Aaron Marchant from All About Group, gives us his take on the pros and cons of the Charity sector. Don’t forget to register for our Charities and NGOs week starting w/c 2nd Feb 2015!

When hunting for a career, many students don’t consider the charity and not-for-profit sector, choosing instead to focus on other career routes. Here are some pros and cons about working in the sector which might give you something new to think about.

Salary

Ok, so you probably won’t be earning huge amounts of money as soon as you graduate. Starting salaries tend to average between £20,000 and £25,000. These can rise over time to £40,000+ after five to ten years, with the potential to go even higher.

Working environment

Working in the not-for-profit and charity sector often results in an interesting and varied working day. If you choose to work in a support-based role, you’ll be moving between locations and coming into direct contact with clients. This type of work will be especially hands-on – you could be working on outdoor projects or helping vulnerable members of society. Alternatively, you might be based in an office, liaising with support workers and other industry professionals. This would involve the sorts of things you would expect from most office environment, such as more regular hours.

Something different

If you’re interested in making a real difference to society, or you want to work abroad, then charity work is something you should consider. For example, if you choose to work in International Aid & Development, there will be plenty of opportunities for travel. These might range from short trips to assess a situation to working abroad on long term projects. Closer to home, you’ll be able to make noticeable differences to the communities around you.

Open to everyone

Whether you’re doing a law degree, considering a job in the creative arts, or working on a new app, there is something for everyone in the not-for-profit sector. For example, if you’ve been considering graduate finance jobs, the charity sector needs financiers just as much as other companies do. You’ll be able to put your skills to good use whilst giving back to society. Similarly, a creative student might be interested in running community theatre or putting on art events. Whatever your background, there’s more opportunity in the sector than meets the eye.

The bare bones – pros and cons

Pros:

• Challenging
• You can make a difference every day
• Variety of working options
• Opportunities for travel and working abroad

Cons:

• Can often be emotional
• Relatively low potential earnings
• Sometimes stressful

The not-for-profit and charity sector, therefore, has a lot to offer. Whether you’re someone who is passionate about helping others, want to use your knowledge in a social context, or just wants to try something different, it’s a career well worth considering.

Aaron Marchant works at www.allaboutcareers.com, a careers advice service for students and graduates

Register for the UCL Careers Charities and NGOs week here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/events/getinto

UCLU WINTER VOLUNTEERING FAIR
12 NOON – 3PM THIS THURSDAY
SOUTH CLOISERS & MAIN QUAD MARQUEE
Will 2015 be the year that you make a big difference?  If so, a good place to get started will be our Winter Volunteering Fair on Thursday 22^nd January.

In the South Cloisters we’ll be hosting over 50 different London-based organisations for you to find out about, including Centra Volunteering, Diabetes UK, Action Tutoring, Health Poverty Action, Origin Housing, Keen London, West Euston Time Bank, Stemettes, St John Ambulance, ULU Links, London LGBT+ Community Pride, Anthony Nolan, Body & Soul, UCL Hospital, Theatre Royal Stratford East, UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, St Joseph’s Hospice, MAC-UK, Stroke Association, Newlon Fusion, IntoUniversity… and many more.

In the Main Quad Marquee, UCLU Volunteering Society (VolSoc) will be hosting an international volunteering fair, with exciting projects from around the world.  There exhibitors include: Frontier, Otra Cosa Network, The Hope Foundation For Street Children, Kaya Responsible Travel, PSE For a Child’s Smile UK, The Daneford Trust, Tenteleni and more. For more information about the Volunteering Society and international volunteering please go to their website.

You’ll find us in the South Cloisters and Main Quad Marquee from 12 noon – 3pm on Thursday 22nd – we hope to see you there!

Add the Winter Volunteering Fair to your calendar

On 26 November 2014, UCL Careers brought together a panel of industry professionals to talk about their careers, share advice for students and graduates hoping to get into the Biotech and Pharmaceutical field.

Linsey Chrisman, has written a selection of their key insights and advice. The panel were:

• Dr Jane Bentley, Executive Director Project Management & Global Oncology Operations Lead, Worldwide Clinical Trials / Institute of Clinical Research
• Richard Bolton, Service Owner, IT Director, GlaxoSmithKline
• Adam Manhi, Assistant Manager, Healthcare & Life Sciences, KPMG Life and Health Sciences
• Tony Ring, Operations Manager, Abbott Diabetes Care

What’s happening in the industry?

• It is an unstable time in the industry with companies reluctant to commit to long term spending and hiring on temporary contracts. Most of the hiring that’s happened at Tony’s facility in the past year has been on temporary contracts. Roughly a third of temporary hires get permanent jobs with the company.
• Big pharma companies are shrinking the number of people they employ directly in the UK. Increasing amounts of work, including research and development, is being contracted out. Many jobs are still there – but they are in the smaller organisations which have contracts with big pharmaceutical companies, not in the big companies themselves.
• Many small biotech companies are ‘virtual ‘, ie. a few founders without physical office space or a lab, and contract lab work out to other organisations. This might be contract research organisations or just organisations that have lab facilities, such as research institutes and universities.

Ways to get in

• Companies in this sector are often looking for graduates to work in IT. This can be a way in to other roles.
• Work in manufacturing can be a way in to roles in Research and Development and Quality Assurance.
• Many companies use agencies to hire temporary staff. Research recruitment agencies that work with this sector, register and keep in touch with agencies proactively.
• Contract research organisations often take on staff to help compile reports for regulators. These positions may not be advertised, so consider applying to organisations speculatively or registering with recruitment agencies.
• Don’t get hung up on graduate schemes! There are very few in this sector. No one on the panel had ever done a graduate scheme. They all built experience in a combination of internships and temporary entry level jobs before getting into the job they were aiming for.

What are the biggest challenges facing the industry at the moment?

• There are regulatory changes on the horizon. The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) is expected to start requiring all of the raw data from clinical trials to be supplied to them in set formats. The UK MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency) and other regulatory bodies are expected to follow suit. It could be resource intensive to get the data to conform to mandated formats and companies are concerned about the costs.
• Richard said one of the biggest challenges he saw in the industry was that ‘it’s getting harder to know what you know’. In other words, research and clinical trials produce vast amounts of data, and it’s a big challenge to store and organise it in a way that’s meaningful and useful, not just to the team that produced it but to other people within the company and regulators.

Please see the speaker profiles here. You can also get more information on this field on the Life and Health Sciences Week web page.

– Linsey Chrisman, Information Officer, UCL Careers

SPRINT is a bespoke programme designed to support the professional development of women at the early stages of their career.

Across 4 action packed days, you will learn how to:

• Use your personal power
• Use assertiveness positively
• Build your image, networking skills & confidence
• Enage with inspiring role models & industry professionals
• Gain access to a network of mentors and peers to keep you on track to achieve your goals.

dates: 7th-9th January & 16th February 2015

UCL graduate, Clemency Sherwood-Roberts (BA Anthropology, 2013) took part in the SPRINT Programme in July 2014. Read what she has to say about the benefits of the programme below. Find out more and apply via your MyUCLCareers account by noon on Friday 5th December.

Why did you apply to the SPRINT programme?
The SPRINT Programme stood apart from any previous career events I had attended whilst at university because it did not just focus on the classic topics of networking, CVs and matching skills to jobs. It also looked at personal and professional development through looking at being a woman entering the workplace, focussing on how to stand out and define yourself individually through the beginning stages of a career.

What was your highlight from the programme?
The Home Group. Before the course had even begun you were sat next to a group of like-minded young women who would support you and each other through the four days and beyond. Your own little network created immediately, so pick where you sit wisely!

What did you gain from the programme?
The largest gain I took away from the SPRINT Programme was a sense of perspective on who I am as a potential recruit. I was able to assess what I have achieved so far, what I can offer professionally and can utilise certain tools to effectively and successfully progress with this knowledge. I can revisit these tools over and over through the years, from basic prioritisation methods to dealing with different types of people who will cross my path.

Why would you recommend it to other students?
I did the SPRINT Programme having already spent a year in employment and it was still able to offer me so much. I struggle to see any reason why a female under/postgraduate wishing to progress into a corporate/commercial career should not do this programme. People pay hundreds in the work-force for training that matches the quality of SPRINT. On top of that, you also hear other women’s career stories. Each day there is the opportunity to learn from a mentor from one of the sponsoring companies. To have such insight and exposure whilst still an undergraduate, with so much opportunity still available to you, is truly invaluable.

This post originally appeared on the UCL Researchers Blog

UCL Postgrads – Are you interested in making connections with local communities? Thinking about volunteering? Want to collaborate with people outside of academia?

If so, come and have some stimulating discussions at our Postgraduate Volunteering & Public Engagement Fair. There will be thirty stalls to browse, and staff from across UCL and UCLU to give advice about volunteering and public engagement. Oh, and we’ll have refreshments too.

 When: Roberts Foyer, Wednesday 26 November 6-8pm

Exhibitors include Access Sport, Body & Soul, Carnaval del Pueblo, Doorstep Library Network, Endometriosis UK, Family Mosaic, Future Frontiers, IntoUniversity, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, North London Cares , Real Action, Royal Mencap Society, Sova Support Link, The Camden Society, UCL Grand Challenges and more.

The event is jointly organised by UCL Public Engagement Unit, UCLU’s Volunteering Services Unit, and the UCLU Postgraduate Association.

To register, and to find out more about the volunteering on offer, visit https://uclu.org/whats-on/volunteering/postgraduate-public-engagement-volunteering-fair

Life and Health Sciences Week is a week of events designed to help you find out more about opportunities in this sector, including information on routes in, how to gain valuable work experience and how to make effective applications.  Locations for each event will be provided when booking.

Please Note: Events are popular and booking for each will close when it is fully booked or, at the latest, 1 working day before the event. We recommend early booking to avoid disappointment.

Book now: Log in to your My UCL Careers account to book a place at any of these events.

Applications and CVs for Life and Health Sciences

Monday 24 November 2014

1 – 2pm

Are you applying for jobs or courses in life sciences and want to stand out from the crowd? This talk will provide advice on how to write effective CVs, covering letters, motivation statements and answer tricky application form questions.

A Career in Medicine

Monday 24 November 2014

5:30 – 7pm

Are you considering applying to medicine as a graduate? Get advice from doctors, medical students, medical schools admissions managers and careers advisors. The event will begin with a brief talk on medical training and the career paths of doctors after medical school. Then there will be a panel discussion, with opportunities to have your questions answered by the panel.

Careers in Public Health

Tuesday 25 November 2014

5:30 – 7:30pm

Want to get some key tips about how to break into this competitive sector? Meet a panel of experts from areas including public health policy, health protection and surveillance, and advocacy and communications. The panel discussion will be followed by a networking event. Speakers confirmed include Anthony Nolan Trust, Global Alliance for Chronic Disease, Results UK and the Stroke Association.

Biotech and Pharmaceutical Careers

Wednesday 26 November 2014

5:30 – 7pm

Interested in working in the biotech or pharmaceutical industry and want to find out more? Come to this event to hear directly from professionals working in industry, discussing their career paths, ways to get into this area, and how to progress your career.

There will be a panel discussion followed by an opportunity to network informally. Panellists will include representatives from KPMG Life Sciences Consulting, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott Diabetes Care, and the Institute of Clinical Research.

Book now: Log in to your My UCL Careers account to book a place at any of these events.

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/

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

The IT industry is continuing to expand rapidly. Employment opportunities are continuing to increase at all levels and in different industry sectors.  Employment in the IT sector is expected to grow at 2.19% a year, almost 5 times faster than the predicted average growth for the UK.

The IT sector is looking very positive for the future;

• Increase in use of personal devices – this means a greater need for IT and telecoms professionals who are able to understand the vulnerabilities of underlying architecture and infrastructure and to develop new security solutions.
• Development of sustainable IT to minimise the environmental impact of technology.
• Growth is predicted to be strongest in highly skilled areas – software professionals, ICT managers, IT strategy and planning professionals.

What skills are needed?

Employers do recruit graduates with non-IT degrees into consultancy and business analysis roles, where they can apply a broad technical knowledge to commercial environments. More technical roles such as network engineers, software developers and programmers do require graduates with relevant technical degrees such as computer science, information systems and software engineering.

The ‘soft’ skills required are:

• Communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills
• Teamwork
• Organisation and planning
• Problem solving
• Commercial awareness and customer focus
• Enthusiasm and motivation
• Adaptability, flexibility, willingness
• An ability to learn new skills quickly

There is a skills shortage in this sector. The skills that graduates often lack are;

• Business skills
• Higher level technical skills
• Sector knowledge/experience
• Technical skills: programming languages, operations systems knowledge, network and infrastructure understanding and development skills.

Research shows that employers want to attract high quality recruits to IT and computing, which means postgraduates, and specifically doctoral graduates, are very well placed to take advantage of this skills shortage. Doctoral study is not essential although it can provide an edge in an increasingly competitive job marketplace. A doctorate degree still needs to be supplemented by continuous personal skills development.

It is predicted that the skills shift that is already taking place in the IT and computing sector from the UK to lower cost countries will continue to create challenges in terms of career paths and skills development.

Source: CRAC

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