Employers' Use of Testing Alienates Graduates

Another recent article from "Graduate Recruiter" (view earlier post) quotes research by Talent Q UK to suggest that candidates for graduate posts are becoming alienated by employers' use of psychomentric and ability tests.

It all seems to come down an issue of poor communication.  According to the research, employers frequently make basic mistakes like:

•  not explaining why applicants are being asked to take a test and how the results relate to the job
•  not offering feedback on candidates' performance, which breaches requirements of the British Psychological Society
• not telling people why their application failed, which may or may not be down to a poor test result

An additional problem is poor record keeping, resulting in duplication and frustration for applicants.

I am sure many Careers Advisers can report meetings with students and graduates who have been fed up with the sometimes apparently random nature of the tests they were asked to take and the opaque, remote nature of the whole process. Online tests seem to be particularly loathed.  But is there much consistent evidence that candidates with superior test scores really do perform better in the workplace?

Yorkshire Graduate Recruitment Fair

Also on the Careers Fair trail, The Yorkshire Graduate Recruitment Fair takes place on Thursday 31st May between 11.00 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. at The Edge, University of Leeds and is open to graduates of all UK universities.

There will be over 90 employers, CV checks and a series of 10 minute workshops.

Find out more at http://careerfairs.leeds.ac.uk/ygrf/

Manchester Graduate Recruitment Fair

We have received the following reminder notice about the above event from Manchester University:

• Hundreds of graduate jobs (local and national) starting June onwards (mostly permanent and paid, but a handful of voluntary positions too) plus some postgrad course opportunities, all on offer at:  The Graduate Recruitment Fair, Manchester.
• Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 June 2012, 10.30am - 4.00pm, The Armitage Centre, Fallowfield, Manchester.  DIFFERENT EXHIBITORS EACH DAY .
• 160 companies and institutions - with graduate vacancies for this year. Attend on both days if you want to see all the exhibitors.  BRING COPIES OF YOUR CV.
• STUDENTS & GRADUATES FROM ANY UNIVERSITY WELCOME.
• FREE bus from Piccadilly Railway Station to the Armitage Centre and back.
• For details and to register to attend, see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/graduatefair

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The Manchester event is probably the biggest Graduate Fair within easy travelling of Cumbria, so it's well worth booking a place.

Adzuna Graduate Competition 2012

The following post was adapted from an email recently received from Mei Chou, of Adzuna:  

Adzuna is pleased to present its first Graduate of the Year Competition 2012 to all recent or soon-to-be graduates. You stand to win a one week placement with one of the leading companies in the UK including the likes of eBay, Sony and L’oReal as well as some CV mentoring. On top of that, you will receive a combined salary and cash prize of up to GBP 1,000.

We are looking for an outstanding individual among the recent graduates from a recognised UK university. Whether you excel in arts, music, sports, a particular academic, language or are an outstanding student union member, leader, or social contributor, we want to hear about you and why you deserve to win. For more information and details on how to apply, go to http://www.adzuna.co.uk/jobs/graduate-of-the-year.html

Deadline is 31st May 2012 and the winner will be selected on the 1st of July 2012.

Researching employers

At yesterday's Graduate Career Boost event at Furness College, Barrow, I talked about the value in dedicating time and effort to researching the organisations that you want to work for.
Here's a recent article from The Guardian's excellent careers pages on doing just that.
What's your approach?

Internship at the NME

Top prize in the Guardian Media Awards  - Student Critic of the Year category - is a 6 month internship at the NME. Check out the full range of categories and prizes here.
Closing date 29/06/12.

Travel Website Searches for New Writing Talent

Gapwork.com, the gap year jobs and volunteering site, is looking for students or recent graduates who want to get their writing published online.

"Gapwork.com is an award-winning website, which has been helping young people find out about work and travel abroad for over 10 years, so this is a great opportunity to contribute articles, blogs or even Facebook updates, get published with a full credit, and add it to your work experience on your CV” explains Gapwork.com co-founder Rebecca Jordan.

Interesting Job Opportunity in Lancashire

Applications to Lancashire County Council's Technical Graduate Programme have gone live.

This is an opportunity to gain invaluable paid experience across a wide range of services and a number of professional areas over a 2 year programme. 

Benefits include hands on work experience and the opportunity to gain recognised professional qualifications/ Masters, paid for by the council.

So if you are interested in Planning/ Landscape, Civil Engineering, Transport Planning, Laboratory & scientific work or Trading Standards check out the programme here. 

Closing date 14th May 2012.