Mentoring – a match made in heaven

Applications open on Monday 29th September for the Manchester Gold mentoring programme. This award-winning programme gives you the opportunity to work with a professional from your chosen career sector (on a one to one basis) who can provide you with an insight into their field and role, offer advice and information about making applications and help you plan your next steps in your career.

We have a general strand, open to all students and then several specialist strands for:

• Disabled students
• Black and minority ethnic students
• LGBT students
• Female students interested in male dominated sectors

We match about 150 students each year but we receive in excess of 1000 applications to the programme. If you’re thinking of applying, it’s advisable to spend some time on your application and provide considered answers to the questions we ask and don’t make careless mistakes (last year we had an applicant for a Law mentor who didn’t check how to spell Solicitor properly for example).

A new feature for this year is that you can view the mentors who’ve signed up and specify two preferences. They are listed on the site with their mentor reference, job title and organisation – and are group according to the sector or field they work in. You don’t have to specify and can leave this section blank if you’re not sure who you’d like to mentor you. Plus there is no guarantee that you will be matched with either of these choices but it might help up to know what you’re looking for, if you do have an idea.

If you’re interested, apply online.

Want a part-time job?

Now you’re finding your feet at the start of the new academic year, you may be thinking about getting a part-time job.  There are lots of different part-time jobs available around Manchester.  We advertise part-time jobs on our website all year round so have a look at the vacancies online.  We get sent lots of different types of vacancies, from bar work, office work, hospitality jobs at local sporting venues, and much more.

Some jobs aren’t necessarily advertised on our website – for example, companies in the city centre might just put up a poster in the window as lots of people pass by.  As well as looking at our website, keep your eyes peeled in the centre of Manchester and other popular areas (like Fallowfield) for adverts.

Pick one up on campus - bring it filled in on the day!

We are holding our Part-Time Jobs Fair on Thursday 2nd October at the Sugden Centre. You might see one of the postcards advertising the fair on campus – feel free to bring it along filled in on the day to make entry into the fair a little quicker. You’ll get a guide on the day and will have the opportunity to meet a number of employers offering part-time, casual or temporary work.

We’re also having a part-time jobs webchat on Monday 29th September where you can ask members of our part-time jobs team some of the questions you might have.

To apply for any part-time jobs you see, you’ll need to send a copy of your CV along with a covering letter or complete an application form from the employer.  You need to make sure to tailor your application to the job you are applying for rather than sending the same thing out to each employer, as they may be looking for different things.  For help with CVs and applications, check out the website and download some of our handouts.

Welcome Freshers and Returners!

If you’ve just started at The University of Manchester or are returning after the summer break and you’ve already found this blog, congratulations!

Brand new fresher?

Freshers Week

If you’re going to the Freshers Fair this week, you’ll probably find yourself signing up for clubs and societies or other activities like volunteering or such crazy things as a sponsored bungee jump! All of the above are great CV fodder, as potential employers look for students who can demonstrate their initiative, have strong communication and organisation skills (e.g. the ability to juggle coursework with extracurricular activities!), have held positions of responsibility and are generally ‘well-rounded’ people. And remember, it’s never too early to be thinking about your career too.

Pop in to see us in the Careers Service to see how we can help you or read about the services we offer.

Returning to second or penultimate year?

So, you’re back after the long summer break! Now’s a really great time to be thinking about your career. Do you know what you want to do when you graduate? If not, you could consider booking an appointment with one of our careers advisers to discuss your options, and have a look at our starting point sheet “I don’t know what I want to do“. This year’s a great time to get some good work experience, which will let you test out an area of work while giving you something great to go on your CV. Summer placements are starting to appear on the Vacancies pages of our website and we’ll blogging in depth about different kinds of work experience opportunities over the coming months – where to look, what’s out there, organising your own and how to apply.

Over the coming months, we’ll be blogging on things like:

• Ways to find out what kind of jobs might suit you
• Spotlights on different career paths, e.g. teaching and media
• Work experience opportunities
• Other tips to make yourself more employable (and get extra “stuff” for your CV), e.g. volunteering or getting a mentor.

Enterprising Futures?

For us Dragons’ Den fans Tuesday nights are a bit dull now the BBC’s sixth series has come to an end. But it does mean that if you’ve got a great business idea, you can apply to be on the next series www.bbc.co.uk/dragsonsden. Just don’t watch the new BBC comedy series, Harry and Paul – their Dragons’ Den sketch might just put you off while giving the rest of us a good laugh.

If you like the idea of working for yourself the careers service has lots of information and links to get you started. Check out the Be your own boss pages on the Careers Service website. In particular, why not check out the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, which was set up to encourage enterprising graduates. It’s also worth checking the self-employment section of the Prospects website. If you want to talk in confidence about a business idea or a general interest in self-employment, you can book an appointment with a Careers Consultant with an interest in this area – ring 0161 275 2829. Over the coming weeks we’ll let you know about enterprise talks we’re putting on, events we get to hear about and any snippets of info we think might interest you. (Louise S, Careers Service)

GET prepared!

GET yours now!

NEW in the Careers Resource Centre this week – GET directory 2009.

The first of the Graduate Recruitment Directories to arrive this year!

It’s a bit early to be thinking about graduate recruitment schemes I hear you say? …… Well not really!

Many of the companies listed in the directory offer placements and internships and the closing dates for these are often pretty early!

It’s also a great place to find out which companies recruit students with your degree discipline and what skills they are looking for.  So it gives you time to improve your skills and get any required experience before you have to make your applications in your final year.

Times Top 100 and Prospects Directories due to arrive soon, watch this space!

Welcome to the Undergraduate Blog

If you are a new student about to start a course at the University of Manchester or a returning student then you are clearly pretty keen to get started this year.

The Careers Service can help you to find part time jobs, placements, voluntary opportunities and graduate jobs. We offer advice on applications and interviews and can help you to find the career path that’s right for you. How do we do that…? Check out our website .

If you are looking for a part-time job all the jobs we hear about are on our vacancies pages.

Don’t worry if you don’t have your university log in and e-mail yet, we will be at the Services Fair in International induction week Sept 19^th and at Freshers Fair on 22 Sept where we will be handing out part time jobs bulletins and loads of freebies!

We are also holding our very popular Part-time Jobs Fair again on 2^nd October at the Sugden Centre.

Lots of part time jobs will require a CV & covering letter, why not get yours up to date before you start looking. Once you know what you want to apply to it will only take a little work to get it tailored appropriately. For help on CVs & applications check out the website and download our new CV handout.