Brunel University Placement and Careers Centre blog for grads

Free journalism workshops

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:59:28 +0000

Fancy a life penning for a newspaper or magazine but aren’t totally sure it’s right for you? Try a free journalism workshop run by newpaper group Brighton Argus. The journalistworks taster workshops run on June 7th and August 30th over the summer. Sign up to learn how to write a news story and get proper feedback plus insight into the world of newspapers. Find out all the (many) jobs that can be available to you, how to impress at interview and what you need to do to start your journalism career.

It will look good on your CV too.

Make the careers fair work for you

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:06:48 +0000

Make the most of Brunel’s Summer Graduate Recruitment Fair on Monday 20th May with the following tips:

Check out who’s coming using this link and research the companies you are interested so you can have an intelligent conversation with people on the stands
Dress smartly
Approach companies by yourself and not as a huddle with friends – much more professional
Don’t presume you know what that company can offer by its name or specialism – an engineering firm will be looking for all discipines including finance, business, human resources and marketing , as well as engineering graduates.
Have a list of questions to hand so you’re not tongue tied
Write notes after your conversations with recruiters and get the names/business cards of those you speak to so you can name drop when writing to apply for jobs, or make speculative approaches.
Take a bunch of CVs with you to hand out on the day
Smile

Social sciences grads “the most open-minded” about career options

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:00:57 +0000

Social sciences graduates are the most flexible when it comes to choosing job sectors, according to latest research. The study by graduate-jobs.com, shows that social sciences grads top the industry adaptability index, the web site’s measure of career preferences - closely followed by business graduates. Meanwhile engineering and arts graduates are the most likely to confine their career search to sectors which are directly relevant to their degree.

Those who graduate from the social sciences faculties – including subjects such as politics, psychology and history – top the list of those searching for careers outside the field of their degree in sectors as diverse as Military & Defence, Secretarial & Business Administration, Sport & Recreation and Travel & Hospitality.

Click here for more information

Industry Adaptability Rankings

1 Social Sciences
2 Business Management
3 Languages
4 Public Service
5 Applied Sciences
6 Medicine & Health
7 Life Sciences
8 Arts
9 Engineering

Small to medium is beautiful too

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:36:00 +0000

Big companies are beautiful but so too are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Don’t just go for well known firms when applying for jobs. Look out for smaller firms advertising for roles (often in the local paper) and certainly make them part of your target list when approaching organisations directly.

Graduate Talent Pool is a government-funded initiative run by Prospects on behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to help graduates connect with SMEs across private, public and voluntary sectors via internships.

Because SMEs are not as flush as big companies they can’t recruit large numbers of grads, but this has its advantages. Because competition is less intense than on grad programmes SME recruits often find they have highly varied roles, are given responsibility quickly if they shine and more opportunity to have their fresh ideas heard.

Other useful places to start looking for SMEs include the Brunel University library and it’s access to the database FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy).

Also try:

aspx www.yell.com
www.thomweb.co.uk
www.dotukdirectory.co.uk
www.kompass.co.uk
www.britishchambers.org.uk
http://www.hillingdonchamber.co.uk/

Taking the plunge and testing the water

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:30:16 +0000

Useful book just out for education leavers by occupational psychologist Cathy Brown called Testing the Water – Helping You Take Your First Steps From Education to Work . It’s particularly good on employability skills and being work ready. It also explores the often tricky transition time between leaving Uni and gaining your ideal job.

Hear what others say: The Testing the Water Career Guide is an excellent resource. I would certainly recommend this to anyone making the transition from education to employment. –Katharine Edwards, Manager, BBC Careerlink

This is a practical and highly accessible guide, designed for those taking their first steps into the world of work, which prompts them to take time to think and to explore the options which will be right for them. Particularly valuable in today’s highly competitive employment market, it addresses the need of both young people and UK businesses to improve employability and promote work readiness. –Claire Payton, Group Senior Talent Specialist, Co-operative Group

Cathy has once again produced a practical and wholly accessible guide that will actually make a difference to those who use it. Testing the Water provides guidance during a transition period for students in to professional workaday world. Many guides exist for students, for employees, for careers. However, Cathy Brown’s work addresses that transitional time, which is the most challenging for everyone. Much of the information contained in the career guide will surely serve even beyond. –Justin C. Donne, Programme Executive, The Prince’s Trust

Top 50 employers for women

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:59:19 +0000

Sorry to get genderist for a minute but the website Where women work has recently compiled the Top 50 best employers for women. It’s a good place to start if you’re heading for a corporate career and have strong values around company ethics and ethos, that is , hopw it treats its workers.

Also check out WWW’s graduate jobs, they tend to be sent direct by employers (so they are not via agencies) and are genuine. A quick look at what’s currently available include grad roles with Homebase ( not to be sniffed at if you have retail experience) and Prudential.

See what they’re saying about you!

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:36 +0000

A recent article in HR Magazine about Generation Y, (that’s you!), states that 42% of 16-24 years olds would rather work alone in a team than collaborate with others, five percentage points higher than the average workforce. However, this is only part the story. Your attitudes to work and working relationships differ to older age groups , you are apparently more relaxed about chatty colleagues, not feeling them to be wasting time; more happy to build relationships after work or over a coffee; and very comfortable with interacting digitally and face to face, where professional and personal networks blur.

WHAT DO THINK?

What’s interesting is this may not be news to you, but it could be to recruiters so make sure in applications and cover letters you get across the message that you can talk to people, interact face to face, be tolerant of co-worker’s differing behaviours and are are good at building strong and effective relationships.

East London Primary Teacher Taster Evenings

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:36:34 +0000

Scittels, (School Centred Initial Training in East London Schools) is staging a couple of taster evenings for those of you considering primary school teaching (and may have left it a bit late to submit your PGCE application). You need a 2.1 degree or higher. Dates are the 25th April and May 20th, 5-7pm.

For general information go to the Scittels website and check out the taster evening page.

• Find out more about the programme from staff and current trainees

• Find out how to write a successful application for a PGCE course

• Fees and bursaries

Your retail job – the road to career success – case study

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:31:10 +0000

It might be tiding you over after graduation, or something you did at Uni, but that retail job could be your biggest hope for career nirvana. Read John’s* story.

“I was working for a leading retailer’s flagship store while at Uni doing sociology and media. I had been given extra responsibility over the years and when I couldn’t find the media role I wanted after graduating, I carried on in the retail role. My careers adviser suggested I contact head office and find out about advertising, PR and marketing opportunities.
In a nutshell after months of looking I started my new job this week. I’m now in Branch Merchandising for a top retailer based at their London head office. I deal with stores on a daily basis who want to review their stock package. It’s a very analytical and numerical role as well as fast paced which is exactly what I wanted. Also I get to travel across the country to visit stores to review any problems or opportunities they may have so that’s a fun perk of the job. While I did originally want to get into advertising I decided to take this route and see where it leads, and can safely say it was the right decision. I got an interview solely because I worked in a flagship at the time and because of the years of experience I had within the company. And obviously my degree! I originally accepted a similar role at River Island but I think that might have swayed in my favour a bit more, as they didn’t want to lose me to a competitor.
I hope my story will show people that while retail might not be exactly what they had in mind it can lead to better things.”

* name has been changed

Best companies for work experience

Helen Slingsby Careers Consultant — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:15:45 +0000

Looking for work experience? Then check out the recent winners of the National Council for Work Experience Awards and target the best in show. It’s a broad list and names range from Lidl to Pansonic, IBM and Teach First, as well as smaller companies such as Ash Gaming, plus charitires and not for profit organisations.

But don’t leave it there, look around you and approach small to medium enterprises (SMEs) nearby. They are typically short of resources and time, and would love fresh, young talent helping out.

As a recent Huffington Post blogger said: “If you’re looking for a placement at the moment, you should be encouraged by this list. Use it to help inspire your search – don’t just focus on the large private organisations, those in the public and charitable sectors also offer fantastic opportunities, not forgetting the smaller businesses that are probably right on your doorstep.”