Career Management Skills :Career Management Skills Chris Hughes MLP, Careers & Employability Division The University of Manchester


Aims of this session :Aims of this session To understand why this module is running To identify the key career management skills and why they are important To give a taste of the programme To explain the assessment To give you an insight into the community and business projects To allocate projects


What will you get out of it? :What will you get out of it? Competitive edge Find out what employers look for and how to prove to them you’ve got it! Preparation for job selection process Find out how the job market really works Examine and develop key skills both to find work and to manage your own career Enhance your CV


How does the module work? :How does the module work? Focus on career management skills Focus on you Small group work Outside employer involvement - varied Team project key element


Module Commitments :Module Commitments You - attend 2 hr compulsory session - spend 2 hrs a week on project -be on time -get involved Me - make sessions interesting - give you support


Module Assessment :Module Assessment CV and Covering letter: 20% Group Presentation: 20% Business Report: 35% Individual Report: 25%


Peer Assessment :Peer Assessment How this will work in practice: Course tutors will award an overall team mark Team members will rate the contribution of themselves and their colleagues Ratings will be used as a guide to adjust the team mark for each individual team member


The Current Job Market :The Current Job Market Impact of recession on graduate job market not yet fully known There will be a reduction in vacancies in some areas and more competition for existing vacancies Good News Public Sector, Teach First and Army have increased their vacancies Employers often keep their graduate recruitment programmes open, even when making redundancies at higher levels, but numbers may be reduced Manchester is one of the most targeted universities Someone gets the jobs but you have to apply!


Strategies :Strategies Need to maximise skills and boost CV: internships, voluntary work, projects, this course! Apply early Look at smaller, less well known organisations Look beyond the well known graduate training schemes Use creative job search techniques Look at stepping stone approach Consider postgraduate study?


How this affects YOU :How this affects YOU Likely to have several jobs - portfolio careers, life long learning Less job security - more temporary contracts Employers need people who can “hit the ground running” Students need to differentiate yourself from the rest Degree not a guarantee of a ‘good’ job What else can you offer? Skills and experience


Careers Service Sessions :Careers Service Sessions Rolls Royce HR 9.02.09 HBOS 10.02.09 BUNAC 18.02.09 Mock Interviews Lloyds 16.02.09 Environmental Careers in Focus 25.02.09 Public Sector Careers Info Fair 4.03.09 Insight Into Broadcasting 30/31.03.09 Creative Industries Week - March


National Employers Skills Survey :National Employers Skills Survey Oral communication Team-working Problem Solving Pro-activity Self-promotion Networking Commercial Awareness Foreign language Interpersonal Skills Self reliance skills Self-awareness Leadership Customer orientation Flexibility Drive to achieve Emotional Intelligence


QAA Generic skillshttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp :QAA Generic skillshttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp Written and oral communication Time management and management of own study Team-work Working independently Abstracting, synthesising and organising information and evidence Planning and executing project work Cultural sensitivity and awareness IT Problem-solving Constructing and managing arguments


Humanities Graduates :Humanities Graduates 60% of jobs vacancies are for graduates of any degree discipline Humanities students apply for jobs later than other students Many humanities graduates take longer to discover what they want to do or want to enter careers with fewer opps. Often have a stepping stone approach to careers Many arts grads go into IT, Management and Consultancy, Humanities graduates can and do compete effectively


Slide 15:Teaching Publishing Marketing IT Public Relations Journalism Civil Service Arts Admin Retail Management Finance Charity fundraising Advertising Museum work Conference organiser Personnel Officer Sales Management consultant TEFL Speech therapy Possible Career Areas


Some specific examples :Some specific examples TEFL teaching PGCE Law Conversion Residential social work Publishing editorial assistant Finance trainee Marketing and sales TV runner Accountancy trainee Charity Fundraiser


Course Materials Online :Course Materials Online http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/careers/improveyourjobprospects/careermanagementskills/humanities


Careers Service :Careers Service Ground Floor, Crawford House, Booth Street East Open 9-5 1 to 1 guidance – 30 mins appointments Quick Query – 15 mins appointments Mock interviews Talks/Fairs/Employer Presentations Manchester Gold, blogs, resources Graduate directories and work experience booklets Register for vacancies www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/careers


Ice breaker :Ice breaker Form a group of five Introduce yourselves to one another Discuss career/personal ambitions. Where would you like to be in 10 years time? Use the flip chart paper to represent each member of the group visually – no words allowed! Present your ‘group’ in under 3 mins to the whole group (hand round register and career choice forms)


What makes a good project :What makes a good project Teams of 4 or 5 Challenging but achievable Clearly identifiable outcomes Obviously put lots of effort in Used time available well Take ownership of the project Demonstrate problem solving skills, creativity and initiative Good Business Report


Things to think about at your first meeting :Things to think about at your first meeting Who will contact the employer? When (and where) can you all meet Who will take minutes What strengths/experiences do you have What can you realistically achieve


Advice from last semester’s students :Advice from last semester’s students Do as much as you can at the beginning of the project as you’ll definitely run out of time at the end Produce minutes as you go along rather than making them up at the end! Make sure you know where you are going! Don’t waste time being overly polite to each other you need to get on with the project – arguments can help get things moving


Advice from last semester’s students :Advice from last semester’s students Project contacts can be difficult to get hold of so phone them ASAP to arrange a meeting Don’t rely on email, use phone contact as well Arrange a definite meeting time and place and make sure every one attends Get everyone to write down major course work hand-ins, field work etc. before you start so that you can work around this Be realistic about what you are going to achieve or your team will feel demotivated


Effective Meetings :Effective Meetings Decide how often you need to meet and where Rotate chair and secretary roles? Have an agenda and an agreed end time Review action points from previous meeting Record action points and who is responsible


Safety on projects :Safety on projects Whilst conducting work off campus, important to consider safety for: Yourself Your Group Your Host Organisation Members of public/people at your event Read your safety info pack (to be given out next week) Contact your tutor if you have any problems