CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY WITH PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENING
EMPLOYABILITY EVENTS & INITIATIVES We organise a programme of events and initiatives aimed at providing you with a series of opportunities to work with the Careers & Employability staff, employers and professionals to help you to explore your options, plan your career journey, develop your employability skills and transition into a confident professional. This is a taster of what we offer: • Accelerate and Career Fit career skills development workshops • Recruitment fairs • Employer networking evenings
Thursday 10th November 2016 5pm–8pm Rolle Marquee
• Employability competitions • Employer presentations and skills sessions • Practise interviews and mock assessment centres • Professional mentoring • 1 to 1 careers information, advice and guidance Visit our events calendar: bit.ly/plymevents
CAREER NAVIGATOR Access our comprehensive 24/7 on line career resources including tips for job searching, job applications, and interview success! You can also sign up for our careers e-newsletter by registering on Career Navigator. Log on and explore: http://careernavigator.plymouth.ac.uk
CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE f /PlymUniEmp t @Plymuniemp l Plymouth University Careers & Employability Service 0 01752 587456 /
employability@plymouth.ac.uk
< www.plymouth.ac.uk/employability
VISIT US Careers & Employability Hub Ground Floor Roland Levinsky Building Plymouth University PL4 8AA
The University is committed to the promotion of equality and diversity. If you require this publication in an alternative format, please contact us on +44 (0) 1752 58 58 58.
CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY WITH PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
Supported by
A WARM WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENING
NETWORKING EVENING: WHAT TO EXPECT
Make contact with local and national employers who are interested in meeting Plymouth undergraduate and post graduate students from your faculty, practice and improve your networking skills in a safe environment and enhance your employability. The Careers & Employability Service is delighted to welcome you to an unique networking event.
Thank you for your booking to attend the Networking Evening with the Careers & Employability Service, we very much look forward to welcoming you to the event.
The Networking Evening is a great opportunity for you to: • Develop and enhance your networking skills, a vital skill you will need for employment and business, with industry professionals. • Meet professionals, gain an insight into their roles, companies and learn from their experience. • Find out information about specific industries and employers. • Build relationships face to face with professionals and potential graduate employers.
Venue The Networking Event is taking place on the main University campus in the Rolle Marquee, Francis Drake Halls square.
Arrival The event registration will be 17.00–17.30, the event will start at 17:30, so please arrive a few minutes early to register, and have a welcome drink.
Catering
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? Develop Your Skills Practise your networking technique with professionals, asking smart questions and selling yourself
Gain Insight Find out from professionals about their jobs, roles, and their experience of the industry
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You will be provided with refreshments on arrival and a lovely buffet dinner, catered for us by the Plymouth University catering services team.
Increase Your Confidence Chat with professionals from relevant sectors in a unique and supportive environment
Network with Local and National Employers
The Programme The event will open with a welcome speech to inspire and motivate everyone for the networking sessions. The formal networking opportunity will be in small groups comprising professionals, students and the Careers & Employability team, using structured discussions around key topics and questions. The Careers & Employability team will be there to support you. In order to support you to meet lots of professionals, after each discussion the professionals will circulate to a new table for the next discussion and so on. There will then be informal networking opportunities for you to continue talking to employers you wish to follow up with, or meet those you haven’t yet met over our buffet supper. TIME
ACTIVITY
17:00–17:30
Arrival and registration
17:30–17:45
Welcome
17:45–18:00
Formal networking session 1
18:00–18:25
Formal networking session 2
18:25–18:30
Formal networking session 3
18:30–18:45
Formal networking session 4
18:45–19:00
Formal networking session 5
19:00–20:00
Buffet supper and informal networking
20:00
Thank you and close
Expand your network and explore opportunities in different sectors
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TOP TIPS FOR NETWORKING Preparation • Research the organisations and professionals attending by visiting company websites. See if they have a Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin page you can follow. Think about questions that you could ask and write them down. • Read up on industry news and trends beforehand so you’ll be prepared to spark conversation. • Prepare a 30 second elevator pitch – a short pitch about who you are, what you’re studying and what you’re interested in doing after graduating.
Personal presentation • Dress appropriately, comfortably and professionally in order to make a good first impression. You never get a second chance to make a first impression!
Who to speak to? • Walking into a room full of strangers can be intimidating, so don’t be put off, they have come to talk to you and want you to approach them. • Talk to people who are standing alone. People attend networking events to meet others. If someone is standing alone, that is the perfect opportunity to make a new contact. • Sit with people you don’t know. During the walk-around networking, do talk to people you have met before to enhance your relationship, but sit with people you don’t know in order to widen your network.
• If you are nervous or unsure you can pair up with another student, but once you have found your feet and had a few positive conversations, see if you can go it alone! • If you are really nervous and unsure, please approach a member of the Careers & Employability team and we will introduce you to a professional and stay with you for a while to get you started!
Starting a conversation • Take an interest in the people you speak to, ask them questions about their role and their organisation. It’s great way to start a conversation. • Prepare what you want to say to others about yourself – short and precise, use your 30 second elevator pitch. • Make sure you clearly introduce yourself and the subject you are studying so that the person you are talking to knows your name. • If you’re nervous, just remember that others may be as nervous as you. Remember why you thought that you would benefit from this experience, and push yourself to open up a conversation.
Active listening • Ask questions and listen. You don’t have to talk a lot about what you do. Why not ask people you meet questions about them and their business, and then listen carefully to their answers. Find points of commonality that you can bring into the conversation.
Moving on
If you get stuck
• Don’t spend all of your time talking to one person.
• The Careers & Employability Service team will be around for the evening, please come and talk to us if you are not sure about anything, or you can not find an employer that you would really like to engage with. We will all be wearing name badges and purple lanyards.
• Gather the information you need, obtain business cards, if appropriate, and move on. There will be cards and pens available so you can jot down your details to give to employers. • Networking isn’t like speed-dating. The goal isn’t to meet as many people as you can – it’s to make valuable connections. You can say things like: 1. Please let me know how that project goes, I’d love to see it and hear how it turns out. 2. Have you seen anyone from [company name] tonight? “I’ve been meaning to chat with them.” This will kindly express that it’s important to you to expand your network.
Follow up • If you meet a useful contact at the networking event, it can be useful to follow up this contact. Think about adding them to your network on LinkedIn. • You may be given a business card so that you can follow on your conversation or perhaps send a CV. A good tip is to make a note on the card of what it is that you have agreed to do – it’s easy to forget and miss out on the opportunity, and this is a handy way of reminding yourself what follow up action you have agreed to do. Or use the notes section of this booklet.
• It’s ok to join a group that has already formed – listen to what they are talking about and either join in the conversation when it is appropriate to do so, or wait for the group of students move on and introduce yourself to the employer – they will know that you’re ‘next in the queue’. 4
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