Thinking About Teaching?

Some expert advice from our ‘Careers in Teaching’ Panel 27 Oct 09

Deadlines
* The closing date for primary PGCEs (Post Graduate Certificate in Education)  is 1 December 2009.
* There is no official deadline for secondary PGCEs, however some subjects and London universities can fill their places quickly.

Make sure your referee is given plenty of warning about submitting your reference. Applications without a reference at the closing date will not be considered.

Funding
Bursary information has recently changed. For the latest information about how much funding you could receive, visit the TDA (Teaching Development Agency) website.

Enhancement Courses
Subject knowledge enhancement courses are available to students who want to teach a subject that is related to their degree or that they studied at A-level. Check the TDA website to find out more.

Experience
Many PGCE providers will require that you have spent some time in a school observing a class in the subject and age range you are planning to teach. This will make you aware of what a teacher’s day involves and will help you decide whether teaching is really the career for you. Cold calling schools and asking for observation experience is often not effective. Instead use any family / friends who may work or study in a suitable school to make contact. You can also contact the PGCE department where you are planning to study, who may be able to offer help.

Interviews
Access interactive practice interview questions at teach.gov.uk/interactiveinterview

Impress with your Application
* Reflecting on what you learned during your classroom observation and highlighting your motivation for teaching (including the subject and age range) are good places to start.
* Do not make small mistakes on your application form. A simple spelling or grammar error could prevent you from being selected.

QM Careers has take away copies of  ‘Applying for a PGCE’ and ‘Target jobs Teaching’, which are full of useful tips and advice on applying to teach. If you would like an adviser to check your personal statement or to give you a mock interview, please contact us to arrange an appointment.

18 IT & Engineering Recruiters on campus – TODAY

QM Careers I.T. & Engineering Fair
Monday 26th October 4.30pm – 7pm
Octagon, Queens Building

Meet employers and ask questions to get inside information about what they look for in potential candidates, and what  impresses them on an application form & during interview.  Also explore different job roles, industries and companies.

Employers attending include:

Barclays Capital                 Civil Service Fast Stream
Bank of America                Sentaca Communications Ltd
Tube Lines                         Sky
DSTL                                 NHS
Royal Air Force                  Factset
EADS Astrium                    Accenture Technology Solutions
BNP Paribas                       Tower Hamlets

Boost your CV this Christmas

The Guardian recommends taking on part time Christmas work as a way of bumping up your CV and adding to your current skills.  It may sound suprising, but employers value ALL work experience, especially customer service roles.  M&S alone is hiring 20,000 additional staff this Christmas.  Gaining experience on the shop floor can sometimes be an advantage when applying for graduate schemes as you gain an insight into the business, which you can talk about on your application form.  Most retailers and pubs will start looking for Christmas staff at the end of October so start hunting now:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/oct/10/graduate-careers

Focus on Careers Fairs

The Guardian London Graduate Fair from The Careers Group (http://londongradfair.co.uk/autumn/) takes place tomorrow (Tuesday 20^th October). There will be 69 exhibitors promoting their opportunities, with presentations and workshops taking place throughout the day. It is a fantastic chance to speak to recruiters informally and get ideas about job options and industry areas. Keep an open mind when deciding which companies to approach – you might be looking for a job in marketing, but find your perfect role in an engineering firm or travel company.

To make the most of the fair, check the list of exhibitors in advance and plan who you would like to talk to. Research the organisations you are interested in, so you are familiar with what they do and which roles they recruit in to. Fairs are a great opportunity to network and practice interacting with employers, as well as get ‘inside information’ about the organisation and how their recruitment process works.  So having researched the firm, plan  some intelligent questions about industry trends / what skills they look for in applications / work experience etc.

Possible questions you could ask include:

Could you describe a day in the life of someone working in this role?

What sort of work experience would make me a good candidate for this role?

Which skills are you looking for in a candidate?

What makes an application stand out?

What is particularly distinctive about your organisation?
(You can use their answer in your application to show you’ve made the effort to research them properly.)

Focus on Finance Week – Top Tips from the ‘Bank your Future’ Panel

Speakers were from Barclays Capital, Benedix & SEO London.

Be flexible about the roles you need to take in order to reach the end job you want. Due to competition for jobs, you have to be adaptable about location, hours, salary, & role when beginning your career.

Passion about the area of banking you want to work in was highlighted as another key factor for success. Simon from Benedix emphasised how you naturally excel when you have passion and enthusiasm for what you do.

Whilst you don’t necessarily need to know what exact product you’d like to trade, you are expected to know your reasons for wanting to be a trader.

Understand the business market – At interview you may be asked your opinion on a particular story in the FT or Economist, so you will need to keep up to date with what is happening in the markets currently AND up to 6 months in the past.

Make your own opportunities! All speakers pointed out the importance of being proactive and not giving up. As well as graduate schemes, there are many opportunities with mid-cap firms. These organisations don’t generally advertise positions and rely on speculative applications to fill their vacancies.

When the panel were asked about their thoughts on growth areas for the future and alternatives to IB, the panel suggested students consider Islamic Banking, Brokering, Compliance with G20 regulation changes, Hedge Funds and Professional Services firms.

Employer Events at QM

Yesterday our calendar of employer events kicked off with a session given by Barclays Capital. Their session included  hints and tips on completing a one-page CV for investment banking.  They recommended  dividing the page into thirds with equal space for information on education, work experience and interests/skills.  Bar Cap also suggested using bullet point lists of work experience responsibilities, a summary of grades e.g. GCSE 4B’s, 6C’s, and for those that speak other languages, include your level of fluency.

If you’d like more information, the slides fo this talk are in the ‘Events’ section of the QM Careers Website.  For CV help, bring your CV printed out to a CV clinic (Monday-Thursday am & pm) – book by phone or drop by WG3.

Looking for a job or work experience ON CAMPUS?

The QM Careers team is running a NEW event on Wednesday to bring together around 20 Queen Mary depts which hire students either in a paid or non-paid capacity. All opportunities – ranging from a marketing internship to writing mentor roles – represent a chance to build your CV. Come along and chat to these departments, and find out which roles would suit you best. Drop by to the fair in the Octagon (Queens’ Building) any time between 5pm and 7pm – this Wednesday 7 October…

Thinking of applying for an internship or graduate scheme in an Investment Bank?

Last week we visited Bank of America Merrill Lynch and heard about their 14 graduate programmes and 16 internship schemes for 2009-10. These programmes range from Treasury Management Analyst and Capital Markets Analyst, to Global Risk Management Analyst and more. Roles are also available in Human Resources, Sales and Technology.

Their recruitment team gave tips on how students can improve their chances of success.  Due to the number of programmes on offer, they expect students to have thoroughly researched the role they have applied for as well as the bank itself (e.g. what makes it different from other banks / who are its competitors etc).  They also look for students who have been involved in clubs, societies and business games / competitions.

Bank of America recruited from QM last year and will be back on campus this year for a Recruiter in Residence session on the 21^st October and as an exhibitor at the I.T. & Engineering Fair on 26^th October.

http://www.fssc.org.uk/directions is a great website where you can research in to financial services, accountancy and finance careers. There are also finance careers guides available to take away in QM Careers.