The Guardian are advertising 12 two week summer placements for students and graduates from racial minorities.  If you are interested in journalism this could be a great opportunity to get experience at a high profile national newspaper.

Deadline is 27th March.

Just a quick reminder for some of you and a newsflash for those who aren’t aware of this programme, but don’t forget to look out for Manchester Graduate Internship Programme opportunities advertised on our website.

All of these internships are paid and last for a period of 5-12 months- they could be the perfect opportunity to get yourself on the first rung of the employment ladder and give you valuable skills and experience to add to your CV for future applications.

We’ve just had word that there are new opportunities coming on board, including marketing, administration and research assistant roles amongst others.

See the weblink below for further details- you’ll have to register if you haven’t done so already, but it’s really quick and easy to do.

Good luck.

http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk:80/graduates/mgip/apply/index.htm

Apparantly the Times Top 100 graduate employers are planning to recruit 5% more people into graduate roles in 2010 compared to 2009.

This is good news, but when you read that in real terms this is an increase from 15,057 to 15,884 I can’t help but think that it still does not sound like enough jobs to go round!

By all means apply to graduate programmes such as those listed in Times Top 100, if you are interested in those types of opportunities, but it is a good idea to broaden your search to consider smaller employers as well.  The Careers Service website advertises many jobs with smaller companies as well as the big names everyone has heard of.

If you are a science graduate chances are you are already familiar with the New Scientist, THE weekly science magazine in the UK.

They have just launched a student zone for graduate careers information.  This year’s New Scientist’s  graduate careers special is available to view in full on the student zone.

Earlier in the year I blogged about the pilot programme for graduates which STEP were running.

The latest news is that STEP are committed to a year-round graduate STEP programme.  There are currently over 200 immediate start paid placement opportunities being advertised on their website.

The University of Chester are offering a 3 day course for unemployed or underemployed 2008 & 2009 graduates.  It is open to graduates from undergraduate or postgraduate degrees who live within daily travelling distance from their Chester or Warrington campuses.

The course includes intensive one-to-one careers counselling and the opportunity to apply for a five week placement in a local company to carry out a business improvement project.

On completion of the course and a written assignment you can gain 20 M (masters) level credits towards further postgraduate study.

The next start date is January.  To apply call Careers & Employability at the University of Chester on 01244 513066.

New readers to this blog may be interested in a post I published earlier in the here listing sources of help from careers services around the UK for unemployed graduates.

Yet another careers event to tell you about, it is the season for them!

Manchester City Council are running an event at Whitworth Art Gallery about creative careers.  Wednesday 18th November, 10am-3pm.

It will cover a wide range of areas such as crafts, art & antiques, advertising, music, media, design, architecture, publishing, computer games, software and computer & video.

It is not a graduate event per se, the ticketing information suggests that school groups will be attending.  If you are already very well informed about your chosen career area the talks and workshops may be a bit basic for you but even if that is the case there are bound to be valuable opportunities to network.   If you are exploring options it may be an interesting way of gaining an overview of several areas at once.

Register for free tickets online.

If you are interested in a career in social work or social care don’t miss the Compass Job Fair.  It is a specialist jobs fair and career convention which takes place in Manchester, London, Leeds & Birmingham over the course of the year.

Manchester’s fair is next week, on Monday 9th November 2009, and will take place at the Hilton Manchester in Deansgate in Beetham Tower.  It is open 9.30am-4.30pm but it is a good idea to check the website in advance in case you want to attend some of the seminars that will be running during the day, there is an impressive choice of topics.

From the website it appears you need to book tickets in advance.  I don’t know if you can just turn up on the day, I would suggest booking to be on the safe side!

Prospects have produced an e-magazine the University Guide with advice on  postgraduate study.

Prospects also have a very useful website for searching for postgraduate courses and research opportunities in the UK.

EmployAbility is a not-for-profit organisation which helps students and graduates with a disability to find work with disability-friendly employers.

The opportunities are generally open to anyone, but if you have a disability EmployAbility can give you extra help with improving your application and interview skills.  They can also advocate for you with an employer if there are particular circumstances which they think the employer should take into account.

Deadlines are approaching fast for some so check out the opportunities on their website. I have listed some of the full time jobs below to give you an idea, closing dates are indicated:

• Financial Services Authority Graduate Programme – 11 November
• NHS Employability Graduate Management Training Scheme – 20 November
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch Full time programme – 20 November
• Mayer Brown training contract – 8 January
• Herbert Smith training contract – 10 January