Theatre Studies

Careers and Employability Service

Nicola Urquhart

Careers Adviser

October 2012

What we will cover:

• What is employability ?

• Options with your degree

• Graduate schemes

• Using social media

• How the Careers and Employability Service can support you

• Wider University initiatives

• Action points

What is Employability?

‘A set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy.’ (CBI, March 2009)

Changing world of work:

• Global economy

• More career changes

• New technology/social media

• Roles change

• Changes to graduate recruitment

Changes to graduate recruitment

Employers increasingly focusing on attributes in addition to traditional employability skills

Successful candidates need to be able to demonstrate these attributes on their applications and articulate them at interview

Your degree can help you to do this!

What skills and attributes do employers want?

Transferrable skills

• Communication (oral, written)

• Negotiation

• Team working

• Planning and organisation

• Time management

• Leadership

• Problem solving

Attributes

• Adaptability (flexibility)

• Energy

• Drive and resilience

• Confidence

• Reliability

• Enthusiasm and passion

• Self awareness and confidence

What do drama graduates do?

• Actor

• Stage manager

• Arts administrator

• Drama teacher

• Television production assistant

• Radio presenter

What do drama graduates do?

• Advertising manger

• Personnel manager

• Journalist

• Market researcher

• Events manager

• Publisher

• PR officer

• Charities administrator

• And many more!

Graduate Schemes

• Many to choose from…

• Especially common in business, finance and law

• 40% of opportunities open to graduates from any degree discipline

• Majority ask for a 2.1(some also request UCAS points)

• Majority of deadlines before end of year

• Common selection procedures

Example graduate Scheme (Asda)

• Finance

• Human Resources

• IT

• Logistics

• Marketing

• Property

• Purchasing

• Retailing

Example Graduate scheme (Bloomberg )

• Finance

• IT

• Media

• Sales

Example graduate scheme: DIFD

• Engineering

• Finance

• General Management

• IT

• Purchasing

• Research and Development

Others…

• European commission

• Loreal

• Lidl

• Mars

• Civil Service

• NHS

• Rolls-Royce

• Sainsbury’s

• Savills

• Sky

• Teach First

• National Audit Office

• MI5

• Publicis UK

• IMG Media Ltd

• Vocus

• Accenture

• The Co-operative

• Redrow

• Smith & Williamson

GRADUATE SALARIES 2012 Arcadia – retail management £18,500 - £23,000 Boots - brand/buying/marketing grad scheme £24,000 + £1k welcome! Barclays Bank - future leaders development programme £36k (+£8k

bonus!) Civil Service - up to £27,000 Explore Learning - education management £21,000 Exxon Mobil - graduate schemes £34,000 FiveTen Group - recruitment £20-£25k GCHQ - defence research £25,000 (+ benefits) IBM - range of schemes £27,000 - £32,000 Jaguar Land Rover - purchasing grad scheme £27k John Lewis - buying/retail management/merchandising graduate schemes

£25,000 L’Oreal - management training scheme £28,000 McDonald’s - trainee business manager £18,500-21,500 MI5 - £24,750 + benefits - varies by function! Motability - £28,500 (+ joining bonus!) Slaughter & May - training contract £38,000 Waitrose - retail management £25,000

Key features of working in the creative sector

• Self employment

• ‘Portfolio career’

• Reliance on networks/contacts

• Professional attitude and approach required

• CV/ portfolio of work necessary

• Majority of opportunities are gained speculatively

Speculative approach

• Produce a professional, graduate level CV

• Identify companies/contacts to approach

• Prepare a suitable covering letter

• Make phone contacts to find out who to send your cv to and get their e mail address

• ALWAYS follow up

• Use a combination of approaches

• Consider producing a creative CV, however get the content right before focusing on the design

• Be persistent!

Social media

• Social Media: “an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos, and audio.” www.wikipedia.org

• Enabling conversations

• Facilitating discussions

Why should you be using social media?

• Enables you to build links and to learn about an industry and potential employers

• Allows you to connect to networks and explore possibilities

• Some employers will expect you be using it e.g. the media, advertising, publishing and many more.

• Can provide you with an excellent platform to showcase your knowledge and interest in a career area.

• Allows you to make an impression (good and bad)

Some platforms to consider

Linkedin

• Increase your awareness of the sector, link with potential recruiters

Twitter

• Follow recruiters, twitjobsearch

Blogging

• Demonstrate your commitment , business knowledge and passion.

Why use LinkedIn?

• Exploring career ideas

• Finding out about an employer and their competition

• Professional networking

• Opportunity to join groups

• For self marketing and increasing your visibility

• Asking for advice

• Staying in touch/reconnecting

Your LinkedIn Profile

• Setting up a profile go to www.linkedin.com and enter your details.

• Be sure to include:

Profile photo

Profile summary/ Professional headline

Education details

Details of current and past job roles/volunteering/ internships etc

•“You are 40 times more likely to receive connections if your profile is 100% complete” Denise

Taylor ‘How to Use LinkedIn to find a new job”

Getting started - Networking

•You start by adding people you know in the “real world”

• Connect with others with similar interests or goals

•Explore 1st and 2nd degree connections

Finding out about organisations/groups

Companies/Organisations:• Search organisations and find out more about their line of

work• Learn more about an organisation, access their vacanciesGroups• Find out more by joining groups• Ask questions, answer questions, find out what people in the

industry you are interested in are talking about

Useful information

Training Videos: www.learn.linkedin.com www.learn.linkedin.com/students - 6 step video to

success

New Users Starter Guide http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/

Webinars: http://learn.linkedin.com/training/

What is ?

• Twitter is a form of micro-blogging

• Twitter gives you 140 characters per ‘tweet’ to

say what’s on your mind

• You can follow people/companies/ recruiters

who interest you.

• Gather an audience

Ideas on who to follow:

• Companies/employers you are interested in working for

• Industry experts/bloggers

• Professional networks and industry/professional publications

• Job sites and job boards

• Recruiters / head-hunters / HR personnel who are hiring for the roles you're targeting

• @unikentemploy

What is Blogging?

• A personal diary, a political soapbox,a collection of links, your memo to the world – a website you update on a regular basis.

Your Blog

• Get an account eg. www.posterous.com

• Write a paragraph post explaining who you are

• Tell your friends, lecturers and if you feel confident potential employers about your blog

• Respond to comments

• Link posts to things in the news and media

• When you post – tell the world (Linkedin, Facebook, twitter, etc)

• Keep at it

What employers say…

"Few students are able to articulate what they have gained from their experience in higher education." (Association of Graduate Recruiters, 1995)

Producing a CV

What is the purpose of a CV?

• To inform the employer about your education, work experience, skills and interests

• To show how you meet the criteria so the employer can not deselect you

• To ‘sell’ your qualities and to persuade the employer to invite you to interview

Matching up your CV with the position/company

• It is not ‘one size fits all’, you need to tailor your CV to each position you apply for.

• Research the organisation. Do they have a mission statement or core values? What will they be looking for in you? Who works there at the moment? What are they passionate about?

What makes an effective CV and covering letter

• Right format

• Well presented

• Proof read/consistent tenses

• You have included all the necessary information

• Your skills and abilities are clearly evidenced

• Conveyed your understanding and enthusiasm for the job

• Targeted it to the job

What does it need to contain?

• Personal details

• Education and qualifications

• Work experience

• Skills

• Interests and additional information

• References

However don’t be constrained by headings.

• Scholarships/Awards

• Voluntary work

• Relevant experience

• Positions of responsibility

• Publication/Presentations

• Conferences attended

• Research skills

• Additional skills

• Languages

Hints on wording• Avoid personal pronouns -

No “I’s”

• Avoid producing a passive CV

• Start with verbs wherever possible

• Use short sentences & concise phrases

• Focus on accomplishments

• Refer to specific projects with quantifiable results

Make use of Action Verbs

created instructed analysed produced

negotiated designed calculated maintained

administered controlled reviewed observed

consolidated delivered founded increased

studied invented supplied detected

programmed recommended distributed

developed solved prepared installed selected

arranged formulated solved started

How the Careers and Employability Service can help you.

What we do

• Careers Talks and Workshops

• Careers Library: Employer Directories, Occupational Profiles, Books etc

• Comprehensive Web Pages

• Careers Employability Award (CEM) on Moodle

• Vacancy Database

• Alumni Careers Network

• Annual Careers and Recruitment Fair

• Drop In - Quick Query

• Careers Guidance Interviews

Careers and Employability Service Web Site: www.kent.ac.uk/ces

Careers and Employability Service Web Pages and Prospects

• What can I do with my degree in drama http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/drama.htm

• How to create a portfolio http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/portfolios.htm

• Interview Reports http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivreps/ivrepsmenu.htm

• Interviews (includes assessment centres and psychometric tests etc.) www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

• Example CVs & Covering Letterswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cvexamples.htm

• Spelling and punctuation http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/spelling.htm

• Prospects http://www.prospects.ac.uk/public_relations_officer_job_description.htm

Careers Employability Award (on moodle)

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

• The module takes about 12 hours to complete

• But this can be done at your own pace

You do this by completing:

9 quizzes

3 short assignments

1 feedback form

• “I liked the fact that the assignments relate to how you would fill in answers on a graduate job application step by step and provides examples of how to fill it in.”

• “I really enjoyed the quizzes. They effectively highlighted the gaps in my knowledge, as many of the answers surprised me. I also found the module on creating my own CV very useful, these skills will be invaluable for tailoring my CV to particular jobs.”

• “There is a wealth of information about everything; I especially liked the individual information about specific job types and the advice given about interview skills.”

Comments from students who have completed the award.

Attend Careers Talks and Workshops.

• How to make effective presentations

• Commercial awareness

• Postgraduate study

• Summer Internships

• More information available http://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/events/

Employers visiting campus Examples this term include:

• MBDA

• Bloomberg

• RAF

• Teach First

• Majestic Wine

• NHS

• PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Careers and Employability Service Fair

• Thursday 1st November 2-5pm Eliot Great Hall.

Chance to meet employers and hear about opportunities

Vacancy Database

• All vacancies sent to the Careers and Employability Service by employers, whether for graduate jobs, sandwich placements or vacation work/internships are entered on this database which offers:

• Email alerts of new vacancies which may interest you

• Employers notifying vacancies are often specifically targeting Kent graduates, so competition for jobs is lower than on other vacancy sites www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm

Kent Grads

• KentGrads - database of companies in Kent who employ graduates, and who may, from time to time, have vacancies. It is not a list of current vacancies, but a resource to help you find possible employers.

• The site can list all the companies in the database grouped in one of a number of ways:

• by location in Kent , by the criteria you specify or by keywords. For example: if you can remember the surname of a particular contact at a company, but are unsure of the company name.

Careers Network

• Helps current students gain an insight into careers through contact with alumni.

• Information and advice by letter/phone/email, work-shadowing. 

• Visit the Careers Centre and ask to use the Careers Network.

Speak to an adviser:

• Quick query, drop in and speak to an adviser 10.30am -12.30pm and 2.00pm-4pm Monday to Friday.

• E mail @careerhelp and an adviser will respond to your query.

• You can also book a longer career guidance appointment over the phone or pop in.

Stay up-to-date with what is happening

• www.kent.ac.uk/ces

• www.kent.ac.uk/employability

• Employability Newsletter

• Follow us on Facebook at University of Kent Student Employability www.facebook.com/UKCES

• Follow us on Twitter at @unikentemploy

Employability Points

Over 200 rewards in 2011-2012 scheme from 86

sponsor companies

Internships, work experience, training

experiences, project placements, vouchers

Get involved – Get rewarded!

• Kent Union supports graduate employability in a number of ways -

• Offering Volunteering Opportunities

• Kent Student Certificate in Volunteering

• Stand Out training

• Employability and Volunteering Toolkit

www.kentunion.co.uk/eandv

Choosing a Career (Prospects planner)

Action Points

• Research the type of opportunities that are available.

• Produce a high quality CV and covering letter

• If you are using LinkedIn don’t leave your profile half finished

• Do make sure applications are of a high quality

• If you are unsure of your future plans consider doing ‘Prospects Planner’.

• Make use of the Careers and Employability Service

Questions

The University of KentCareers and Employability

Service

You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm