How to get an internship or graduate job! – UCL Careers Service Graduate Scheme Summer Schools 2011 now open!

Get the skills this summer to secure an intership

There are only 120 places for the 24,000 students currently at UCL on a first come first serve basis, so I’ve tried to pass this information on immediately so readers of this blog can benefit.

The Careers Summer School is a fantastic opportunity  to gain the tools and secrets of how to secure an internship or graduate job; so come autumn’s recruitment season you’ll be well ahead of the curve.

Details below

*
UCL Careers Service Graduate Scheme Summer Schools 2011*

*Week 1: Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th September OR*

*Week 2: Monday 19th to Wednesday 21st September*

Approximate Timings: 10.00am to 4.00pm each day

Graduate schemes and internships are offered by many larger employers looking to recruit future talent and are seen as a fast-track route to career progression. Competition for places can be intense and it is important to apply as early as possible as recruiters often start selecting candidates long before applications deadlines close.

The summer school is a bespoke programme of activities designed to give you a real head start for schemes opening for applications in the Autumn of 2011 or for remaining places that recruiters are looking to fill for immediate start.

Programme activities include:

· an introduction to the UK graduate labour market, graduate schemes and what employers are looking for;

· an opportunity to meet and hear from current graduate scheme employer staff

· an application ‘toolkit’ including workshops on CVs & applications, aptitude tests; interviews and other assessment centre techniques;

· an insight into how to make the most of the careers service support available to you

Priority will be given to those attending all 3 days. A returnable £25 deposit is required to confirm your place. To find out more and register for your place see: _http://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/events/skills/summerschool_. Please note that the careers office is closed for its annual closure week re-opening on Monday 8th August. If you have problems registering, please contact the career service then.

UCL Careers Service

(Thanks to unknown for photo)

Read Full Post »

Time to get you’re hands dirty

Candidates can often have unrealistic expectations about life back in their home country when they return after living in the UK. That was the warning given by Shalini Naagar, the Head of Human Resources with Marks & Spencers Reliance Pvt. Shalini took part in the first employer web-chat for International Futures.

According to Shalini, graduate trainees should expect to work hard and get their hands dirty. This is something that many graduate recruiters in the UK expect too – for example the very well reimbursed Aldi Graduate Scheme requires trainees to spend significant time on the shop floor. This is often seen as being a great way for employees to understand the whole business.

Graduate trainees with M&S India will therefore spend time working their way up to the more strategic positions. But there is a wide range of openings available with recruitment all year round. There are positions in retail in major cities across India. At head office, in Gurgaon, Delhi there are opportunities in IT, Finance, Marketing, Visual Merchandising and HR.

M&S is set to grow in India. There are plans for a further thirty stores to open over the next three years. This could be a great time to get on board. Shalini mentioned that retention rates (i.e., the number of employees who stay on after training) are very favourable compared to other retailers in India.

The recruitment process is similar to the UK with interviews and assessment centres. Shalini wasn’t able to provide details of the competencies used in India but agreed that looking at the UK competencies might help.

You can read the whole discussion online by logging in with your OpenID, Facebook or Twitter account.

Blog credited to the International Futures website.

Read Full Post »

World Cup Special: Graduate Jobs in England

Having been given the easy job of finding graduate jobs in England (as my colleagues furiously search for vacancies in Slovakia where the job description is not written in Slovak), I decided to add a special footie related twist to my task.

This job search was inspired by former England Captain and tabloid journalist’s favourite, John Terry.

T is for Technology – More, specifically, the Vodafone Technology Graduate Programme.

E is for Events – Clarion events, creators of world class exhibitions, conferences and seated events have a two year Graduate Recruitment Programme

R is for Retail -  The Body Shop are looking for talented graduates to join their Retail Management Trainee Programme and their Finance Management Trainee Programme

R is for Risk – and Russell Investments, who are recruiting for an Investment Process and Risk Intern

Y is for Young Minds – A charity committed to improving the mental health and emotional well-being of children and young people with Internships in a number of areas, including Fundraising and Policy.

Vacancy Source: All of these jobs were found using JobOnline.

Lynn Philpott – Employer Services and Events Officer

Read Full Post »