Hot to write a sucessesful dissertation
Rejection? Chin up! Exciting BF & Mykindacrowd news
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contents Editor’s letter Bright Futures & Mykindacrowd merger Welcome to Bright Futures Toby Rejection. Chin up! What to do after University? Awards conference BFKitchen How to write a sucessful dissertation The Review Room
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Company profiles
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KPMG
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Credit Suisse
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RPC
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HSBC
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Tesco
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Atkins
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Lloyds
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Costain
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Arqiva
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Jobmi
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Siemens
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tesco Society of the Year [Strathclyde University] www.tesco-graduates.com
RPC Fastest growing society [Lancaster University] www.rpc.co.uk/manifesto
Siemens Collaboration of the year [Lancaster University] www.siemens.co.uk/careers
Wragge & Co Most Diverse society [University of East Anglia] www.wragge-graduates.co.uk
PwC President of the Year [Liam Tollinton – York University] www.pwc.co.uk/careers
Centrica Regional Ambassador of the year [Kamil Bend Chiche – Bristol UWE] www.centrica.com
IBM Investor of the Year www.ibm.com/jobs/uk/graduate
Atkins Newcomer of the Year
[Hull University] careers.atkinsglobal.com
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Rolls Royce Event of the Year www.rolls-royce.com/careers
editors letter Welcome to our February E-magazine. There is, as ever, loads of great content this month, from the serious job hunting tips and current employment opportunities for interns and graduates, to practical tips on improving your bank balance and how to dress at interviews , plus some of the more fun stuff. With January Exams now out of the way, you might now be thinking about the rest of the academic year and what you want to achieve. This might involve revisiting those ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ that you made and have slipped, or you planned to make but never did! My view about ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ is not to make them! If you want something to happen be that ‘get fit’, ‘lose weight’, ‘get a job’ or even ‘learn to play a musical instrument’, why make such a resolution once a year on 1st January? If you want something don’t wait (or worst still make such a plan once a year), just go after it NOW and as often as you decide you really want something else or new. Of all the students, graduates & employers I meet, those that have achieved the most (and done so quickly) are those who know what they want and go after it time and time again. They don’t wait for things to happen to them, they make things happen and create the outcomes (and life) they want. The quote in my email signature says it all:
And finally if you want some great insights into how to differentiate yourself & make yourself more employable go to the homepage of our website and click on the link to download the FREE report from our National Employability Conference which we held at Aston Villa Football Stadium at the end of 2014. The event was scored as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ by 98% of the employers, students, universities and schools who attended.
Enjoy this month’s e-zine Simon Reichwald – Director, Bright Futures
P.S. And check out our blog for loads of great articles and tips on how to make yourself more employable. www.brightfutures.co.uk
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw
*If you don’t have a Society at your university then set up your own! Contact us at society@brightfutures.co.uk and we can get you started right away! 3
Only 2% of teachers think online engagement is the most beneficial way for their students’ to receive employment guidance. Our recent research showed that young people want to engage with employers face-to-face. The findings also reveal that 94% of young people want employers to go into to their place of education, and run interactive career workshops, and have potential job opportunities.
The facts...
67%
Only...
of teachers think face-to-face with employees is the most beneficial way for their students’ to receive employment guidance
55%
OVER HALF
...of young people want to receive employment inspiration and guidance face-to-face with companies
OVER HALF
48%
4
14%
OF YOUNG PEOPLE THINK
SUPPORTED BY ON-LINE COMMUNICATION WOULD BE
MORE BENEFICIAL FOR THEM
think face-to-face meetings supported by on-line communication would be more beneficial for their students and half think the importance is on who is running the session
....of teachers think online engagement is the most beneficial way for their students’ to receive employment guidance
...of young people want to receive employment inspiration and guidance online
FACE�TO�FACE MEETINGS
Nearly half of teachers
2%
94% ...of young people would like employers to come to their education space and run interactive workshops, give advice or come with potential job opportunities
100%
100% of teachers surveyed want employers to come into their institution and run interactive workshops, give advice or come with potential job opportunities
“Getting involved with MyKindaCrowd opens doors. They are true to their word; they connect students to businesses. The benefits for students who get involved are far too great to miss out on and all that is required of students is that they utilise their talents and abilities. Oh, and my CV now has valuable experience!” Estehr Olusanya, A-level student
In response to this research we are excited to announce that, MyKindaCrowd who have the largest UK schools network, and Bright Futures who have the largest UK university network, are merging, providing the largest physical network and connection between employers and students. The merger means they we will now have a larger network and will work with over 4,500 schools and have societies in over 50 university campuses. We are now able to support employers and students at every stage in the recruitment process, from attraction to on-boarding. The findings were announced at a high profile event in Westminster where attendees discussed how face-to-face engagement with young people can support employers attracting emerging talent. The survey of 12-25 year olds also found that only 14% of young people want to receive employment inspiration and guidance online.
Speaking at the event Francesca Campalani, Senior Talent Manager, Group HR, Lloyds Banking Group, said: “At Lloyds Banking Group we believe that organisations such as MyKindaCrowd and Bright Futures can empower us to empower students. It is a virtuous cycle, the only one that can produce a long term sustainable return on the investment.” Dame Fiona Kendrick, Chairman and CEO, Nestle UK, added: “Student-led career-societies in schools are an excellent initiative from MyKindaCrowd, and this model has previously worked successfully in universities to inspire young people into a wide range of career routes and connect them with employers. We are delighted to support this initiative through our existing partnership with MyKindaCrowd, which aims to highlight the exciting career opportunities the food and drink industry can offer young people.”
The research found that business has a vital part to play, with over half of young people wanting to receive employment inspiration and guidance face-to-face with employers. A separate survey carried out amongst teachers found that two thirds of teachers think face-to-face with employees is the most beneficial way for their students’ to receive employment guidance. Every single one of the teachers who took part in the research want employers to come into their institution and run interactive workshops, and come with potential job opportunities. Initiatives discussed at the Westminster event included the move of career advice to online, the power of face-to-face engagement with students and how it can benefit industry. Speakers at the event included; Francesca Campalani, Senior Talent Manager, Lloyds Banking Group, Eoin Parker, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, William Akerman, MyKindaCrowd and Simon Reichwald, Bright Futures, who discussed how MyKindaCrowd and Bright Futures approach to face-to-face engagement is vital for young people and industry.
William Akerman, Founder and Managing Director of MyKindaCrowd, said: “Online careers advice or online employer brand engagement is simply not enough. University, college and school students demand face-to-face employer interactions to understand and aspire to the careers on offer. Future talent want to see first-hand what their signing up to. Which is why I am so thrilled to be launching our school student-led-career-societies. Available to every school in the UK, for free.” Simon Reichwald, Director of Bright Futures added: “Students are more and more aware of the need to make choices about careers but they are overwhelmed with where & how to start. Directing them to yet another website to read yet more information seems like an easy ‘cop out’. What the research and my 20 year’s experience says to me, is that students love meeting ‘real people’ working in a range of roles, so they hear about what is out there and find out how to pursue the career that inspires them.” 5
hello! Let me start by saying how excited I am to be working with so many enthusiastic and talented student leaders. Helping young people to realise their potential is my absolute passion and I’ll be joining the Bright Futures National Team with over five years experience working in higher education. As the Bright Futures Societies Relationship Manager I’ll be your main contact for day-to-day activity and I am already brimming with ideas on how we can work together to help you and your members reach both your personal and professional goals. Having worked with corporate clients including Starbucks, npower, Channel 4 and global law firm Clifford Chance, I have a great understanding of what employers are looking for, and so together, I’m sure we’ll put on some fantastic events benefitting all parties.
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Running a successful Society is a challenge, and that’s without the pressures of academic study, part-time work and balancing a healthy social life. During my time at Bournemouth University, I held senior committee positions within the university Rowing Club for three consecutive years, followed by two as the President of the Students’ Union, so I know firsthand the incredible commitment needed to execute your role. However, with this responsibility also comes fantastic opportunities – and that’s what we’re all about here at Bright Futures!
student data, and ultimately understand from you how the National Team can better support your members to reach a career in the right sector (whether you know what that sector is yet or not!).
My personal aim is to be a physical presence on your campuses, where I can, as well as lots of phone, email, Skype time, to witness & experience the outstanding work that will be happening across the UK. I want to then use this insight to share your successes across the network, so we can all be better, and help you achieve even more It’s a competitive market out there whatever point you are at with and never before has enhancing your Society. your employability been more important. With this in mind, I look forward to working with priorities for the year will be to each and every one of you on drive membership numbers up what is set to be a very as well as active participation successful 2015. in your Society and the events Best wishes, you run; develop your committee Toby. capabilities; provide targeted toby.horner@brightfutures.co.uk events through better individual
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hi C !
up
We have all been there.
We have seen a job tha t we really want, spent ho to it, to then find out a few urs applying weeks later you have be en rejected. Rejection is hard, being told you’re no always t good enough hurts. Ho we ve r yo u must be strong and take the knocks. The importa nt thing is to learn from the se knocks. Hopefully the be help you get over the re low will jection and clear your mi nd so that you are ready to go again.
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Be positive. This tends to be easier said than done, but it is very important. Remember at the very least you should feel as though you have learned something through the interview process. However it may be that you performed to the best of your ability, you displayed the technical expertise the company were looking for, you demonstrated your competencies well but you were still turned down, well the positivity and comfort you can take from this is knowing that it was the wrong firm for you. Some people do find that their minds are unable to rest until they gain an explanation for the rejection. Some companies may not provide explanations (feedback) as some candidates are rejected on the interviewers gut feeling. The key is not to dwell on your disappointment and to keep your mind focused on other positive opportunities. If you find yourself still facing rejections then use it as a means for developing resilience. But ensure that you also take action to remedy any personal shortcomings brought to your attention from feedback.
Be precise with your searching. The job market is getting even more competitive. Companies are looking for a precise fit to the job roles available. If you do not meet 100% of the requirements the likelihood of getting the job is low. The key is to be highly selective with where you apply. You want to apply to roles where you feel you are suitable, to do this you must research the role, the company, its culture and the team you will be working with. This will allow you to gauge how appropriate you are before applying to the role and accepting an interview. Another tip is to read the profiles of those interviewing you on LinkedIn, this may provide some inside knowledge.
Address the issues. It is very important that you address any issues that may be flagged up immediately. One of the most common reasons for being rejected is due to a lack of technical knowledge. In this case you might want to consider revising your answers given to technical questions. It might also mean that you may want to commit to more technical training.
Another common reason for rejection is down to nerves. Interviews can make the most confident of us extremely nervous. However the more interviews you have the less nervous you will be. The issue here is that you might have to go through 5 or 10 interviews before you start to feel comfortable. Well that is a lot of possible rejections. The key here is to do practice interviews. Ask your careers service, lectures or even friends if they can do practice interviews for you. This will help you be prepared and confident. Make sure you give enough information. The reasons for interviews are to see if you have the ability to do the role and whether you would fit within the organisation and the team. Interviewers ask you set questions which will then give you a chance to show how you are suitable for the role and that you will fit in with the team. One common issue here however is that many individuals do not give strong convincing answers. The STAR method can really come in handy here. Star is an acronym for situation (describe the situation you were in), task, (what was required of you), action (what you did and/or delegated to others), and the result. By sticking to this method you can use specific examples of competencies you have displayed and answer them in a clear, concise and engaging manner.
Gaining feedback. Gaining feedback from companies can be difficult. One tip is to inform the interviewer how important feedback is to you. This will allow the interviewer to make sure they write up good notes so that feedback can be given afterwards. It also will show them how committed you are to self-development and may even convince them to hire you. The best way to insure feedback is given is to follow up the interview with an email thanking them for their time and asking for any feedback be it positive or negative. This firstly shows professionalism and interest in the role. But it also allows a door way of communication for feedback to trickle through. Once you receive feedback make sure you have an open mind, this will help you to make the relevant improvements to find the job you want.
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What to do after university For most graduation is just around the corner. You realise all your friends seem to be arranging either elaborate trips around the globe or landing graduate jobs at large companies. This added with the pressure of people commenting that you will no longer be eligible for a free student cheese burger at McDonalds or the cheeky 10% off at Topshop or Topman. It is understandable that panic starts to kick in especially if you yourself are lacking inspiration and guidance on what to do after university. Well no need to panic, hopefully we can help!
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You are still young! For the majority of you who started university aged 18 and did a 3 year course you will be graduating at the age of 21. There certainly is no rush for you to be accepting a 9-5 job in the big city. You may want to instead keep a part time role to help you save money and give you time to do everything you want to do before committing to full time employment.
Never compare! Comparing yourself to other people is a waste of time. If you’re in the position where all your friends have secured a graduate job and your two housemates are off traveling then do not feel like you have failed. You need to do what is right for you! Find out who you are before you decide what you want to be. Compare yourself to the individual you were before university and who you are now. Have you changed? Probably. Personalities often change at university this is because it is a new experience, you meet new people and it allows you to try new things. You may want to try something new after university to challenge yourself even more. This could be in the form of travelling, starting your own business or even volunteering.
You may just fall into it.
someone who might have the perfect job for you. The only way to find out is to speak to them and see what happens.
Your degree is not a waste. It is important to realise that your degree won’t go to waste. If after 3 years of studying psychology you decide that you no longer want to be a psychologist then that doesn’t mean you have wasted 3 years of your life and thousands of pounds. Most graduate employers seek degreelevel candidates rather than those disciplined in a specific subject. Also remember that you degree doesn’t expire. If you decide not to go into full time employment for a few years after university then that is fine, your degree still counts. However it is worth noting that you may want to do something worthwhile in those years, so that you have something unique and interesting to tell in interviews.
We hope these five points have helped you to get over the panic created by finishing university and may have added a dash of inspiration. And remember that you must do what you feel is right for you.
Many successful career-people have ‘fallen into’ their line of work. You never know what may happen tomorrow. This can occur through networking. You may find yourself at an event or even on the train next to
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This year the Awards Lunch (12 noon to 3.00pm) attended by employers and both this year’s and next year’s Committee members, will be held on 31st March 2015, at the venue:
Sway (between Covent Garden and Holborn)
61-65 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5BZ
swaybar.co.uk
Agenda 12.00pm arrival drinks and networking • Lunch until 3.00pm This Society Awards lunch provides a great opportunity to network with all the students and also engage with next years committee members, so that you can kick start your event planning over the summer.
Awards: Event of the year Most Collaborative Society Fastest Growing Society Newcomer of the year Diversity award President of the year Regional ambassador of the year Society of the year To find out how to become a sponsor of these awards please contact Claire Libby. All sponsors benefit from having their company logo and relevant links on the front content page for the emagazine for the year, plus benefit from all of the post conference promotion that goes out to all of our 34,000 members. To
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find out how to get involved please contact: claire.libby@brightfutures.co.uk or call Claire on 01242 236415.
BFKitchen
Sweetheart Choc & Hazelnut sandwiches Ingredients 4 slices from a small sliced brioche loaf 3 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spreads 1 large egg 75ml whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp chopped toasted hazelnuts 1 tbsp butter Icing sugar, for dusting Ice cream, to serve Raspberries, to serve Method
1. Thickly spread 2 of the brioche slices with the chocolate hazelnut spread, then top with the remaining slices to make 2 sandwiches. Use a large heart-shaped cutter to cut the sandwiches into hearts. 2. Whisk the egg, milk, vanilla and caster sugar in a wide, shallow bowl. Tip the hazelnuts onto a plate. Dip the sandwiches into the egg mixture, leave for 1-2 mins each side to allow the brioche to soak up the liquid, then dip one side of each sandwich into the nuts. The sandwiches can be chilled like this, covered loosely with cling film, for up to 1 hour. 3. Heat the butter in a wide frying pan until melted and foaming. Add the sandwiches and cook for 1-2 mins each side until golden brown and puffed up. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve with ice cream and raspberries.
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How to write a successful dissertation
So for many final years this point of the academic year is an odd time. You have passed the half way mark and are on the home straight to graduating, you are only a matter of months away from finally finishing your degree. The only hiccup is that the dreaded Dissertation needs to be completed and handed in. So how do you write a successful dissertation, well hopefully the below may be able to help you get that grade you want and need. Choose a topic First things first, you need a topic to write about. Remember to firstly choose something that is interesting to you personally. You will be spending a lot of time reading around the topic and writing about it. If you do not find
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the topic interesting then you will not ‘enjoy’ the researching and writing involved. Try and avoid overly researched areas, you want to be original and ideally bring new ideas to the literature. Lastly there are practical issues involved in choosing a topic. You need to consider the cost of the research, how easy it is to access the data, what equipment will be needed, amount of literature available and how ethical the research project is. If you are still stuck for ideas then try jotting down all possible areas of interests. Seeing all the ideas on paper can help you decide which one ‘floats your boat’. Pop into the library and see how much literature has been written about your topic. Discuss your ideas with your fellow peers, and listen to what they are doing too. Lastly use the academic staff in your university as a soundboard they may also direct you into a certain area.
Finding your style and structuring your sentences Once you have chosen your topic, read around the literature and of course collected all necessary data it is time to get writing. During your research you will have read a number of scholarly articles all with different styles. From what you have read decide what style you found easy to read, understand and enjoyed. Think how the author convinced you the reader of their argument and see if you can apply this to your own writing. Most dissertations are between 6,000 and 15,000 words in length. You may find that sub-headings are a useful way to break up the text and signal to the reader what stage you have reached. Avoiding repetition is also important. Keep an eye out for any words or phrases that you have already stated elsewhere in the sentence and make sure you cut them out. For example, if you’ve written “Many companies were reluctant to invest in new technology while others on the other hand did not hesitate”, you may like to change it to “Many companies were reluctant to invest in technology; others did not hesitate”. A tip would be to read you work aloud, this will help you spot clumsy sentence structure. Another common mistake is people think that the longer the sentence, the cleverer it sounds. It is important to remember that every word conveys a unit of meaning on its own, however small, so the more words there are in a sentence; the harder it will be for the reader to grasp the meaning within it. The structure The structure is vital when writing a dissertation. The essay must flow easily so that the reader can understand the argument you are putting forward. It is important to note that the structure may change depending on discipline. However we have created a basic structure that you may want to adopt. • Title page - Opportunity to tell the potential reader what your research is about. • Abstract - The Abstract is a concise summary of the research. It should be able to stand alone in
representing why and how you did what you did, and what the results and implications are. • Acknowledgements - This is your opportunity to mention individuals who have been particularly helpful. • Contents page(s) - The contents pages will show up the structure of the dissertation. • Introduction - The introduction has two main roles, to expand the material summarised in the abstract, and to signpost the content of the rest of the dissertation. • Literature review - The purpose of this chapter is to show that you are aware of where your own piece of research fits into the overall context of research in your field. • Methodology - In these chapters a straightforward description is required of how you conducted the research. If you used particular equipment, processes, or materials, you will need to be clear and precise in how you describe them. • Discussion or Findings - This is where you review your own research in relation to the wider context in which it is located. It is important to show that you appreciate the limitations of your research, and how these may affect the validity or usefulness of your findings. • Conclusions - This chapter tends to be much shorter than the Discussion. It is not a mere ‘summary’ of your research, but needs to be ‘conclusions’ as to the main points that have emerged and what they mean for your field. • References - This section needs to be highly structured, and needs to include all of your references in the required referencing style • Appendices - Items that can usefully go in the appendices are those that a reader would want to see, but which would take up too much space and disrupt the flow if placed within the main text. Hopefully the above will help you when writing your dissertation. Remember other basic but important techniques too, such as organising your time, planning, keeping calm and using student support services.
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Dropbox
Converter Plus
30 Day Relationship Challenge
Dropbox
Converter Plus
30 Day Relationship Challenge
Have you ever got somewhere to realise you have left an important document on an USB or even another laptop? Well with Drop box this wouldn’t be an issue. This app lets you store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere you have a signal. It has a simple interface, easy uploading, and swift syncing across all accounts.
This handy little app takes all the headaches of converting away. You can convert nearly everything, from currency conversions to loan-interest figures. It also converts metric to imperial measurements for temperature, cooking volumes, length and more! One very handy part of this app is the Tip Calculator, it allows you to take a restaurant bill, work out the tip and then it will divide the total by the amount of people who are joining.
Put the spark back in your love life. Show your partner how much you love them. The challenge’s main goal is to motivate you to do something special/romantic/sweet for your significant other every day for 30 days. Most suggestions are simple and don’t require a lot of money or a lot of planning. If there is one you can’t or don’t want to do you can always swap it for another activity or add your own custom activity. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it shows you care and as long as you keep it up for the whole 30 days.
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We wanted to wish you well in 2015 and keep you in the loop with a few of our 2014 highlights which we thought you might be interested in. KPMG
company profile
Some of the highlights have been a number exciting partnerships – most recently, with McLaren Group to become the first Pioneer Innovation Partner of McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT), the design and technology arm of McLaren. Earlier in the year, we announced our partnership with Imperial College London and the launch of the KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics. Future thinking Innovation, technology and people have been key areas of focus over the last 12 months and will continue to be so in 2015. Our Strategic Growth Initiatives (Cyber Security, Digital, Enterprise, P3 (people powered performance) and Technology, will help develop these offerings for our clients as well as enhance the KPMG employee experience.
Treats worth talking about! In making the employee experience the best it can be, we also introduced a few new initiatives for all staff in return for giving their best: • 3pm finish on Fridays over the summer • One-off £5000 student loan payment • Special day off for on your birthday • 3-6 month secondments What’s next for you? As the new year begins, we are looking to the future to build on the achievements of 2014 making 2015 an even better year, and to give our clients the exceptional service they expect, we need the best people to drive our continued success – people just like you.
We offer internship and graduate opportunities where you can see your potential growth from day one. You will be supported through your chosen programme, valued for your contribution and acknowledged for the personal difference you make to our clients, and our business – from day one. We have just increased the number of graduates we are recruiting into Technology Consulting, so Click here to find out more about these and other opportunities. It’s been a fantastic year at KPMG and we’re looking forward to getting to know you better in 2015.
To find out more about Graduate & Internship opportunities click here. 18
You could win: a ski trip to Switzerland, concert tickets,
a trip on the London Eye or a ÂŁ250 Amazon voucher!
Competition deadline: 8th February 2015
Successfully navigate three levels to be in with a chance to win a prize!
Play online at: www.credit-suisse.com/ globalnavigator
company profile
Are you ready to test your skill and play the Global Navigator?
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Global Navigator!
www.credit-suisse.com/globalnavigator 19
Apply now for the RPC London Training Contract! RPC
company profile
If you’re looking for a predictable career in a traditional firm then please stop reading now. At RPC you’ll get a whole lot more. Of course clients expect their lawyers to understand the law. But what they really want is advice from smart people who get the commercial context and can spot the business implications. On this measure, you won’t find better than RPC; in 2013 the UK’s leading client satisfaction report placed us in the top spot overall out of 106 firms benchmarked, and ranked us number one for quality of commercial advice. Not for the first time.
Combining this commercial outlook with some of the leading lawyers in their fields and great clients, we offer a depth of knowledge and creative approach to problem solving that few firms can rival. It’s no surprise, then, that we’re regularly praised in the leading directories for the quality of our training programmes. Headquartered in a state of the art site in the City of London, we also have offices in Bristol, Hong Kong and Singapore. Our culture of excellence, development and open access is driven by our open plan working environment where knowledge is easily shared and access to partners is an everyday reality. It brings out the best in our people and ensures that the service we offer our clients is second to none.
www.rpc.co.uk/manifesto or follow us on twitter @LifeinaLawFirm 20 24
If you like a challenge and want to join us in challenging convention, we’re offering training contracts on a full–time contract for two years. We’re intent on rewriting the rules. If you have courage and a pioneering spirit, we’d love to hear from you.
our overall approach to diversity and inclusion called Connect with difference.
! The leading lesbian, gay and bisexual charity named us as one of the world’s best in its first comprehensive Global Workplace Equality Index which assesses employee policy, training and development, and visible leadership. Our performance featured significantly in the UK newspaper The Times, as part of a special supplement, under the headline ‘Where people come before politics’. Reflecting our values We do a lot to promote and support LGBT equality globally as part of
At the end of last year we changed the light show on our Hong Kong headquarters to rainbow colours. For example Pride, one of our Employee Resource Groups, is dedicated to supporting an inclusive environment through LGBT engagement in the workplace including events such as HSBC Pride. You may recall that in the past we have lit up our buildings using the rainbow colours – a very clear symbol of our support.
Not only is supporting diversity and equality the right thing to do, it reflects our values and makes good business sense.
company profile
HSBC has been ranked among the top global 10 companies for excelling in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues by Stonewall.
HSBC
Leading equality charity names us among the world’s best on LGBT issues
Pierre Goad, our Group Head of Human Resources and Acting Global Head of Communications, told The Times: “Why would you want to limit the population you can recruit from? The idea that everyone can bring their whole self to work is critical to the future success of HSBC.”
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For more information about working at HSBC, please visit our website: www.hsbc.com/careers/studentsandgraduates www.youtube.com/user/HSBCNOW 21
Graduate Programmes: try shopping around Tesco Tesco
by Jessica Mckenzie
company profile
When I was four, a checkout assistant asked me if I wanted to work for Tesco when I grew up. “No. I’m going to be a doctor or an author,” I smugly replied. After graduating from Exeter with a degree in English Literature I am decidedly not a doctor, nor an author, and I do work for Tesco. I suppose I owe that checkout assistant an apology. I joined Tesco on their summer internship scheme in 2013, between my second and third year of University, and whilst I had no previous experience of retail, I knew I wanted to work for a large company – and they don’t come much bigger than Tesco. Tesco has the media perception of being big and bad, but from what I quickly learnt is that Tesco is full of bright, genuine people who work hard to do something for the good of both the company and its customers. I was placed in a relatively small team within Commercial, the Global Business Unit, which partner manages Tesco’s 20 largest branded suppliers across our
11 markets. During my internship I worked as a project manager and was delighted I was asked to return as a graduate the following year.
culture, but you’re definitely given a lot of responsibility very quickly, providing you’re willing to work hard and be enthusiastic.
In September, I re-joined Tesco with 199 other graduates across 21 Early Careers Programmes. A real benefit of joining Tesco has been meeting all the other graduates and hearing about their job roles and experiences in different areas of the business. The graduate schemes at Tesco are really well structured, with inductions development days and social events throughout the two years.
As well as being supported by your immediate team, each grad is assigned a buddy, a mentor and sponsor from different areas of the business, which really helps you to widen your professional network and supports your personal development.
After the buzz of the inductions with other grads and your teams, you have a month of working in store. Stores are the integral part of our business, so it is essential to know how they operate. The best thing to do is to through yourself into the experience – and you’ll never look at a store the same way again. I’ve now been working in head office for four months and when I look how far I’ve come in that time it’s frightening. At Tesco you get thrown it at the deep end; it’s not a sink or swim
Twitter: @TescoEC Facebook: Tesco Early Careers Website: www.tesco-earlycareers.com 22
Applying to such a large business may feel daunting, especially when they talk in seemingly indecipherable acronyms – but trust me, you learn to decode them. Naturally you’re going to get a stab of jealously when you see your friend’s latest Instagram from Bali, but right now I can honestly say I wouldn’t want to swap places. Even at four, I never thought I would work for Tesco, but it has definitely been one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
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Atkins
ATKINS – More To Us Than Meets The Eye
As one of the world’s leading design, engineering and project management consultancies, we’re well placed to invest in your development and offer the career opportunities you’re looking for. Our strength lies in the breadth and depth of our technical expertise which enables us to provide practical solutions to the most complex challenges for clients in a number of sectors. This month we sat down with a graduate engineer Bryony Turtle from our Design and Engineering team
in Epsom who provided us with an update on her project experience so far……..
good daylight levels, ventilation and comfortable temperatures.”
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Last year we welcomed 400 new graduates and apprentices into our team of 17,000 people. We’re looking for more talented people like you to join our graduate programmes in 2015. So, in 2015, you could help us to take on some of the biggest engineering challenges of our time. You can read our graduate brochure and use our degree checker to find the career for you.
Final spaces for future shapers “Recently I have been working as part of a multidisciplinary team on the Mechanical Building Services design for the new Atkins office in Woodcote Grove, Epsom. The scheme is designed with a strong focus on both sustainable design, simplicity and user comfort, which it is envisaged will provide a positive experience for both staff and visitors. This project has been particularly interesting for me as I have had the opportunity to work on the heating, ventilation and cooling designs using enhanced environmentally friendly technologies over and above a traditional office approach. These solutions come with challenges to integrate them into the building design architecturally and structurally. We are designing the office spaces to provide a good working experience through
Design and Engineering – Surveyors, Electricals Building Services – Colchester and Exeter Rail – Civil, Electrical and Project Management Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Derby, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Swindon, Rugby, Warrington and York. Nuclear – Mechanical in Rotherham, Civil in Bristol and Epsom Highways and Transportation – South - Civil and Transport Planning Water and Environment – Hydro-geologists and Tunneling Faithful and Gould – Quantity Surveyors and Building Surveyors
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Launch yourself into some of the world’s most exciting engineering projects with a career in Atkins’ team at careers.atkinsglobal.com/uk/graduates Our summer and industrial placements are also now open!
@Atkins Graduates
WSAtkinsplc 23
Lloyds Banking Group
Discover What Matters – A Responsible Business At Lloyds Banking Group, our purpose is to Help Britain Prosper. Charity work and supporting our local communities is a central part to achieving this.
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Going into local communities, where our 25 million customers live, means we can foster deeper relationships with those we serve giving our colleagues the chance to give back and get involved in causes they are passionate about. Through a range of initiatives, we are leading the way in promoting a fully inclusive and supportive culture. Our main volunteering programme - Day to Make a Difference - gives all our colleagues (including senior executives) the chance to spend a day volunteering in their communities. Our aim is to have invested 1 million hours in local areas by the end of 2015. Our 2014 Charity of the Year, Alzheimer’s Society, saw fundraising efforts total over £4million, doubling our target to deliver the Live Well campaign. Our graduates
and interns raise over £350,000 over the course of 9 months – an achievement celebrated by our CEO. In 2015, our Charity of the Year is BBC Children in Need, one of Britain’s best loved and most iconic charities. As well as helping raise money for disadvantaged children and young people across the UK, we’ll also be helping children to develop as individuals and build new skills through curriculum based learning. There’s all sorts to be involved in at Lloyds. Our award winning programme, Money for Life, improves knowledge, confidence and skills to help young people and adults manage their finances. We partner the School for Social Entrepreneurs, where our colleagues can mentor social
More detail about our responsible business initiatives here: www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/our-purpose/ 24
enterprise start ups. Applying to our graduate or intern programmes? You might want to get more detail about our responsible business initiatives here. We believe in graduates who can put the customer and our communities at the heart of all we do. If you’re looking for a role that really matters, we have a programme for you. Lloyds Banking Group has Graduate and Internship programmes, organised in five career paths: customer facing management, business management, financial management, people strategy and Innovation technology Visit our website to find out more: www.lloydsbankinggrouptalent.com/
WeCare is Costain’s in-house software development team and a key part of Costain’s big push to design, produce and rollout the latest technological innovations across both the company itself and to its clients. It was this open
minded and embracing attitude to innovation that really got me interested in working with the company. When you coupled that alongside its fantastic graduate program where graduates are fast-tracked and given responsibility early on it made for far too good an opportunity to turn down. There is no such thing as a typical work day here in the WeCare office. Right from the start I was welcomed as one of the team and given complete responsibility over different aspects of projects and systems. The knowledge and experience that I’ve accrued through university is certainly
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I was instantly attracted to joining the WeCare team upon completing my master’s degree. Having worked alongside Costain while studying, I already had a good idea of whom I was going to work with in the future. To that end I turned down two competing job offers and left existing employment to join the WeCare team and I couldn’t be happier that I did!
Costain
My name is Linus Cash; I’m a Graduate Software Engineer here at Costain. Working as part of the WeCare team, I help produce efficient and robust software solutions that are a key part in Costain’s push to bring the latest technological innovations to both the company and its clients
being utilised and put to the test but it’s all worth it when you see something you’ve helped design and build get rolled out across a sector! I’ve seen a lot of change and innovation even in the little time I’ve been here so far and I’ve even helped drive some of that innovation. I can certainly say we’ve got big plans for the future and are working on some amazing projects. With all the support and responsibility they provide. The future for me at Costain is certainly bright and I look forward to seeing it!
Visit: www.costain.com Summer Placements and Graduate vacancies are live. 25
Arqiva
Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, operates at the heart of the broadcast, satellite and mobile communications markets. The company is at the forefront of network solutions and services in the digital world. Arqiva provides much of the infrastructure behind television, radio, satellite and wireless communications in the UK.
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Stephanie’s Story
Armed with my Maths degree after Graduating in 2012 from Queens University Belfast I spent most of my time working in multiple jobs and generally enjoying having no exams! I spent the next 18 months searching for that amazing graduate job that everyone wants, and found Arqiva. I applied in late autumn for the Graduate Data Analyst position, which sounded really interesting in terms of my background and career ideas. The application and interview process was quick and in a couple of months, after application and telephone interview, I went to Winchester for the assessment centre.
centre and Arqiva really made sure this was the right decision for them and for me.
Although most, if not all assessment centres are a bit daunting, Arqiva really made you feel comfortable; the assessors were very approachable, really helping the nerves!
A few days later and I got another call – I’d got offered the job! I remember at the time feeling everything all at once, excitement, fear, relief and joy. I say fear because until I got the offer, I just went-with-the-flow and then all of a sudden I’m moving from home in Northern Ireland where I grew up and went to university. This was a big change in my life but being so certain about the job kept me going.
After a week I got a phone call, I was invited to see where I was potentially working. The location of the office was very different to that of the assessment
After the offer I had 6 months until I started, these were the busiest 6 months of my personal life so far. I had to find a house, organise my wedding
www.arqiva.com/work-with-us/ 26
and get ready to start my next chapter – a grown up job! Fast-forward a few months and I started my job. From present day, the last 5 months of working in Arqiva have been really interesting and a steep learning curve. I’ve had some great opportunities through the graduate programme to travel to different sites and been involved in big projects. I got my amazing graduate job.
So once you know your strengths, what are the next steps? Exploring your strengths and searching for a career you love. Your dream career will become a step closer when you know your strengths and which ones you wish to use and develop further. One way to explore careers that match your strengths is to gain work experience, such as an Internship or placement. These opportunities help you to learn about certain jobs, organisations and give you the chance to see if your strengths fit to that sort of career.
Recently Leicester University has launched an Undergraduate Internship program through Jobmi (https://www.jobmi.com/e/ UniversityOfLeicester). This program provides opportunities for Leicester students for work experience/internships at a range of companies from small business to bigger ones such as EY. Lots of universities offer something similar so contact your careers service to see what they offer. Another way is to ask your network of family and friends if they know of any opportunities and email companies that you are interested in. You can also look online; there are plenty of great websites such as:
Remember: When you get these opportunities keep a record of your achievements and milestones in the Jobmi profile section. Keeping an up to date record of your achievements in an accessible place such as this will be valuable to you when applying for your graduate job.
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Hi everyone, I hope you’ve had a great start to the New Year. Last month we looked at uncovering your strengths and where you can do this. We have now made this even easier for you to do by hosting the Jobmi strengths questionnaire in the new Telegraph apprentice app. It’s super easy to use so download it and check it out next time you have a spare 10 minutes!
Jobmi
Experience your strengths
Good luck, have fun exploring and remember, keep proactive and keep using your strengths. Josh
• www.graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk • www.prospects.ac.uk • www.studentjobs.co.uk
Join us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/JobmiPlatform Follow us on Twitter @Jobmi_Platform 27
Siemens
In order to find solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time, Siemens need people who have the curiosity, dedication and enthusiasm to help us make a difference. Join us at one of our internship insight days to find out if you that could be you.
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As the leading global engineering company, Siemens is behind a diverse range of technologies and services we take for granted in our daily lives. From keeping cities at the cutting edge of technology, to providing greener energy solutions for the way we live, work and travel – Siemens is a company that is committed to innovation and facing challenges head on. We’re looking for the very best engineers and business brains to visit us, meet our people, and experience life at Siemens.
This is a unique chance for us to introduce who we are and what we do, and learn more about the opportunities available at Siemens. The afternoon will include a presentation, intern Q&A panel and networking with managers and recruiters. Whether you’re looking to develop a career in Engineering or Business, we offer summer internships and year-long industrial placements across the business - from Magnet Technology and Rail Automation, to Business Development and Corporate IT. So if you are a first
www.siemens.co.uk/grads www.siemens.co.uk/make-a-difference Twitter SiemensUKNews: http://twitter.com/SiemensUKNews Twitter SiemensUKJobs: http://twitter.com/SiemensUKJobs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiemensUKNews 28
or second year undergraduate studying an engineering or business related degree and have a genuine interest n pursuing a career in a company such a Siemens, please register your interest to find out more.