Careers & Employability Service      Introduction to the Careers and Employability Service Job searching including graduate schemes CVs Covering letters Application forms  www.kent.ac.uk/ces  www.facebook.com/ukmemployability  www.twitter.com/ukmemploy Graduate directories- available to collect from the Careers Resources room (G0-05) (Whilst stocks last!)   Company websites Careers and Employability Service vacancy database:  www.kent.ac.uk/ces https://twitter.com/unikentces  See hand-out for more vacancy websites  www.prospects.ac.uk  Job sectors  Graduate jobs in…  Employers and vacancy sources     http://www.creativeskillset.org/ http://ccskills.org.uk/ http://www.creative-choices.co.uk/ https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/P ages/Home.aspx (Job profiles section)   LinkedIn www.linkedin.com Twitter www.twitter.com   www.twitjobsearch.com Facebook www.facebook.com Keep your profile professional! Real example of what not to do: ‘Reasons not to go to work #1: work sucks a**’    The BBC say a third of jobs are never advertised (others say 70-80%) Send your CV and cover letter (to the correct person) The organisation can see that:  You are interested in them specifically  You have initiative  They could avoid recruitment advertising fees    Networking www.yell.com Previous graduate destinations: BA Creative Events: Design & Prod'n BA Creative Events: Design & Prod'n BA Creative Events: Design & Prod'n BA Creative Events: Design & Prod'n Employed FT Employed FT Employed FT Self Employed M Creative Agency Junior Creative Future Publishing Plc Events Co-ordinator First Light Prod'n Ass't Faf Arts Owner/Artistic Director (www.kent.ac.uk/ces and search ‘destinations’)      Local papers e.g. Kent Messenger http://www.kentjobs.co.uk London papers e.g. Metro http://londonjobs.metro.co.uk The Guardian http://jobs.guardian.co.uk The Telegraph http://jobs.telegraph.co.uk The Times http://jobs.thetimes.co.uk/jobs/london Organisations ask recruitment agencies to find the most suitable person for their job vacancy. You will usually have an interview with the recruitment agency and then the organisation if shortlisted. Pros Cons  Recruitment consultant may know the organisation well so  They may not have your best can help you to prepare for your interests at heart, the interview consultant is paid commission upon your employment  Can save time with CV writing as  They can be very persuasive and you may not have to tailor it to make you believe a position is each role suited to you when it is not  Some agencies have exclusive  Some recruitment agencies may access to jobs so you can only play on your weaknesses and apply through them insecurities to convince you to take a job  Usually a free service for you Page 12  Curriculum Vitae (Latin: the course of one’s life).  An outline of a person’s educational and professional history. What is the purpose of a CV? • To inform the employer about your education, work experience, skills and interests. • To ‘sell’ these qualities and to persuade the employer to invite you to interview. On average how long does a recruiter spend looking at a CV? a. b. c. 0-30 seconds 30 seconds – 1 minute 1-2 minutes   Look at the job advert for ‘Creative Artworker’. You will be given three CVs and you will have 20 seconds to look at each one and decide which one(s) (if any) you would invite to an interview. End 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 End 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 End 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Which one(s) did you choose and why?  Name (as a heading rather than ‘CV’)  Address  Telephone number  Email address  Make sure this is a professional email address, not ‘sexybeccy@hotmail.com’  Start with the most recent  Don’t forget your current study  Mention relevant modules  You might like to mention top marks  You don’t have to put your grades on if you weren’t happy with them  Include the years of study  Primary school not needed Education and Qualifications 2011 – Present University of Kent BA (Hons) Photography (Predicted 2:1) Modules include: Creative photography, technical equipment and business skills for photographers. Highlights include: • Winner of the College Photography Award • Portfolio grade of 75% 2009 – 2011 Maidstone Grammar School A-levels: Media Studies (A), Art (B), Information Technology (C) 2005 – 2009 Wrotham School GCSEs: 8 GCSEs grade A-C including English and Mathematics  Dates, name of company, position, location.  Don’t just list your duties – sell your skills and provide evidence. Which skills are relevant to the position/company you are applying to? Sales Assistant Museum of Kent Life, Maidstone April 2010 – June 2011 • Delivered excellent customer service as demonstrated by my mystery shop result of 91% and by receiving ‘Sales Assistant of the Month’ award three times. • Achieved a sales result of 5% above my target illustrating my advanced selling skills, as well as my determination to succeed. What examples can you give from your work experience? If you have no paid work experience, give examples from voluntary work or from your course created instructed analysed produced negotiated designed calculated maintained administered controlled reviewed observed consolidated delivered founded increased studied invented supplied detected programmed recommended distributed developed solved prepared installed selected arranged formulated solved started Choose interests and activities which can demonstrate skills relevant to the job such as: • Team work • Organising • Commitment • Your intellectual abilities • Your personality • Your artistic ability  Ideally, one academic and previous/current employer.  Ask permission from your referee and let them know what position(s) you’ve applied for.  Use relevant references if possible.  You can say ‘references available on request’ rather than including contact details if you wish. • • It is not ‘one size fits all’, you need to tailor your CV to each position you apply for. Research the company. Do they have a mission statement or core values? What will they be looking for in you? Check the job description/person specification.  For standard CVs, use plain white A4 paper.  Do not double side (?)  Keep your CV to one or two sides of paper.  Check your spelling.  Use bullet points and bold font but in moderation.  Formatting – clear and consistent.     Pros and cons! Be creative in design BUT ensure all relevant CV information is included. Include a weblink to your portfolio. In general, less is more!  http://careers.falmouth.ac.uk/sites/default/fil es/files/CreativeCVGuide(1).pdf  My hobbits include - instead of 'hobbies.'  I have good writen skills.  i am a prefectionist and rarely if if ever forget details.  I hope to hear from you shorty.  In my spare time I enjoy hiding my horse.  Restaurant skills: Severing customers.      www.kent.ac.uk/ces www.prospects.ac.uk http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/files/pdf/How_t o_Write_a_CV_leaflet2010.pdf http://www.seo-london.com/getstarted/making-a-strong-application http://www.gradskent.com/graduates/applica tion_advice/61/  Never send a ‘naked’ CV!  1 side of A4 – similar to a UCAS personal statement  Opening paragraph – why that job/company?  Followed by skills and experience developed through study, work experience and paid work  ‘Matching up’ with job description  http://www.prospects.ac.uk/covering_letters.htm  Google ‘Wiki Jobs covering letter’  RTFQ!  Re-read and highlight the main points  Write your answer in Word first  Check you have covered each point  Include key words Please let us know why a career at Deloitte appeals to you compared with other career options? (max 100 words in bullet point format). For questions where you are asked to ‘explain a time when…’, it is useful to use the STAR approach:  Situation – set the scene  Task - what needed to be done/achieved?  Action - this should take up about 80% of the answer, what action did YOU take?  Result - this is the ‘proof’ that you succeeded, try and give evidence such as statistics if possible Most major recruiters rely on Applicant Tracking Systems to initially scan through CVs, covering letters and application forms. If you do not pass this stage, your application may never be seen. Case Study: Olu – Business and IT I applied for 120 placement schemes, the most disheartening thing about it was receiving rejections at 1am in the morning. My applications weren’t even getting to a human being! Allianz was my last shot, and for the first time I made my application relevant, I used key words and I practiced psychometric tests. Not only did I get the placement, but they asked me back after graduation, so I have now started on their graduate scheme.  Use their KEY WORDS from:  Job description  Person specification  Values and mission statement section  ‘What we look for’ section Example: Candidate must have strong communication skills and must be fluent in German (ensure highlighted words feature in your application) ‘Please use the space below to indicate why you feel that you are suitable for this post, including details of relevant experience and evidence of your ability to meet the selection criteria.’    Use the person specification Think about the structure Point then evidence More information: http://www.careerstagged.co.uk//files/pdf/Pers o_CEP_PersonalStatements.pdf