The Experience Continues !!!

I haven’t really talked about what my placement is all about.  I am responsible for organising, developing and promoting the annual programme of careers events with a particular emphasis on the use of social media for marketing purposes.

Primarily responsible for organising a series of high profile careers events throughout the year and publicising these to a wide range of employers, to all our students, recent graduates and University staff.

Also i will be managing and developing relationships with existing and new organisations wishing to recruit or offer opportunities to our students.

Administrative tasks: include room bookings, catering orders, and updating employer records on the Dynamics system.

To be honest I am still learning more and more about past events and this excites me.  The more I research the more I realise how many great opportunities there are in the future. 

There’s a lot going on every day in the office and everyone seems to be quite busy.  With a busy workload I find myself busy too.  At the moment I find myself planning for the annual Grad Jobs Fair (November 7^th) at the University and try to find new marketing strategies and creative ideas.  This event will be a “big thing” for me. It is one of the most important events i could work on.  Last year’s Fair there were almost 40 graduate employers in attendance, including national big names such as Mazars, Santander and Rolls Royce, and local graduate employers such as Cummins and Weir Valves.  Approximately 800 final year students and recent graduates attended.  Being able to organise an event for such highly developed companies, not only will it look good on my CV in the future but it will also give me the type of experience I’m looking for.  Although the event is in 4 months, I need to prep for this now.

  

In a few months (September) we will also be attending the Fresher’s Fair at the University of Huddersfield helping students to get to know us and our services.

Also to help the students we have decided to start a Jobshop Clinic and Jobshop on tour. The Jobshop Clinic includes presentations lasting approximately half an hour in the Careers Library, explaining how to register with JobShop, how to save email preferences, and helping people if they have brought a laptop and are struggling to register on Jobshop.  Jobshop is just one the resources students can use in their search for jobs, they also get to use the service for Careers advise, Quick Query sessions or have their CVs checked etc.

JobShop on Tour:  Happening once a week, starting from the beginning of October.  Each week it will be held in different Schools of the University in Huddersfield and the Barnsley Campus to promote our Jobshop to students offering guidance on how to use it.

This week (week 4) i’ve learned how to use the Dynamics system.  The Dynamics system is very useful for the office and i can start adding organisations to it and my marketing list for my events.

In a few weeks I am also attending an event with our Chancellor Sir Patrick Stewart which I am looking forward to asking him questions about his career path.

 

Next week I will be attending an event for Graduates in the Job Centre in Huddersfield which the University Careers and Employability will having their own stand to promote their services.  

The University of Huddersfield:

·         One of the UK's top 10 providers of sandwich courses and student placements

·         Our chancellor is Professor Sir Patrick Stewart (English film, television and stage actor) most widely known for his television and film roles, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films, Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series

·         Huddersfield was ranked joint first out of all West Yorkshire Universities for high quality staff and lectures in the Opinion panel Research survey in 2007.  The University achieved the highest ranking of any mainstream university in the United Kingdom for assessment and feedback in the 2011 survey

·         The University achieved the highest ranking in the 2011 International Student Barometer conducted by the International Graduate Insight Group

The Careers and Employability Service:      

·         It is available to all staff and students of the University and to graduates for up to three years after graduation.

·          A team of Careers Advisers offer advice and guidance on career choice and planning, support with the applications process and the development of lifelong career learning skills.

·         A programme of workshops and presentations devised and delivered with the assistance of local recruiters, help students and graduates to prepare for employment or further study.

·          This team of staff also work closely with the academic schools, offering teaching sessions and the benefit of their expertise in regards to employability on a consultancy basis.

AWARDS

·         AGCAS National Awards for Excellence – Overall Winner 2011

·         AGCAS National Awards for Excellence – Technology Award 2011

·         Times Higher Award for Leadership & Management – ICT Initiative of the Year 2011  

 

First Month of My Placement

First month of my Events Placement: Time goes by so fast and here i am on my Placement.  I was so excited to work at the University of Huddersfield.  On the first week I’ve learned so many things.  The first day I was welcomed by everyone and given my new employee card.  The staff here are very friendly and supportive that made me feel at home from day one.  Then I’ve learned how to release jobs on the JobShop and publish them.  How to use the email system and how it is to work as part of a team.  I’ve learned some of the UK recruiting and advertising laws when publishing those jobs online. 

My first meeting was very welcoming by everyone and I made clear that I am willing to promote our services and department not only with the events i will be working on but with small promotional projects.  After doing my research on our events and other University Careers and Employability events from week 1 i had a lot of ideas.  I feel very pleased that my ideas were appreciated, heard and some of them were given the “green light” to actually continue (for example this blog).  This placement will give me the foundations of a great career path ahead of me.  It will also raise my awareness of the graduate labour market and the University’s student profile and prepare me not only for my 4th year but for my life after University.  I appreciate the work of the Careers and Employability service and the way they support us students therefore i wish to contribute to that by executing successful events for the students.  What I’m hoping to get on my placement is to expand my networking abilities make new contacts in which might be useful for the future and learn as much as i could possibly can.  I have started my placement almost a month ago and I already feel like I’ve learned so much.  It made me think more seriously on being a future Event Manager.

To be honest the first week I was very shy and I thought it would take some time to adapt to this new environment but I realised that I adapted faster than I thought.  The staff here helped me a lot on that because they all make me feel like home.  I guess that’s why they are all professionals with what they do.  Besides their services as a Careers and Employability staff, they are also so very friendly. On the first week I was kind of scared for making any mistakes but fortunately there was nothing I did wrong (at least that’s what I think so).  I’m just hoping that my work will be appreciated and valued but there’s a lot I need to learn before I start organising “big events”.  There is a structure and certain way of dealing with everything and I need to get more experience on that.  For example how to approach or come back to people in every situation I need to deal with. .  I know there are some things that need to be done every day in a certain way but there’s still so much more i can learn and that is what excites me the most.  And as I said before every day it’s a new day here at the Careers and Employability services.

Getting my Placement !!

Placement in England: So the first 2 years of my degree have gone past and early on the second year the hunt for a placement began.  I have to say that for me it was a fun and stressful experience at the same time.  It’s fun at the beginning because you look out for every possibility available, all the jobs that interest you and you hope that all companies will be interested to get you but the reality can also be stressful.  When it comes to actually applying or choosing which one is right for you it’s a lot harder.  Competition these days is bigger and wider, and you have to be more prepared than ever.  Having your CV checked by a careers person is a MUST and preparing for the interview you are invited to can be stressful.  My advice to students who want to search for a placement is to think of what will give you the best experience and help you to discover yourself. What you really want to achieve?  Do you want to work for a big organisation or a small private company? Do you want to do music, sport or leisure events?  If you are willing to relocate? If you are willing to do it unpaid? 

What I did: I started searching early in my 2^nd year to see what I could get.  I kept changing my mind.  I love music events but do I really want that for my placement? I wanted to work in a stadium but will I really like it or get the experience I want? I wanted something more serious, something that will make me get an experience in different aspects and areas, not just a specific one.  Our tutors and lecturers helped by sending us e-mails throughout the year about event opportunities but most of them didn’t appeal to me.  Except one. The one that caught my eye.  The one I read and first thought “I want that – I need that” besides I had all the skills they were looking for.  All those things I could get from that.  Working for the University which I am already familiar with, working for an awarded team. There was so much I could get from them.  After my events experience I really believed I could work there and although I sent a few CVs elsewhere (most of them not getting back to me) that was the one I mostly was aiming for.  I wanted to be prepared - I wanted to make a perfect CV with all my skills and knowledge without making any mistakes.  I wanted them to call me and invite me for an interview and when they did i’m pretty sure everyone in the building heard me screaming “yes I got it”.  Finally – an interview for the job (Events Placement Student with the Careers and Employability service at the University of Huddersfield) i was aiming for, the one i wanted with all my heart. 

After knowing about the interview my only fear was actually getting that job.  Once again I started preparing for it.  This was very important for me.  You only get one chance for an interview and I wanted it to be perfect.  Placement interview day comes.  Woke up early, prepared my answers and looked my best (at least that’s how I think I looked like).  I tried not to be nervous and i think i did well, but still after the interview I felt like I might not hear back from them.  I believe we all get that feeling deep inside after an interview even if we want to feel positive.  I finished my interview and went back home.  My phone was still turned off and I prepared a nice meal for myself along with my flatmates.  When I switched it on at 16:55 i had a voicemail saying its from the Careers and Employability Services (where i had my interview for) call us before 17:00, we have great news for you.  With only 5 minutes left I called back immediately and the good news came earlier than i thought (same day as the interview).  I got the placement! The placement I set myself to get as a goal.  The one that would change my life.  For me this placement is very important.  Now I can see that getting accepted here has boosted my self-confidence. It is my first “real” job and it’s important i get the right knowledge and experience.  I say “real” because all my other jobs were part-time for a short period of time, or voluntarily.