Jobs Seen on the Street 26.2.09

Jobs seen this week include:

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

• Test Centre Administrator at Pearson Vue REF: FTS/128050
• Booking Co-ordinator at The Photo Lounge REF: FTS/128189
• Female Photographer REF: FTS/128132
• Concession Sales Assistant at Hallett’s REF: FTS/128057
• Waiting Staff at Chilli Grill Bar (Fallowfield) REF: RHM/10082
• Pharmacy ssistant at the Co-op (Stockport) REF: S00/39055

Seen on the Jobsmine

• Counter Staff at Simply Delish
• Part-time Call Handlers
  (apply through Alexander Hancock recruitment)

Seen on Just Jobs 4 Students

• Trainee (coffee) Barista
  (apply via Bond Personnel)

Get yourself a ‘careers mentor’ – Part I

Getting yourself a mentor or ‘personal career champion’ can really help you get your career off the ground. In this post (Part I of II) I want to tell you what having a mentor – the right mentor – can mean for your job prospects.  In my next post, I’ll give you some tips on finding a suitable mentor and getting them to champion your career take-off.

So what is mentoring? One definition is “A one-to-one, non-judgmental relationship in which an individual mentor voluntarily gives his or her time to support and encourage another” (from the Active Community Unit in the Home Office, 2001). The best mentors tend to be experienced, enthusiastic individuals who are willing to encourage, challenge and listen to their mentees and help them to move forward in some aspect of their lives, in our case, with their career.

I should mention that the Careers Service actually has a really successful mentoring programme, Manchester Gold, which matches students with experienced professionals in relevant sectors. These mentors offer students individual advice and support to help them kick-start their careers. The only problem is, Manchester Gold is really competitive with several applications for each place on the programme. But if you missed on Manchester Gold, finding your own mentor could be a real option. What have you got to lose?

5 quick reasons for having a ‘careers mentor’:

1. Feedback on You. Your mentor can give you a real employer’s perspective on your CV and applications and an honest assessment of your suitability for (and chances of getting into) your chosen career.
2. Industry knowledge. Your mentor can share their invaluable ‘insider knowledge’ into the sector or area of work you hope to get into. For example, how is the industry changing? What skills are employers looking for at the moment? Where’s the best place to look for opportunities in the current economic climate?
3. Guidance and direction. Your mentor can advise you on your careers action plan, what your main priorities should be and how to ‘market yourself’.
4. Support and reassurance. Your mentor can give you some perspective and a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel when you open your nth rejection letter. Let’s face it – they’ve probably been there themselves. They’ll be able to tell you it’s just a normal (if potentially demoralising) part of the process and you’ll get there in the end.
5. Work experience and contacts. This can be the real icing on the cake. If you develop a good relationship with your mentor over time, they’ll have a chance to build up a good picture of your skills and qualities and you’ll have the opportunity to learn about their business and consider what you might have to offer. Think of it as a kind of extended two-way interview, which may lead to the possibility of work experience or your mentor sharing some of their contacts with you or recommending you for opportunities they hear about on the grapevine.

So hopefully you’re sold on the idea of mentoring. Soon I’ll write another post giving you some tips on how to actually find your own ‘personal career champion’!

Jobs Seen on the Street 19.2.09

This weeks vacancies:

Seen on the Manchester Airport Website

• Temporary Aviation Security (weekends)

Seen on Job Centre Plus website
(Enter job reference and click ‘go’ to view)

• Viewing Representative at Bridgefords REF: FTS/127963
• Home Tutors at Tutor Me Ltd REF: FTS/127928
• Front of House Staff at Deckers Restaurant (Sale) REF:ALU63884
• Corporate Hospitality Hosts at IOS Security REF: OLH/70330

Seen on The Jobsmine

• Optical Assistants at Vision Service Opticians
• Sales Assistant at The Jewellery Outlet (Lowry Centre)

Jobs Seen on the Street 12.2.09

This weeks jobs are:

Seen on The Jobsmine (Manchester Evening News website)

• Customer Service Advisor (Didsbury) for Southway Housing Trust
• Administrative/Teaching Assistant at St Ambrose RC School
• Telesales Staff for Compensation Claims Bureau

Seen on Job Centre Plus website
(Enter job reference and click ‘GO’ to view)

• Mobile Creche Bank Staff for Aisha Childcare REF: RHM/10010
• Sales Colleagues (Cheetham Hill) at Manchester Fort REF: CHT/23789
• Sampling Colleague for CPD Field Marketing REF:BEW/22393
• Lunchtime Supervisor (young children)  – apply through Select Education agency REF: COT/6059

Seen on Reed employment agency website

• Travel Money Advisor at Travelex (Cheadle)
• Temporary Customer Admin for Essential Personnel

Thinking about an environmental career?

Are you thinking about a career in the environmental sector?  Not sure if it is for you and you’d like to find out more?  Wondering how to get work experience and find jobs in the sector?  Then the ‘Environmental Careers in Focus’ event could be just what you are looking for! 

It’s being held at University Place on Wednesday 25th February 2009 from 1.15-4.45pm.  It’s open to anyone thinking of pursuing a career in the environmental sector and is suitable if you’re studying for a technical or non-technical degree. 

Work experience is really important when you are making applications to this sector.  Graduation might seem quite far off  but any experience you can gain now will help when you are making applications for jobs  in the future.  Come along to the event and speak to the professionals who have been in your situation (and might even have sat in the same lecture theatres as you as many will be Manchester grads)  and get their tips and advice on how to get work experience in the sector.

The event is an opportunity for you to network and gain information from professionals who work in the sector for a variety of different organisations (private, public and voluntary).   They will be from a wide range of discipline areas which we hope will include consultancy, environmental science, EIA and audit, wildlife, environmental law, geotechnics and waste management.  Please note – actual areas represented on the day may differ as the professionals are all taking time out of their businesses on a voluntary basis to come along to this event and to speak to you about their experiences.

Even if you aren’t sure if the sector is for you, or have done some research and want to find out more, you’ll gain from coming along to the event.  It’s your chance to ask questions to professionals working in roles or organisations that you may want to work for one day.  You’ll be able to learn about:

• how they got into the sector,
• what it’s like on a day-to-day basis,
• how to get work experience and find jobs,
• what will give you the edge when applying for jobs,
• and much more. 

Why not come along and ask your question to a professional rather than searching for the answer on Google!

If you want to attend, sign up in the events section on our website  from today – Wednesday 11th February 2009.  Places are limited so make sure to reserve your place as soon as possible!

Upcoming Careers Events

Now that term has started again, you will no doubt be busy with coursework, sports, part time jobs and much more.  You might think that you’ve not got much time to look for a summer placement or job at the moment.  However, you may be able to spare a little time to attend some of the events that the Careers Service has planned over the next month or so – and they could certainly help you in your search for a summer job or with ideas for after you graduate.

On Wednesday 4th March 2009, we will be holding our ‘Voluntary, Not- for- Profit and Public Sector Careers Fair’ at The Academy.  It’s a bit of a mouthful but definitely worth attending if you are looking for a summer placement or are interested in a career linked to these areas.  It’s a careers information fair but you will find some of the organisations there on the day will be offering summer placements or work experience.  Even if they aren’t, you might find it useful to find out a bit more about how to get into your chosen career area.

At the moment, organisations are still booking to attend so you might notice the list of exhibitors increase over the next few weeks.  Currently there are BUNAC, CCUSA and Raleigh International to name just a few.   We’ll also be blogging a little more about the fair as it approaches.

Check out the events sectionof our website to see everything that we have planned for the next few months including employer presentations, workshops, web chats and more.

Jobs Seen on the Street 5.2.09

This week’s vacancies are:

Seen on Job Centre Plus website
(Enter the job reference on the search page and click ‘go’ for details)

• Weekend Sales Office Administrator – apply through KTG recruitment REF: STY/85525
• Sales Consultant at The Trafford Centre REF: STY/85498
• Jewellery Sales Consultant at Debenhams (Stockport) REF: SOO/38462
• Sales Assistant at Halfords REF: STY/85481
• Part time Outbound Sales – apply through KCMB Recruitment REF:/ALU/63742

Advertised on Reed employment agency website

• Part time Administrator
• Freelance Graphic Designer at Phoenix Solutions
• Sales Assistant at Jaques Vert

Seen on Just Jobs 4 Students

• Casual Sheltered Housing Staff at Adactus

Seen on Key103 website

• Customer Sales Advisors (evenings) at Barclays Bank

Psychometric testing for internships

As a qualified Psychometric Tester I’m aware of a number of myths surrounding this subject. It seems that because there are the letters
‘P S Y C H O’ in the word ‘Psychometric’ it conjures up something of the arcane; a mystical process delving into the inner reaches of the mind, some kind of alchemy, something akin to horoscopes.

A dictionary definition hopefully clarifies matters:
Psy•cho•met•rics – the branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and personality traits.

The British Psychological Society reviews tests and sets out ‘Best Practice’ for the administration and interpretation of them. Organisations using such tests will have qualified people who are professionally trained. 92% of the employer members of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) says they find them ‘a useful or very useful aid to the recruitment process’ and do so because they have found them to be reliable. One Manchester student who, on a feedback form, said: “Numeracy tests are useless; they test nothing” is certainly wrong.

Psychometrics falls into two distinct areas – ability tests and personality questionnaires. Whereas the first types are true tests with right and wrong answers, personality questionnaires simply differentiate between types of personality.

Personality Profiling is the subject of most misunderstanding and suspicion concerning Psychometrics. The purpose of these questionnaires is to identify candidates with personalities suitable for the job; different roles have different personality requirements for a person to be happy and successful. Employers often use these questionnaires as a confirmation of their own view established during the application and interview process.

Typically for undergraduates, ability tests will consist of one or more of the following – diagrammatic, verbal, numerical; with diagrammatic being used more for IT and engineering jobs.

When are you likely to encounter Psychometrics? Well, as we’ve seen with AGR, pretty frequently if you are applying to one of the major recruiters. Often, the pass mark is not enormously high; the test is there for you to demonstrate the required level of numeracy and literacy for the specific role. As two recruiters said:

“We’re not looking for Einsteins. We’re just checking that they perform as well as the average undergraduate.”

“Aptitude tests allow people from arts backgrounds to show that they’re numerate and people from science backgrounds to show that they’re literate.”

Many students are surprised to encounter tests when they apply for internships but, as internships are a good way for employers to decide who they would like to offer jobs to on graduation, the application process is often very similar to or the same as the process for a full time position. A successful internship can often lead to a permanent job offer without further application.

Performance on ability tests (verbal, numerical, diagrammatic) may be improved by practice. We have a wealth of information on testing on the Careers Service website including practice online tests. We also have an extensive range of practice books of tests which you can use in our Careers Resource Centre. The advantage of these is that you can check your answers and see where you are going wrong. Often, online practice tests just give you a score without pointing out the correct and incorrect answers.

Graham Keating, Careers Consultant.