Careers Service News

Hi and bye. I’m leaving the Careers Service! I’ve had a good two years here, developing lots of transferable skills and experience for my bright and brimming CV, now I’m off. If you’ve been a returning vistor to the blog, thanks for reading me! It’ll continue in other hands, so keep coming back. Bye! Sob! It’s the end of the world! I’m off to get married and teach!

Cheers. Dan the trainee teacher

Hey, blog readers. Dan here. It’s good to be good, so why not volunteer. You, know what a volunteer is, right? No, not a vole-unteer, not like a mouseketeer, not a little vole with a cute little sabre and a cute little floppy hat… I mean a volunteer like when you do good stuff, listen to this from the GCU Employability team…

 …

Got any time to spare during the summer? Why not develop your skills and give something back to the community? Wanna get involved with Caledonian Volunteers? Caledonian Volunteers is a partnership initiative with Volunteer Centre Glasgow, a brokerage service that promotes volunteering opportunities across the city. Caledonian Volunteers supports students to develop work-related skills by providing access to thousands of voluntary work opportunities in a wide range of organisations. These include opportunities in areas such as:

• Fundraising / finance / accountancy
• Management & business
• Marketing / media / PR 
• Computing
• Retail
• Befriending / mentoring
• Health / hospitals / hospices
• Advocacy / human rights
• Education / literacy
• Working with children & young people
• Arts / museum work
• Campaigning
• Conservation
• Environment

There are many organisations looking for people like you! You can spend as little as a few hours per month on your role, or as many as you would like to give. There are opportunities available to suit most people – during the day, evenings/weekends and one-off events. Plus, there are huge benefits to undertaking voluntary work. It can be a great way to:

• Improve your graduate employment prospects;
• Enhance your CV to ensure you stand out from the crowd;
• Develop key skills and attributes that employers expect;
• Gain experience of working in a particular sector or role;
• Make valuable contacts in the workplace;
• Obtain a work based reference;
• Meet new people and have some fun!

Wanna find out more? Go here!

Hey, what do you think of the world? We think it’s pretty cool.

• Look at this! New inspiration every day! More amazing sights here, too!
• Look here! So many wonderful wonders!
• And go look here then search “travel”! You could end up anywhere!

Here at the Careers Service we’re internationally minded. There’s little we like more than sticking the pin in grand old Google Earth and taking a Street View wander down some exotic byway. Well, looking’s good but going’s great! Travel’s nice for you and nice for your CV. Prospective employers are very interested in the extracurricular stuff about you, the stuff outwith your study. So then, where have you been? Where do you want to go? There’s lots of ways to see the world while you’re still studying at GCU. We’ve put together a new webpage packed to bursting with links, like a giant magical suitcase of opportunities!!!

What about this summer? Are you doing anything exciting this summer? What about summer 2011? If you plan ahead, you could be on your way to …anywhere! Across Europe and worldwide you can find seasonal paid opportunities in hotels, catering, camping, sports, Au pairing, farm work, teaching and other areas. A book called Summer Jobs Worldwide 2010 is available in the Careers Area on the Careers Reference shelves, level 0 Saltire Centre. There’s other books too. Go have browse. There’s loads you could do. How about bicycle tours in Austria (p165, SJW 2010)? Or what about fruit picking in Australia (p335)? Or acting in Italy (p223)?! You’ll find lots of volunteering opportunities too, often in environmental conservation work or supporting remote communities. If you can raise the funds to go, unpaid work is well worth it. Come have a look at our books on volunteering and working abroad. And visit our vacancies then search for “vacation work” in Work Experience/Placements. So much to do! Do some of it!

You can also spend time abroad as part of your study. Through Erasmus you can spend a year of your degree abroad, and through Comenius you can be a teaching assistant. The SaltireFoundation and IAESTE offer summer internships abroad related to your degree. Mountbatten Internships provide graduate positions combined with postgraduate study and Fulbright Scholarships enable UK citizens to study in the US.

We’ve just added our new Work and Study Abroad page to our website. We hope you find it useful. If you’d like to talk through your plans and get some advice, please come and talk to a Careers Adviser at drop-in, or make an appointment at the Base.

VIEW THE NEW WORK AND STUDY ABROAD WEBPAGE AND GO SOMEWHERE AMAZING!

Wherever you’re headed, we want to help you get there.

Cheers. Dan the Careers Information Assistant

The Summer Graduate Fair in Scotland
www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/employers/events/thesummergraduatefairinscotland
Wednesday 26th May, 11am – 6pm
Thursday 27th May, 10am – 3pm
SECC, Glasgow

Come along to Scotland’s key graduate recruitment event this summer. All students and graduates from all universities are welcome. Over 40 exhibitors representing many employment sectors. Find out about graduate employment, postgraduate study and voluntary opportunities. Attend workshops, presentations and Q&A sessions. Get your CV or application form checked. Get advice from qualified careers professionals. Remember, make sure you come prepared. You’ll get a free guide on the day, so you can see the companies attending. What companies interest you? Who do you want to speak to? What do you want to find out? The fair is a chance to chat with real company representatives and ask questions the websites can’t answer. So, think about what you want to achieve from the day.

Wednesday 26th May, 11am – 6pm
Thursday 27th May, 10am – 3pm
SECC, Glasgow
Free entry. Register on arrival.
www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/employers/events/thesummergraduatefairinscotland

Cheers. Dan

Get up, up and away with GE Caledonian. 

General Electric isn’t just about light bulbs. It’s the world’s fifth largest employer with a lot to offer graduates. It has roles across the degree disciplines and across the globe. The aviation company GE Caledonian is based in Prestwick. Recently, the Careers Service visited the company to talk about opportunities for our students and graduates. GE Caledonian wants to develop its relationship with GCU and the other West of Scotland universities. With a staff of 807, it’s growing its workforce. Its new internship scheme offers experience in engineering, as well as in HR, finance, IT and marketing, and the number of internships available is increasing. Internships are also a route into the graduate programme in Operational Management and Leadership. 

GE Caledonian has already started getting to know Glasgow Caledonian University. In November last year they took part in our online SEC fair. Sign-up to read their chats and profile. Watch out for future visits, here. We’ll invite them to discuss internships and graduate roles. Right now you can apply to the Production Planning Internship, a 12 month business placement. The closing date is 30 April 2010

And if you go to our Vacancies pages, you’ll find finance opportunities at General Electric. You’ll also find engineering opportuntities in GE Heathcare and in GE Aviation.

Cheers. Dan

Suit up with Slater: http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/games/makeover/ No, not Stacey Slater! This Slater: Work part-time for Slater Menswear in Glasgow. 

Or maybe you’re more academic. Maybe you prefer mortar boards and gowns to shirts and ties: Work in an Ede and Ravenscroft warehouse.

Or maybe you’re more nautical. Get a shipshape uniform: Join the waiting staff on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Suits are important. Listen to the interview advice at Prospects.ac.uk:

• Dress appropriately. It is important to look smart for your interview, but you also need to feel comfortable so that you can relax. Some companies have a much more relaxed approach to dress than others, but unless you are specifically told to dress informally, you should wear a suit or equivalent business wear.
• Decide what to wear well in advance – do not leave it until the morning of the interview. Make sure that it is clean, ironed and ready to wear.
• Make sure your shoes are clean.

And if you want your work to be a good fit, you can find out “What jobs would suit me?” on Prospects Planner. 

Remember: the suit maketh the man/woman. Just ask Barney.

Or ask Will. “The good guys dress in black, remember that, just in case we ever face to face and make contact.”

Cheers.
Dan the Careers Information Assistant

Love TV? Why not work for it?

Love TV courses? Here’s a free TV summer course. It’s part of the the Edinburgh Television Festival. Masterclasses, workshops, careers talks… It runs 26 – 29 August. It’s free. Apply and find out more at www.mgeitf.co.uk/thenetwork. Closing date for applications is 16 April 2010

Love production? Work for the BBC on the Production Trainee Scheme. Love performance? Go for the BBC Performing Arts Fund. Also, on Wednesday (24th) Jeff Zycinski, Head of Radio at BBC Scotland (and a GCU alumnus) will visit GCU to talk to Radio Caley volunteers about getting into broadcasting. What? You’re not a Radio Caley Volunteer? Well then, get involved! Extra-curricular work experience (voluntary or paid) during your study looks great on your CV. The BBC offers lots of work experience opportunities so check out https://jobs.bbc.co.uk.

Or maybe you prefer the other guys. ITV is looking for a Wildlife Web Reasearcher and a Wildlife Web Content Developer, if you know about these.

Or maybe normal TVs are just too big for you. Maybe you like your TVs smaller. Kangaroo TV provides spectators with portable televisions at worldwide sports events like F1. Support the small TVs! Be a Lead Technical Producer!

Find out about the creative media industry at www.skillset.org.

Cheers. Dan

EuroLinkJobs

Work winding you up? Finding part-time work that pays well and leaves time for studying is tough. EuroLinkJobs offer you: work from home, flexible hours and great commission.

4 steps to working with EuroLinkJobs:

• 1) Sign up to EuroLinkJobs and enter your bank account details. They’ll link you to their partner agencies.
• 2) They will send you details of transfers and payments that must be made to their UK clients.
• 3) You deal with the transactions, using your own bank account.
• 4) EuroLinkJob pay you a commission based on performance (minimum commission is 5% of client transactions)

To find our more, go to: www.eurolinkjobs.com

Hey, today is World Book Day. Do you like stories? www.worldbookday.com

• Have you heard what Alexander McCall Smith and James Robertson have done? www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/Pages/News.aspx#precious
• Have you been to Aye Write? Tickets are still available for this weekend. www.ayewrite.com
• Have you read Gutter – the Magazine of New Scottish Writing? Issue 2’s out now. www.guttermag.co.uk

When you’ve heard and seen and read all that, come and use our books – www.gcal.ac.uk/student/careers/resources/reference.html. 

• Or, apply for this job in publishing.
• Or, keep an eye out for oppotunities at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival - www.edbookfest.co.uk/jobs.html.
• Or, volunteer at the Glasgow International Festival. Just search “Glasgow International Festival” in Work Experience/Placements in our Vacancies.
• Or, book an appointment at the Base.

Cheers. Dan

Entrepreneurial? Wanna get work going? Then why don’t you NETWORK?! No, not work with nets. We mean Business Networking. It’s neat! Learn more on Prospects, here and here. 

If you’re just starting out, you could join The Young Entrepreneurs Network. Meet other business-minded types. Learn from experienced experts and ambitious go-getters. Get connections. Check out these upcoming events…

Azeem Ibrahim, Thursday 11 March, 6:30-9:00pm, Hilton Grosvenor, Glasgow. Ibrahim made it onto the The Sunday Times Scots Rich List at the age of 31. He has met and advised world leaders, including the UK government, leaders in the Gulf States, and the US President. Hear him talk. Upcoming events with The Young Entrepreneurs Network: www.youngentrepreneursnetwork.co.uk/events.php

The New Start Scotland Exhibition, 19/20 March, at The SECC. Boost your business skills in seminars, workshops and competitions. It’s free. A key event for any entrepreneurs in Scotland. So go get networking.

Cheers. Dan