight line. Some things still won't work. But action gives you something another hour of worrying rarely does: new information about what to do next.
What if we started practising employability before students actually needed it?
Watching this has made me think about universities too.
Universities do something enormously valuable. They develop knowledge, critical thinking, independence and expertise.
But perhaps employability isn't simply another body of knowledge to introduce shortly before graduation.
Perhaps students also need opportunities to practise it.
Research a real employer. Speak to someone in an industry they're considering. Learn to explain the value of what they've done. Make professional connections before they desperately need them. Try something, get feedback, adjust and try again.
In other words, practise some of the behaviours they'll need later while the structure and support of university are still around them.
Perhaps final year is too late to suddenly start talking seriously about employability.
What if we started in Year One?
I'd genuinely be interested to hear what graduates, parents and people working in higher education think.
It's changed how I think about my own programme too
One graduate described Get the Job You Want as giving them a “clearer blueprint to follow”.
I love that description.
But watching the Founding Cohort has reinforced something else for me.
A blueprint is only useful if you start building.
Information alone isn't enough. The value comes when you take what you've learnt and do something with it.
So here's my challenge to you
If you're looking for a graduate job, don't finish this newsletter and immediately go looking for another piece of careers advice.
Ask yourself:
What do I already know I need to do, but haven't actually done yet?
Don't make a list of 15 things. Pick one. And do it.
Because the next breakthrough in your job search might not come from learning something new.
It might come from finally acting on something you already know.