GradClub Careers workshops – September 2014

It’s almost September and time to think about life after UCL.  ‘Jumpstart your job hunt’ is a series of workshops aimed at recent graduates no matter where they are in their careers thinking.  All workshops are designed to be highly interactive and provide practical insight into all aspects of careers management for new graduates. 

An introduction to the graduate job search
Wednesday 10th September 10.30 to 1pm

Understanding the current graduate labour market and where you fit in can be a daunting prospect. Not sure where to start? This workshop will focus on assessing what you are looking for from your career, generating potential options as well as how to find out more about sectors and roles that interest you.

In addition, find out more about the graduate job market:

• What’s the difference between a graduate scheme and a graduate job?
• Is it true most jobs are never advertised?
• What kind of recruitment activities are you likely to face and what are your chances of success?

Find out all this and more in the opening session of our ‘Jumpstart your job hunt’ series.  No matter how vague your thoughts are about your next step, understand more about the graduate labour market and how UCL Careers GradClub can support you every step of the way.

Improve your CV and Applications
Wednesday 10th September 2 to 4.30pm

Did you know that the average employer can spend less than 30 seconds assessing a CV?
In this session we’ll look at how to improve your CV’s, cover letters and applications forms through interactive activities allowing you to ‘sit in the recruiter’s shoes’.  Understand what employers are looking for, how they assess your applications and how best to market yourself effectively.

Mock aptitude and other psychometric tests
Thursday 11th September 10.30 to 1pm

Many employers use tests of aptitude, situtational judgement and personality in the early stages of their recruitment and this is your chance to find out more and get some essential practice.
This session based in a UCL cluster room will give you a hands-on opportunity to understand more about common tests, practice examples and take our Kenexa online aptitude test of verbal and numerical reasoning receiving personalised feedback on your performance.

Succeeding at interviews
Thursday 11th September 2 to 4.30pm and repeated Friday 12th September 10.30 to 1pm

Looking for an opportunity to learn more about the interview process and how to market yourself effectively?
In this workshop, we’ll look at how to prepare ahead for the types of questions you can expect, answering strategies, creating a strong first impression and how to cope if things start going wrong. A highly interactive workshop including analysis of video footage of graduate-level interviews and opportunities to sit in the recruiter’s shoes to understand what employers are really looking for.

Surviving assessment centres
Friday 12th September 2 to 4.30pm

Most graduate recruiters use assessment centres as part of their recruitment process and they often appear a daunting prospect. From sample work tests to business case studies, group discussions to etray exercises – they are typically designed to test your performance across a range of activities all under the watching eye of a team of assessors.
In this workshop you’ll get first hand practice of typical assessment centre activities and have an opportunity to understand more about the key strategies for improving performance.

Effective job hunting
Wednesday 17th September 10.30 to 1pm

Did you know that most job opportunities are never publicly advertised?
In a competitive job market, it’s important to think creatively and use a diverse range of strategies as part of your job search. In this workshop, we’ll look at  ways of improving your response rate to advertised vacancies and pro-active tactics to allow yourself to take control of your job search.

How to use social media to improve your job search
Wednesday 17th September 2 to 4.30pm

You may have heard of LinkedIn as a powerful professional networking tool.  But did you realise that students and graduates can use it to raise their profiles with recruiters and find valuable contacts in your area of interest? In addition, many recruiters are now using Linkedin as a way of targeting specific individuals in the job market.
In this cluster-room based session, you’ll get hands-on with the site and start by understanding the basics of setting up a profile before moving on to using Linkedin to effectively network and look for opportunities.  In addition, we’ll look at how to utilise other social networking tools to help in your job search.

To register, login via your My UCL Careers account.