Wednesday 2^nd May, 12pm – 4pm, Alan Turing Building

Sign up here

With over 20% of graduates unemployed, this event will give you the opportunity to find out more about what you can do to make yourselves more employable and to develop those skills required to secure a job once you have finished your studies and help you stand out from the crowd!

Organised by students, (the majority of us are third years) for students, this event will highlight the importance of extra-curricular activities and give you the opportunity to attend presentations, interactive workshops and speak directly to experts who will be able to help and advise you how to develop those all-important skills.

Hear from representatives from the Careers Service, including talks on Volunteering and Internships, as well as hearing from the employers’ perspective along with the chance to speak to volunteering specialists from Manchester City Council and Student Action. The interactive workshops will help you identify the skills you already have and those you need to develop.

As this event is organised by students, we understand how hard it is to look for a job, as many are in our final year looking for jobs now! This event will give you the advantage when it comes to your turn!

Our experts will be available to speak to you throughout the afternoon, however please see details of the Talks Programme and Workshops below:

Talks Programme:

Internships and Work Placements – Scott Foley, The Careers Service, 12.10pm – 12.30pm

Volunteering & Employability – Lindsay Gilbert, The Careers Service, 12.35pm – 12.55pm

The Employers’ Perspective –Steve James, TARGETjobs, 1.00pm – 1.20pm

Workshops:

Employability Audit – 1.30pm – 2.30pm AND 2.40pm – 3.40pm

Making an Effective Application – 1.30pm – 2.30pm AND 2.40pm – 3.40pm

Come to the event and have the chance to win and iPod touch!

In association with Students as Partners and The University of Manchester Careers Service.

Aside from your degree, work experience is the number one thing future employers will be looking for on your CV.  A scary thought perhaps, if the best you have so far is a few days from when you were at school. But the good news is that everything you do counts, and there are many ways to get it, including casual vacation work this summer, a professional summer internship, industrial placement, work shadowing or a few weeks informal work experience. They need not be related to your degree. Even part-time work can count toward your work experience, its about what skills these experiences give you and how you talk about them that matters.

The key is to do something now, while there is still time before the end of your degree!

If you haven’t yet seen the work experience section of our website, you will find lots of tips and advice there, with links to where you can find advertised vacancies in CareersLink and other jobsites.

You can also get instant advice online at the National Work Experience Campaign website, which is live until the end of March 2012. 

If you would like to ask your burning questions to a real person face-to-face, then come along to one of our work experience talks taking place on  14th and 21st March. You can also speak to someone in the Careers Service, including our information team whenever we are open (Monday – Friday 9-5), an applications advisor if you need some advice on your CV for an internship, or a Careers Consultant if you want to discuss what kind of careers you could go into, and what kinds of experience would boost your chances.

Finding summer jobs, internships & work experience 14th March 1-2pm

Summer work experience is a great way to earn money, boosts your CV, develops your skills and can help you make new career contacts.

If you haven’t yet found something to do this summer, don’t despair! There are still opportunities out there, and this session will show you where to find them…

Whether you are looking for a professional summer internship, casual vacation job, summer work abroad or a few days work shadowing, you will come away armed with useful advice and tips.

Find out more about this session and register for your place in CareersLink

Work experience & internship Application and Interview Masterclass 21st Mar 1-3pm

If you are applying for internships, placements or work experience, then give yourself the edge with this hands on workshop. The session is designed to show you how to:

• Understand what employers want
• Identify what you have to offer (even without previous work experience)
• Build a great CV
• Show you are the right person for the job
• Handle tricky interview questions 

Please bring your existing CV to this session as you will use it as a basis to build from. This will be an interactive workshop and you will have the chance to have a mini mock interview, so be prepared to get involved, it will be fun!

Find out more about this session and register for your place in CareersLink

Get your employer to nominate you for a student Employee of the Year award.

SEOTY alumni are in jobs all over the world, in many different sectors. If you think you deserve to be among them get nominated now and you could have something amazing to put on your CV.

You and your employer could win a local, regional or national award, including a cash prize for you, a trophy and certificate!

Find out more and get nominated at www.nases.org.uk/seoty

In my case, two members of staff took me into a room and handed me case studies to look over for 15 minutes, before the interview officially began. Whilst my initial reaction when staring at the sheet in the empty room was akin to panic, I realised the questions were a practical way to figure out whether I was able to rationally handle the different situations that the job presented.  Specifically, they were checking whether I had the ability to deal with the issues associated with refugees and asylum seeking. I realised how useful it was in teaching me to be quick on my feet but more importantly, giving me a feel for what it would be like to work there. This actually made me both calmer and more comfortable for the remainder of the interview.

Before the interview, I was sitting on the train reading the full outline of the job as well as extra information about the charity. This came especially handy, as I got to ask questions about the role itself after being asked why I would like to volunteer there. The essential thing is to be confident, friendly and demonstrate your passion for the cause (even something as simple as reading articles around the subject). I realised how important it was to expect the unexpected and to relax! Though difficult, I will try my hardest to remember this next week.

Priya Changela (Student Blogger)

The best thing you can do now is breathe, step back and relax. I have realised you can do this and still be productive. Here I have compiled 3 little things you could do to get the most out of the break, before revision kicks in:

1) Get Twitter – Not only is it a useful tool to find jobs and volunteering opportunities but equally for networking. Trying to get into the field of international development, as I am, is difficult without keeping up with development updates that cannot be found in the news, and if you have a few things to say yourself, people in the field will begin to follow you. Your employers are most likely to have a look. For an example, mine can be found here.

2) Update your CV – Creativity can go a long way. Even something as simple as changing your layout to highlight your key attributes, can be enough for your creativity to stand out. Right now I am on the couch, listening to music with a mug of coffee, re-designing the layout and fixing a small section on my career objectives and the individual qualities that make me stand out from others.

3) Research your Interests – Recently, I have been thinking, what really interests me? This could be anything from a hobby to something related to the field you are interested in. Once you have something in mind, then search for articles, books, reports and even possible volunteer opportunities related to this. You could even start a blog and have a say on your findings. In this way, you will get a bigger picture into the work and have an enjoyable experience in the process. Equally, your passion will shine through to employers.

In this way, getting ahead doesn’t necessarily have to be a tedious task. When you have a passion for something, the usual tasks can become a way in which you can unwind.

Priya Changela (Student Blogger)

After a quick Google search along the lines of “volunteering in Manchester”, I found out about a charity called WRVS (Women’s Royal Voluntary Service – but they do take male volunteers too!) which runs coffee shops and tea trolley services in hospitals all around the UK. Thinking this would be great first-hand customer service experience in an interesting environment, I applied online and heard from them within a matter of days. Not only was this a great confidence boost after so much rejection, I also felt good that I would be spending my spare time helping people rather than sitting around lamenting my dream job. I arranged an informal interview with the WRVS branch at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, filled out the full application form and got my two references, and within a couple of weeks I had a volunteer job.

I have now been working at WRVS once a week for almost 2 months, and I can safely say it’s the best job I’ve ever had. My fellow volunteers are all very talkative and friendly, the customers are polite, and I now know how to use a coffee machine, despite hating coffee myself. Though the job is unpaid, it feels great to offer my spare time to a charity that really needs the help, whilst meeting plenty of lovely people in the process. As we are mostly volunteers, the shifts are extremely flexible and are perfect for students. I am still applying for paid jobs as I could do with the money, but I enjoy this job so much I would continue to do it alongside a paid job (and the heaps of work I have to do in fourth year!) – my only regret is not thinking to volunteer sooner!

Though this post has simply been about my story with WRVS, I hope it will inspire other students to put their spare time to use and gain experience for their CV through volunteering, especially if they have been unsuccessful in finding a paid part-time job in the past.

Some useful links on volunteering:

http://vinspired.com/

http://www.wrvs.org.uk/

http://www.mev.org.uk/

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Naomi Powell – Student Blogger

My theory is that thanks to the job, my mind is constantly switched on. If we can take one thing for granted it is that university teaches students how to multitask. When you find something you are passionate about, juggling seems less difficult to cope with and more beneficial. I am not going to lie, there are definitely sacrifices in your time, but when you do catch a well deserved break, the mug of tea is always sweeter! Setting up meetings with my tutors for feedback, or just generally talking with them about the year is something I truly recommend. Even if you feel like you don’t know what you want to do, different experiences can give you direction. I find that although I may be feeling the pressure of deadlines, I have never been more motivated in my life. This has made me the most productive I possibly have ever been. Remember, you are not alone in feeling the pressure before the end of the semester. There are always people you can talk to such as the careers department or even your tutors, who can help give you the direction you need to get motivated.

Priya Changela, Student Blogger

It’s basically a database of all the jobs available for students anywhere in the world, from shark cage diving in South Africa… to serving coffee in Fallowfield, there is a job to meet all tastes and commitments. It’s so easy and effective I can’t remember how I searched for jobs without it. Just visit … http://www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink/ to register.
You can search through hundreds of vacancies whether you’re looking for 2hours a week volunteering, full or part time paid work, or student placements. CareersLink also lets your search for careers events and fairs such as employee led recruitment events which are great for networking, or University events like interview skills workshops. Most of the top graduate recruiters advertise jobs and events on Careers link and employers are adding jobs regularly so check for new opportunities frequently.

Tips for Using CareersLink:

•    When searching for vacancies hold down control and click to select multiple categories.

•    If you see a job you like click the star on the far left of the link to add it to favourites. Alternatively click on the vacancy for more info and click add to favourites. Then you can access all you favourites by clicking the link “My favourites” (top left.)

•    Once you have entered a particular search you can save the search or click “Create Job Agent” (top right) to receive email alerts when any new jobs are advertised that match your criteria.

•    You can view all events clearly using the calendar.

On my Blackboard, CareersLink is in the ‘Enhancing employability’ section and this is exactly what it does. If you participate in just a handful of events and jobs during you time at Uni, it will strengthen you CV massively by demonstrating your motivation and initiative. The best thing is that future employers won’t know that CareersLink has done lots of the hard work for you! In today’s hypercompetitive job market CareersLink really does give students a leg up. So enjoy the benefits, they can be limitless.

Tom Wilson – Student Blogger

Then check out the EURES Job Day event tomorrow (9th Nov) at Manchester United football ground in Old Trafford.

The aim of the event is to promote, permanent, short-term and seasonal job opportunities in Europe and the U.K. There will be a FREE shuttle bus service from 09:30 from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester United Football Ground every 45 mins. More information on the EURES website.