Careers outside of London

If you have studied at a university in London, it might seem like the natural option to look for work in the capital when you graduate. The number of possible businesses to apply to as well as the vast and diverse job options available in London is almost too big to comprehend. Many companies have their head offices here and it is also a big centre for industries such as finance, politics and media / arts to name a few.  Typically the salaries are higher too, which is often a big incentive for graduates looking to pay off their student loans as quickly as possible. But there is also a lot of competition, not just from other graduates in London, but also graduates from the rest of the UK and even worldwide.

However by only looking at London based jobs, you could be seriously narrowing your options and missing out on some excellent opportunities. It may come as a surprise that some of the UK’s biggest employers struggle to fill places on their graduate schemes based in regional offices due to a lack of interest from applicants. On Friday the Guardian published an article highlighting the number of opportunities available outside main UK cities. It reported that even large and well-known organisations such as Ernst & Young find it difficult to fill vacancies in their  satellite offices, such as Reading, Southampton or Luton.

So where can you find out about Regional Vacancies? The Prospects, Target Jobs and Times Top 100 guides all have information about graduate training schemes which includes details of their various locations. Use this information to then look directly at the employer’s website to see whether there are still opportunities available in their regional offices.

There are also specialist websites which cover particular geographical areas of the UK where you can get further information about employers and opportunities in that region:

• http://www.gradseast.co.uk/
• http://www.gradskent.com/
• http://www.graduateadvantage.co.uk/ (West Midlands)
• http://www.graduatejobsouth.co.uk/
• http://www.graduatesyorkshire.co.uk/
• http://www.graduateon.net/ (West Sussex and Hampshire)
• http://jobs.northwestworkplace.com

Read the full Guardian article here.
Prospects produced an article last year also drawing attention to this issue http://www.prospects.ac.uk/latest_news_going_regional.htm

Employer visit: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

I went to a pretty refreshing meeting at Bank of America Merrill Lynch the other day. The focus of the meeting was an overview of their hiring patterns for the 2011-12 session, and involved a realistic view of the challenges facing recruitment at the Bank, and by extension the rest of the industry.

By no means was this a downbeat session, but instead felt more human than some of similar events I’ve been to (particularly some of those pre-2008).

Several themes came out of the event:

1. Hiring is fairly level across Internships and Full Time hires with 310 Interns currently at the bank and 250 full time hires coming onboard for the 2011 intake. Hiring looks to have similar numbers for 2011-12.

2. Growth areas in the business are in Global Risk particularly looking at Market Risk. There is also a focus on getting potential hires interested in a range of areas within the business with around 35% of hires into the Middle and Back Office.

3. Emerging Markets are very much seen as the future of the business and this means particularly Central Europe and Latin America. Business level language skills appropriate to the regions are highly sought after particularly on the Sales & Trading desks.

4. Last recruitment cycle BAML had around 20,000 applications for the UK arm across Internship and Full Time positions, and around 65% of those were fromUK institutions. From the Platinum level of campus (of which QMUL is one), 1 in 25 applications were successful.

5. In Technology there is a strong desire to compete with other Banking technology divisions as well as against the large technology firms. A former QM Computer Science student I spoke to at the event said she found the Java skills she learnt on her course were really useful, and the Bank is moving towards Python as the main language, so it would be useful if applicants could demonstrate they’ve used this in some way.

6.  BAML are very serious about Diversity issues. If you feel you have a barrier that could prevent you applying or undertaking a role at the Bank they recommend you disclose this as soon as possible, this can be done even in a phone call to their recruitment team. For information about disability and disclosure, see our recent blog post.

Check out Prospects for more about future trends in banking and finance.

James Weaver
Employer Liaison and Events Officer

Employer visit: Deloitte

Recently on a visit to Deloitte I was surprised to find the total number of hires for 2011 is now only just under the peak 2007 hiring level, and looking to grow for the 2012 start. They had 1100 full time places across the business (just a note they are still hiring for people to start in this cohort, despite having opened the 2012 vacancies).

Competition is pretty tough for these places though and I was chatting with Head of Graduate Recruitment Rob Fryer who said that they had around 15,000 applicants although from the sound of it most needn’t have bothered as they fail at the first stage simply because their application forms are poor.

So why are these applications so poor?

Lack of motivation demonstrated on the application

Each application is read, and they look for motivation in a number of ways from the content through to the accuracy of the spelling. The age old story of the wrong company name or job title on the application sprung up. Please don’t embarrass yourself by doing this! Get a friend to proofread your application form, or at least spell check! Not doing so shows you don’t really give a damn about the job.

Research about the role and company

A large number of people simply regurgitate EXACT copy from the company website when saying why they want to work for an organisation, and often don’t actually understand the role they are applying for.

One way to do this is to recommended that you try and do an Internship at the firm, and many of people from the business I spoke to found out during their Internship that there was a totally different role that was an ideal fit for them be it the type of work, hours, or pay.

Another thing to do is to keep an eye out for the company you want to work for at events either on or off campus. Get involved with these and talk to the people attending.

A final tactic is to simply ring up the Graduate Team and ASK. Remember faint heart never won fair lady!

James Weaver
Employer Liaison and Events Officer

What is a graduate scheme?

Have you heard people talk about Graduate Schemes, but wondered what it is they are really talking about?

What is a graduate scheme?

• A structured programme that combines working and training, targeted to recent graduates.
• Offered mainly by large employers and can last for a period of 3 months to 3 years. Successful completion normally leads to a permanent position and often a professional qualification.
• In some sectors, such as finance, retail management and surveying, graduate schemes are common in the large companies. Other areas of work such as the charity, journalism and NGO fields run very few graduate schemes.
• Application deadlines are often from September December, almost a year before the start date.
• Graduate schemes are competitive and only 12-15% of students get a place on a graduate scheme.  They tend to have a longer and more formal recruitment process. Applicants can expect to complete multiple rounds of interviews, psychometric tests and assessment days.
• Salaries tend to be relatively high for graduate roles.

 What is a Graduate vacancy/entry-level vacancy?

•  A position suitable for graduates such as finance officer, research analyst, trainee community education officer, human resources assistant etc.
• These can be found in large companies in sectors where the graduate scheme isn’t common, and also in small and medium sized organizations (known as SMEs).
• Smaller businesses tend to ONLY recruit graduates in entry-level roles, rather than running graduate schemes.  Employing graduates this way is more flexible, as you can recruit as and when positions are required by the business.
• Although SME’s employ fewer than 250 staff, they make up 99.9% of all businesses  in the UK, making them a great place to find graduate opportunities. Graduates often overlook smaller businesses and send applications to well-known companies where competition can be particularly fierce.
• Roughly 85% of all graduates will get their first job in an SME, working in an entry-level role.  The selection process is usually less than two months and vacancies become available throughout the year.
• Career development and progression is based on applying for promotions, either inside the organisation or at another company.

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.

Improve your job hunting technique

The recent UK economic growth figures announced last week fell short of the official growth target however the Chancellor insisted that more jobs are being created.  This may leave you feeling uncertain as you search for graduate vacancies.  An important way to make you feel more confident in your job search is to reflect on how you are searching for jobs.  Here are some questions to begin with.

Have you come to QM Careers for initial direction for your job search – what are your career options and a shortlist of good websites to use?

Do you know how to use these websites, for example why would you go to a professional body’s website to look for jobs besides its vacancies page?

Do you know that not every vacancy is advertised and the ways to discover these hidden jobs?

These questions are some of the prompts from a New Scientist blog about job searching however these techniques also apply to students and graduates who are not looking for a science career so do have a read.

QM Careers is open throughout the summer, if you are a current student please bring along your student ID, if you are a recent graduate you must be a GradClub member to use Careers – currently we have a promotion to sign up to GradClub for FREE.

Merchandising and more – Exciting opportunities in Retail

Retail is a recruitment area that, somewhat ironically, struggles to market itself properly to students.

Last week I attended a conference organised by the Association of Graduate Recruiters looking at the various challenges facing retailers and highlighting some of the little know areas of recruitment within their business.

One of the key messages to come out of the event was that most of the companies present* were unable to fill all of their graduate vacancies during the 2010-11 recruitment cycle, and in many cases vacancies were scheduled to increase for the 2011-12 cycle.

This is seen as being mainly indicative of awareness of the types of roles beyond general management in the sector, which can include areas such as Buying, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Merchandising, Product Design, Product Technology, Purchasing, Property, and Supply Chain.

Merchandising was one of the areas particularly highlighted by a number of retailers I spoke to (in particular Arcadia and John Lewis) as being a shortage area across all businesses, with a need for students with a highly numerate background who are interested in statistical analysis to fill a number of roles. This is also a highly lucrative career option in the long run, with experienced merchandisers at the top end commanding close to six figure salaries.

Here is an audio file covering some of the hidden opportunities in retail, please note it was recorded on my phone, so is not amazing quality!

Another thing that was discussed is that looking at many of the retailers present at this event the Head Office opportunities are, with a few exceptions, located outside London, and are particularly focused on the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire. One Graduate, originally from London, I spoke to who had relocated to Manchester to work with The Co-Operative said that it was difficult to move, but he felt it was the right choice for him as he was convinced that the Co-Op was an organisation he wanted to work for due to their Business ethics.

The more ‘traditional’ retail management roles can also feature a lot of travel and relocation during the process of a Graduate Scheme, and in some of the more ‘leisure’ based retailers it was noted that long hours were a normal state for new starters.

The organisers recommended that anyone interested in the realities should look at the videos at Career Player for a flavour of the types of work involved http://www.careerplayer.com/careers/retailbuyingmerchandising.aspx

Here are the slides from the event

*Companies present were Arcadia, ASDA, Boots, The Co-Operative, Dunnhumby, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, HSBC Bank, John Lewis, Majestic Wine Warehouses, Marks & Spencer, Mitchells & Butlers, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Whitbread

Graduate schemes in unlikely places

Are you looking for a graduate scheme outside the private sector?

A stumbling block for many students and graduates is finding paid opportunities in sectors like charities.  Often it seems that graduate training schemes are ring-fenced for sectors like finance or engineering.  It is important to remember that not every organisation who offers training programmes can afford large advertising campaigns so you may have to look a little harder.  Here are a few that you may not have heard of to start you off.

 

Charity Works is in its third year of placing graduates in 12 month first level management roles within its group of twelve charities.  The 2011 programme opened at the beginning of the month and closes at the end of May.

Cancer Research UK is one of the few large charities to run a graduate recruitment scheme.  Cancer Research is a large business and the scheme covers a good range in its four streams Corporate, Fundraising and Marketing, Scientific Services, and Communications.

Did you know that places like universities and art galleries can be charities?  Local to us, the Whitechapel Gallery has six traineeships in Development, Education, Exhibition, Communications, Visitor Services, Operations, Press and Marketing and Exhibitions.  Applications close on 4 March.

Many housing organisations have charitable status and some offer graduate training posts.  You may have to look up individual organisations for specific schemes.  Have a look at this recent Q&A about graduate housing careers.

The National Skills Academy for Social Care hosts a management trainee scheme that helps graduates gain the skills needed to build careers in the independent social care sector.  Social care involves aspects like nursing and dementia care homes but graduates do not need any experience of the sector to apply to the scheme which has been running since 2009.

Look around for more opportunities and read more about routes after graduation.

NHS Scientist Training Programme launched

Studying a science degree? The NHS Scientist Training Programme has now been launched. There are three main schemes: life sciences, medical physics and clinical engineering, and physiological sciences.

The jobs are relevant for those with a “relevant pure or applied science degree” (such as biology, biochemistry, biomedical science, physics, etc) They usually look for those who are heading for a 1st or 2:1 degree and if you have previously done any kind of research it can be beneficial.

The list of all the jobs are available at the NHS careers website and more details about each individual job including the person specification, job description and details of how to apply can be found on the NHS jobs website.

NHS Scientist Training Programme

A new graduate training programme for healthcare scientists has been developed to start in the Autumn.  Approximately 200 training posts in life sciences, physics and engineering, or physiological sciences will be offered.

Successful candidates will joining a 3 year fixed term, integrated training programme of workplace-based learning and a Master’s degree in their chosen specialism.

Full details of the scheme will be made available on the NHS Careers website in early February.  At the moment the closing date appears to be March 13th 2011.

For current information see: http://www.nhsemployers.org/PlanningYourWorkforce/Modernising-Scientific-Careers/MSC/implementing-MSC/Pages/ScientistTrainingProgramme%28STP%29.aspx

Interested in Science? See our website to find out more about our Focus on Science week 31st Jan – 4 Feb 2011.