Graduates with no job lined up should use the next few months getting into pole position, says Sarah Hiscock

University is coming to an end and it is time to face the "real world". But what if you do not have a job lined up? "Act now," says Richard Irwin, senior consultant in the Recruitment Centre of Expertise at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PwC, currently number one in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, typically recruits about 1,000 graduates a year and there are still vacancies for September’s intake. Negative coverage in the press may have misled graduates about what opportunities are out there and caused them to disengage unnecessarily from the job market, Irwin says. "You need to understand what is available to you."

In other words, "make looking for a job your job", says Saiyada Smith, careers adviser for The Careers Group. As Smith points out, summer is graduate fair season and a visit to the best of these events, providing the chance to network and engage with many employers, is invaluable. Between now and September, graduates need to make themselves as job-ready as possible. They should make the most of the university careers service, get their CV checked by a third party and brush up on interview techniques — generally work on enhancing their employability skills.

"We have an employability toolkit on our website that helps students to map their experience against the type of skills an employer is looking for," Irwin says. "It defines what we mean by professional awareness, drive, initiative and team work, and helps them to link the experiences they have had, whether that is in a Saturday job at Pizza Hut or a work placement with Goldman Sachs."

Providing evidence is key to a successful CV, says John Lees, career coach and author of How to Get a Job You’ll Love. "Most graduates make the right noises, say that they are highly motivated self-starters. However, what employers respond to is clarity of motivation: ‘I studied this course’, ‘I took this work experience’, ‘I worked in this job in my summer holidays because...’ and linking it all together to form some sort of direction."

The way each individual builds up this evidence varies greatly. For some it is travel, for others it is volunteer work, but for most it is the much sought after internship. "Internships can be a platform to a very interesting job, not just in the organisation you are working in but in organisations you are working with," Lees says.

Graduate Talent Pool, the government initiative that matches graduates with internship opportunities around the country, is a good place to start. Most internships pay only expenses but the experience can be priceless. Another useful source is Milkround.com, which regularly has internships from high-profile employers such as Rolls-Royce and Ernst & Young.

Waiting for the perfect job to be advertised does not work; graduates have to put themselves out there and the summer is a perfect time to build their brand.

Job hunters should make sure they turn all their new media contacts into real opportunities, Lees says. "Using social media to look for jobs is a worrying trend. It is a fake visibility and plays into an area of expectation where you can manage everything by looking at a computer screen. The best aspect of social media is where you use it to set up conversations with real people. Only then do people remember you when openings come up."

But what if opportunities do not come up? "It can be a worrying time," says Dr Charles Woodruffe, a business psychologist at the consultancy Human Assets. "Belief in oneself is important, as is focusing on the positive. Don’t be alone, team up with others, share experiences and get mutual support. Most importantly, be realistic as to what you are going for and open to adjusting this. Have a plan A and a plan B."

Smith agrees: "Don’t be scared to cast the net a little wider and think about related sectors that you could go into. Also, consider contract or temping work over the summer. It’s a very good way of gaining experience, as well as being able to test drive a particular career."

Above all, graduates have to accept that rejection is very much part of the job-seeking process.