Qualifications are a crucial part of any CV, but simply proving you’ve got the technical knowledge isn’t enough for employers in the highly competitive IT job market, having the right inter-personal skills is crucial.

Just IT recognises the importance of soft skills such as communication, presentation and interview techniques, in getting that golden job opportunity and is committed to helping candidates develop these skills through extensive career support.

We spoke to Laura Skinner, one of our Career Support Consultants, she told us how candidates are put through their paces: “We do a lot of different activities, on the first day candidates present a 90-second pitch about their employment history, their background and why they want to work in IT.

“It really lets candidates sell themselves and the feedback is handed to the graduate recruitment team so they can place them for work within various different clients.”

Customer service forms are the key-stone of ’soft’ skill-set, so the team aim to increase awareness of this aspect of the portfolio and incorporate skills candidates have already learnt in previous job roles to make them more marketable to employers.

“A lot of graduates don’t understand soft skills, there’s a massive divide”, Laura told us, “Organisation, customer service, communication, prioritisation – they are all what’s going to get them the job in IT.”

Just IT assigns each candidate their own career support mentor to provide honest one-on-one advice to emphasise their strengths and improve on their weaknesses: “We’ll be honest and tell them if their tie doesn’t match or they’re wearing the wrong shoes, because it all goes towards helping them get that job.”

James Michael Parry