All the fun of the fairs

This week we are running two of our biggest careers fairs.  These are a great opportunity to meet lots of employers in one day.  No rides I’m afraid though!

Wednesday 21st October – Engineering, Science & Technology Fair

Thursday 22nd October – Finance, Business & Management Fair

Both events are open to members of the public as well as students and graduates of The University of Manchester.  They run 10.30am-4pm each day.

It is a good idea to look at the fair website before attending and explore the A-Z list of exhibitors so that you can see the types of jobs that are on offer.  More on preparing for the fairs.

Pre-registering will save you a few minutes when you arrive but is not strictly necessary.

• Preregister for the Engineering, Science & Technology Fair
• Preregister for the Finance, Business & Management Fair

Graduate magazine – High Potential Development

You might be interested to read this e-magazine about careers for university students and graduates ‘High Potential Development’.  It includes viewpoints from recruiters and has good articles on how you can develop the skills and attributes that employers are looking for.

It’s always nice for me to see a successful Manchester graduate being quoted! In the article on attitude on page 9.

Digital careers event, 12th October

If you’re interested in a career in Media, PR or Marketing, you should really consider digital and online media. While the economic recession is having an impact on these already very competitive sectors, Digital Media seems to be bearing up well and even growing, particularly in Manchester and the North West. If you want to find out more, check out our Careers in Digital Media Panel event on 12 October 12.15-1.45pm and hear from our 3 great panellists: The BBC A digital PR firm An online education company The growth in the digital media sector should be good news for students and graduates. Organisations need people with ‘digital skills’ and many recruiters look to you to bring their web know-how to the business. There are more technical roles, like multimedia programmer, ‘SEO (search engine optimisation) specialist’ (oh yes, getting a company up there in the Google search rankings is big business!), but also less technical roles like ’social media planner’ in a communications agency or ‘web content manager’. A social media planner might spend quite a bit of time on social networking sites like Facebook or Bebo answering questions about particular brands, adding photos from product launch events or soliciting views of new products and services. Surely can’t be bad!

Labour conference – internships for graduates announced

There was an interesting announcement by PM Gordon Brown at the Labour Party conference last week.  10,000 ’skilled internships’ are to be created in small businesses.

This has only just been announced and there are few details available yet.  It is likely that it will be several months before these internships are actually available.  As soon as we hear any news we will blog about it to keep you informed.

If you want to see the information that is currently available you can read the BBC report, the government press release and the report on the Federation of Small Businesses website.

In the meantime there are graduate internships being advertised via Graduate Talent Pool which include opportunities with small businesses.

Get a flying start with setting up your own business

Flying start run FREE ‘Make it Happen’ one day events for graduates considering starting their own business.  There are dates all over the country from the end of October.  Sign up on their website for a session near you.

Make it Happen days include:

• Practical workshops
• Speakers
• Funding advice
• Chance to network and build contacts
• Advice from HSBC and Business Link

Free ongoing support after the day includes:

• 12 months one-to-one mentoring
• Opportunity to attend further programmes

Join the Media Club, exclusive to Manchester University students and graduates

The Media Club is exclusively for University of Manchester students & graduates interested in working in TV, Radio, journalism, PR, marketing and the creative industries. We are working closely with our sector contacts to deliver an excellent programme of monthly seminars, providing industry insights, insider knowledge and all the things you’ll need to know to make it in the media. A limited number of places are available.

Register to attend this introductory session which will talk you through what it will mean to be a member and what you can expect from the Media Club.

Sign up here to attend

Looking for a career in consultancy – expert advice available

Don’t miss this great opportunity to chat online to a strategy consultant and Manchester graduate.

Mark Thompson, graduated from The University of Manchester with a business degree in 2006. After a year as a Sports Sabbatical Officer, he went on to build a career as a strategy consultant for an international management consultancy firm.

Mark is currently based in Dubai, and projects have taken him to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Nigeria and next stop, Indonesia.

Mark often helps to pre-select applicants to his employer, and can offer excellent advice about getting through the selection process and impressing prospective employers.

To chat online to Mark, please log on to our Career Forums.

To find Mark, please look under the “Sectors & Emloyers” category.

On the forums we also have expert advice available for Chinese students. Two former Chinese students at Manchester, now working in both China and the UK are also available online to answer your questions.

Kelly Qian – Executive Partner at The Jace-Kelly Leadership Acquisitions, in Shanghai Kelly is a former masters student at The University of Manchester and has kindly offered to provide advice to current Chinese students at the University of Manchester on graduate job hunting in China and maximising your employment potential. With extensive experience of executive search (having closed hundreds of senior executive positions in diverse parts of China), Kelly is able to offer a real insight.

Karen Lau – also from China, studied for her Masters in Statistics at The University of Manchester and graduated in 2006. She is now working as a Consultant for the Wood Holmes Group in Newcastle, UK.

To ask questions of Karen or Kelly please log on to the forum and their entries are under the category “International Students”.

Live Guidance – help wherever you are

We are running a series of one-to-one instant messenger advice sessions.  This is a great chance to speak with a careers expert online without needing to come into Manchester.  Many sessions are being run in the evenings for your convenience.

To use a session click on the Live Guidance page.  A link appears to click on when the adviser is online.  When the adviser is not online you will only be able to see the schedule of forthcoming sessions.

Forthcoming sessions include:

• Thursday 1st October (today!) 6.30pm-8.30pm – General (any topic)
• Monday 5th October 4pm-6pm  – Finding work or study opportunities in Manchester
• Tuesday 6th October 1pm-3pm – Work experience
• Wednesday 7th October 5pm-7pm – General (any topic)
• Thursday 8th October 6.30pm-8.30pm – General (any topic)
• Tuesday 13th October 8pm-10pm – International students and graduates (speak to a specialist adviser, but international graduates are also welcome to use any of the other sessions as well.)
• Wednesday 14th October 2.30-4.30 – General applications (CVs, covering letters and application form advice)
• Wednesday 14th October 6pm-8pm – General (any topic)

All session times are at UK time.

How the energy industry works

If you are interested in a career in energy this is a good read.  It covers both green energy and the traditional oil, gas and coal options.  There is even a small directory of some of the leading employers

We have copies that are free to collect from the Careers Service but it is also available to read online until the end of December.

BT recruiting graduates this year

Despite announcing earlier this year that they would not be recruiting graduates, BT are apparantly going to be recruiting 130 graduate entrants.  Apparantly they are not going to be taking part in the milkround or on-campus events such as fairs, so if you are interested in applying to them you will need to apply directly via the graduate recruitment website or the general recruitment website if you think you may qualify as an experienced hire.

Read the full article in People Management Magazine.