Careers & Employability Home	Choosing a Career	Applications and Interviews
	Employability	I want to work in ...	Example CVs
	Employability Skills	What can I do with my degree?	Practice Aptitude Tests
	Work Experience	Postgraduate Study	Working in Kent
	Site Map	Vacancies	Careers Events on Campus

Latest vacancies and job hunting tips 27th FEBRUARY 2012

If you have problems viewing this email you can find a web version at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm#emails 

VERY IMPORTANT!

If you are an UK or EU graduate who graduated this summer you should have received a questionnaire from us asking you what you are now doing.

I would be really grateful if you could fill this form in and return it to us as it will help the university greatly and also save us a great deal of work if you do!

Alternatively you can fill in the on-line version at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/FDS/index2.html It will only take a couple of minutes of your time.

• I will send these emails about once a week to you usually on Mondays. If you don't want these emails, you can unsubscribe by visiting https://lists.kent.ac.uk/sympa or by mailing me. You can resubscribe or change your email address by mailing me bw@kent.ac.uk or filling in our Vacancy Email Form again. In March each year I ask you to let me know if you wish to keep getting the lists; those who don't reply are removed: you are of course still entitled to the 3 years help!
• You may have already had a copy of this particular list as we still send out to degree subject email lists until shortly after the end of term. Once your Kent email address stops working (usually in late July for undergraduates finishing this term), we will only send you this list. Until then we think it is better that you hear about opportunities twice rather than not at all!
• These emails are general in nature (I haven't the time to personalise them for each subject area!) but we do try to include something for everyone. Some people complain that these lists are dominated by business and computing jobs, but we can only put in vacancies that employers send to us!
  For competitive areas such as the media, most entry level jobs aren't advertised as these employers simply recruit from people who have sent in CVs, so you must apply speculatively for these areas. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesmedia.htm for a detailed explanation and how to do this
• If you have friends graduating from the University of Kent this year who haven't yet signed up for emails, the form to get these is at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/contact.html
• If a link doesn't work, copy and paste it into the address box of your web browser (e.g. Firefox) and press the Enter/Return Key!
  
• Please give feedback on what you think of these emails and any suggestions for improvement at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HLW6HQY
• For specialist help email us using the form at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/emailform.html
  For careers using your degree subject see http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/degreein.htm
  For routes in to many different careers see http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm
• A careers adviser is on duty to help with queries between 10.30 am - 12.30 p.m. and 2.00 - 5.00 p.m. every weekday at Canterbury. You don't need to book an appointment to see the duty careers adviser but may need to wait a few minutes if there are several people waiting to be seen. Just ask at reception to see them. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/opening.htm for details. You can book a more formal interview by ringing 01227 823299.
  CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE AT MEDWAY CAMPUS. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/medway.htm
  They are happy to help by email: medwaycareers@kent.ac.uk
  
• See CAREERS HELP FOR KENT GRADUATES  http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/servicesforgraduates.htm  for lots of jobhunting tips.

CONTENTS

• Careers Newsletter
• Questions and Answers
• Other Opportunities
• Vacancy Database

INTERVIEW SKILLS

The standard method of selecting candidates for jobs is to make list of key competencies required in the job and then to match these to the candidate's application. However two US researchers (Higgins & Judge) followed 100 university students trying to get their first job. They analysed their CVs for qualifications and work experience and talked to the interviewers afterwards. Surprisingly the main factor in deciding which ones were selected was whether or not the candidate appeared to be a pleasant individual. The successful candidates had:

• Smiled and made a lot of eye contact
• Shown a genuine interest in the interviewer and given genuine compliments
• Praised the company: find something you genuinely like about the organisation.
• Asked interesting questions: for example "What is your personal experience of working for this company?"
• Talked about subjects unrelated to job, but that interested the candidate and interviewer.

Should you mention a weakness at the start or end of an interview?

If you have a potential difficulty (e.g. poor exam results or a disability) should you disclose this at the start or the end of the interview? According to research by Jones and Gordon of Duke University, candidates appeared more likeable if weaknesses were disclosed early in the interview and strengths towards the end.

Candidates who disclosed potential problems early on were thought by interviewers to have more integrity and strength of character and thus were not not attempting to mislead them. Candidates who mentioned strengths (such as having been awarded a scholarship) later in the interview appeared more modest than those who blurted it out at the first opportunity, thus seeming boastful.

For more details on both the above pieces of research see the excellent "59 Seconds" by Prof. Richard Wiseman
http://www.amazon.co.uk/59-Seconds-Think-little-change/dp/023074429X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253607539&sr=8-1

See our interview skills page for more on this http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/intervw.htm

Careers Newsletter.

Our latest Newsletter is now online at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm#NEWSLETTERS
It contains information on events such as on campus events, off campus: national events, bursary and scholarship programmes, awards schemes, competitions, surveys and other items of note.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

> I have to give a 15 minute presentation on "Why I am the right person for an IT company's graduate programme"

Don't have too many PowerPoint slides: for a 15 minute session 10 would be  the absolute maximum and probably less, don't have too much text on each  slide - no more than about 40 words. Pictures - especially diagrams and charts are good but don't get carried  away with flashy transition effects - this may distract attention form the  content. Something like this might work

• 1 minute introduction - what you are going to tell them
• 2 minutes on the challenges facing the company in the current market - economic  downturn, competitors, growth areas
• 4 minutes on "What skills the organisation requires in graduate recruits" - see http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/computersci.htm - skills tab
• 6 minutes on evidence showing that you have these skills
• 1 minute conclusion - summary
• 1 minute asking for and answering any questions

See our Presentation Skills page for further tips http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/presentationskills.htm

> I missed the presentation on teacher training and how to become a teacher

You can find the PowerPoint slides for all our talks at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

> I have a personallity test coming up

On our tests page http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm you'll find the following:

• Personality Type Tests
  • What animal are you? Take a very interesting version of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator test http://icould.com/buzz/ It will tell you your personality type and suggest some careers that would fit your personality.
  • BBC Personality Type Indicator Test www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/whatamilike/index.shtml At the end of the test you will be assigned one of 16 possible personality types. It is a simplified personality test based on personality type theory (Myers-Briggs). 20 questions long and should take about 10 minutes.
  • Team technology www.teamtechnology.co.uk/tt/common/contents.htm the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - discover your personality type.
  • The Keirsey Temperament Sorter http://keirsey.com Personality questionnaire with instant feedback on personality types
  • Another good Myers-Briggs test www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
• BBC Personality Test www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/personality/index.shtml This is a full personality test based on the five-factor model, a system of classifying personality traits. You will be asked to rate yourself on 68 different emotional states. Takes about 15 minutes.
• Personality Test Center www.personalitytest.net A collection of free professionally developed tests that help users discover their personality type and individual personality traits
• Outofservice www.outofservice.com fun personality tests.
• Windmills Programme www.windmillsprogramme.com exercises to help you manage your career.
• Career Development Profiler www.testing-direct.com assess your personality, motivation and work interests.

• http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes1.htm
• http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/

> I still haven't found a job since I graduated and am now getting a bit desperate.

• Be flexible. Don't restrict your applications to the big corporate employers or to very competitive career areas such as investment banking, marketing or media. Broaden out your career search by looking at other, maybe less well-known careers that can offer similar job satisfaction. Use "Explore types of jobs" on the Prospects website to get an idea of the range of careers open to you. Also, don’t rule out jobs that are not specifically labelled as “graduate jobs” or “graduate training programmes”: starting at a lower level and working up is a well-established route into all of the areas mentioned above. Get any job as a starting point! Being in employment looks better on your CV. Even shop jobs can add "customer service skills", "working in a busy team" and "ability to work under pressure" to your CV. Working in a bookshop is often a starting point for publishing. Working in an office will add administrative and computing skills to your CV.
• Use a variety of vacancy sources. Our vacancy database, local and national newspapers, specialist publications (some are listed at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitespub.htm) and speculative applications. To find out the best vacancy sources for particular career areas, use http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm
  It's also worth using your local Job Centre: Job centre vacancies  www.jobcentrevacancies.co.uk Guidance and advice for UK job seekers.
• Register with recruitment agencies. You'll find lots in most newspapers and they don't charge. Some will be helpful, others less so, so it's worth sending your CV to a number of different agencies. You'll find a list of larger agencies at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/recruit.htm, science agencies at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitephar.htm#ScientificRecAgencies media agencies at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesmedia.htm and advertising, PR and events management agencies at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/advertising.htm
• Make sure your CV and application forms are top-class. This is EASY to do and especially important in a recession. See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm for tips and examples.
• Your academic referee will be able to write a more effective reference for you if s/he knows what field of work you are applying for and what experience you have gained outside your studies. Send them a copy of your CV and keep them informed about what you are doing now. See our references page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/referees.htm
• Learn to network. Vital for media and environment jobs, but it will give you a head start in any field you care to name - see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/CJ.htm for tips on how to do this effectively.
• If you can't get any job, do voluntary work to improve your skills, it will also help to boost your confidence, allow you to make new friends and give you a lift knowing that you are helping others worse off then yourself. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/voluntaryWork.htm
• Work Abroad. Teaching English as a Foreign Language is available in many countries: see http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tefl.htm Also see our working abroad page http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesint.htm
  
• You can also study abroad. Many Masters courses are now taught in English and study is free in some countries such as Sweden - see http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm#PGAbroad
• Develop your skills. See “explore types of job” on Prospects Web www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Occupations for an outline of the skills required in different jobs. If yours don’t quite match up yet, develop them through work experience (even shop jobs can improve your "customer skills" and "ability to work under pressure”), voluntary work or courses (e.g. in computing, business, languages, or learning to drive). Look at your CV to see if there are any gaps that need filling.
  • Sometimes short courses in computing http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/computing-skills.htm
    languages http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/LanguageSkills.htm business, bookkeeping and of course, learning to drive can be an immense help in making you more employable. A particularly good way to do this is via the European Computer Driving Licence www.ecdl.com which teaches you word-processing, database, spreadsheet, Power Point and other skills. Many local colleges will offer it at low prices if you are unwaged. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/distance.htm to find part-time courses in any part of the country. Hot Courses www.hotcourses.com is a particularly good database of courses.
  • Another way to learn new skills to use the web. Typing learn (type of course)  into Google, will give you free training on almost any subject. For example:
    • Free Typing Tutor www.sense-lang.org/typing
    • Web Page Design www.davesite.com/webstation/html
    • MS Word Tutor also typing and web page design www.nailitnow.com.au/word/free/tocheadings.html
    • Book-Keeping www.bookkeeping-course.com
    • MS Excel www.studyfinance.com/lessons/excel
    • Desk Top Publishing. Quark Xpress www.quark.com is an industry leading package used in the newspaper and publishing industries- you can download a fully working demo.
• If you feel that employers are prejudiced against you because of your degree or A-level results:

• consider careers where personal qualities are more important than A-level grades and degree class.
• stress any relevant skills and experience gained through part-time work and/or extra-curricular activities
• consider smaller employers, who are usually more flexible in their entry requirements than  household name" companies
• gain further experience, through temporary work or voluntary work. for example www.volunteering.org.uk
• don't panic - as you build up experience and your career progresses your exam results will greatly diminish in importance.
• See our maintaining your morale page http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/copingWithRejection.htm

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND INFORMATION

Editorial internships

Want a MoneySavingExpert.com paid internship? We have one developer and three editorial places on our three-month intern scheme, starting in April. See: MSE Intern Opportunities http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/job-vacancies-and-interns

NEWS ASSOCIATES FREE Journalism workshops (General)

Aspiring reporters interested in a career in newspapers, magazines, online or broadcast can enrol for a free journalism workshop staged at the newsroom of national press agency News Associates.

This practical three-hour session will get you working on your own stories and there will be a chance to meet News Associates tutors, reporters and editors. Each attendee will get individual feedback and time will also be set aside for career advice.

The workshops are staged on Fridays 10.30am: 1.30pm or 12:30pm: 3:30pm (where indicated).

London dates (247 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1SD): March 16, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 27, August 17

Manchester dates (111 Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 2HY): March 23, April 20 (12:30pm start), May 4 (12:30pm start), June 1, July 6 (12:30pm start),  August 10

Space is limited, so email scolebrooke@newsassociates.co.uk now to reserve your place: you will receive confirmation of your place and timetable of the day by email.

"You have well and truly inspired me and I can’t wait to get started - thanks for reinforcing my decision to become a journalist. I would recommend these workshops as a first stop for anyone considering their options": Stephanie Ward, June 2009 - London workshop attendee. “It was a brilliant day which was both challenging and enjoyable. The exercises were excellent and the time passed very quickly” - Chavan Kissoon, Manchester Workshop Attendee: June 2011

NEWS ASSOCIATES Introduction to Sports Journalism (ISJ) Workshops.

These popular one-day courses are run by the full-time sports reporters at Sportsbeat - the sports press service of News Associates. The course, which has been praised by the Sports Journalists' Association, covers all of the basics of sports journalism - match reporting, meeting tight deadlines, knowing how different publications cover different stories and much more. The workshops are staged on Fridays 10:00am: 4:30pm

London dates (247 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1SD): March 30, May 4, July 13

Manchester dates (111 Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 2HY): February 24, March 16, April 13, May 18, June 15, June 29, August 3

NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC SERVICE GRADUATE SCHEME FOR FINAL YEAR SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS AND ENGINEERS

2 year Graduate Scheme.
Applications for this opportunity must be received by the 19th March, any received after this date will not be considered.
For more information about the role and to apply, prospective candidates should visit http://natscareers.co.uk/graduate

Software developer - DataSeced

We are a company called DataSeced based in Ashford dealing with school-based software and are looking to recruit a skilled individual for a specific project.  The idea is that after a few months of work this may well grow into a full-time role. Our software is written in C# around a SQL database. We are looking for someone to convert our program to run within a browser. Our current developer has suggested that we need someone with a combination of the following skills set:

• HTML 5
• Javascript
• Jquery
• AJAX
• CSS3
• ASP.NET
• C#
• SQL Server 2008
• MVVM
• RIA Services

Anyone who is interested would be set a simple task to prove their capabilities. We would be paying for this work which we see as being converted on a module by module basis.

If interested, send your CV and a covering letter expressing your interest to chris.pound@dataseced.com

Graduate Talent Pool

is a new service that matches graduates with internship opportunities. It is a partnership between Government and employers, designed to help new and recent graduates gain real work experience. On this site you can search and apply for internship vacancies posted by employers. Getting an internship through Graduate Talent Pool is one way of building on the skills you gained at university. It can also give you real life work experience, let you try your hand at a possible career, and prove yourself to a potential employer. All 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Graduates from UK universities are eligible to apply for Graduate Talent Pool internships if they are from countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) (which includes all EU countries plus Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) or Switzerland.
http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk

Prospects International Graduate Jobs www.prospects.ac.uk/international_graduate_jobs.htm opportunities with employers in many job sectors. Plus how to write a good CV and covering letter; example CV for many countries; tips on how to improve interview skills.

Gradcracker: Computing, Engineering & Science Vacancies, but also now many others including banking! www.gradcracker.com

If you are still unemployed or in a dead end job see

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/copingWithRejection.htm#support
for lots of ideas on what you can do to improve your situation.

Vacancy Database

Please note that we now have a new vacancy system in place to list vacancies for graduates, placement students and interns notified to the University of Kent Careers and Employability Service. The new web address is http://kent.prospects.ac.uk  - please update your bookmarks.

Our vacancy database http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm has over 300 vacancies many from EMPLOYERS PARTICULARLY LOOKING FOR KENT GRADUATES. The vacancy database also has postgraduate study and work experience placements sections, with some very interesting opportunities. You will probably be getting vacancy emails from a number of sources (this is very wise), but please don't ignore these emails. Some of the advertised jobs are specifically aimed at Kent graduates, often by employers who are themselves graduates from Kent, or have recruited a Kent graduate and have been impressed by them, so often competition for vacancies in our vacancy database is often much lower!

What are Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Schemes?

• KTP www.ktponline.org.uk is a government-funded scheme that places graduates in Small and Medium Sized Organisations to work on knowledge transfer projects central to the needs of the company.
• As well as salaried employment, graduates receive support to study for a higher degree and to gain a management qualification.
• There are many KTP schemes in our vacancy database http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm look for (KTP) in the vacancy title!
• Vacancies arise throughout the year in a wide range of employers and locations and projects last between 12 to 36 months.
• KTPs can help to enhance your career prospects by providing you with an opportunity to manage a challenging project, central to an organisation's strategic development and long-term growth.
• Most (but not all) vacancies are for graduates in science, engineering, IT and business-related subjects. You need to be qualified to an upper 2nd class degree or better.
• Around 62% of KTP Associates are employed by the host company when the project ends.

Graduate vacancies

Please login to the system and search for vacancies below that you are interested in on http://kent.prospects.ac.uk

Get the very latest vacancies and job-hunting updates from Twitter - follow us @kentunicas
The University of Kent Careers and Employability Service is also on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10050894883&ref=mf

Bruce Woodcock
Careers and Employability Service,
University of Kent, Canterbury,
Kent CT2 7ND
Tel: 01227 764000 ext. 7594
Email: B.E.Woodcock@kent.ac.uk
www.kent.ac.uk/careers

Any advice or information contained in this email is supplied in good faith and is accurate to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, the Careers and Employability Service (CES) has no responsibility or liability with respect to any loss or damage that may arise from the advice or information or the use of it. This email may contain links to websites that are not under the control of the CES or the University of Kent. The CES has no control over and will accept no responsibility or liability for the material on other websites.

© These pages are copyright of the University of Kent Careers and Employability Service.
The information and advice given in these pages is primarily for the benefit of University of Kent students and graduates.
You are most welcome to link to these pages but should not use content in other ways without our permission.
Page maintained by Bruce Woodcock Please email me if you wish to make any suggestions which would improve our services.