For some graduate jobs, especially those that are not technical or scientific, the degree discipline is not that important a consideration. It is up to the graduate job seeker to demonstrate in an application how they feel their university experience can be useful for a particular job. I am sure that a Geography graduate will have gained knowledge and skills that can be transferred to many working situations. Equally, a graduate in Politics should be able to do the same.

Research findings for 2008/09 from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that both geography and politics have good employability records, with only 9.4% of Geography graduates and 10.7% of Politics graduates not in employment or further training.

Answer #2

Fear not. Make full use of your careers service they are the experts in pointing you in the right direction. Once you have a rough idea research the sector, the company and the job you are interested in. Next put together the best CV possible, send it to the employer and give them a call.

Ideally it is best to plan this in your final year but even if you leave this until after you graduate you will still find recruiters looking. More and more have more flexible application procedures with no specific closing date so don't panic.

To increase your chances be realistic about salary (£16-18k on average) and consider relocation. Don't give up but be prepared for a roller coaster ride!

If you register with GRB now we can introduce vacancies that our consultants feel you are suitable for which should give some indication where your career lies.

Answer #3

Technical interviews don't have to be as daunting as you think. You just need to know what the interviewer is looking for.

All technical interviews are different and what you will be asked will depend on the subject you've studied and, of course, the job you're applying for. But in most cases, the most obvious things they will ask you about will be a project you have worked on or a course that you've completed during your degree, particularly if it relates to their area of work or the role you are applying for. If you know a bit about the company and the scheme you're applying for, you should be able to anticipate what parts of your degree they are likely to ask about and how your project/research work and current engineering skills relate to the role.

If you've done, or you're doing, a project for your degree, be prepared to talk about it. A good way to start your preparation is to think of five sentences that summarise your project - what it's about, the key processes/techniques involved, your main ideas and how you worked or are working through them and the final conclusions or the outcome you're expecting - basically, the highlights. You can then expand on these main points, but try to keep intricate details, lengthy discussion of theory or processes and lengthy equations to a minimum. And keep jargon out of it.

You should aim to talk for about five minutes or less, unless they've specifically asked you to prepare something longer. If they want more detail on anything, they'll always ask. Remember the key thing the interviewer wants is to see that you can present your work and your way of working clearly.

They may use analytical and hypothetical questions or ask you about the engineering you've studied that's related to the role you're applying for. Obviously, they want to find out what you know about the subject area, but more importantly, they want to see what you do when you're faced with a technical problem. In this situation, it's not always so much a question of coming up with the right answer as showing the way in which you approach problem solving and you communicate your ideas. The main thing to show is your skill in applying the concepts and theories you know and the information you have been given or have gathered to achieve a logical conclusion.

In a technical interview, interviewers will often ask questions of increasing difficulty until they reach a question you cannot answer. Communicate what you do know and explain your reasoning but most importantly of all don't panic. Alternatively, if you feel that you need more information to answer the question, ask intelligent questions to get what you need. Don't rush to give your answers. Pause and give yourself some time to think.

Technical interviewers are looking to see how you approach and work through technical problems, and they want to assess your ability to communicate technical information and scientific ideas clearly and concisely.

Answer #4

A: There is a document which outlines a best practice in graduate recruitment. Not only does it cover principles which employers and careers advisory services must adhere to, but it also covers guidelines that students must follow during the recruitment process. Below are the six principles recommended for adoption by the National Union of Students. Please bear them in mind for future reference:

Endeavour to make full use of the facilities available through their institutional careers services in order to help them make and implement well informed career decisions.
When making applications ensure that they have properly researched opportunities and organisations and concentrate on those organisations in which they have a genuine interest.
Be prompt, courteous and honest in all dealings with employers and notify them immediately if they decide to withdraw their applications at any stage or they need to change any arrangements.
When attending interviews at employers' premises, seek only repayment of reasonable expenses incurred.
Once an offer has been accepted, decline all other offers and cancel other applications immediately. If candidates wish to qualify their acceptance in any way (and the possibility of further study represents such a qualification) this must be clearly stated at the time of acceptance. Such qualification may affect the terms of the offer. It would be helpful if students could inform their careers advisory service if the choice made.
Recognise that both the offer of a post and its acceptance form a contract unless conditions are attached to either.

Answer #5

Arranged and run by employers, presentations can take many forms and some will be more informal than others. On the whole most recruiters will bring along a stand and some literature about their organisation and the careers they offer. Senior and/or Human Resources Managers will give a presentation about the organisation and the opportunities available and will run through the recruitment process. This is usually followed by an opportunity to talk informally with company representatives over drinks and nibbles. Most recruiters will bring along some recent graduate recruits - often from LSE - to chat with you, but possibly also to present their experiences of life in the organisation.

Presentations can vary in length quite considerably - turn up on time, but don't feel that you have to stay to the very end! Recruiters will expect you to be interested in the firm and to have thought about what you want to do, but will not assume that theirs is the only one in which you are interested. Ask questions, listen attentively and try to form a picture of what a career in that organisation would be like.

A recruitment fair gives you the opportunity to meet a number of employers and to learn about the opportunities that each offers. Depending on where next year's fairs are being held I would expect each firm will have a stand manned by two or more recruiters. They will have literature available and may well be willing to accept a CV from you at this stage. Recruitment fairs provide you with a good opportunity to ask questions, and you are free to drop in at any time during the day.

Answer #6

I realise that you and lots of other students like you must be competing for the attention of certain members of staff. So getting a good academic reference may seem to you like an uphill struggle. However remember that the reference has a number of functions. Firstly, however badly an academic referee knows you they can vouch for your academic record and confirm that you have attended the university in question. This is an important point, as much of the false information on CVs, or in application forms, concerns people who have bumped up their degree grades, or claimed to have a degree when they never finished the course. Secondly, why not make a determined effort to get to know one member of staff very well. You can explain your career intentions to them and build up a relationship so that they can make sensible comments on your personality, abilities and so forth.

Answer #7

As a trainee actuary you will probably gain employment in a large insurance company or actuarial company using statistical theories to calculate risk for financial products, such as insurance and pensions.

Trainee actuaries need to pass a series of professional exams, before they're properly qualified - a process that takes at least three years and on average six years. A postgraduate course in actuarial science may give you the edge over other applicants because in theory there's less risk of you dropping out than someone who has no experience of this very niche area. And of course, you come partially ready-trained, thereby saving your employer money.

A postgraduate course will give you exemptions from some of the exams and perhaps most importantly the confidence that you really want to become an actuary.

Answer #8

Very slim I'm afraid. Any type of journalism is a very popular career choice, and attracts applicants from many different degree disciplines. Also, starting out by wanting to enter a specialist area, such as music journalism, makes it even harder for us to find you suitable work. I am assuming that you have some journalism experience. This could be possibly be working on the student newspaper or radio station or even perhaps for a local paper. You must demonstrate that it is a career you are completely focussed on and that you have a passion for research, investigation and writing. If you get a job working for a newspaper you may find that your career follows a path down the music journalism route. Get networking with journalists as soon as you can - you may be able to get some contacts from your course tutors. Postgraduate study or training is also an option but seek some advice from a careers advisor before you decide on this route.

Answer #9

The IT sector has been going through a difficult time of late and graduate opportunities have been hit hard. It's difficult to say when the upturn will come. When it happens, it is likely to take off very quickly and the sector will be searching for the best and most talented graduates. Having had a work placement is an advantage, but if the upturn is sudden and significant, you shouldn't find it too much of a barrier to gaining employment in our experience.

Companies are likely to look at your 'soft' skills in great detail. Do you have the ability to work as part of a team, relate to people, and communicate effectively? In the last IT boom, skill shortages were a problem and firms were still turning away candidates who lacked these all so important skills. If you feel that your skills are underdeveloped, then spend some time trying to improve them between now and graduation.

Answer #10

We understand that not everyone wants to work for a large organisation and more graduates are looking at the opportunities offered by smaller more specialised businesses.

By and large, small firms tend not to spend time and money on reaching out to students by producing brochures, developing websites and attending presentations and fairs. So, the onus is on you to seek them out. Your careers service can give you advice on sources of information and local contacts. 60% of our client base consists of SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) so I hope we can be of some use to you with your job search.

Answer #11

There are literally thousands of opportunities for overseas work placements and exchange programmes. Before you start trying to find one, it is important to consider what you actually want to get out of such an experience. It will not only help you find the right scheme, but it'll help put together some convincing arguments when it comes to applying.

You may just want to pick up seasonal or travel-related jobs, such as grape picking or chalet work but you may get more from a career-related internship, specifically if it complements your future aims. Then there are teach-abroad programmes, where you assist a language teacher in a school or university, or you might prefer one of the many volunteer projects available, either helping a community or preserving an ecological or archaeological site (such as VSO and Raleigh International).

Useful organisations to contact include AIESEC, which operates in over 80 countries around the world providing, among other services, a Work Abroad Programme. More than 5,000 paid work placements are offered each year, lasting up to 18 months. Then there's Council Exchanges, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that runs a number of programmes for work or study abroad.

Useful websites:

AIESEC International: www.aiesec.org
BUNAC: www.bunac.org
IAESTE: www.iaeste.org
Raleigh International: www.raleigh.org.uk
VSO: www.vso.org.uk

Answer #12

It really depends on the type of work you're applying for. In most cases an employer advertises because they need somebody to do a particular job right now, so offering to start in six months or a year would be pointless.However, employers with regular annual intakes of trainees are quite open to the idea of making job offers with delayed starting dates.

Their aim is to find the best candidates, so if you can convince them you're exactly what they're looking for, there shouldn't be a problem getting them to assign you to the next but one batch. It's better to make them aware of your intentions at the outset; any other approach has undertones of dishonesty.

We'd recommend that you start your planning now. Be aware that closing dates for some graduate trainee programmes are as early as December. It would be advantageous to have your travel sorted out by the time you're applying for jobs. That shows a methodical and organised approach which will help create an impression you're doing something purposeful and constructive.

Employers who are positive about the benefits of time taken off between university and starting work say those applicants are often more mature and motivated. Showing those qualities in advance, by being able to talk about what you will do and what you hope to get out of the experience, will reassure them.

In the meantime good luck with your final year.

Answer #13

You don't need to have done a specific degree from a particular university - very rarely do media companies have these sort of requirements. The jobs we advertise are for graduates seeking entry level positions or those who have 6-18 months commercial experience (whether this is specific knowledge or not). Previous work experience is always desirable but is usually not necessary.

Media planning can be quite an aggressive and competitive environment and you'll need skills like negotiation and persuasion. You'll need to demonstrate that you are someone who is easy to get on with and can build relationships with clients.

You can improve your chances of getting a suitable job by doing the following:

Read the trade press, e.g. Campaign Media Business, Media Week or Marketing Week as well as the media columns in the national press, for example the Guardian on Mondays, Independent on Wednesdays and Times on Thursday - be fully aware and have opinions on current issues.
Notice adverts, where and when you saw them and form opinions on them - this shows a genunine enthusiasm for advertising.
Improve your computer skills, especially on spreadsheet packages - this adds an extra dimension to what you can offer an employer.
Have a focus. Know which role you would be suited to and do your research on suitable companies to approach.
Above all make sure you are enthusiastic, keen, positive and can provide examples of your ability to work in a team.

Answer #14

Your situation represents many of the queries we are receiving as undergraduates gear up for the autumn term. There are many people like you at the moment who are concerned about balancing the joint demands of money, study and career paths. This continues throughout university and is worse in the final year when the pressure is on to get a good degree but also to find a career.

Money is always a worry, but I think that you might be expecting too much from what amounts to casual or part-time work. I don't know of anyone who has ever found part-time work which is both lucrative and flexible.

My other concern is that at this stage you don't seem to have enough information to take to an employer when negotiating hours. And those mornings and afternoons off university you mention are intended to give you the opportunity to study.

However, from how you have described yourself, you do have a set of marketable skills and the most obvious option, which you and others like you could try, is call centre work (from banking to mail order and insurance). Most offer flexibility and an hourly wage around £5.

The only stumbling block could be the long university holidays. If you are not studying locally, but take a call centre job, what happens if you have to go home for the holidays? These employers are not looking for ten weeks on, four weeks off.

Another route could be to talk to the bank where you currently work, to ask if it could refer your details to the branch near your university for part-time work.

My final advice is to all students looking for part-time work or wondering if they will need to find it when they get to university. First, collate references and a CV now, before the term starts, while you have got time on your hands. This particularly applies if you are going to a university away from home, which could make it difficult to catch up with people later. Check out the internet and the newspapers for any forthcoming national recruitment campaigns. You could apply locally for a job near your place of study. You should also look out for 'teaser advertisements', which start to appear in October and November. These are from the retail sector, announcing that a big recruitment drive is coming soon for the build-up to Christmas and the New Year sales. Don't commit yourself to so many shifts or hours that your studies suffer. One useful source of employment is the university itself. Student Union bars and on campus clubs have jobs up for grabs. You won't make a fortune, but it will serve as handy pocket money.

Make the right match between work and accommodation, so that you are not caught out during the holidays with nowhere to live but job commitments to fulfil. In the meantime good luck with your degree!

Answer #15

Many employers notify university careers services of their forthcoming graduate vacancies in year, and some of them will come to your university to give presentations and/or attend recruitment fairs - this is commonly known as the 'milk round'. Presentations can be small or lavish affairs and are held at a number of venues around the city or campus.

Some employers prefer to present on university premises - in colleges, for example - but others will hire a room in a hotel or other location. They are usually held in the evening, although some take place at lunch-time.

Many of these 'milk round' recruiters will expect to receive applications by the end of December, so that they can conduct initial interviews and then assessment centres with short-listed candidates, with a view to making offers by the start of the summer. Having said that, some recruiters make a point of holding interviews within a few days of their presentation, to speed the process up and be in a position to make early offers to the most promising candidates.

The milkround...

enables you to find out more about employers keen to recruit graduates
can help you to make your mind up about whether certain jobs and organisations are right for you
takes place on your doorstep - so you don't have to go far!
provides a ready-made structure for your job hunting

but...

using the milkround will take time out of your final year - how much time will you be able to devote to attending presentations ... making applications ... and attending interviews and assessment centres?
a 'lucky dip' aproach won't work. There can be as many as six presentations to choose from each evening, and you must know both what you want from a job (and from an employer)...and what you can offer.
recruiters hold presentations with the aim of persuading you to apply to their organisation; these events are about careers in specific organisations - not (usually) about those careers in general.
good coverage is given in areas where graduates are regularly recruited, and Cambridge particularly attracts banks, consultancy firms and blue-chip companies.
fairly sparse coverage is given to fields such as arts administration and publishing, and to fields such as librarianship and social work, where entry is usually after postgraduate vocational training.

The careers service at Cambridge offers you objective information and guidance about the full range of careers open to you, and works pro-actively to advertise vacancies in all sectors. If you have any further questions please speak to them.

Answer #16

Feedback from our clients indicate that many look favourably on a stint of travel, but you will need to market clearly the skills and personal qualities you have acquired during your experiences abroad, and show our clients how their organisation could benefit from them.

If however you've travelled for several years, you'll have a harder time convincing prospective employers that you're serious about your career and settling down to work. They may worry that, just as you're settling down to work, you'll suddenly get a lust for travel again and leave, just after they've trained you up. Which given that it costs thousands of pounds for a typical employer to attract, then hire and finally train a graduate nowadays, this can prove to be an expensive mistake!

We would recommend you book an appointment to see your university careers advisor. If you tell them how you are feeling about the process of finding a job after graduation they can help calm some fears or dispel some myths you may have heard on campus. With their help you can then find at the very least a job which interests you and which you enjoy prior to setting off on your travels.

Answer #17

Good question! A recurring theme in graduate entry level job search is the lack of experience factor.

Many students focus exclusively on seeking paid work experience as their only alternative. Be careful not to box yourself into this limited focus. Many recruiters look at any and all experience you may have accumulated to date, whether full-time or part-time, paid or unpaid.

Work experience makes you more marketable as a candidate; it also gives you the opportunity to gain greater understanding about your chosen field. You will be able to find out in advance what many of the positives and negatives are, then truly enter your field with your eyes wide open. Or step back early from what could have been a major career mistake.

So as you approach the task of gaining real world experience, do it from a "sponge" perspective - be ready to soak up every bit of information that comes your way. Full-time or part-time. Paid or unpaid. Worker or observer.

An internship is often considered to be perfect solution for a student seeking work experience. The original idea - combining classroom study with practical work experience - has evolved into a universally accepted program for gaining work experience. The experience gained in an internship has become the key differentiator for many new graduates. Make no mistake a successful internship can be your ticket to locking down a job offer (or several job offers) early in your final year.

Another adaptation of the "internship" term is to refer to summer employment as an "internship." This experience in the field also plays well in your job search, although you should not be concerned with finding work that is specifically listed as an internship. If you ask an employer if they offer summer internships, the answer will often be "No." However, if you ask the employer if they offer summer jobs in your field, the answer may be "Yes." Why the difference? Because most employers consider internships to be formal training programs in preparation for real work, while summer jobs are simply doing the real work. Which would you rather do? The real work is always the best experience.

Answer #18

First we would recommend you seek a careers interview with a trained advisor at Nottingham. They can look at your situation and give you guidance about the best possible path.

Human resources is not necessarily the glamorous career that students might think it is. HR trainees will often be burdened with tough responsibilities such as negotiating benefits and delivering bad news and you will probably get muttered about for additional bureaucracy that is seen as the fault of those in HR.

Still, should you still be focused on a career in the area there are two steps to take. It is important to recognise that there are very few graduate opportunities out there. This is mainly due to the fact that many professionals seem to take the approach that you can't manage human resources until you have been a human resource - until you have experience of an organisation and what it is like to receive the "benefits" of an active human resources department; others take the simpler approach that given some of the painful responsibilities involved in an HR position it is important to have someone older to be the bearer of bad news or the the negotiator on behalf of the company in a salary review.

This doesn't mean there are none but it does mean there are few and the competition will be fierce. Your first aim should be to identify the openings and get those applications in within the first 6-8 weeks of the academic year.

The next stage is to accept that competition is fierce and build your backup - if you can't get into HR now there is nothing to say you won't in the future and the best way to that is to identify companies with a high-profile well-staffed department that are likely to have ongoing requirements and you could transfer to later. Consider using this justification for application at interview. You have picked the company for a reason that you have researched - you've done your homework - take advantage.

Answer #19

In our experience this is not a problem. We would advise you to speak to your careers service about how you can access their recruiter vacancies and information on summer careers fairs.

Many employers recruit all year round or need to top up their existing pool of candidates. If you are considering working for a small company then applying after you finish should not be difficult as such vacancies aren't linked to particular times of the year.

We would recommend that when you come to complete any job application this summer that you don't make too much about the demands on your time. The reason for this is that coping with these pressures is a quality that most employers value. If, for example, you state that that you wanted to put all your effort if to your study then this could definitely work in your favour if you gain a good degree this summer. If you've worked all this time hopefully you have been able to get some relevant work experience. Recruiters will be immensely influenced by how you've used your time during university. By balancing out both work and study this will stand you out from fresh graduates you will be competing against.

Asnwer #20

You are very unlikely to get asked trick questions. Some of them may be difficult, but interviewers are rarely trying to catch people out. The key to interview success is to know the job (do you really know what you will be doing on a day-to-day basis?), know the organisation you are applying to (can you name the head of the company? size of the firm? main competitors? major clients? possible career paths?), and to know yourself. The first two issues are easily addressed if you do some homework, the last is harder. One of the best things you can do is to think about yourself in the same terms as the employer: What skills do you have to offer? What relevant abilities do you possess? Do you have any work experience? What are you like as a person in terms of working in a detailed and methodical way, to tight time deadlines, possibly in a team? It's when you don't know yourself that you are running the risk of being caught out with difficult questions such as: describe your weaknesses; sell yourself to me; or, where do you see your career progressing? Also, 'competency' based questions such as: give me an example of how you can work creatively.