Hi,

Over on the Graduate Blog, Holly has been diligently collecting information about courses that run for graduates.  She came across Graduate Academy this week which is for final year undergrads as well as graduates.  Take a look at the courses for graduates page for more information.

Jenny.

Helen McGuire, student blogger

On the 28^th of October I made my way to Manchester Central in the city centre (which, by the way, is a really amazing building, looks like something straight out of Battlestar Galactica…) to attend the good old Postgraduate Study Fair, ah yes I can sense the excitement drain out of you as you read, but wait! It was actually incredibly useful and interesting so bear with me.

The fair basically consists of stalls manned by representatives from every major university who hand out prospectuses and chat to people. There are also some stalls from universities in Australia and America as well as other universities in Europe. All in all a mind-boggling amount of choice, so I would advise arriving with some kind of idea about where you would like to study, even if it’s just an idea about the region. I’m interesting in doing an MA at a university in London so I focused my time getting prospectuses from the relevant universities, and saved myself from the permanent shoulder damage that I will surely contract if I’m forced to carry any more of those things. Alongside this there are also talks you can attend that provide general information about what studying for a masters or PhD actually entails. Maybe most importantly there are stalls and talks about funding, something which I’m sure is a concern for anyone thinking about postgraduate study.

Overall I felt the fair was geared more towards final years. To make the most of the day I think you would need to have a clear idea about what you want to study and where. I found I didn’t speak to any of the representatives from the universities I was interested in because I simply didn’t have anything to ask them, but I will definitely go again next year armed with a list of questions ready to ask. Also I think if your intention is to speak to university representatives then you should aim to get there as early as possible – I arrived at 1 pm and there were already tentative queues forming around the more popular exhibitors, particularly the ‘News Associates Journalism Training’ stall.

Having said this it’s definitely worth paying a visit whatever your thoughts about postgraduate study are, having all those resources just a Magic bus ride away is surely too good an opportunity to miss. Unfortunately you’ll have to wait a whole year before the next one, so in the meantime I’ve found the best way to get information about postgraduate study is to simply go to your university of choice’s website, and obviously drop by the Careers Service!

We now have copies of The Gateway newspaper available for takeaway from the Careers Resource Centre.  This fortnightly paper is written for students and features industry news, careers advice and interviews to keep you up to date with current developments. 

Take a copy and tell us what you think of it.

Semester one is the most popular time of the year for students and graduates looking to find a job.  Students are looking for part-time jobs and internships, final year students are looking for graduate jobs as are last years’ graduates.

It’s crazy busy and yet everyone thinks they are the only one in that situation. Take a look around you are competing with students at this university, MMU and Salford plus the graduates who have stayed on in Manchester, not to mention the local population. 

You need to have a plan and put the work in to find a job, its not easy and it takes time.

Because jobs don’t just fall out of trees here are a few pointers.

Looking for a graduate job

• Use the Careers Service website – check out …
  • The vacancies section
  • Employer talks and workshops - do a bit of networking.
  • Fairs – find out who attended and what they are looking for.
  • Sector and North West pages for links and vacancy feeds.
• Use other local careers fairs
  MMU
  Compass jobs fair for social work
  Prospects website – lists fairs around the country
  Try virtual fairs like this Prospects virtual fair
• Do your own research, yes sorry  – you will have to do some work and make lists of employers to apply to.
  • Find out who the professional bodies are for your sector – look on their website for directories of members.
  • Use journals some have vacancies listed others may have services directories where companies promote to clients. Use these to help you establish who is active in the field.
  • Check out our research section for more tips!
  • Use the Careers Resource Centre. There are books, journals, directories and all sorts of other useful things to help you make a list of potential employers.

Looking for internships, placements, work experience and vacation jobs.

All these terms can mean the same thing- work experience (usually paid) for a few weeks  to a year in length.

Although there are lots of internships advertised – there are many that aren’t – you may have to find your own work experience.
All the tips above count – plus:

• Check with your department – they may advertise opportunities for those who have to do a year in industry or have special requirements for what is suitable.
• Check out the tips on our website
• With vacation jobs consider where you want to do it and what time of year it is.  Seasonal work may be available – think about it and target your applications appropriately.

Part-time jobs

• We advertise them on the website and on this blog in our Seen on the street posts.
• You need to keep alert and look around you when you are out shopping or socialising, many places just put an advert in the window or inside the store.  Take a note of the details, brush up your CV so that it fits their needs and send it off.  If you are handing an application in try to look neat and tidy and be polite – you never know who you are speaking to or if their opinion of you will be asked.
• Often advertised in local papers – but beware of commission only jobs and scam jobs, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
• If you see a job advertised in a bus shelter or on a lamp post be very cautious!

So go on get looking!  Good luck.

Apologies for not being able to bring you our usual post last week. Normal service now resumed! Part time jobs seen this week are:

Seen by our roving reporter Sarah M

• Zizzi are opening a new restaurant in Didsbury this month and are looking for staff. Email your CV to recruitment@zizzi.co.uk and more information on the opening at http://www.zizzi.co.uk/news/

Seen on Fish 4 Jobs website

• Retail Advisor at the Trafford Centre (apply via Adecco recruitment)
• Sales/Canvassers for a national newspaper (Altrincham)

Seen on  Reed employment agency website

• Camera Demonstrators at Gekko

Seen on Job Centre Plus website
(Enter job ref and click ‘GO’ for details)

• Nightclub Photographers REF: FTS/133875
• Model (events promotional brochure) REF: FTS/ 133896
• Cafe/Deli Assistant at Cafe Carlo REF: FTS/133744
• Glass Collector at Club V REF: FTS/133990
• Saturday Healthcare Assistant at Boots (Stretford) REF: STY/89545
• Bar Staff at the Stonemasons’ Arms (Altrincham) REF: ALU/67730

Seen on The Jobs Mine

• Receptionist at Trevor Sorbie
• Retail cleaners at the Trafford Centre

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to bring you Jobs Seen on the Street today.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the Careers Service website, the Jobs Mine and the Arndale Centre website.

Jobs Seen on the Street will be back next Thursday!

Back in July, we put out a call to our student readers for budding writers to join the blog team.  We thought it would be great if students-like-you could share their own experiences of what it’s really like to be looking for a job or figuring out what it is you want to do with your life in 2009/10.

The response was impressive, so we had some tough choices to make. We were looking for writing talent, but we also wanted to get a good mix of subjects and second/final years and male/female. In the end, we’re very pleased to welcome to the blog team our 6 student bloggers…

Tom Owen - final year BA Economics

Helen McGuire – 2nd year English Literature

Angela Wipperman – final year Biochemistry

Adam Coombs – 2nd year French

Priya Thakrar – 2nd year Religion and Theology

Anastasia Miari – 2nd year Drama

Follow their progress as they mull over career choices, go to recruiter presentations and careers fairs, grapple with application forms and go on work experience, and find out about some of the strategies that have worked from them, as well as some that haven’t!

Venture Out is an ideas competition for students at The University of Manchester run by the Manchester Enterprise Centre. 

There are three categories, with prizes of up to £1,000 on offer. 

1. CEEBL Green award – rewarding ideas to improve the environment
2. Social Enterprise award – rewarding ideas to improve the lives of individuals and of communities
3. Business Innovation award – rewarding ideas that have commercial potential through new products or services

At this stage you simply need to explain your ideas and how they will have a positive impact on the lives of others. 

Interested students are welcome to attend a workshop designed to help them get their creative ideas flowing. This workshop take place on Friday 9 October between 12pm and 12.45pm in Lecture Theatre A in University Place.

There is also a workshop planned for students specifically interested in the CEEBL Green award. This workshop is taking place on Thursday 15 October between 4pm and 6.30pm at CEEBL C24 in the Sackville Street building.

More information on applying and booking onto workshops

If you are in Manchester now and think you are going to need some help with applying for jobs then don’t wait  – do it now! 

Experience tells us that in a couple of weeks people will be queuing up for applications advice.  If you can make it in now you will save yourself time and have a nice smug feeling when you see everyone else queuing later on.

Every day we run a drop in session – where you can book a 15 minute 1-1 with an adviser to help you tailor your first CV, make the best of applications or ask quick career related questions. 

So if you are applying for a job or course and need a bit of help:

• Read the appropriate information on our website
• Think carefully about the skills and experience required for the job.
• Use the tips and methods described to help you tailor your application so that the employer can easily see why they should employ you.
• Use the Quick Query drop in session to help you make any final alterations before you send it off.

If you are not in Manchester yet don’t worry – although it will be busy we will be providing extra advice on applications via talks, workshops and live guidance.

We’ve had a great response to our call for student bloggers to join the Undergrad Careers blog team, so we’ve decided to close for applications now. It’s really good to see how many students are interested in getting involved!

We’re going to be selecting 5 student bloggers from the applications we’ve received and we’ll be contacting everyone w/c 10th August.