Deadlines for graduate schemes and internships are different from those you’re use to at university. You give yourself a huge advantage by applying well before the closing date.

If engineering is the sector you aspire to work in, it pays to take action in September and October when applying for graduate jobs, internships and placements. Don’t be lulled into inactivity by ‘open’ deadlines and closing dates that fall later in the academic year.

Did you know early graduate scheme applications give a numerical advantage?

Engineering employers go out their way to stress the advantage students give themselves by applying before the deadline. There are few recruiters that wait until their graduate scheme is closed to start the recruiting process. The majority of recruiters assess their applications as and when they are submitted.

The inevitable glut of last-minute applicants will face greater competition for fewer jobs than those early-bird applicants that have been organised and submitted theirs prior to the deadline.

Beware graduate schemes closing early

In some cases, engineering recruiters will succeed in hiring all the graduates they need before their official closing date, leading them to close the scheme early. If you see a graduate scheme or internship that you are keen to apply for, be prepared to apply as soon as possible. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to kick start your graduate career.

When are the deadlines for engineering graduate schemes?

• Many engineering graduate schemes give their deadlines as ‘open’. Treat these with caution – the fact that you are free to apply at any time does not necessarily mean that there will be a suitable job available. If in doubt, apply before Christmas for roles starting the following year.
• Among major engineering recruiters who do give closing dates, these tend to fall between December and February.
• Closing dates for industrial placements and internships can fall as early as November (e.g. British Sugar). December to February is more typical (New Year’s Eve is a favourite); a few close later.

For more engineering career advice visit www.targetjobsengineering.co.uk

TARGETJobs Engineering kindly sponsored the UCL Careers Engineering Fair 2014.

TARGETjobs, in collaboration with Mars, E.ON, Laing O’Rourke, Mayer Brown, EDF Energy, Mars, Gazprom,  CGI, EU Carers, Rolls-Royce and Enterprise Rent-A-Car – has launched the 2015 Undergraduate of the Year Awards competition to identify outstanding undergraduates from a range of degree subjects across the UK.

They have several categories, some of which are new this year and in previous years, we’ve had shortlisted nominees and winners from UCL.

The categories for 2015 are:

• Future Business Leaders
• Law
• Management
• Female
• Construction Engineering and Design
• Low Carbon Energy
• Mathematics, Economics and Finance
• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Languages

Applications are open now, Closing date is 4 February 2015. Awards ceremony takes place on 24 April 2015 at Canary Wharf, London.

Apply now: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/

At the Volunteering Services Unit, we’ve got so many activities on offer that we couldn’t fit them all into one fair- so we’re having another one on Thursday October 30th, 12-3pm in the South Cloisters, with 40 all-new projects. Exhibitors include: ChildLine, MindFull, Good News Shared, FoodCycle Bloomsbury, Victim Support, Royal London Society for Blind People, St Pancras Community Association, Doorstep Library Network, Eastside Educational Trust, Camden Citizens Advice Bureaux Service, Muslim Aid, Central YMCA, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Resources for Autism, London LGBT+ Community Pride, Enterprise CUBE and more!

Volunteering is a great way to discover London, meet new people and learn new skills whilst making a difference – so come along and find out what it’s all about.

Find out more at www.uclu.org/volunteer-fair

This post originally appeared on the QMUL Jobs Blog

At this time of year, we get a lot of questions from new students all about finding an internship. Now, it is generally more common for large organisations to seek interns who are in their second year of study. That being said, that doesn’t mean that you can’t find an internship for your first year – just that it might take you a bit of hunting around to do so. Ask your Careers Service if they know of employers who offer some experiences for first years, or talk to an adviser about using some of your own friends and family to help you out.

Spring Insight Weeks

You’ll may find employers offer ‘insight weeks’. Generally, these are shorter than full internships, and they involve spending a week or two, usually over the Easter break, finding out about what it is like working for a certain company or in a certain industry. Often, doing an insight week in your first year will then help you when you apply to do an internship in your second year, so take the time to have a look at what opportunities are out there.

Other Work Experience

Students often focus on internships because this is what you have heard about and you know they are important to getting a job after uni. However, internships are not the only way to get work experience. Any opportunity to work with employers, to gain an understanding of a certain industry or organisation and to improve your skills, will be of value to you. Volunteering, for example, is a great way of getting experience if you are interested in working in a charity, an NGO or any job in the third sector. Getting a part-time job in a theatre will help you to network and increase your chances of hearing about permanent graduate positions. Tutoring and working with youth groups will boost your personal statement if you want to apply for teaching. Your careers service may well be offering internship opportunities, ask through your students union, or hunt for part-time working using JobOnline.

The point is, have a think what type of job you will want after university, then research what skills and experiences employers are asking for, and then find the best way to get these skills and experiences – be that with an internship or through another way.

With thanks to Kirsti Burton at QMUL.

If you are considering a career in any of these sectors then the MUSEUMS, CULTURAL HERITAGE and ARTS MANAGEMENT week is for you!

The events below are open to students and GradClub members from all degree disciplines:

Museums Forum | 27 October, 5.30 pm-6.30 pm

Confirmed panellists include:

• Jackie Keily, Curator – Museum of London
• Jack Ashby, Manager – Grant Museum of Zoology
• Martha Henson, Freelance Digital Learning Producer

Cultural Heritage Forum | 28 October, 1 pm -2pm

Confirmed panellists include:

• Joe Flatman, Head of Central Casework and Programmes – English Heritage
• Lucy Jarvis, Consultant – Heritage Collective

Arts Management Forum | 30 October, 5.30 pm-6.30 pm

Confirmed panellists include:

• Eleni Duke, Owner – Curious Duke Gallery
• Alison Rae, Head of House Management – National Theatre
• Rebecca Holt, Executive Manager – Battersea Arts Centre
• Marion Crick, Head of Collections Management -Victoria and Albert Museum

You will gain insight from expert panels and also have the chance to ask questions about anything you’d like to know about the industry.

*The events are on a first come first serve basis so please book early to guarantee a place and to see room details.*

For more information and details on how to book please see: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/events/getinto

Some engineering employers, notably smaller companies, prefer CVs and covering letter. Here are some hints and tips to help you perfect your CV and covering letter to convince recruiters you’re right for the job.

1. Length of your CV: A CV should be no more than two pages of A4, and a covering letter just one page. By researching the skills sought by the employers you’re targeting and then matching your experience to theses you should be able to fit in all the information that is relevant to that particular graduate job.
2. CV layout: the layout of your CV is important. Choose a layout that is clear and easy to read, avoid small fonts and large sections of text. Use a skills-focused or chronological format for your CV, depending on what sells you best, and remember to tailor your CV to each employer.
3. Personal statements | Many students start their CV’s with a brief personal statement outlining their abilities and aspirations. If you choose to do this, be specific and keep it relevant to the engineering job in question.
4. Educational history: your educational history from your university years should include your predicted or actual degree class, information on group projects and your dissertation, any modules relevant to the job, and relevant academic awards. Include you’re a level (or equivalent) subjects and grades. Give GCSE/standard grad results.
5. Engineering work experience: outline engineering work experience in your CV, judging how much detail to give by how closely it relates to the specific job you are applying to. Explain what skills you learned and how they can be transferred to the position in question.
6. Non-engineering work experience: Many engineering employers look very favourably on achievements and experiences outside engineering. This can be a real boost if you haven’t been able to secure engineering work experience – and can give you an extra edge if you have. Examples worth mentioning include fundraising, voluntary work, organising independent overseas travel, sporting achievements or taking a leading role in a university society. Don’t go into detail: summarise your achievements and any transferable skills developed.
7. What’s the point of a covering letter? Most engineering graduates have a fairly wide range of career options open to them. Outside the engineering sector, graduate engineers are sought after for their numerical skills and problem-solving mentality; inside, there’s a wide range of industries and job types that engineers of most disciplines can choose from. Your covering letter, therefore, is a chance to convince the engineering employer in question that you want to work in their industry, for their specific organisation, and in the job role advertised.

For more advice visit www.targetjobsengineering.co.uk

TARGETJobs Engineering kindly sponsored the UCL Careers Engineering Fair 2014.

This post originally appeared on The Reach Blog

We’ve blogged before about dyslexia and its particular barriers to the jobseeking process. But what can dyslexic students and graduates do about it? Well this week I came across a really good blog post on Graduate Fog; Dyslexic graduates: 6 job hunting tips you need to know about.

The article acknowledges that “Being a dyslexic graduate can make a tough job market feel even tougher. Graduate applications, CVs, covering letters, assessment days and interviews are all more stressful if words swim on the page in front of you and reading, writing and spelling aren’t your strong suit.” But adds that “in some cases, having dyslexia can actually be an asset when job hunting – if you handle the situation correctly.”

The author then gives lots of useful advice on playing to your strengths in the job seeking process:

• Be proud
  Use experiences of managing dyslexia to demonstrate persistence
• Help yourself
  Keep exploring tools that can help you
• Present it as a positive
  Don’t apologise, talk about your dyslexia with confidence
• Know your rights
• Play to your strengths
  For example lots of dyslexics are creative, visual thinkers
• Keep smiling

You can read the full piece on Graduate Fog.

We have more resources about careers and job seeking with Dyslexia on Careers Tagged and if you’re concerned about disclosing dyslexia or any other condition to employers then we cover the options and issues in this post.

Dyslexia image by Flickr user Tiberiu Ana. Under CC BY 2.0 license.

There are a wide variety of opportunities in the IT & Technology sector. Check these out …

Industries that fall under the IT umbrella include:

• computer programming;
• computer consultancy;
• computer gaming;
• computer networking activities;
• computing facilities management;
• data processing;
• data hosting activities;
• internet service provision;
• telecommunications;
• web portals.

Within these industries, there are many spheres of work available to graduates, including:

• art and design;
• design and development engineering;
• electrical and electronic engineering;
• financial management;
• human resources management;
• information technologies;
• marketing and PR;
• operational management;
• project management;
• production management;
• strategy and planning.

The IT and computing sector is forecast to continue to expand, and to be a key element of business growth. Employment in the sector over the next decade is projected to grow nearly five times faster than the UK average.

Who are the main graduate employers?

Many of the largest companies in this sector are organisations that play multiple roles. The sector varies immensely in occupational scope and breadth, and so do employers.

In the private sector, big employers are typically international companies such as Accenture; Capgemini; Cisco; Cognizant; IBM; Infosys; Logica; Microsoft; Tata Consultancy.

In addition, however, over half of IT professionals find roles outside of the IT industry. Other industries that are big employers of IT professionals include:

• financial services
• major retailers
• telecommunications
• public sector
• manufacturing
• games development

Many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industry provide a range of specialist services, particularly in consultancy and technical roles. Common jobs for graduates are software designers and engineers; web developers and producers; computer analysts and programmers; web designers, IT consultants; help desk technicians.

What are the key issues in the IT sector?

With the current situation in the global economy, business is operating in a climate of uncertainty, and this makes companies reluctant to make major decisions. Infrastructure and technology upgrades are not always a priority. This is considered by far the biggest pressing issue for UK IT firms.

The sector is highly innovative, but also subject to constant technological development. This can present a significant challenge in ensuring businesses and staff are able to adapt to constantly changing technological requirements.

The fast-moving nature of parts of the industry, and the continuing growth of the sector means that many employers are experiencing significant skills demand. Recruiters reported difficulties recruiting software developers and programmers and web designers, and found the following skills most likely to be in short supply: .NET, ASP.NET, Dynamics, SharePoint, Visual Basic, Visual Studio, C# and PHP. The sector also reported gaps in sales skills, business skills, higher level technical skills and sector knowledge.

Data security, privacy and intellectual property issues are all important in the sector and businesses spend significant resources to deal with current requirements and to be prepared to adapt to a changing legislative landscape.

Source: Prospects

The UCL IT & Technology Fair on Thursday 16th October 2014 is kindly sponsored by Cisco

The answer is YES!

IT & Technology is a broad sector which encompasses a multitude of roles and types of companies. In addition to the programming and developer roles typically associated with the sector there are also a wide range of other positions: project managers, business analysts, consultants, salespeople. For these roles, employers state that deep technical knowledge is often not initially required; what is important is an interest in technology, a desire to learn and possessing business-orientated skills such as communication and project management.

Melanie Baldo graduated from UCL in Italian and Management Studies and is now a Project Manager at Bloomberg. Melanie states: “I never for one minute imagined when I graduated with a degree in languages that I would be working for a financial data company running some of their most complicated and important projects with high profile clients.”  Whilst in the Technology sector, Melanie’s role focuses on client relationships and project management and she encourages students from non-technical backgrounds to apply. Many technology based roles do not require a technology background and companies often provide training for these positions.

The UCL IT & Technology Fair gives you the opportunity to discover how IT & Technology underpins business and the diversity of opportunities available.

The UCL IT & Technology Fair on Thursday 16th October 2014 is kindly sponsored by Cisco

This post originally appeared on the International Futures blog

Preparing for an interview: The Basics.

For those of you with little or no experience of job interviews in the UK, please read on and make use of this checklist:

–Research: Whether you are applying for a temp job at a retail store or your Graduate role, it is vital that you show the person interviewing you that you have an awareness of the business. Having worked in a number of sectors, I can say that not having a general understanding of the sector or their operations can act as a nice way of sifting you out. Be aware of what the business does, where it operates, its main competitors and any recent issues or highlights that may have been publicised. Most of all, be able to demonstrate a personal connection or admiration for the company.

-Dress to impress: When applying for a professional role there is no such thing as too smart – best practise is a suit and shirt. If applying for a non professional role, the rule of thumb which you will never be penalised for, is to wear smart black trousers and a smart top.

-Be prepared for the handshake: This is a standard greeting at an interview; nothing less and definitely nothing more! A firm handshake shows confidence and self assurance, it’s very easy to fake that confidence so practise makes perfect.

-Eye contact: Culturally eye contact can mean different things but in the UK it shows confidence, respect and attentiveness. Take note. This will tie in with nodding your head as a means of engaging or acknowledging what is being said. Think of it as a form of agreement.

-Pre-emptied questions: There are a number of things that although basic, will be the foundation of everything you may need to talk about when attending an interview. Typically this will be based around; why you wish to work for this company, your strengths/weaknesses, biggest accomplishments and perhaps discussing a challenging situation. Do think outside of the box and do not think that all of your answers should be based on your time in education. You should have a real enthusiasm for what they do and not generic in your answers. Nobody will believe that the reason you are applying for a role with BT is because you have an enthusiasm for network and telecommunications services. Be specific with your answer and make it sound like you want to be in that company over any other. With regards to strengths and weaknesses, it is always a good move to be able to turn your negative into positive, such as: ‘I don’t like being idle, If I’ve done my work, I like to get involved in something else’; a positive spin on this is ‘I have learnt more about my wider teams work’ or ‘I have gained a better understanding of the business areas’. When discussing a challenging situation, the interviewer will be keen to know what happened, what your role was in the process from problem to solution. Demonstrating that you can show initiative and are a team player will also bode very well.

-Ask questions: At the end of almost any interview, you will be asked if you have any questions for those sitting opposite you. Do try and have some prepared, again this shows you are proactive and keen to know more, it also shows further interest in understanding the company as your potential employer. Do not discuss salary unless it is brought up by the employer. Good questions to think about are around career progression or in relation to what you may be required to do as part of the role.

Best of luck!

Picture thanks to xianrendujia on Flickr via Google Images, under free Creative Commons Licensing.