What can I do after a bioscience degree?

When you complete a degree in a bioscience you should come out with a number of skills that many employers find valuable. These will include:

Quantitative Skills i.e. good with numbers.

Communication Skills i.e. can talk and write about your work and other topics to different people.

So when you explore what you can do with these skills, really think about what you enjoy and are good at rather than just thinking you have been trained to work in a laboratory. A science degree does give you laboratory experience, but it can give you so much more than that.

So what types of job can you do with a bioscience degree?  The Guardian did a Q&A session on this subject earlier this year. Have a look at some of the useful suggestions from their panel of experts.  There is also a very useful booklet called ‘Next Steps: options after a bioscience degree‘ which is available as a PDF here. There are example CVs in this booklet, including an academic CV and a more ‘skills based’ CV which can be used for work outside of science and/or academia. The Society of Biology also has a careers section on their website.

If you decide to pursue a career in research and are thinking of doing a PhD, it is a good idea to keep your options open and get some broader work experience alongside your PhD. Think about doing a PhD that involves close collaboration with industry e.g. a BBSRC CASE Studentship.  Alternatively, consider doing a PhD at a university that offers a PhD with an internship attached e.g. BBSRC Pips.

Thinking broadly about your skills and developing a wide range of experience will mean that you have career options both within scientific research and beyond.

If you want to discuss your options and ideas, book an appointment with QM Careers: 0207 882 8533.

Tracy Bussoli
Careers Consultant for Researchers
QM Careers

Top 5 Skills Graduate Accountants Wish They’d Worked on at University

Contrary to popular belief, accountancy and financial management are not just about crunching numbers. While strong numerical abilities are essential, there are other important skills that employers seek in candidates which are not normally associated with the industry.

TARGETjobs compiled a list of the top five skills accountancy graduates wish they’d worked on at university, precisely because they hadn’t realized such skills would be necessary in their line of work.

You’ll notice that all the skills mentioned in the article are transferrable skills, which you can gain through university assignments or extracurricular activities. Recruiters from all professional sectors are looking for well-rounded applicants, so it’s important to make the most of your university experience by expanding your knowledge and skills beyond your field of study.

If you want to find out more about transferrable skills and how to use your academic or work experience to highlight them, drop by our office in Room WG3 in theQueens’ Building or call us on 020 7882 8533 to book an appointment with one of our advisers.

Raluca Maria Chereji
2^nd Year French and Politics student

Promote your media talents

Are you a student journalist, reporter, photographer, editor, broadcaster or blogger?  Would you like some work experience at a major newspaper or a music magazine?  Then read on.

The Guardian Student Media Awards 2012 asks students to submit their entries to one or more of the categories below

• Publication of the Year
• Website of the Year (1 June deadline)
• Reporter of the Year
• Feature Writer of the Year
• Columnist of the Year
• Critic of the Year in association with NME
• Photographer of the Year
• Digital Journalist of the Year
• Broadcast Journalist of the Year.

There is an opportunity for every contributor to your publication or  station to win – so make sure you enter as many categories as possible.

However limited your resources, the experienced judging panel will recognise the kind of imagination and energy that will drive a successful career in media. Judges include media representatives from the Guardian, Channel 4 News and NME.

There are two deadlines to enter the competition:

Website of the Year - Friday 1 June 2012
All other categories - Friday 29 June 2012.

Winners will be awarded experience at the Guardian and NME.  The shortlist will be announced in the supplement MediaGuardian in September. The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony in November.

For more information please see the website.

As well as networking, working on projects is a key thing to do to get into media careers.  If you do have such experience come to Careers in WG3 (Queens’ building) for advice about how to market it and if not visit us to gather ideas about getting relevant experience.  For more information about working in media see the Prospects website.

Competency questions – what are they really asking?

Sometimes when faced with a competency question (on an application form or at interview) it isn’t always immediately obvious what it is they are looking for.  Taking the time to work this out is important, as you will be able to focus your answer and give examples that provide evidence of the skills they are looking for.

So how to do this?
Ask yourself: What is the question getting at? What is it designed to find out about me?

Practice makes perfect. Here are some examples of questions along with their underlying meaning and topics you could cover in your answer (depending on the situation and job role):

Can you give me an example of when you’ve had to change someone’s opinion on an issue?

• underlying meaning = persuasive communication

In your answer you could give an example of a time when you demonstrated the ability to influence and persuade. You could also mention things like effective communication, the ability to adapt your communication style to your audience for best effect, or being considerate of other viewpoints yet confident in your own.

Can you give me an example of when you persisted with something even though you were beginning to lose hope of success?

• underlying meaning = achievement of goals

In your example you could mention your ability to create well-defined goals and responsd well to pressure.  Other ideas:  having the persistence and energy require to meet or exceed your objectives,  demonstrating resilience, or possessing the ability to look at things from different angles.

What do you think will be the most important issue/s facing this sector in the next five years?

• underlying meaning = commercial awareness

Show you have an interest in business and knowledge of how an organisation operates, particularly in your chosen field.  An obvious way to do this is to show that you keep up with news in general and with your own industry area in particular.  You could also demonstrate that you are aware of the ways external factors such as government legislation, new technology, war, extreme weather conditions, or global issues can affect the operation of an organisation.

Tell me about a time when you completed a task without all the resources that you would have ideally needed.

• underlying meaning = adaptability

Your example will give evidence that you are able to adapt to a situation which is not ideal and still produce an effective outcome.  Within this you could highlight having a flexible approach, the ability to think creatively, staying positive in difficult circumstances or being resourceful in responding to major changes.

Can you give me an example of a situation in which you have had to analyse complex information in order to make a decision?  How did you approach it?

• underlying meaning = problem solving

This could entail your ability to analyse and solve practical problems and evaluate tasks or situations in a logical manner. You could mention being able to generate new ideas, think creatively, or bring different elements of a problem together and formulate an effective solution.

How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time?  Give some examples.

• underlying meaning = organisation and planning

Show you take responsibility for the completion of tasks and ensure that detail is not overlooked when involved in a project.  You could highlight times when you have used your time management skills, prioritised tasks effectively, and / or  managed multiple tasks.  You could include that you understand the need, on occasion, for re-prioritisation if the unexpected happens.

Competency, skill, transferrable skill – what they really mean

Competency

A competency is an action which you can carry out in a competent manner, so:

1.  Someone who is properly or sufficiently qualified; capable:
a competent accountant.

2. Adequate for the purpose:
a competent performance.

There is no difference in meaning between competencies and competences – which to use is down to personal preference.

Skill

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out agreed results often with the minimum use of time or energy. For example, you may have the skill to speak French or Swahili, you may be skilled in researching, you may have IT or writing skills.

Looking at the area of work, common examples include time management, teamwork, leadership and planning. There are also specific skills which would be useful only for a particular job e.g programming.

Transferable skill

This is a skill learned, or developed, in one place (job, study, volunteering, student society, community) which can be used in – transferred to – another place.  For example, if you’ve given regular presentations in seminars, you will have developed a skill which you could then utilise in a wide variety of roles and situations – from presenting proposals to potential clients and running training sessions, to pitching for funding and giving you confidence to present yourself well in front of new people.

You may have had a part time job whilst studying which could demonstrate to a potential employer your ability to plan your time and manage your workload.  It could also be used as an example to show customer focus, the ability to work in a team or communication skills – it would all depend on how you explained your experience.

Write the world – international development and journalism

Do you aspire to be a published journalist?
Are you interested in issues facing the developing world?
Do you want to write about such issues that are often neglected in the media?
Then enter the Guardian International Development Journalism Competition 2012.

How to enter
The competition has two strands.  One is for professional journalists and the other for amateurs including students.  The competition asks you to write a 650-1000 word article about any aspect of global poverty that you think needs more media attention.  Write your article and submit it by Thursday 3 May 2012.  For more information please see the competition website, Twitter and Facebook pages.

What you can win
At first, entries will be shortlisted to 40 and then the 16 best entries (eight amateur and eight professional) will be published online on the Guardian website.  Later the 16 finalists will be flown to Africa orAsia to research a new project.  This research will be published in two special Guardian newspaper supplements after the two winners are announced at a special award ceremony.

How this can help your career
A good record of relevant work experience is essential to getting a career in both journalism and international development.  As a writer, you will need to provide a portfolio of your written work and a portfolio which includes published work will be very highly regarded.  As a development worker, you will need to show your enthusiasm and knowledge of how the sector works and often this involves partnerships with bodies like the media.

Being a part of the research team in a new setting would allow you to enhance  useful skills for the workplace like communication, organisation and flexibility to name a few.

Even if you miss out on the final 16 it is a great way to practise your writing skills for either industry or making an entry shows a keen interest in news and current affairs.  Plus there are also media opportunities on campus you can get involved in.

Find out more about careers as a Newspaper journalist or International development worker and visit Careers in WG3 (Queens’ Building) for more advice.

Group Exercises for Assessment Centres – What You Need to Know

Group exercises play an important role in assessment centres because they allow recruiters to see how well you perform and communicate with others as part of a team. The most common type of exercise is a group discussion where you need to tackle a given topic with other candidates, whilst being closely observed by the assessors. Here are some things they will be looking at:

Your Contribution to the Discussion

• Initiating the discussion or bringing in new ideas
• Asking questions to keep the conversation going
• Suggesting a solution or answer to a challenging issue
• Inviting the contribution and support of other team members.

How You Interact with Others

• Paying close attention to other people’s opinions
• Encouraging contributions and supporting others’ points
• Using colleagues’ contributions to either paraphrase or add to them
• Constructively presenting counter-arguments for other members
• Asking questions to clarify others’ claims.

How You Helped the Group

• Tactfully avoiding digressions or bringing the discussion back to topic
• Reinforcing awareness of both goals and time constraints
• Diplomatically seeking to deflect tensions or conflict between participants
• Summarising the discussion as a whole
• Gaining agreement and reaching a consensus within the group.

At the same time, the employers will be looking out for negative behaviour which can impact the group as a whole. Be sure you avoid:

• Lack of participation or disengagement with the topic
• Off-topic contributions or comments
• Ignoring or not paying attention to other candidates’ opinions
• Interrupting or talking over other participants
• Disagreeing with or dismissing someone’s contribution without justification
• Behaving aggressively and trying to dominate the discussion.

If you want to know more about group exercises and assessment centres, visit our website or drop by our office to pick up some resources. You can also make an appointment to talk about your assessment day with a careers consultant. Just come to room WG3 in the Queen’s Building or give us a call at 020 7882 8533 to book a session.

Raluca – Maria Chereji
2^nd Year French and Politics student

Do you want to work in the media: journalism, TV or radio?

If that is your career ambition then you will be expected to have a good amount of work experience whilst you are still a student.  The great news is that QM offers you loads of ways to get involved. Here are a range of opportunities:

Journalism

• QMessenger, the newspaper (current editor: Caz Parra and next year’s editor: Sean Richardson, people should email editor@qmessenger.co.uk)
• CUB, the magazine (current editor: Tom Stevenson and next year’s editor: Anna Matheson, people should email editor@cubmagazine.co.uk)
• London Student – email editor@london-student.net
• The Angle – email babs.williams@newturn.org.uk
• Elephant – email matthew@teekay.me
• Zine Mary – the guy who does this is called Robert Pritchard but I don’t have an email for him
• QMSci – email editor@qmsci.com
• QMessenger.co.uk, website (current editor: Alex Penn and next year’s editor: not yet decided, people should email editor@qmediaonline.co.uk).

TV/Radio

• Quest, the radio station (current station manager: Maria Sowter and next year’s station manager: Chris Smith, people should email maria@questradio.co.uk)
• QMTV, television station (current station manager: N/A and next year’s station manager: Ozzy Amir, people should email drama@qm-tv.co.uk).

And if nothing here floats your boat then why not set something up! Schools often have retention funds that don’t get spent, there are theWestfieldand Prospect funds as well as other sources of external funding.

Abi Sharma

Looking for some work experience – create your own opportunities

Creating initiatives yourself that build on your talents and interests is a great alternative to spending hours trying to get ‘formal’ work experience. By doing your own thing, you’ll get valuable experience, have fun as you do it and may get away without having to compose a CV or application form!

Tempted to blog, start an e-business or create a new initiative on campus? Go for it.

Employers from all sectors look for confidence, initiative, fresh-ideas and motivation in the graduates they recruit, so setting up something now could well lead to a much sought after place on a graduate scheme with a major company. That’s unless the benefits of being your own boss become too good to leave behind…

Take a look at the article Create your own opportunities from The Careers Service Guide London 2012.

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.