The latest AGCAS* Survey of University Careers Services shows that the overall number of graduate vacancies is holding up well in spite of continuing economic difficulties.
Careers Services reported continuing shortages of well-qualified candidates for IT and engineering positions and the last quarter showed a noticeable increase in the number of advertising, marketing, sales and purchasing vacancies. Services also mentioned an increase in opportunities for hospitality, retail, leisure and sports managers, graphic designers and many roles in small businesses where flexibility and multiple skills are needed.
Although the continuing decline in public sector vacancies is affecting areas like
podiatry, dietetics, education, social work and youth work, and the
number of legal traineeships is down, increased activity in other
areas has compensated for these losses nationally.
Comment: The University of Cumbria is however heavily dependent on local public sector vacancies for many of its graduates and restricted opportunities in education and social work mean that applicants will often need to widen their initial career aspirations and geographical target area to compete successfully. On the positive side, increased graduate recruitment activity by small businesses can only be good news in a region that has so few large employers.
*Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
More NQT Jobs in Dumfries and Galloway?
The Scottish Government has been trying to create opportunities for newly-qualified teachers for some two years.Under the Teacher Refresh programme, local Councils can receive extra borrowing entitlements if they offer early retirement to techers aged 55+ and replace them with newly qualified teachers.
Initial take up of the programme was slow, with only two Councils signing up - Falkirk and West Dunbartonshire. But the pace has now quickened, as just nine miles up the M6 from Carlisle, Dumfries and Galloway Council have earlier this year granted 82 teachers early retirement. An article in last Wednesday's Dumfries and Galloway Standard further suggests that a second wave of 82 teachers will be retiring, to be replaced by 64 newly qualified teachers and 15 probationary (induction year) teachers.
Whether this means an extra source of vacancies for our own Education graduates in any number is questionable, but it does perhaps show that the glut of newly-qualified teachers in Scotland created by the "McCrone Year" arrangement is slowly starting to recede.
Initial take up of the programme was slow, with only two Councils signing up - Falkirk and West Dunbartonshire. But the pace has now quickened, as just nine miles up the M6 from Carlisle, Dumfries and Galloway Council have earlier this year granted 82 teachers early retirement. An article in last Wednesday's Dumfries and Galloway Standard further suggests that a second wave of 82 teachers will be retiring, to be replaced by 64 newly qualified teachers and 15 probationary (induction year) teachers.
Whether this means an extra source of vacancies for our own Education graduates in any number is questionable, but it does perhaps show that the glut of newly-qualified teachers in Scotland created by the "McCrone Year" arrangement is slowly starting to recede.
Thursday, 15 September 2011
CV Tips for Vocational Students
Here at the University of Cumbria, we have a large numbers of students on vocational courses – teachers, nurses, allied health professionals and the like, who often ask for help in compiling their CV as they apply for their first professional post.
Over time it has struck me that CVs for all the vocational students I encounter have several features in common. I would like to share them with you now, working through each of the key CV headings:
Personal Details
A key point for new entrants to a profession is, if possible to include your professional registration details with your basic contact information. This will be in the form of a registration or pin number supplied by the professional body you need to register with, such as the UK General Teaching Councils, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, etc. If you do not yet have the number at the time of application, you should say “Registration Number Awaited” or similar.
Incidentally, if you are not yet applying for professional posts but are trying to find placements half way through your course, it is a good idea to quote your CRB registration details here if you are looking for placements that involve contact with young people or vulnerable adults.
Summary Statements
A snappy summary, often written in brief phrases (rather than full sentences) below your contact details is worth considering for almost any CV but of particular value for vocational students. Include two or three adjectives that sum up your key skills as a practitioner and say something about what sort of post you are looking for. If you feel you can, you might wish to mention aspects of the career that particularly interest you, or in which you might want to specialise later.
Education
A common mistake here is simply to put the details of your vocational degree and possibly a grade forecast and leave it at that.
It is important with a vocational degree to add a bit of commentary about your degree as employers may well want to ask you about it at interview.
Angles you could consider here are:
* Listing key module titles (but keep it short!)
* Parts of the course that fascinated you or represented major leaps forward in your learning
* Aspects of the course that you know to be excellent in comparison to those offered elsewhere
You might want to have an extra entry or section to cover any additional in-service training or certificates you took as a result of doing the course.
Employment
It is vital to include some detail here on any course placements or periods of work experience you have undertaken, and some comment showing the activities you undertook and/or skills you acquired on each. If you have undertaken a large number of placements, you may want to consider a separate heading for them (e.g. “Placement Experience” as distinct from “Other Work Experience”).
If you have done a large number of short or variable duration placements with the same employer, don’t feel obliged to list them all individually. It’s OK to put the name of the organisation, the period during which you undertook placements there and the total time you were on placement there altogether (e.g. October 2008 – April 2011 : Total 14 weeks).
Interests and Achievements
There is a little ambiguity here as some employers (notably schools) want to hear details of outside interests that might have relevance in the workplace, whereas others merely want to see some evidence that you are a ‘rounded person’ who has interests outside the work arena. The only real way forward is to try and suss out what the expectations are likely to be, if possible.
This is also the ideal place to put your driving licence details, essential if the job you are applying for requires the use of a car.
References
For completing students generally and fledgling professionals in particular, the golden rule is to give one reference from the academic sphere (e.g. personal tutor or course leader) and one from the world of work. Most normally the world of work reference will come from a recent placement, but the key thing is that you pick the referee who will give you the most glowing endorsement.
Last of All
CVs are typical of virtually everything to do with careers. Advisers try to make things as ‘scientific’ as possible by formulating a set of rules for you to follow. Unfortunately the science can all break down when your CV is read by a human being rather than a robot, as there is no accounting for the unpredictability of human behaviour or the capacity of individuals to behave in an unscientific manner.
However, if you follow the tips above, you will be on the right lines – more or less.
For a series of websites on CVs bookmarked by University of Cumbria Careers Advisers, see http://delicious.com/skillzone/cv
Over time it has struck me that CVs for all the vocational students I encounter have several features in common. I would like to share them with you now, working through each of the key CV headings:
Personal Details
A key point for new entrants to a profession is, if possible to include your professional registration details with your basic contact information. This will be in the form of a registration or pin number supplied by the professional body you need to register with, such as the UK General Teaching Councils, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, etc. If you do not yet have the number at the time of application, you should say “Registration Number Awaited” or similar.
Incidentally, if you are not yet applying for professional posts but are trying to find placements half way through your course, it is a good idea to quote your CRB registration details here if you are looking for placements that involve contact with young people or vulnerable adults.
Summary Statements
A snappy summary, often written in brief phrases (rather than full sentences) below your contact details is worth considering for almost any CV but of particular value for vocational students. Include two or three adjectives that sum up your key skills as a practitioner and say something about what sort of post you are looking for. If you feel you can, you might wish to mention aspects of the career that particularly interest you, or in which you might want to specialise later.
Education
A common mistake here is simply to put the details of your vocational degree and possibly a grade forecast and leave it at that.
It is important with a vocational degree to add a bit of commentary about your degree as employers may well want to ask you about it at interview.
Angles you could consider here are:
* Listing key module titles (but keep it short!)
* Parts of the course that fascinated you or represented major leaps forward in your learning
* Aspects of the course that you know to be excellent in comparison to those offered elsewhere
You might want to have an extra entry or section to cover any additional in-service training or certificates you took as a result of doing the course.
Employment
It is vital to include some detail here on any course placements or periods of work experience you have undertaken, and some comment showing the activities you undertook and/or skills you acquired on each. If you have undertaken a large number of placements, you may want to consider a separate heading for them (e.g. “Placement Experience” as distinct from “Other Work Experience”).
If you have done a large number of short or variable duration placements with the same employer, don’t feel obliged to list them all individually. It’s OK to put the name of the organisation, the period during which you undertook placements there and the total time you were on placement there altogether (e.g. October 2008 – April 2011 : Total 14 weeks).
Interests and Achievements
There is a little ambiguity here as some employers (notably schools) want to hear details of outside interests that might have relevance in the workplace, whereas others merely want to see some evidence that you are a ‘rounded person’ who has interests outside the work arena. The only real way forward is to try and suss out what the expectations are likely to be, if possible.
This is also the ideal place to put your driving licence details, essential if the job you are applying for requires the use of a car.
References
For completing students generally and fledgling professionals in particular, the golden rule is to give one reference from the academic sphere (e.g. personal tutor or course leader) and one from the world of work. Most normally the world of work reference will come from a recent placement, but the key thing is that you pick the referee who will give you the most glowing endorsement.
Last of All
CVs are typical of virtually everything to do with careers. Advisers try to make things as ‘scientific’ as possible by formulating a set of rules for you to follow. Unfortunately the science can all break down when your CV is read by a human being rather than a robot, as there is no accounting for the unpredictability of human behaviour or the capacity of individuals to behave in an unscientific manner.
However, if you follow the tips above, you will be on the right lines – more or less.
For a series of websites on CVs bookmarked by University of Cumbria Careers Advisers, see http://delicious.com/skillzone/cv
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Essential Swatting for PGCE Candidates!
The Coalition Government is undertaking a wide-ranging review of educational provision, so those applying for PGCE places this year need to be aware of the proposals contained in policy documents such as:
- The white paper on The Importance of Teaching, which includes proposals for new school structures, changes to performance tables, funding and initial teacher training, and new ideas on behaviour management. http://www.education.gov.uk/b0068570/the-importance-of-teaching
- The green paper outlining a new approach to special educational needs and disability Support and Aspiration http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/sen/a0075339/sengreenpaper
- A matched funding scheme to help primary schools teach systematic synthetic phonics – see press release http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0076456
- The Wolf Report on changes to vocational education http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/qualificationsandlearning/a0074953/review-of-vocational-education-the-wolf-report
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
CV or Resume – Which to use?
Basically it depends which side of the Atlantic you are on – even though both words actually originated from Europe.
Back in the USA…
There is some difference between them in the US. At only one to two sides of A4, a resume tends to be shorter than a CV, which can take up two or three sides of A4 and even longer in some circumstances.
The resume saves space by omitting some of the headings you’d expect to see in a UK CV, such as ‘References’ and ‘Hobbies and Interests’, while ‘Education’ is often restricted to last High School or College. Often they use small fonts with limited white space, giving a rather cramped impression to an outsider.
There is also a difference in the target audience in America. Resumes tend to be used when applying for commercial positions in the private sector. CV’s are more likely to be used for academic and public sector positions that require high levels of education. The structure is fundamentally the same as a resume but with more detail on educational and professional attainments.
CV in the UK…and Europe
In the UK and generally in Europe, the term CV dominates and can effectively be regarded as the same as a resume. BUT the structure of the UK CV isn’t exactly the same as either of its US counterparts:
· Two sides of A4 is a generally accepted rule.
There are exceptions when applying to very high level posts, or academic jobs that require an account of publications or research undertaken
· References are always included, although ‘Available on request’ is regarded as acceptable.
· Hobbies and Interests and at least your last Secondary School are usually mentioned as well as post-school education.
Vive la difference!
CV conventions still vary a lot from country to country. In India photographs are still required for some occupations and many applicants in mainland Europe still use them. In Italy, CV’s must contain a standard sentence for data protection purposes and in Germany ‘Marital Status’ remains a must and some organisations still prefer an old-fashioned ‘essay’ format.
Oh!… and stay away from the so-called Euro CV promoted by the European Union. It’s just a mish-mash of all the different approaches that won’t cut it with any but the most Brussels minded employers.
Now read the really interesting bit..
Should I pay for a CV or resume?
What you really need to know is that the internet is full of FREE information on the right way to write a CV or resume where you live. FREE advice on your drafts is available from many state-run careers advisory services. That means you should NEVER NEED TO PAY someone else to write a CV or resume for you – the internet and a wordprocessor with spellchecker are all you need to get started.
Colin Taylor is a careers adviser and freelance writer who has been publishing careers and employment related material for over five years. Find out more about him at http://www.coltext.com
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