The City Course – Explore careers in the City

The City Course, 13 – 17 September 2010
Application deadline: 5pm, Friday 11 June 2010
www.careers.lon.ac.uk/city

If you are interestd in Careers in the City and Finance, then consider the City Course as an opportunity for information and insight into your future posibilities. The deadline is fast approaching for applications and this is one of our most popular courses so don’t miss your chance to take part.

The City Course is a five-day, non residential course giving you a unique change to learn how the financial heart of London works and will cover investment banking,  consulting,  accountancy, commercial law, risk management and more.

During the week you will visit various different City employers and institutions. There you will take part in a number of employer led skills session plus listen to presentations and graduate panels about various City careers. At each employer visit you will get the opportunity to meet and network with recent graduates working within the firm, as well as representatives from the graduate recruitment teams.  This will give you a real understanding of the organisation, what makes it different, and how you would fit in.

Employers involved this year include:

• Accenture
• Financial Services Authority
• HSBC
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• Kaplan Financial
• Nomura
• PwC
• Slaughter and May

This event is exclusive to current students within The Careers Group, University of London Consortium.

For further information and to apply for a place please visit: www.careers.lon.ac.uk/city
Email cs@careers.lon.ac.uk with any questions.

Internship scheme open now to 2008 and 2009 graduates

If you graduated from Queen Mary in 2008 or 2009 and have struggled to find suitable work, you are eligible to apply for a new Graduate Internship scheme.  The scheme involves a 4 week paid internship at a company, adding important experience to your CV and getting a foot into the door of the job market.  Although work beyond these 4 weeks is not guaranteed, some lucky graduates who impress may find themselves being offered a permanent or longer term position with the company they intern at.  For more information and to apply for the scheme, visit www.uel.ac.uk/keinterns.

Websites we like: discover risk

http://discoverrisk.co.uk/ is a great new careers website that gives an insight in to the world of insurance.  If you have thought about working in finance and would like to broaden your options, or you like the idea of working with risk, visit the website to find out more.

In the ‘About You’ section you can build a version of yourself, looking at your skills and interests, which it then matches against different jobs that you might be suited to. You could find that there are jobs available that you had never heard of or thought about before.

Roles in this industry can be diverse and include underwriting, risk management, loss adjusting, business development and much more – so you might just find that there is something that you are interested in. The website also looks at employers, case studies and lots of other useful information in a fun and friendly way.

Gaining Experience in Healthcare and Medicine

The post below is from the ‘Off the Shelves’ blog written by our friends at The Careers Group…

Getting the right healthcare work experience is key to a successful application to medical school, but it is not always the easiest thing to find. Fortunately there is plenty of information availables that can help.

First of all, how do you know if an opportunity will help your application stand out? remember you will need to show:

• Commitment to a medical career and realistic expectations – particularly shown through longer-term medical or caring experience
• Familiarity with the NHS from the inside
• Decision-making skills
• Coping well with stressful situations
• Empathy and communication skills

One placement or work experience opportunity does not have to cover all of these, in fact medical schools will expect you to have at least two or three, and you can include some non-healthcare experience too e.g. coping with difficult customers in a part-time bar job. On the healthcare front, mix it up – you can get valid experience from working in a range of settings, not just hospitals and GP surgeries, but also hospices, care homes, children’s playschemes, volunteering for counselling helplines and more… Direct caring interactions are particularly important (not just filing papers in a back-office). Here are some ideas and links to get you started:

Opportunities within the NHS

• Volunteer at King’s College Hospital
• Volunteer at University College London Hospital
• Volunteer for the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
• Volunteer at Barts and the London Charity
• Volunteer at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Trust and apply for short-term work placements there.

Use the NHS services search to find your local hospitals and search their websites or the websites of their NHS Trust to find more opportunities.

• NHS jobs – search for roles like ‘health care assistant’, ‘porter’, ’support worker’, ‘radiology/radiography assistant’ or ‘phlebotomist’ and you might find some (low) paid roles available to those without qualifications (though some experience is preferred).

Paid caring work

• This JobOnline Health Care search lists a number of opportunities particularly for roles like personal/home care assistant which could demonstrate caring, communication and empathy with commitment. Experience may not be required.
• Home care – UKHCA – you can use this site to find home care agencies in your area and see if any can offer you work. You won’t necessarily need qualifications, but some previous caring experience, evidence of immunisations, references and a CRB (Criminal Records bureau) check may be required.

Volunteering

• St John’s Ambulance first aid volunteers – St John’s can give you all the training you need to handle first aid situations under pressure, as well as give you the opportunity to practice your skills at public events like the London Marathon. You may find your university has a student branch such as LINKS at the University of London – check with your union.
• British Red Cross first aid volunteers – like St John’s ambulance, British Red cross can offer first aid training and the opportunity to practice your skills at events.
• Volunteering sites like Do-it and Volunteering England, can help you find local opportunities that fit your schedule. In particular this can be a way to find hospice work, playschemes, mentoring/befriending and community support work.
• Help the Hospices – Find a Hospice – use this website to search for local hospices and get their contact details. Many will indicate here if they are open to taking volunteers.

Contact Provide in the QM SU, who have access to local volunteering projects.

Counselling helplines

• Nightline – help man the phones providing support for students in London. As it is set up for students, you may find it easier to fit around studies and less demanding on your time than other helplines.
• SANEline – provide callers with emotional support and information on mental health.
• Samaritans – help those in distress who may be having suicidal thoughts. Samaritans prefer a minimum of one year commitment from volunteers. Training and support are provided.

Work shadowing

Traditionally many people arrange a couple of days following a doctor through personal connections – think you don’t have any? You could try writing to, and/or visiting local GP surgeries, to ask if you could shadow a doctor or perhaps a nurse. You should supply a CV and covering letter demonstrating your interest in medicine as a career.

Overseas

A number of gap-year type organisations can offer hands-on medical experience or work in orphanages – a real eye-opener but it can be expensive. You can look in the ‘community development’ opportunities of the established general gap year organisations such as i-to-i or BUNAC. Alternatively for some very medicine-oriented opportunities see:

• Projects Abroad – volunteer medical/healthcare internships

NB people often have variable experiences with gap-year organisations. I recommend googling for reviews before making a payment.

Career Stories from QM graduates

Wondering what job to do after you graduate? Unsure of what different job roles actually involve? One way of getting ideas is to look at what other Queen Mary graduates have gone on to do and find out their stories of how they got their job and what it entails on a daily basis.  The QM Careers website has a page dedicated to the career stories of former QM students. From charity worker to investment consultant, law graduate to politics graduate, you can read what they have to say and get their advice for you as a current student about how to become a high quality job candidate. Find their profiles under the ‘making career choices’ section of our website at
http://www.careers.qmul.ac.uk/students/choices/Alumni%20Profiles/index.html

Make your CV shine this Summer

Exciting as the approaching long summer holidays may be, it is important to use at least some of the time to add skills and experience to your CV.  When you graduate, employers will value any work experience you have gained as it gives you an insight into the work place, builds on your skills and demonstrates that you have been proactive.  It’s also an opportunity to try out something you’re interested in and gain valuable experience, giving you a head start when you enter the job market.  Most employers will ask about your previous work experience and what you gained from it on their application forms.  Some employers use work experience as a way of ‘trying out’ a student with a view to offering them a job on graduation.

Work experience can be broken down into two different types:

Work Experience
Work experience/vacation work is often more informal and isn’t necessarily career focussed.  It can be arranged through existing contacts, or involve temporary or part time work such as retail or office support roles.  It can also be more casual, lasting just a few days or weeks and is not always paid.  You can still take this route to get an insight into a particular career, however you won’t necessarily be working in the job you’re interested in (more than likely you’ll be in a supporting / assistant role).  However it is a great opportunity to ask questions to find out more about working in the industry etc. Make sure you are enthusiastic and always willing to help out, as then you are bound to impress – you will find that opportunities can be found in the most unexpected places!

To find this kind of work, talk to the people you know – friends, family and contacts you have from any previous work experience or volunteering – they may know someone who can help. For example, if you had a part job in retail, you may be able to get work shadowing in the head office within a business area. Come to QM Careers for more specific information about networking and how to network effectively in the industry you are looking to enter.

You can also search for vacancies on QM JobOnline, as well as look for temporary work  via recruitment agencies, a list of which can be found at www.rec.uk.com. Check out our Part time work handout for further tips and advice.

Internships
More structured work experience takes the form of an internship.  These are usually offered by the bigger graduate recruiters, who take a set number of interns on each summer and have a tough application processes.  The best interns may get offered a place on the graduate scheme, so they are very competitive.

Employers recruitment for internships around January/February time, however there may still be opportunities available.  Check out JobOnline, Targetjobs, and Prospects.

See also our ‘Internships, Vacation Work & Work Experience’ handout.

Working, gap years and Summer jobs in the USA

Before you start making applications, it is important to find out about your visa status. You can ring The US Embassy helpline or visit their website: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/index.html

According to the US Embassy to get ahead in the USA job application process you need to get rid of ‘British modesty’  and be happy to explain your achievements and to get to the point! They expect that by 2018 there will be 34% more jobs for software engineers, 23.9% for management analysts and 10.3% for accountants / book keepers.

For advice and information about job opportunities abroad, including the USA, look at the jobs section on the new International Futures website.

Some short term and work placement schemes are listed below:

• BUNAC – offers a range of working holidays including a summer camp counselling programme, flexible work and travel programmes and volunteering/teaching placements.
• Camp America – arranges nine-week placements working at US summer (mainly countryside based) camps.
• Camp Counselors (CC USA) – arranges summer camp jobs, work and travel experiences, and volunteer opportunities.
• Cool Works – jobs in the USA, specialising in resorts, parks and camps. Includes internships and voluntary work (visas not provided).

• AgriVenture – places you with a host family for paid work on a farm or horticultural enterprise.
• American Work Experience – offers people aged 18 to 28 a variety of options to work and travel in the US for a four-month period during their summer holiday.
• Au Pair in America – matches au pairs with US host families.
• IST Plus – offers a variety of programmes in the USA, including Internship USA, Graduate Internship USA, Professional Career Training USA, Summer Work & Travel USA and Summer Camp USA.
• Mountbatten Internship Programme – offers 12 month internships and training programmes in New York.
• Student Conservation Association – the largest provider of conservation opportunities for young people in the USA.

America’s Career InfoNet provides occupation and industry information, salary data, education resources, self-assessment tools, and career guidance.