Short term work experience over the summer

There are still some short term vacancies for over the summer, so if you don’t yet have any work experience sorted yet, then check out what is still available and apply before it is too late! Work experience of even a few weeks can give you an opportunity to develop your skills for both continuing your degree studies and preparing you for a job after your course.

Some companies offer up to four week placements or even part time work, which in some cases is longer term and could fit around your studies. Look through a variety of sources including local newspapers, job websites, through your own contacts or contacting employers direct, as well as firstly checking vacancies on the University’s CareersLink website.

One example of a current summer internship for undergraduates is:

Journalist Student Internship with the Red Army on CareersLink, Ref: 14089.

There are 10 part time Journalist positions available. This role needs interns who are inquisitive, excellent at writing for magazines and the web, relating with all kinds of different people, as well as having a cool head under pressure and absorbing information quickly. As the Red Army is a publication for Manchester United, it is important for this role to have an interest in the football club and football in general.

‘… But I’ve only worked in a bar, that’s not work experience right?’

WRONG.

Any kind of work- whether full- time, part-time, voluntary, vacation, casual or unpaid can count as work experience, boost your CV and help you land a dream job, even if it is completely unrelated to your future career.

So what skills can you gain from working part-time?

Summer internships for University of Manchester undergraduates

You may be wondering what to do over the summer as well as catching up with family and friends, or working on some assignments for the new term. You may have already thought that you want to get a job to save up some money for next year at Uni, pay your rent over the summer or get some useful work experience to help you in your degree or with what you want to do after Uni?

One of the options worth looking into is applying for an internship. You can build up different skills and experience in a work environment, learn about a specific role or industry and with many of the internships advertised, get paid in the process, but always check what’s on offer!

The Careers Service has summer internships open to undergraduates with a number of different internships being advertised online as vacancies through Careerslink. Each internship needs a different set of skills depending on the role. Some are part time, some full time and they can vary in length from 2 -12 weeks.

Step Up and Stand Out! Employability Development Fair

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.

Everything you wanted to know about work experience & internships

Is it suddenly on your radar that summer isn’t far away? Do you have this vague feeling that your CV is a bit bare and there should be more on it? Then read on.

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.

Still looking for an internship, work experience or a casual summer job?

… Then you might like to hear about these talk talking place in the next couple of weeks. Sign up on CareersLink if you are interested!

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

Could you be the student employee of the year?

Are you the 11th National Student Employee of the Year?

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

Handling Volunteer Interviews

I decided to begin applying for summer volunteer jobs early, before I would go back to my regular university and job routine for the second semester. I have now got a volunteer interview in London next week and am brought back to the memory of my first interview for my current volunteer job in Manchester. Firstly, when they say ‘please come to our offices for a short and informal interview,’ it is likely to not be short and there still remains the formality associated with meeting new colleagues. The best advice I can give is to be prepared, regardless of the situation presented:

3 Simple, Stress-Free Ways to Get Ahead!

Now deadlines have past, and with the Christmas break, everyone including myself must be feeling like this:

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:

Can’t find a part-time job? Try volunteering!

Since returning to Manchester following my year abroad (which I spent in Saint Petersburg, Russia), I have been constantly applying for jobs to no avail. At first I was optimistic, assuming my work experience from before my year abroad, and the life experience gained by spending 9 months in Russia, would be enough to secure me some kind of job. As the weeks passed, and more and more of my applications went unnoticed, I decided to try and gain some experience for my CV through volunteering.

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