Smruti Sriram is the CEO of Supreme Creations and Bags of Ethics – the world’s largest ethical manufacturer of reusable bags, eco-packaging for luxury goods and sustainable giveaways for promotion made from fabrics. They produce tote bags for London Fashion Week, branded makeup bags for L’Oreal, and support many ecommerce businesses for reusable packaging around the world.
Having spent many years recruiting graduates for her team in London she shares her top “Dos and Don’ts” for graduate applications.
“One of my personal missions is to give young people more opportunities to work at our business – apprentices, work experience students, interns, and graduates. Young people have brought great passion and energy to our business – whether it is about which new social media platforms to use, what new sustainable materials we should consider for our products, and what are the latest trends and styles we should introduce to our clients. Over the past five years we have had several interns and graduates from King’s College – many of whom speak a variety of languages like French, Spanish, German, Italian – who have helped us with our export-led growth. As we are currently recruiting for our latest Graduate Management Trainee programme, here are some tips to help your applications.”
Smruti’s Dos and Don’ts In Your Job or Internship Applications
Do your research – read up about the company and see if the company mission aligns with your personal one. When we see applicants who clearly state or demonstrate their passion for sustainability and design it immediately resonates with us.
Do make a personalised cover letter – as soon as we see a tailor-made cover letter to us as a company we react positively to it. It stands out. There are many applicants who choose a scatter gun approach and hope for the best by applying to lots of companies using a generic cover letter – it is immediately exposed and very quickly (in our organisation at least) discarded.
Do show passion! There are many candidates who feel they need to suppress their personalities on their CV or cover letter. This may work in some organisations but it does not work for ours. We are a passionate, expressive, and human-centred organisation. We care passionately about different interest areas you have as that adds diversity to the ideas that are brought to the table. We want multifaceted, multitalented people – so feel free to showcase it.
Don’t forget to explain gaps in your CV If for whatever reason you have taken a gap year or redone a year at school or university and it is clearly visible there are time gaps in your CV you might need to explain this at interview or on a cover letter. Transparency and trustworthiness are critical for employers.
Do be positive. I have done lots of phone interviews in which candidates are negative about previous roles, or about themselves. It is fine to be honest and up-front about your views, but if you can’t see a positive result from any experience you have, it comes across poorly. We want to work with team-players who can relish in both the highs and the lows. However, don’t be mistaken. Negativity is not the same as being practical, critical, or rational. We value dissent in our discussions when we come to making key business decisions. We want people to give an alternative view. This is not the same as being negative.
Don’t manufacture answers but, do prepare your answers. We absolutely loathe manufactured answers when candidates are asked to self-assess their weaknesses. As much as many people think they are “perfectionists”, it is manufactured, and really has very little actual meaning. Some of the greatest people in the world, who could be deemed as world-leading scientists, sportsmen, business leaders etc. because they work hard to perfect their craft for many hours a day, over many years, are humble enough to explain many of their weaknesses. Very few of them claim to be perfectionists. Humility and honesty go a long way in interviews.
However, it is important to do your homework. If you have done lots of research on the company’s work with some clients, do mention it or squeeze it into every stage of the application. It shows a truly personalised approach to your application, which might lead to a personalised way of viewing you as a candidate.
Do be aware of your digital footprint. We love candidates who showcase their creative portfolio and any work they have done on blogs, videos, LinkedIn, or on social media. However be aware that if you are seen to be hateful, or promoting ideas that do not resonate with the company you are applying for, it can be found out very quickly through a few clicks.
Don’t forget to read all of the instructions for the application. We often give very clear instructions for our application process, but still many details are forgotten or neglected by candidates. Often we will write a small comment in the instructions. The most successful candidates have read the instructions very thoroughly displaying a high level of attention to detail – which for us as a service-oriented provider of very highly specific products, is critical.
Do be quick off the mark. It is important to apply quickly to roles – even structured entry programmes work through a system of reviewing candidates as soon as they apply.
These are some of my top tips. If you would like to connect more with Supreme Creations then we would love to hear from you. We are currently looking for language-speaking interns, guest student bloggers on the environment, sustainable fashion and design, and we are also currently recruiting for the Graduate Management Trainee programme.
Say hello with a CV, and cover letter to hr@supreme-london.com