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Employability and Careers Skills (A degree is not enough!). Churston Ferrers Grammar School. “Too many graduates tell me that their greatest achievement is completing their degrees. If thousands of others have done it that year alone, how does that set you against the rest of your
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Employability and Careers Skills(A degree is not enough!) ChurstonFerrers Grammar School
“Too many graduates tell me that their greatest achievement is completing their degrees. If thousands of others have done it that year alone, how does that set you against the rest of your contemporaries? You need a track record of success beyond academia” Evidence:Spencer Harrington (recruitment agency)
Raise student awareness • Inform & Advise • Respond to LMI • Act on information from former students • Address media hype! Therefore: Our Aims
Challenge students:What are you about and how can you show it?
How long should it be? • Tell a story, but not your life story! • 1-2 sides • Iterative process • What happens to them? • HR departments • Screening processes The CV or RésuméStart Planning now!
Courtesy of http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/goodbadCV.htm • How to guide students… With the not so good… The CV or Résumé
Inform and discuss: Who uses these and what are they for? Social Media Presence
What is it? • What are the benefits of effective networking? Advise students about:Networking
Effective networking is: • Building useful relationships! • Matching interests • Not about the hard sell • Broadening horizons • London College of Law example.. • A well known supermarket… Networking Techniques
Tips: • Get out, Get involved • Work Experience contacts • University Careers Fairs • Have a look for local events, whatever they might be! http://www.englishriviera.co.uk/whats-on • Family and friends • Always ask for a ‘Business Card’, or contact details to follow up with • Use of social media (alumni, large companies/businesses) Networking Techniques
Skills for success A technique to get you noticed!
Where did it come from? • What is it? • 60 seconds of: • Pain • Premise • People • Position • Place • Close The Elevator pitch
When is it useful? • University interviews • Job interviews • Business pitches • Telephone conversations • Sales/retail work • Getting out of trouble… The Elevator pitch
Now you try! • Get into groups • Discuss your given business topic • Plan what you might say • Decide who will ‘pitch’ • Sell your idea to our buyers for cash tokens in 60 seconds! • A prize for the most sales! The Elevator pitch
Working the overlap Raising Awareness:Deciding what you are good at
James wants to be an Engineer, he: • Enjoys physics but not maths • Keen to go to university, but not keen to leave home • Has a family member who works for a local engineering firm • Wants to work in Germany or France when qualified • Goes windsurfing in his spare time • Big fan of socialising but worried about money! How will he get on? An example..For discussion with students
Interest and Passion! • Enthusiastic people, who fit with their Business. • People who know (at least roughly) what they want to do and where they want to be! • People who can take the initiative, and are ‘self starting’ • “Soft Skills”! Inform:What are employers looking for?
What do employers need? (Depends on their situation too: consider introducing LMI, DEBP Eurostats) What are employers looking for? http://bit.ly/churstonstartups for more
Research in advance (of application/interview) • Find out what they do • Find out what they stand for • Find out what kind of people they are, would you get on? • Find out who to talk to if you have any questions • Find out what you can about the future of the company and how you might fit into it. Advise students:How to prepare
Genuine interest and demonstrated passion • Difficult to fake, employers are smart! • Show your strengths • Seek out tips/advice (network!) Advise students:How to impress
What kind of things will come up? • Scrutiny of your application (CV, cover letter, online assessments, portfolio work) • Investigation of you as a person • Some difficult questions, but they can be a gift! Raising Awareness:Interview techniques
Top tips • Stick to the truth • Don’t be sycophantic! • Ask anything you aren’t sure about, but not things you have already been told! • Try to be calm, try to be confident. (And don’t take it personally) Interview techniques
All Graduate jobs • On-line, timed • Before interview/Assessment Centre • www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm • www.shldirect.com/practicetests.html Inform:Psychometric and Aptitude Tests
http://www.agr.org.uk/ • www.agcas.org.uk/ • http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/ngrf/lmifuturetrends/ • http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/themes • www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/goodbadCV.htm Useful Websites