Summer is on the way!

Summer 2012 is going to see a huge influx of tourists both for the Olympics, Paralympics and the Queen’s 60^th Jubilee so not only will be really exciting to be in London, it will give you a good chance to add to your CV and your bank balance!.  Here are some ideas of how to get started:

• While jobs at the Olympic park are no longer an option (all employees needed to be UK Boarder Agency approved by April), extra help within pubs, cafes, restaurants and retail will needed to handle the crowds.  Keep an eye on the Careers Services Jobonline website or visit the jobs section of the UCL Careers Service website so you don’t miss out.
• Often smaller business advertise their roles by posting notices in their window so keep your eyes peeled as you’re walking around your local neighbourhood.  Getting a local part-time job keeps your travel costs down, and also gets you really involved in your local community.
• The most common type of summer work is within the hospitality industry.  Agency’s such as Hospitalitystaff.co.uk or fest staff recruit for a whole range of roles from checking tickets to serving food and security across loads of different festivals and events.
• Individual venues also take on extra staff over the busy summer period.  A good example is the Royal Albert Hall which hosts the Proms between July and September and who is currently looking for stewards to help out.
• If you’re more interested in an experience and less worried about the money, why not try volunteering.  UCL Volunteering is right here on campus to help out and organisations like the Volunteer England have special sections on volunteering for Olympics.  Also many of the museums, galleries and concert halls will be looking for volunteers over summer.  An example is the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank who are looking for extra volunteers for their Festival of the World.

To help you out with other ideas, doing up your CV or preparing for interviews, the UCL Careers Service will be open throughout the whole of summer (apart from the official UCL closure days) offering application checking and short guidance sessions.  To check times and see how to book, visit the Careers Service website.

Read Full Post »

Interested in International Development?

Getting into International Development -Thursday 15 March 2012

Our parent body, The Careers Group, is holding a one day introductory course that will set out clearly how the development sector is structured, the different entry roles available and the combination of qualifications, skills and experience needed to get into international development.

• Learn how the  sector is structured and find out about a wide variety of jobs, graduate schemes, internships and short courses.
• Participate in a lunch time careers fair and network with education providers and NGO’s.
• Choose optional workshops on effective applications, working in emergency relief, campaigning and fundraising.

Keynote Speaker: Stephen O’ Brien, Parliamentary Under-Secretary Of  State For International Development, DFID

Organisations involved include:

• Action Against Hunger
• The Book Bus
• Childreach
• Christian Aid
• The Daneford Trust
• Development in Action
• Doctors of the World
• Inspirational Volunteer Journeys
• Mad4Africa
• Medair UK
• Peru Support Group
• PKF
• Raleigh International
• Results
• Skillshare International – International Citizen Service
• SOAS
• The Social Investment Consultancy
• Teach a Man to Fish
• World Service Enquiry
• theIDLgroup
• GOAL UK
• Oxfam
• 2Way Development
• Restless Development
• War on Want
• VSO – newly confirmed!
• The University of East Anglia (UEA)- newly confirmed!
• The University of Manchester -  newly confirmed!
• International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) – newly confirmed!
• One Acre Fund – newly confirmed!
• Inter Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE) UK – newly confirmed!

For the latest programme and to register , please visit this website

Read Full Post »

A unique opportunity for Indian Students to make a difference…….

Teach For India is a movement of outstanding graduates and young professionals who, in the short term, teach low-income group students full-time in under-resourced schools. In the long term, these Fellows will become global leaders and advocate for educational equity across India. There are currently close to 400 Fellows teaching 12,000 students in 130 schools in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi and is expanding to Hyderabad and Chennai in 2012

In the first 3 years of existence, Teach For India has attracted Fellows from top universities such as Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management, Harvard, St.Stephen’s College, St. Xavier’s College, and many more top-notch colleges in India and across the globe. The Fellowship also attracts young professionals from reputed companies such as Accenture, McKinsey, Schlumberger, Tata Group and several more international and Indian companies. The first batch of 80 alumni who graduated in April 2011 are today spread across India and the world, working with organizations such as McKinsey, Leader’s Quest, NIIT Foundation, Akanksha etc. and some are even studying at universities such as Harvard, Chicago Booth, Kellogg and Cornell. To know more, please visit www.teachforindia.org

You could also get in touch with Abishek Maroli who works with the Fellowship Recruitment team at Teach For India and assists applicants from universities outside India. His email address is abishek.maroli@teachforindia.org.

Read Full Post »

Love London this summer by getting involved in Volunteering

The Volunteering Services Unit or VSU helps students and staff make the most of volunteering opportunities within the local community.

There’s a world of possibilities out there, right on your doorstep. London is the most diverse city in the world, and the best way to discover it is by getting involved in volunteering. UCL’s Volunteering Services Unit have 250 different projects to choose from, so there’s something for everyone, and you’ll make new friends and improve your chances of getting decent paid work too. But most of all, you’ll be making a difference right here in this exciting city!

You’ll get loads of support and advice from both the Volunteering Services Unit and the student-run Volunteering Society.

For more details and to check out the projects you could get involved with, follow the link

http://uclu.org/volunteers/

or visit the VSU at:
1st Floor
Lewis Building
Corner of Gower Street and Gower Place
WC1E 6BP

020 7679 2512

volunteering@ucl.ac.uk

Read Full Post »

UCL’s James Xu is international student of the year

Reposted from our friends at UCL news

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/

James Xi Xu (UCL Italian & Management Studies) has beaten 1,220 students to be named International Student of the Year in a competition run by the British Council.

James, who is 23 and from China, was one of twelve regional finalists selected out of 1,220 students from 118 countries who entered this year’s International Student Awards competition, known as ‘Shine!’ The awards celebrate international students’ contributions to life in the UK, taking into account a wide variety of achievements and activities.

James’s ‘letter home’, describing his experiences of living and studying in the UK, was judged to be the best and the most inspiring by a panel made up of representatives from the British Council, national media partner the Times Higher Education magazine and previous International Student Awards winner Stephenie Tiew.

His letter described how his time in the UK had inspired his passion for the third sector and volunteering. Appointed as a UCL Volunteering Officer, James has helped many students set up their own volunteering projects and work within the community.

He will also be helping the London Olympic Organising Committee select volunteers for the event, and through a summer internship at the British Red Cross became a qualified first-aider and led three projects promoting the medical charity’s role in 2012.

He told his parents: “Despite all the challenges like cooking, washing dishes, going shopping, being homesick and working part-time etc., I never regret being here at all. Thank you so much for sending me to London. My life has been more meaningful and exciting since I am in UK.”

James received his trophy and £2,000 prize last night from TV and radio presenter Angelica Bell, British Council Chief Executive Martin Davidson and BBC Radio 1 DJ Nihal at a ceremony held in London.

“I am so excited about winning the Shine! Award. When I came to UK, I found volunteering is such a big thing and that has really inspired me to help other people. I never expected to win tonight – when I see the achievements of the other regional finalists it makes me feel humble – I am in awe of them.”

Image: James Xu volunteering at Marchmont Community Centre. Credit: UCL Union

For more information  about volunteering at UCL click here

Read Full Post »

World Cup Special: Brazil

When the World Cup comes around, the team that usually head the betting odds are Brazil. Having won the tournament a record five times and being the only team to win on every continent it’s been staged on, Brazil are always amongst the favourites and with their flamboyant style of samba football are the team everyone loves to watch.

Now Brazil is starting to make an impact in line with status as a footballing superpower in the jobs market. With one of the world’s fastest growing economies and already with the largest economy in South America, many major companies are expanding into Brazil bringing with them a number of opportunities for graduate employment. Microsoft are one firm who have expanded in to Brazil and have a range of employment opportunities, from sales roles to software development and consultancy, as well as graduate schemes.

However, despite Brazil’s increasing economic stature, large areas of the population are still impoverished. Some 26% of the population of Brazil leave below the poverty line. If working in Brazil isn’t appealing to you, you could try taking up a volunteering opportunity. Latitude is one organisation that provide you with opportunities to work on community projects, like in an orphanage or with street children or environmental projects in the rainforests. At around £1,800 it may not be cheap, but it’s a great way to help people less fortunate, experience another culture and looks good on your CV. A list of other volunteering organisations can be found on the Graduate Prospects website if the schemes Latitude offer don’t appeal to you.

For graduates, Brazil really is Kaka to a graduates Luis Fabiano – always creating opportunities!

Zara Chaudhry, PA to the Head of Service/ Administrator

Read Full Post »

World Cup Special: Portugal

The Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the world’s highest paid footballer, earning £11m a season at Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s earning power isn’t reflective of the average Portuguese. Portugal’s economy is one of the worst in the Eurozone. Along with Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, it is considered to be most at risk of defaulting on it’s debts. With unemployment levels reaching 10% and the government making savage economic cuts, finding work in Portugal is a difficult process.

That’s not to say Portugal is a fruitless destination for graduates. While long term employment may be tricky, it does provide opportunities for ventures which can boost your CV and help you stand out to employers.

Volunteering is a great way to experience another culture and learn new skills to put on your CV. The Canadian Alliance for Development offer a range of short term opportunities for volunteering projects for 18-30 year olds throughout the summer, giving you the opportunity to gain insight into the rural Portuguese landscape and way of life while at the same time give something back to the community.  Please note that these schemes aren’t free and there will be costs involved.

Another way to make yourself stand out is to learn a language. With businesses becoming increasingly multinational, language skills are much sought after by employers. CESA are an organisation offering courses designed to give you the chance to learn Portuguese by immersing yourself into Portuguese culture. The length of the courses vary and are located in either Lisbon or Faro.  Again, these schemes aren’t free and there will be costs involved.

The organisations mentioned above are examples of many that offer opportunities that will help you to increase your employability and learn about Portuguese culture. Others and further information on volunteering or travelling abroad can be found on our Careers Tagged website

Robin Stone – Client Service Officer

Read Full Post »

World Cup Special: It’s Paraguay’s turn!

Adverts for job vacancies based in Paraguay seem to be a rare thing or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that job adverts in English appear to be a rare thing. This isn’t really a surprise when you consider that the official languages of Paraguay are Spanish and Guaraní. I would imagine that anyone skilled in either of these languages would be able to find a great deal more information online than I could. However, here are a handful of websites that might be useful when job hunting in Paraguay:

International JobOnline

Job of Mine

Acciontrabajo Paraguay

Computrabajo Paraguay

Although tracking down job vacancies was difficult, information on voluntary projects is much easier to find so if you are interested in volunteering abroad or perhaps starting a career in development then Paraguay offers a range of opportunities.

Internships with Fundación Paraguaya.

This social enterprise works on innovative plans to reduce poverty and unemployment. They run three key programs focussing on microcredit, education for entrepreneurship and a Self-Sustainable Organic Farm School.

http://www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py/

Internships with Para La Tierra

These internships are aimed specifically at current biology students and recently qualified young scientists looking for some field work experience to help them gain employment after university.

http://www.paralatierra.org/

Other organisations with projects based in Paraguay include:

The Peace Corps (for US citizens) – http://www.peacecorps.gov/

Save the Children – http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/

Kiva (microfinance enterprise) – http://www.kiva.org/fellows/

Paraguay Facts

The Paraguay national football team has reached the second round of the World

Cup three times (1986, 1998 and 2002) but has never progressed any further.

…..and for those of you who could do with a break from the football…did you know that Paraguay is the world’s third largest exporter of soybeans.

Read Full Post »

Volunteer Opportunities for Shanghai Expo 2010

If you are a UCL student interested in a volunteering experience in China, working at the UK pavilion in the upcoming World Expo could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

2010 is the year of the World Expo taking place in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October. A World Expo is an opportunity for participating countries to showcase their achievements in areas such as culture, technology and industrial development, and the Shanghai Expo will be the biggest ever, with nearly 200 countries participating and over 70 million visitors.

The UK is one of the leading participant countries and has developed a stunning UK Pavilion, designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, to create a lasting impression with the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Pavilion. The UK has also developed a range of activities for the Expo to enhance cultural, educational and business collaboration and exchange between China and the UK.

The UK Pavilion has now opened up opportunities for volunteers to work at the Pavilion, engaging with Chinese and international visitors. This is an excellent opportunity for all students with an interest in China and we would be grateful if you could pass on the relevant information to all of your students and encourage them to apply.

More information about the volunteer opportunities, along with application details, can be found on the UK’s official website for the Shanghai Expo:

where you can also learn more about the UK Pavilion and the UK’s programme of activity.

The initial deadline for applications is 31 January 2010, but applications will continue to be accepted until the end of February 2010 for people applying from overseas.

All applications and any queries about the volunteer opportunities should be addressed directly to the recruitment company, DTZ, at mailto:hr.pma.sh@dtz.sh.cn

Read Full Post »