“I can work on my own or in a team” – The Perils of Beige Work Applications
I have a shiny £5 note here for anyone who can tell me who the first person was who used this phrase in a CV or application. It seems strange, as clearly at some point there was a trend for taking basic human functions and displaying them as core employment competencies. As usual, clarification is…
Honesty is the best policy!
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I ask why someone is interested in a role, and they respond “I have always wanted to work in that” This really gets my goat! Why? Let’s take a recent example of this where someone had a first degree in a completely unrelated subject to their masters…
Planning for the difficult questions – making use of your experience

Interviews are an art form in themselves and as we enter the time of year when graduates are entering the job market, it’s important to maximise every opportunity you have. Here are some tips on competency based interviews based on feedback from our own experiences as account managers here at Step. Many competency based questions…
10 Steps towards stress-free (ish) exams
I know personally that exams can be a really hard and stressful time of the year at university, but if you think about what you’re doing, prepare and look after yourself during this time, you’ll feel a lot better about it. These are just a few tips that I picked up over my three years…
Drawing out & developing skills – Chloe Agron
Our guest blog is written by Chloe Agron, an Interior Architecture graduate from the University of Westminster, who took on an internship that has recently turned into a Design Technician permanent role at Benchworks; a specialist interior contractor based in Kent. My internship was a constructive and valuable experience as I learnt so much. Within my first…
From placement to permanent – the Cherry on top
Our guest blog was written by Cherry Mallam, an Information and Communication Technology student from Southampton Solent University. She was placed as a support desk administrator at a software company for her year in industry placement and is now in a permanent position until she goes back to university. My role is support desk administrator at a software company. The company customises…
Graduates, innovation and growth
One of the main issues raised by clients when discussing their future talent needs with us is the increasing challenge of finding suitably experienced hires. As a result, more and more are looking at new graduates as a part of a longer term strategy to support their business growth plans and related skills needs.…
“It’s just me, the dog, and the kettle…” – Why we work with SMEs and you can too
Best quote from a business development call EVER, I think! The person I spoke to couldn’t believe that I was calling to offer him a way to access graduate talent, because he wasn’t from a massive conglomerate or big-brand company. “Surely there is no way a new graduate would be interested in working for…