I Got Hired: Securing a job before graduation

Posted on: 26 January 2026 by Richard Finch in Hints, tips and advice

Grace Cartwright is a final-year Pharmacology student at the University of Liverpool who has recently secured a place on Deloitte’s Graduate Programme as a Tax Analyst, starting this September.

We caught up with her to hear about her journey and the advice she’d offer to students approaching the end of their course and beginning to explore and apply for graduate opportunities.

“I think what helped me most was having some prior work experience and spending time practicing how to speak confidently.

I actually spoke to the team from Deloitte when they visited the campus to do a pop-up event, and they gave me really helpful advice for the different stages of assessment in the application process. It’s really tough getting graduate roles at the moment and so you need to be proactive and make connections!

I had completed a summer placement in finance last year, which I think also really helped through the process. I knew how to talk professionally and understand their business language, which really helped me feel calm in my final interview.

The final interview itself really felt like a conversation, and I think it’s important not to overthink it and sound to ‘robotic’ - they want to know that the people they are hiring can talk to clients and so transferable skills and holding conversations is key!

When it comes to finding graduate roles, I knew about the big accounting firms in advance and so I made sure I applied to them. I also applied to smaller companies. The hardest stage of the recruitment process was definitely the video interviews, but because I’d done them already for the smaller companies, I was prepared and confident when it came to the one for Deloitte.

The last thing I would say is to make sure you really research the company and talk about their newest schemes, and how they directly interest and apply to you. This shows the company that you really want the role! I know it’s always talked about, but tailoring your application to each company really does help.”

Congratulations once again to Grace, and a big thank you for sharing your experience and advice with us.

If you need any help exploring your options, searching for opportunities, or preparing for any stage of the recruitment process, make sure to drop-in to see the team in the Career Studio. We’re open Monday to Friday from 10am – 5p and our Career Coaches are ready and waiting to support you with every step of finding and applying for job opportunities.

Looking for opportunities?

If you’re a current student looking for internship or work experience opportunities then make sure to sign-up to Liverpool Launchpad – our new initiative that guarantees you access to career boosting experiences that you won’t find anywhere else.

Click here to find out more and sign-up.