Are you paying tax on your summer job?

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is reminding 108,725 students across Greater Manchester that they may not have to pay tax on the money they make from summer jobs. To earn extra cash, we know many of you take summer jobs. But large numbers of students are unaware that, provided their total earnings for the tax year are less than the personal allowance of £7,475, they will not have to pay any tax on the money they make.

To ensure your employer doesn’t deduct tax you don’t owe, you need to fill in a form P38(S), which you can download from the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p38s.pdf.

Even if you don’t fill in the form don’t worry that you will lose out. You can reclaim any tax paid by sending HMRC a form P50, available online at www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/p50.pdf.

Stephen Banyard, Director General of Personal Tax at HMRC said:

“We don’t want students to pay tax when they don’t owe any, so we’re encouraging them to fill in a P38(S) and return it to their employer. That way they can keep all the money they’re earning for student life’s essentials.”

You can find more student advice on tax matters at: http://studenttaxadvice.direct.gov.uk/index.html

A handy student tax calculator is also available at: http://stccalculator.hmrc.gov.uk/UserDetails.aspx

If you fancy following HMRC on Twitter you can find them at: @HMRCgovuk

Getting involved at university – start adding to your CV early

Have you seen the Guardian Careers website article ‘Why I’m thinking about employability during my first year of university’ this week?  It’s an interesting piece from a student at York who’s just finished first year and used his time outside of studying to build experiences for his CV.  I just thought I’d highlight it as I think it’s interesting and certainly echoes the messages we often hear from employers about wanting potential recruits who have more than just a degree to offer.  So when you’re back at university after the summer (or starting your first year at Manchester), maybe you might want to think about what you can do outside of your course to add to your CV and build up experience and skills!

About to graduate? How the Careers Service can help you…

Yes, it’s a time of major transition if you’re a 2011 graduate. A lot of students I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks are checking out of their accommodation, maybe moving back home, or moving to a new house in Manchester with friends. I know this is a time that quite a lot of you – exams and coursework all finally behind you – will be starting the job hunt in earnest. If you haven’t already got your career plans sorted and a job or course lined up, here are a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Our Careers Service for graduates: You can use the Careers Service for up to three years after graduation, so that’s until June 2014! So you’re welcome to book an appointment to see a careers consultant over the summer or come in to look at our resources or get feedback on your CV. We even offer telephone appointments and CV/applications feedback by email for those who have returned home and can’t make it into the Careers Service in person. See more info about the services we offer.
2. Our Graduate Careers blog: We have a sister blog just for graduates, our Manchester Graduate Careers blog, which is full of excellent tips, news and information about the latest jobs. If you’re about to graduate, this blog will give you the most relevant information rather than our undergrad careers blog. Here’s an example of a recent post:
   
   
3. Next steps after graduation guides: A couple of good things to have a look at on our website are our ‘Next steps after graduation’ pages and our downloadable  ‘Life after Graduation’ PDF guide. Also check out our dedicated ‘Graduates’ pages.
4. Paid graduate internships in Manchester: If you feel you need to get more work experience under your belt or you don’t want to commit to a career path just yet, you might be interested in our dedicated Manchester Graduate Internship Programme (MGIP) providing paid internships of 4-12 months in length in a variety of roles and organisations in Manchester.
5. Jobs jobs jobs: Some students don’t realise that the Careers Service is advertising 100s of vacancies targeted at University of Manchester students and graduates at any one time via our CareersLink system (you just need to log in to use it). Some interesting examples right now include:

• Graduate internship (MGIP) as a marketing assistant with a media company based in Old Trafford.
• Junior chemist in nanomaterials in a Manchester-based company.
• Trainee patent attorney in a firm based in London/Cambridge.
• International management trainee programme for a major travel company.

Good luck!

There are still jobs out there!

You may have read in the press recently that, accordingly to the Association of Graduate Recruiters, there are now 83 applications for every graduate vacancy. Woah, pretty scary? Supposedly, even more doom in an already gloomy sounding graduate job market.

Is there any point bothering to apply? (Surely it’s going to be impossible to get an interview, let alone a good job at the end of it)

Is there even any point looking for jobs? (There’s obviously so few out there)

Are there any jobs that are not as competitive?

The answer to these questions is Yes, Yes, Yes! There are still jobs out there and it is definitely still worth applying.  Don’t read too much into what you read in the papers….it’s usually only half the story.