Careers With A Difference – Coming Up

Autumn is our big semester for careers events, particularly for the major graduate recruiters, but we don’t stop there. Spring is when we focus on “Careers With A Difference“, our new catch-all phrase for non-corporate & not-for-profit careers, creative/media careers, self employment, environmental careers and more.

Here’s advance warning of what’s coming up later this semester

Dates to book in in your diary now:

• Got a great business idea but not sure what to do? – a one-off event for those keen to find out about running your own business or becoming self-employed. 2-4pm, Wednesday 29th Feb – registration now open. This will be followed by further sessions on developing business plans, a “clinic” for running your own business and an introduction to social enterprises – see CareersLink for further details in the near future.
• Getting started with a career in the media – an interactive practical 1 hour session with our careers consultants, for those wondering where to start with this competitive career area. 12-1, Monday 5th March – registration now open.

Coming soon:

• Getting into International Development – a half day information event for anyone interested in International Development, Humanitarian Aid and related areas. The chance to hear from experts working in this field, including DfID, Mines Advisory Group and the British Red Cross. 1.30-5pm, Wednesday 7th March. Registration opens in a couple of days!
• Careers in the Environmental Sector – a half day event with the chance to talk directly to a range of people working this field. 1-5pm, Wednesday 14th March. Registration opens third week of Feb.
• Insight into Broadcasting and Journalism – a two day course with industry insiders as tutors. Look out for this running over the Easter vacation. UPDATE: Just confirmed – it will be on Monday 26th & Tuesday 27th March this year.

None of these events are recruitment events – these aren’t fairs with employers and vacancies. Why?

• Because employers in these fields don’t need to spend time and money on stands at fairs to get you interested – there are more than enough people trying to get into these jobs.
• Because many employers in these fields are small and can’t afford the time away from their organisations to recruit at a range of universities – but our alumni and other contacts have often, very generously, given up their own time to talk to you at these events.
• Because very few organisations in these fields have “graduate recruitment schemes”, recruiting in the Autumn. They’ll have one-off vacancies which might happen at any time of year, so it pays to get prepared beforehand with all the information you’ll need for your applications, and grab the vacancies whenever you spot them.

Even if they’re not advertising jobs, they do give you the inside info you’ll need to get into these very competitive fields – don’t miss your chance.

IBM India – Postgraduate Internships, Apply Today

Another last minute post – but in fairness, we only got this today!

If you’re interested in a paid summer internship with IBM Research Labs in India, you’ve got until the 31st January to apply (given the time difference, that means today).

Full details are on the IBM Research – India website or there’s a pdf with further info here.

If you want to take up one of the 10-12 week internships, which start from around mid-May, you’ll have to negotiate taking any time out with your supervisor or course tutors if you’re still a student.

BBC Production Talk – Register Today!

If you’re interested in working in TV production, if you act immediately, you can get some inside information from the BBC on their new Production Talent Pool entry scheme – tomorrow!

Sorry for the very short notice about this, but it was only confirmed yesterday afternoon (guess it reflects the kind of “keep your ear to the ground and drop everything when a chance comes up” mentality you’d need in TV production). As of posting (9.30 am, Thursday 26th Jan) there were still 17 places left – get in quick.

Here are the details:

This Friday 27 January – two lunchtime talks from the BBC at 12.00pm and 1.00pm (pick the time that suits you) in Room 5.7, Crawford House, Booth Street East, Manchester (above the Careers Service and across from the Aquatic Centre – the entrance is the one furthest away from Oxford Road)

This year the BBC launches the Production Talent Pool (PTP). The PTP will be a first step on the ladder for nearly 100 ambitious talented people who want a career in broadcast media. Successful PTP candidates are offered short-term, paid work in runner or junior production management roles across the BBC for up to 12 months.

The brightest and the best of those will be offered one of 12 places on the BBC’s prestigious Production training scheme which fast tracks individuals across 18 months to become Assistant Producer.

This session is aimed at final year students to give details of the scheme and information about how to apply.

Register here for the talk at 12 noon- 1pm, this Fri 27 Jan

Or

Register here for the talk at 1pm – 2pm, this Fri 27 Jan.

The talk will be given by Kate Hoyland, the BBC’s Manager, Trainee and Development Schemes for the BBC Academy.

Places are limited so please sign-up asap. Registration closes at midnight on Thurs 26 Jan.

Please note, information about careers in the media is regularly posted on the University of Manchester Media Club blog

How To Use Social Media For Your Career

We’ve added a new section to our website today, giving hints and tips on using social media, like LinkedIn and Twitter, to further your career.

It’s designed to get you started, and for the first time, we’ve included “screencasts” showing you how to set up a LinkedIn profile and advice on what to include, even if you’re a student with little or no work experience. This includes an example student profile to show you how easy it is to create an effective presence on LinkedIn. You should be able to see basic details if you don’t have an account or are not logged in to LinkedIn, but you’ll need to set up an account to get the full benefit.

The screencasts are videos of a computer desktop, showing you what to click where to set up your profile, plus a helpful audio commentary, with tips on what to add, and what to avoid. There are two clips, each less than 5 minutes long, so they’re ideal if

• you haven’t taken the plunge yet but want to set up a profile, or
• you have set one up but want to make it look more professional.

I’m really impressed with these new resources – and even more impressed that my colleague, Helen, managed to create them in the last few days of her pregnancy. I guess it was something to take her mind off waiting, but I think it shows dedication to student careers, above and beyond the call of duty!

One brief point – in Part 2 of her screencast, Helen mentions that you should look at a video on using LinkedIn groups as part of your network. I guess that time just ran out and she didn’t get chance to create this before her more pressing deadline. However, we’ll pick up where she left off, and one of us (OK, probably me ) will learn how to create screencasts and continue the series – watch this space.

Let me know if you find these useful and what other topics you want us to cover.

Need Someone To Talk To?

Just a quick post to point out that the undergrads are all worrying about exams at the moment – which means that we’ve got lots of appointments free over the next week or two.

Whether you need a quick 15 minute drop-in appointment, or a full half hour pre-booked appointment with someone used to seeing people from your School, there should be some short notice appointments available. (I’ve currently got over 20 free appointment slots over the next 2 weeks – but then I only made them available today.)

To book just call in (we’re opposite the Aquatics Centre) or call our Careers Information staff on 0161 275 2829 – open Monday to Friday, 9-5pm. More details here.

Good idea to get in while it’s quiet!

I Feel Your Pain …

Just thought I’d share some New Year careers adviser problems with you – if you’re not interested, just skip this. Have a look at some of the nice new vacancies on the Twitter feed instead.

New Year, New Challenge
I’m grappling with some challenging career issues at the moment, particularly around

• how people choose which career to go into, and
• why they are sometimes reluctant to let go of one “identity” and consider other possible “future selves”

In particular, I’m looking at PhDs who don’t want to think of themselves as being anything other than “an academic-in-waiting”, even when they know the stats.

I’m also pondering about all those undergrads who cling to the identity of “student” as long as possible and don’t apply for jobs before they graduate, even though that inevitably means their identity changes to “unemployed” (or sometimes “Masters postgrad”… don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone if that’s the reason why you’re doing your Masters – we all know it happens).

There are lots of careers theories, and I’ve had some good advice on starting points for journal articles on identity, career decision making and employability.

How to choose?
The problem is, I’m on unfamiliar territory with careers theory, and I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the choices in front of me; the unfamiliar jargon they use; the sometimes conflicting information. I’ve got loads of information and keep on finding more, but how can I tell which one is “the best”, and what do other people think are the good theories, and what if I choose the wrong one? That’s only the start though – once I find a theory I like, how do I actually use the information to solve the problem I’ve got?

And then I realised that whatever I choose to do, I’m getting an insight into what our students have to struggle with when trying to choose a career – all the careers information we fling at you; employer presentations which sound like so much corporate jargon; what your parents, friends, fellow students say are “the best jobs” (all different, of course); how on earth you get into those jobs from where you are now.

I’m feeling suitable chastened, and I think I’d recommend a crash course in trying to make use of careers theory for any careers person who’s getting exasperated at the lack of direction or action from their students.

Good luck to those of you making those difficult career decisions in 2012, and if it’s all getting a bit overwhelming, come and have a chat with a careers adviser. Some of us do know what it’s like to be lost in a sea of information with a difficult decision to make.

Enough

On a philosophical note, having seen the return of recruitment to the banking sector, it’s been interesting to note a change of emphasis in some quarters. Seems to be less focus on the size of the bonus you get (though some students do still seem to be fixated on this) and more questioning of the role the banks and their regulators could or should play.

The BBC programme, “When Bankers Were Good” was a reminder that old school banking was about more than personal gain, with some arguing that those with ethical concerns about the financial system are exactly the kind of people who should go into banking (“Banking can be an ethical career choice” from the BBC News website – and if you missed their original programme, you might try here – though not sure how long that link will work )

With this in mind, one of my favourite quotes which I kept coming back to this year is a poem by Kurt Vonnegut, written as an obituary to his friend, Joseph Heller. (I’ll give you the gist as I can’t quote for copyright reasons, but you can find the full text, legitimately reproduced, here.)

It tells of them attending a party at the home of a wealthy banker. When Vonnegut asked Heller if it bothered him that their host probably earned more in a day than Heller earned for writing his classic novel, “Catch 22″, Heller replied that he had something their host could never have: “Enough”.

Having “enough” seems to be one of the key factors in whether you are content with your career. There’s a very interesting, if lengthy, blog post from journalist, David McRaney, which explores the psychology behind the subtle relationship between reward (financial or otherwise) and loving what you do. I’d recommend reading it if you’re interested in figuring out what will make you happy in your career: The Overjustification Effect.

… and with that thought (and my 500th post on this blog – hooray!), I’m off to stuff my face with mince pies and the finest wines available to humanity. See you after the January sales …!

The Job Market At The End Of The Year

It’s been a turbulent year with the prospect of a lot more uncertainty to come in 2012, particularly for those hoping to establish themselves in the job market. Here are some thoughts in case you have a crisis of career confidence over the Christmas and New Year break.

Current job market
Unfortunately, this year I can’t do my Christmas vacancy round up chart showing how vacancies sent to the Careers Service have changed over the years. We’ve changed our database, and can’t be sure we’re comparing like with like for previous years (on the upside, we think we’ve got more accurate figures now).

However, here are a few stats:

• In November 2011, we carried  415 job ads for full-time vacancies – this compares to 316 for November 2010 (the first month we had data from our new database)
• I don’t have the full December figures yet, but in a spot check this week, we had over 350 active, full-time job ads on CareersLink. (Last year’s figures were 201, though that was on our old database.)
• Over 80 full-time job ads were added in the last week. Who says no-one advertises at Christmas? What’s more, a fair number of these new job ads had early January closing dates, so don’t delay “getting round to” applying for these jobs – mid January may be too late.

To be honest, that’s a better picture than I expected. I’m normally pretty bullish about the real state of the graduate job market, bolstered by knowing how many jobs we get sent, which has often been at odds with the media picture of “no graduate jobs this year”. I admit I feel much more nervous than in previous years about the future job market, but maybe it’s just the “hell-in-a-handcart” hype which has finally worn me down – here’s hoping!

Take a chance on different jobs?
One more worrying phenomenon we’ve spotted is the number of good jobs which we’ve advertised which have attracted few views, never mind applications. In November, there were almost 35,000 views of vacancies on CareersLink – but they’re not evenly spread. Cast your net a bit wider in the kind of posts you’re prepared to look at and you may find some plum jobs there for the taking.

How To Write Great Application Form Answers

You don’t often find employers who go the extra mile in helping you make the most of your applications, but the Met Office has come up with some really useful guidance notes for its applicants. They’ve said they’re happy for me to use their information to show you how to change your so-so application answer to one which is much more likely to get you to the interview shortlist.

How to demonstrate you have good communication skills
If you’ve managed to figure out from a job advert that you need excellent communication skills, what evidence can you use to demonstrate that you’ve got what it takes? Here are two examples, taken from the Met Office guidance (pdf).

Poor attempt:

“In my current role as a research scientist I am expected to communicate my research findings to a wide range of audiences. I have presented at many conferences to a wide range of audiences across the UK and abroad. I consider communication skills to be one of my key strengths. At my most recent appraisal my line manager commended me on my communication skills. I am equally comfortable speaking to non-scientists.”

And this is what an employer would think of that answer:

In this example, no specific evidence is given, nor indications of the type of communication, what it was used for and what the outcome was. It would also have been good to show awareness of the end customer’s needs (in this case the target audience) and what the benefit was to them.

Much better attempt:

“I was asked to conduct a presentation on some research to a group of eminent scientists from outside our research facility. I discussed with my line manager what outcome we wanted to achieve from the presentation and the current knowledge levels of the target audience to determine pitch and style. We agreed that they needed to leave the conference with both a broad understanding of how we had conducted the research, the results and what they mean for future work in this area, and to have a positive view of the contribution the research facility is making in this emerging are of science. I therefore planned and designed my communication around these objectives. I prepared by presenting to close colleagues as a ‘dummy run’, and used their valuable feedback to further refine the material.

The presentation appeared to be well received judging from the initial verbal feedback from delegates at the conference itself. More objectively, delegates were asked to rate each aspect of the two-day conference which included several presentations. Mine received one of the highest accolades, confirming the initial feedback. Further, we have since attracted considerable interest in this research judging by the number of contacts, and most recently we have secured additional funding from policy makers to conduct further research in this area.“

From an employer’s viewpoint:

This example gives a clear example of the actual work carried out, the role the individual played in it, the reasons why it was done, and the benefit to the business.

The Met Office guidance also includes another Good/Poor example answer based on “Analytical skills” and some general guidance on using the “Context – Action – Result” format for constructing competency based answers.

Download their guidance notes (pdf) from the Met Office website, or read the rest of the text, reproduced with kind permission below – and keep an eye on their vacancies, advertised on the vacancies page of their website.

Mentoring Programmes – New For 2012

The new Manchester Gold mentoring programme for 2011/12 has now been launched. There are some changes this year, so even if you’ve read about it before, it might be time to have another look.

What is it?
The chance to get information, advice and guidance to help your future career from someone who has “inside information” about the career area you’re aiming for, or who graduated from a similar course to you.

We have two programmes this year:

• Manchester Gold Mentoring – a one-to-one matched mentoring programme, lasting 9 months, and taking place through face-to-face meetings, telephone/skype conversations or e-mail.
• Manchester Gold Online Q&A – a new programme available from March next year, where you will be able to e-mail mentors with one-off specific questions.

Manchester Gold Mentoring
This is a very competitive programme, and demands commitment on your part to drive the mentoring relationship, to ensure you get the most out of the programme.

• Timing: Applications are now open, and close on Friday 13th January, 2012. If you are selected, you will be informed by 6th February, and must attend an induction workshop during the week of 21st Feb. The mentoring takes place between March and October 2012 – you must be available to commit your time to the programme during this period (around 20 hours will be needed), if you want your application to be considered.
  .
• How to apply: You apply through your CareersLink account(all University of Manchester students have access to this). Just use your university login to enter CareersLink, then find the “opt-in” section for Manchester Gold mentoring by looking at My Account -> My Profile -> the Miscellaneous tab (see the picture below – click on it for a larger view).
  In order to give yourself the best chance, you must also fill in as much detail as you can on the rest of your profile – details of your previous education, any work experience, additional information such as interests or volunteer work could all add to your chances of being chosen.

More information on the programme is here.

Manchester Gold Online Q&A
This is a new programme, a sort of “Manchester Gold Lite”. It will be available from March 2012, and will give you the chance to e-mail a specific question to a mentor on our database (more information here).

There will be a limit to the number of questions you can e-mail each month, and each mentor will be able to limit the number of e-mails they receive – it will be first come, first served. You won’t get the direct e-mail of the mentors on the database, as it will all be managed through CareersLink.

I’ll post more details as we’re about to go live next year, but I’m excited about this prospect.

As a postgrad, could you be a mentor?
I know that many of our postgrads have fantastic work experience prior to taking up postgraduate study here, and we’d love it if you were prepared to act as a mentor. You don’t have to be currently working in a particular sector or for a specific organisation in order to be able to offer valuable advice. Even if it’s a job or work area you were quite happy to leave, your insights (as long as they’re not too jaded) could give a useful reality check to a current undergraduate or postgraduate.

If you feel you could offer this kind of support, either for our Manchester Gold Mentoring Programme or our Manchester Gold Online Q&A, please do have a look at our information for mentors, and consider registering to provide support to your fellow students.