International Education Recruitment agency Worldteachers are holding their inaugural Teacher Recruitment Fair in the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow - UK on 13th and 14th February 2012.
A number of International schools will be attending from various countries, to interview and offer jobs to teachers at various levels in different subjects.
Opportunities range from graduate Primary and Kindergarten teachers through to senior Secondary teachers, as well as TEFL and ESL language teachers.
If you want to attend you will need to register in advance at http://www.worldteachers.net/_microsites/teacherrecruitmentfairs/getintouch
I understand Worldteachers will also be offering interviews to applicants from 6th February 2012.
Thursday 26 January 2012
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Interested in being an entrepreneur?
Listen to 'In Business' Radio 4 Thurs 19 Jan 2012 at 20.30 or catch it on the iPlayer.
Peter Day hears from young entrepreneurs who think that one way of beating recession is to start from scratch.
Friday 13 January 2012
100 companies open up work experience places
One hundred companies have signed up to Nick Clegg's social mobility strategy, pledging their firms will open up opportunities for work experience to try to bring an end to career advancement by 'who you know'.
Supermarkets, banks, law firms and energy providers have committed to advertise work experience places openly, reports the Guardian (12 January 2012). Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons have signed up and join already-enrolled companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Allen & Overy, BP, Shell and E.ON. Together the new firms employ more than two million people in Britain.
Source: http://www.agcas.org.uk/articles/491
Supermarkets, banks, law firms and energy providers have committed to advertise work experience places openly, reports the Guardian (12 January 2012). Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons have signed up and join already-enrolled companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Allen & Overy, BP, Shell and E.ON. Together the new firms employ more than two million people in Britain.
Source: http://www.agcas.org.uk/articles/491
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Accountancy Training with Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
In a previous post on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme it was noted that Cumbria Partnership NHSFT will also accept CV applications from qualified Accounting Technicians who wish to apply for Accountancy traineeships with them.
If you come into the above category or similar, you can submit your CV and covering letter to our University of Cumbria email address careers@cumbria.ac.uk and we will forward your details to the Trust. Just remember to say that you read about this opportunity on "Col's Blog".
We would also be keen to hear from any local students or graduates who would be interested in applying for the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme next year i.e. for entry in 2013. Just use the same email address and we will endeavour to keep you informed of any local events to promote this scheme when they arise.
If you come into the above category or similar, you can submit your CV and covering letter to our University of Cumbria email address careers@cumbria.ac.uk and we will forward your details to the Trust. Just remember to say that you read about this opportunity on "Col's Blog".
We would also be keen to hear from any local students or graduates who would be interested in applying for the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme next year i.e. for entry in 2013. Just use the same email address and we will endeavour to keep you informed of any local events to promote this scheme when they arise.
Thursday 5 January 2012
Manchester Careers Fairs 2012
Manchester University have announced the details of their careers fairs for the coming year:
Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 June 2012
Graduate Recruitment Fair for graduate jobs and courses commencing 2012 (different exhibitors each day) - see www.manchester.ac.uk/graduatefair
Wednesday 17 October 2012
Engineering, Science & Technology Fair (graduate jobs and student placements)
Thursday 18 October 2012
Finance, Business & Management Fair (graduate jobs and student placements)
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Law Fair (law firms offering training contracts and placements, course providers offering training courses, professional bodies such as the Bar offering advice)
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Postgraduate Study Fair (universities and training organisations promoting their postgraduate study places for 2013 - NOT a jobs fair for postgraduates)
Full details will soon be available at www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/fairs
Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 June 2012
Graduate Recruitment Fair for graduate jobs and courses commencing 2012 (different exhibitors each day) - see www.manchester.ac.uk/graduatefair
Wednesday 17 October 2012
Engineering, Science & Technology Fair (graduate jobs and student placements)
Thursday 18 October 2012
Finance, Business & Management Fair (graduate jobs and student placements)
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Law Fair (law firms offering training contracts and placements, course providers offering training courses, professional bodies such as the Bar offering advice)
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Postgraduate Study Fair (universities and training organisations promoting their postgraduate study places for 2013 - NOT a jobs fair for postgraduates)
Full details will soon be available at www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/fairs
Are Unpaid Internships Illegal?
Recent discussion on the subject of unpaid internships suggests that there may be a legal basis for insisting that employers offering internships must also offer the national minimum wage.
In particular, Business Link offer the following guideline to employers on their website:
"If you or your organisation offer work experience, including 'placements' and internships, you need to consider whether the individual who will work for you is entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW). It is your responsibility to determine whether or not the individual is a worker for NMW purposes and, if they are, whether an exemption applies to them. Failure to pay the NMW to someone who is entitled to it is against the law. If an unpaid individual claims that they are owed arrears of the NMW, the onus is on you to prove that they are not a worker or that no arrears are owed. An individual's entitlement to the NMW does not depend on their job title but on the contractual relationship with their employer."
This may not be welcome news for employers, some of whom may wish to retreat from offering internships as a result. But from a student and graduate point of view, it clearly offers a strong negotiation position for those considering the offer of an internship.
If you want more details, follow the further links from the relevant page on the Business Link website.
In particular, Business Link offer the following guideline to employers on their website:
"If you or your organisation offer work experience, including 'placements' and internships, you need to consider whether the individual who will work for you is entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW). It is your responsibility to determine whether or not the individual is a worker for NMW purposes and, if they are, whether an exemption applies to them. Failure to pay the NMW to someone who is entitled to it is against the law. If an unpaid individual claims that they are owed arrears of the NMW, the onus is on you to prove that they are not a worker or that no arrears are owed. An individual's entitlement to the NMW does not depend on their job title but on the contractual relationship with their employer."
This may not be welcome news for employers, some of whom may wish to retreat from offering internships as a result. But from a student and graduate point of view, it clearly offers a strong negotiation position for those considering the offer of an internship.
If you want more details, follow the further links from the relevant page on the Business Link website.
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Highlight Your Job Specs!
Most people know that when writing job applications, it is vital to review two key documents - the job description and person specification - and that you ignore them at your peril. The terms are not used by all employers and employers are not legally obliged to provide them, but generally they need to form the basis of your applications.
Unless you are applying to smaller employers and have no more to go on than the text of an advert and your own research, you need to learn the art of reading between the lines of these key documents and responding to them appropriately. This is where it gets a bit more tricky.
Some of them tell you virtually nothing worth knowing about the post and you may be left feeling that they have only been written to satisfy company policy. But some are chock full of detail and use five times more words than you could ever hope to get into an application form. And some selection panels will definitely screen your application against a list of 'essential' and 'desirable' selection criteria drawn from the person spec.
At this point, one essential tool to help you separate the wood from the trees is - no, not an axe - but a highlighting pen. Here's what to do next:
1) Take the 'desc' and the 'spec' plus any other details about the job you have collected and allow yourself the time to go through them all with a fine toothcomb - and a highlighting pen.
2) Try to get the feeling of the words and the energy they convey. Look for key phrases that tell you what the job is all about and the sort of person they are looking for. When you find one, highlight it. In the margin, add a few quick notes of situations where you used the skills or demonstrated the experience that the phrase indicates. These will be useful reminders when you start to draft your application.
3) Now of course there will be some phrases where you cannot think of any relevant information you can give. If so, do not despair. Highlight them anyway, perhaps in a different way so they stand out. If you come back to them later, it's amazing how often that you will suddenly recall useful information that is exactly the evidence the employer is looking for - or, if not, something that is similar enough for you to use convincingly.
4) You may find there are some phrases that are used several times in the same documentation. These are likely to be major areas of interest to the employer that you need to write about at some length, using the STAR technique. Similarly, if you are applying for a number of jobs of the same kind, it can be worth noting that some employers mention requirements that others do not.
5) Once you have been through all the documentation, prioritise on the basis of your notes and the required length of the application:
Unless you are applying to smaller employers and have no more to go on than the text of an advert and your own research, you need to learn the art of reading between the lines of these key documents and responding to them appropriately. This is where it gets a bit more tricky.
Some of them tell you virtually nothing worth knowing about the post and you may be left feeling that they have only been written to satisfy company policy. But some are chock full of detail and use five times more words than you could ever hope to get into an application form. And some selection panels will definitely screen your application against a list of 'essential' and 'desirable' selection criteria drawn from the person spec.
At this point, one essential tool to help you separate the wood from the trees is - no, not an axe - but a highlighting pen. Here's what to do next:
1) Take the 'desc' and the 'spec' plus any other details about the job you have collected and allow yourself the time to go through them all with a fine toothcomb - and a highlighting pen.
2) Try to get the feeling of the words and the energy they convey. Look for key phrases that tell you what the job is all about and the sort of person they are looking for. When you find one, highlight it. In the margin, add a few quick notes of situations where you used the skills or demonstrated the experience that the phrase indicates. These will be useful reminders when you start to draft your application.
3) Now of course there will be some phrases where you cannot think of any relevant information you can give. If so, do not despair. Highlight them anyway, perhaps in a different way so they stand out. If you come back to them later, it's amazing how often that you will suddenly recall useful information that is exactly the evidence the employer is looking for - or, if not, something that is similar enough for you to use convincingly.
4) You may find there are some phrases that are used several times in the same documentation. These are likely to be major areas of interest to the employer that you need to write about at some length, using the STAR technique. Similarly, if you are applying for a number of jobs of the same kind, it can be worth noting that some employers mention requirements that others do not.
5) Once you have been through all the documentation, prioritise on the basis of your notes and the required length of the application:
- things you must write about in detail
- things you will at least mention
- things you will only mention if there is space
6) Then put down the highlighting pen and pick up your mouse, laptop or black biro...
A Couple of Provisos
- Don't forget to say why you want to work for that company, even if they didn't ask you to
- If you really can't think of any material that you can use to cover 'essential' criteria, don't apply - the job probably isn't for you.
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