Creative CVs – Do something different…

Develop your career is the blog from The Careers Group, University of London. One of their recent posts showed how you can break from the norm and do something different with your cv and how you present yourself.
Whilst this is more common for people entering creative, arts and design based careers, it is a great way to make your CV stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

For some ideas and inspiration (or even if you are just feeling nosy) take a look at Top 5 Creative CVs.

Do you live in West Sussex, East Sussex, Hampshire or Surrey and want a paid internship?

GraduteOn is an internship programme that is run through the University of Chichester. The programme provides graduates with opportunities for paid internships  across West Sussex and neighbouring areas. These opportunities may range from short-term, expenses only internships within the charity sector to fully-paid internships, in the private and public sector, lasting several months.

GraduateOn offers the opportunity to people from any university who have graduated within the last 3 years to gain graduate-level work experience.  Applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

For further information see www.graduateon.net

Ten tips for career success from leaders of top graduate employers

Some interesting tips and advice from Target Jobs for you to think about over the winter holiday…

Insights from leaders to help you succeed at work

1. Believe in yourself, because if you don’t you can’t sell anything to anybody. Don’t act differently, whomever you’re talking to. Most successful people are the same in the office as they are at home. And believe what you’re doing is important. Jo Taylor, head of learning and 4Talent at Channel 4
2. Things that seem enormously important today might not be so in six months’ time. Experience has taught me the importance of keeping work and life in perspective. Jonathan Evans, director general of MI5
3. Don’t worry about what degree you’re studying – personal qualities are more important. Be clear about what you want in a career. At the interview stage, we are looking for people with a clear purpose and a firm view of what they want to do. Simon Levene, global practice group leader (intellectual property and technology group) at DLA Piper
4. You need to hear the meaning behind the words. If you don’t listen carefully you can lose the support of your team which is why I attend roadshows, read blogs and have a laugh with colleagues. When you’re a senior person, you need to work even harder at listening beyond the words. Simon Kirby, director of infrastructure investment projects at Network Rail
5. Network, network, network. Pro-actively build your personal and professional network, both online and face-to-face. Develop a ‘personal brand’ at work. Be positive, adaptable and adopt a can-do attitude. You will discover very early that people like working with positive people. Sarah Fisher, HR director at Microsoft
6. You tend to find that people in leadership roles are very active outside their day-to-day job. Nobody tells them to do it. They do it because it’s their natural inclination – whether that means organising a society, playing sport, writing their own book, it doesn’t matter. Mike Maddick, head of graduate resourcing and development at The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
7. Creativity and adaptability are important skills to have now because change is constant and relentless. Business models are evolving with more focus on developing entrepreneurial behaviour within firms, even in traditional professions like law. Victor Tettmar, managing director at Bond Pearce
8. Expect the unexpected in all sorts of guises. Be clear and honest – if you’re not, believe me you’ll be found out and it can have a destructive effect on you and the people you work with. Air chief marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, chief of the air staff, Royal Air Force
9. At a junior level you can be totally driven and influenced by what’s immediately in front of you. Life has taught me to always look beyond the deadline; to take a longer-term perspective. It’s easy to be pulled into what is urgent and immediate and lose focus of the bigger picture. Cathy Bell-Walker, finance partner and global board member at Allen & Overy LLP
10. I understand how we market the business [and how the market works] and I’m comfortable with financial analysis. Note to students reading this: to succeed in any business you need to develop these two skills. Russell Barnes, divisional director of Midway Developments at Merlin Entertainments

Tweet your way to career success this Winter

Yes, it’s possible to get a job in 140 characters! Don’t believe us? Take a look at the Guardian Jobs Blog http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/graduate-twitter-job-seeker-employed for a real story of how it worked.

Whatever methods you are using to search for jobs, internships or work experience, one main challenge you’ll face is how to get noticed, so it’s worth considering how social media can bring a fresh approach.  Networking and thinking creatively about job hunting are useful tactics to try!

For further information and inspiration, go to the resources section of our website and see the downloadable leaflets in the job hunting advice section. Those that relate to this topic are: ”Find and apply for unadvertised jobs’, ‘Proactive job hunting’, ‘Networking’, ‘Networking online’ and ‘Networking questions’.

Graduated from QM in 2011? Your last chance to join for free careers support

If you graduated from Queen Mary in 2011 and would like to use the support available at QM Careers you will need to be a member of Gradclub.

What is it?
Gradclub is our unique membership scheme (not the same as the alumni card) that allows you to access our services and facilities for 2 years after graduation.

How do I join?
Go to www.gradclub.co.uk and register your details. Once you have entered that you graduated from Queen Mary, you will be asked for a promotional code which is QM2011UL. This will allow you to join for free.

This special promotion expires on the 31st December 2011. After this time membership will be £55, so join now!

What does QM Careers do?
Book an appointment to see one of our Careers Consultants to discuss your options, get feedback on your CV / application, as well as get advice on how to do well at interviews and assessment centres. We can also help you prepare for psychometric tests,  apply for postgraduate study, consider working abroad or even advise you on how to start your own business.  Our information room has take away information, brochures and help sheets on a range of topics and all job areas.

Student Stories: How I found my own internship…

One Finance and Economics student who recently landed an internship has kindly shared with us how he did it.

“I’m someone who doesn’t like to follow the flock, so applying to Barclays, JP Morgan and all the other firms in Investment Banking certainly wasn’t what I had in mind to get an internship.  I therefore decided to play the statistics, and bypass competition by looking for smaller firms, with just as much salary and growth potential.

I decided I wanted to work in a hedge fund because it offered a small structure, and really interesting activities.

A Google search of “top 50 performing hedge funds 2010″ produced a list, and I proceeded to e-mail each and every one of those I could work in without needing a visa. I had a pre-written CV and cover letter which I adjusted for every firm I applied to.

I sent at least 40 emails and phone calls: if you want to use this approach,  using info@name.com addresses is much less likely to get any response. Try and find a named person to send it to.

Having first sent emails, I then called up human resources.  If both of these methods failed to reach the right people, I pushed my applications further and further within the companies until I got feedback.

After around two months of research and applications, I received a call from a Swiss based hedge fund who asked me to come to their Vienna offices to work in the sales department, after a brief phone interview.

And that’s about it.  Long hours of research and perseverance finally paid off. I really feel people shouldn’t only focus on Investment Banking internships at Goldman Sachs and look wider for less competitive opportunities, which lead to just as exciting and high end jobs.”

Final year  Queen Mary School of Economics and Finance Student

For details about this method of job hunting, go to the resources section of our website and see the handouts ‘Find and apply for unadvertised jobs’ and ‘Proactive Job hunting’.

 

‘Non science’ internships in science / pharmaceutical companies

Internships are a chance for students to gain experience of the working world.  Sometimes searching for the right internships can be quite tricky but it’s well worth doing – you even get paid!

What can you gain from internships?

• New skills and putting your own skills into practice
• Experience in a working environment
• A boost for your applications and CV

You will probably find that there are lots of interesting opportunities in companies that you never thought about applying to.  Did you know that there are lots of options to work for a science / pharmaceutical company in a non-science role?

It doesn’t matter what degree you do you.  If you do a science degree and want to get out of the lab, or if you do a non science degree but are interested in the pharmaceutical industry,  you can gain experience in many fields.  The opportunities range from working in Marketing and Purchasing internships at GlaxoSmithKline, to Finance and Brand Manager internships at AstraZeneca and P & G or even regulatory affairs at ABPI.  Keep your eye open for vacancies in HR,  purchasing, IT, account managment and sales too.

This is the chance for you to work on some challenging assignments which will be underpinned by the appropriate levels of support and training.

Don’t miss out on this excellent prospect to build you CV, get work experience and see whether it is the right job for you!

Looking for a career in finance – have you considered the pensions industry?

The finance sector continues to attract many graduates despite the recent and ongoing uncertainty in the industry. However, one area with career potential which has tended to be overlooked is the pensions industry. Perhaps a career in pensions appears at face value to be less dynamic and rewarding than its investment or commercial banking cousins. The facts tell a different story, so read on…

Scale: £1 trillion of assets is managed by UK pension funds. The top ten pension funds in the private sector (including Barclays plc, BP and others) combined with the top ten funds in the public sector (including Royal Mail, the BBC and Civil Aviation Authority) account for around 25% of this total.

Innovation: Reform and change are major features of the UK market as the industry grapples with the impacts of the financial crisis and changing demographics. See http://www.pensions-management.co.uk

Professionalism: Standards of conduct are high and the industry has a qualification framework overseen by the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/__802574D800564425.nsf/id/7nggkjcwis!opendocument

Media interest: The media profile of the pensions industry has never been higher. Career opportunities include communications roles, marketing and journalism.

Salaries and reward: The PMI points out that, in contrast with many sectors, salaries in the pensions industry have risen at rates above inflation in recent years. Benefit packages tend to be good too and you’d expect there to be a decent pension…! Traditionally the industry has not had the long hours culture of some other parts of the financial sector, however current pressures may lead to change in that area.

Career development: The industry can offer a relatively structured career path and opportunities for continuing professional development.  At the same time, there are a number of career options within it, including IT, communications, actuarial, accountancy, legal and administration routes.

Inside Careers has worked with the PMI to produce information on the different roles within the pensions industry and how to get started. Take a look at
http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/__802574d800564425.nsf/id/83nknmcwis!opendocument

Sue Moseley
Freelance Careers Consultant

Make your work experience count!

There’s little point in work experience if it’s not going to benefit you in the future. Here are some tips to help you get as much out of your experience as you possibly can:

Before:
Be early. Remember the deadlines for many summer vacation jobs and placement schemes fall in the preceding autumn or spring term.

Be realistic. Aim high, but think laterally. Of course it makes sense to apply to the most prestigious companies, but be aware that they receive thousands of applicants for very few positions. With competition so fierce and places so limited, it’s also worth investigating smaller companies and approaching them directly.

During:
Be enthusiastic. Accept that you may not be given the most challenging and responsible jobs in the organisation. Make sure you’re remembered for your positive attitude to all tasks, however mundane.

Be proactive. Use your initiative. If you see something that needs doing, offer to do it and volunteer for positions of reasonable responsibility where you can demonstrate your skills. Ask questions if you don’t understand something or want to know more about it. You won’t be seen as stupid – just conscientious and keen to learn.

Be observant. This is your opportunity to learn about this industry. Can you see yourself in this working environment? Do people seem happy in their jobs? What are the hours and pay like? What tips can your colleagues give you?

Be pragmatic. Making notes or keeping a diary of the various tasks you complete and the contacts you meet provides useful raw material for writing future CVs and application forms. It will also provide concrete examples that you can refer to during an interview.

After:
Be reflective. Don’t just focus on any routine tasks that you undertook. What did you actually learn from the experience? What skills have you developed, and how has your understanding of the sector increased?

Be in touch. Use the contacts that you have made to your advantage. Staying in informal regular contact keeps you in the employer’s mind, which may be useful for future vacancies within the organisation. Above all, remember that any type of work experience will help you improve your employability, explore future career options and increase your chances in your chosen profession when you graduate.

Paid work during the Winter Holiday

Want to get some work experience and/or some money coming in over the coming Winter Holiday? Wondering if there are any opportunities left out there which won’t require you to dress up in a Santa costume?

Here are two businesses currently recruiting in the London area:

Royal Mail – https://rmg.i-grasp.com/fe/angard.asp?newms=hm
Boots – http://www.boots.jobs/christmas/

Retail (shops, markets and their distributors) and hospitality (restaurants, pubs and hotels) do a huge amount of business at this time of year. While some will already have recruited the extra staff they need, others are still scaling up. Look out for opportunities with local businesses and keep an eye on sites such as Gumtree http://www.gumtree.com/jobs/london

But is it worth the effort if retail and hospitality aren’t sectors where your career is heading? It is. You’ll gain skills which you can transfer to other roles and be building a track record of work on your CV with evidence of team-working, customer focus, being organised, meeting quality standards and more. Take a look at http://ow.ly/7Q2rK for some thoughts from Target Jobs on the value of bar work for example.

Sue Moseley
Freelance Careers Consultant