Graduating this year? Perfect your CV and get a practice interview with a top employer

So, you’ve finished your last exam, you’ve had one last coffee in Ground, and you’re walking through the campus for the last time before taking your next step after life at QM. But do you know where you’re heading and how you’re going to get there?

You may already have a destination in mind, or be open to different options. Either way,  how much do you know about the interview process and how to make your CV stand out from the crowd?

Next week (beginning 28 May) QM Careers will be running mock interviews and CV/application clinics to give you a head-start with your job hunt. Find out how to impress recruiters and how to avoid making simple mistakes.

Book a  practice interview with EDF or Teach First, or a CV check by representatives from firms like Fluidata and Deloitte.  Places are limited, so sign up in Careers WG3 Queens’ Building or phone 020 7882 8533 now.

CV and Application Check 1-3pm
Monday: Fluidata
Tuesday: Deloitte (technology)
Wednesday: CRCC Asia
Thursday: Vivid Resourcing

Mock Interview Sessions 1-3pm
Wednesday: EDF and Teach First

The CV journey – what happens to it after you send it?

You have painstakingly prepared your CV or application form and clicked send. You imagine an employer receiving it, perusing what you’ve written and then emailing you back. You wait. You wait. You hear nothing.

Sound familiar? It’s a common experience and a frustrating one. So too is the experience of sending in an application form you have spent hours over, then receiving a rejection almost immediately.

So what’s actually happening to you CV or application form once you click send? We’ve done a survey amongst a small sample of employers to get the inside perspective and combined this with known trends in recruitment to bring you the following insights.

Once you click send…
Your CV or application form lands in a (probably very) busy recruitment team. It will join a large number of others awaiting screening. It’s unlikely that someone will look at it straight away.

If this is the case, why did you get a rejection reply so quickly?
That’s where technology comes in. The employer may be using screening software to sort applications and reject automatically those that do not appear to meet key criteria (e.g., academic results, technical knowledge and employability skills). This software is being used in more and more cases, although not all. None of the employers in our survey were using software for the first stage screening. However, all are using specialist software to store and process applications through the recruitment process.

Aren’t employers missing some great applicants by automating screening?
That may well be happening, but with large numbers of strong applicants and pressure to reduce recruitment costs, that may be a risk worth taking. To avoid being the one who gets missed, make sure your CV contains terms which directly link to the competencies and qualifications needed for the role. These will match the search terms in the software and make your selection more likely.

So it’s just about matching some key words really?
It’s much more than that. The full content and presentation of your CV and application matters a great deal. As one recruiter fed back to us “I believe candidates do not feel that attention is paid to their CVs…This is not true… some do spend the time both at screening and throughout the process to read the CV fully.”

Impact matters.
How long do you imagine a recruiter will take to read your CV fully? A trained eye may view it for 60 seconds (or less!). You need to make an impact in that time. The same goes for application form questions which are often competency based. “We … read through the answers to the competency based questions to look for good examples that the candidate has given and score these”. So it’s not just about having an example, but having a good and clearly set out example (e.g. of team working) to make sure that your evidence can score as highly as possible.

Is it only Human Resources who read my CV?
No. Our survey showed that people from the business line (i.e. those working in teams you may join) are also involved both early in the selection process and, of course, later if you proceed through to interviews. They will be sent copies of your application materials and have read them, so expect to be able to back up what you said!

What happens to my application once it’s all over?
“If the candidate is successful then the CVs, application forms and any other information about the candidate will be passed over to HR to store in their personnel file. If the candidate is unsuccessful, their details are stored separately to the main database as we sometimes find that candidates may come back to us in future to be considered for other positions. All candidates are informed that their details will be kept on file for future vacancies.” This survey response is typical of many employers. A couple of points to note. Firstly, remember that a previous application may be looked at if you apply to the company again. Be consistent. Secondly, when successful for a role, your application information will be kept on file and could be referred to at any point, so think twice about being ‘economical with the truth’ in your content.

To get advice on increasing the impact of your CV and applications, contact Careers.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal about the journey of a CV from aUSperspective at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577178941034941330.html

Competitions- The new way to gain an internship, network and more!

Who would’ve thought the you can gain some work experience/Internships or network with professionals through winning a competition? Remember Employers love to see something different like winning a competition on CVs and applications. It shows that you’re enthusiastic and like challenges. Keep your eye open for competions all year round, but here’s a selection of what’s on offer at the moment:

Business:

• If you think you have what it takes to cut it in today’s business environment just enter Grant Thornton’s “Think it. Film it. POST it” competition and win a weekend trip for two to the Wireless Festival in London, dinner with Grant Thornton trainees, a dedicated careers coach and an iPad 2.      
  For more information go to: www.graduates.grant-thornton.co.uk

Law:

• How about answering some important law questions for the UKSC Blog essay competition, where the first prize of is a week’s work experience at the London office of city law firm Olswang and publication of the essay on the UKSC blog page www.ukscblog.com.
  Questions:
  1) What has been the most important Supreme Court case and why?
  OR
  2) Is the Supreme Court independent?Enter before 5pm on the 27^th February 2012 and email your 500-1000 word informal essay to editors@ukscblog.com with your name, contact details, university and course year.

• This month, Freshfields are offering students the chance to win tickets to the upcoming Olympic games, spend a day at their Paris office, and secure a place on their first ever development programme for first years!
  For more information on how to apply for each of these opportunities, see the ‘latest news’ section at: www.freshfields.com/uktrainees

Engineers:

• Finally engineers, how about entering a competition in partnership with Engineers Without Borders UK and Arup. Identify what makes a city resilient for your chance to win an internship with Arup International Development. Enter before 3^rd March 2012
  For more information on how to apply go to http://climate-resilient-cities.org/index.php

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.

Disclosing disability in job applications

Deciding whether to let an employer know that you have a disability during the recruitment process can create anxiety in students and graduates but it can be important to disclose this information to access any reasonable adjustments you may need.

Some brief definitions to help

A disabled person/person with a disability – someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on his or her ability to do normal everyday activities.

Disclosure – where you inform someone – in this case, an employer – that you have a disability.

Reasonable adjustment – adjustments and support provided by an employer to ensure disabled employees are not disadvantaged in the workplace or in this case the application process.

Why should you disclose?

Legally, an employer cannot discriminate against a disabled person (see the Equality Act 2010) however there is no legal obligation for you to disclose your disability.  If you do choose to tell the employer it may help you receive the necessary support to ensure you perform your best during the application process and you will be protected by the law.

Your disclosure can also further demonstrate the transferable skills that the employer is looking for such as:

• Working around challenges – determination, creativity and resilience to complete your degree with a disability
• Confidence – disclosure shows a confident attitude making your disability a positive attribute
• Diversity – you are contributing to a diverse workforce rather than “selling” your disability

When can you disclose?

You may choose to disclose at the following stages of the application process.
CV – extenuating circumstances for example hospital visits that may have affected academic results
Application Form – requesting the form in an accessible format
Tests – reasonable adjustments such as extra time to complete the tests
Interview – reasonable adjustments such as directions to the venue in large print
Assessment Centre – reasonable adjustments such as physical access into the venue
Offer of Employment – planning reasonable adjustments to support you in your job role
Never – you may not disclose if you feel that your disability does not impact your application or working life.

Remember that employers may want advice from you about how to support you as a disabled employee.  Provide them with ready-made solutions if there are things that you are doing now that work for you such as specialist software to hear text read aloud.

For more information

On campus – the Disability and Dyslexia Service (DDS) have expertise in disability and dyslexia issues, their website was a great help for this blog.

Off campus – REACH provides information for students with barriers to employment, there are links to external support services like Shaw Trust whose information provided content for this blog, an events/application deadlines calendar and blogs.

FAQ: Do I include a personal profile on my CV?

Leaving out a personal profile at the top of a CV is better than having an average, generic one that could have been written by anyone! If you are going to use a personal profile make it unique and state the skills/experiences/awards that make you the perfect applicant for the job. If you have a first class degree and relevant work experience in the sector you are applying to then put this in your personal profile. This will get the employer’s attention and make you stand out from the crowd. A bland personal profile with a list of skills that could apply to anyone may turn the employer off. Come to Careers (WG3, Queens’ building) for more help with your CV.

Important note for students graduating from QM this year

We hope your exams went well, and wish you all the very best for the future.

Whatever your plans, and before you leave Queen Mary, please be aware of the following (and tell your friends!):

Important Survey

Early in 2012, we will need to get in touch to find out what you  have gone on to do, whether that’s a job, further training, work   experience or travel. The UK government requires all university  departments to conduct this destination survey.

Results affect department rankings, and also (anonymously) inform future students about what they can do with a QM degree.

Please help us locate you later on by taking a minute now to update your contact details.

Then please complete the survey when we call and email you in Jan/Feb 2012. This is really very important to us, even if the job you are in at the time is not where you planto end up.

Continuing To Use QM Careers After You Graduate

If you would like feedback on your CV, a practice job interview, help finding vacancies or deciding what to do next, Queen Mary Careers offers appointments all summer (Queens’ Building,  WG3).

You can continue to use these services for free until July 2013 by joining the QM Careers  GradClub and entering promotional code   QM2011UL.

Keep In Touch With QM – Become A Careers Ambassador

If you’ve secured a job or career path and would like to share your experiences with current students in the future, we would love to hear from you.

Please get in touch via careers@qmul.ac.uk about becoming a Careers Ambassador for QM.

Many thanks – and enjoy your summer!

Emily Huns

Head of Service
QM Careers

Finding Finance Jobs

We were asked via Twitter the other day about where to find openings in financial institutions. Well, at this time of year it may be difficult to find front office openings as many of the roles will have been filled by either direct applicants or through the Internship pipeline.

So, you might want to look at other alternatives within finance, and think how your skills, aspirations and experience fit those alternatives.

There is a pretty comprehensive list of roles available on the Prospects website, and if you want to rethink your career plan it would be worth writing up a CV or listing all your skills and experience and then coming to speak to one of our Careers Advisers who will be able to work with you on an action plan.

Where to look for vacancies?

Of course once you know the sort of role you are looking for you will be able to narrow down the organisations you are looking to apply to, so naturally a good place to look are on their vacancy websites. However, there are a couple of other resources out there.

First up have a look on our JobOnline website which has had about 50 vacancies in the last four weeks related to finance. Then have a look at specialist websites like eFinancialCareers, or there is a list of websites available on our website, or take a look at Careers Tagged our online library.

Still not sure?

Come into QM Careers and have a chat with one of our Information Staff. We have some directories in the library you can either take away or use on site as reference.

Need help improving your CV?

QM Careers offers CV Clinics every Monday through Thursday 1:00-1:30. During these small group sessions a member of the careers team will give you advice on how to draft a good CV and target it for different vacancies. You will also be able to take home a ‘CV Ideas Pack’ and list of helpful skills words to use on CVs and application forms.

To book your place into a CV Clinic just drop by the Careers office in the Queens’ Building, room WG 3 or phone us at 020 7882 8533.

Creative CV Guide – CVs for Film, Theatre, Media, Graphic Design

Are you looking to write a CV that is targeted towards the creative indsustires or for freelancing?

QM Careers have just bought a new book – The Creative CV Guide. It is full of example CVs for jobs in film, theatre, the arts, media and more! It also has a CV checklist,  covering letter examples for internships & work placements, as well as tips for making an impression.

To take a look at this, or any of our other resources relating to Creative Careers, come and see us!