Assessment Centres - Practice Makes Perfect?

Many students worry about what will happen in a job interview, but increasingly the key phase of the selection process for many UK companies is the Assessment Centre. Usually only offered to candidates who have passed the initial stages of selection, such as an online application form or a telephone interview, assessment centres are a longer event, typically lasting one or possibly more days.

Elements that tend to be included in an assessment centre are:

• Psychometric tests
• Group discussion exercises
• E-tray or in tray prioritisation exercises
• Business case studies
• Presentations
• In-depth interviews

Candidates are under fairly intense scrutiny and are often very aware of competing each other, which may lead to some rather unnatural behaviour. According to careers advisers, some of the phrases that indicate successful performance are:  speaking up (without being unduly dominant), taking a lead, "building" on the contributions of others, keeping an eye on time, analysing facts, facilitating, awareness of the 'big picture'. Much of this focus is on how people work together in teams so it may be worth studying something about group dynamics in business situations.

But nothing beats having a try! Many careers services are now offering practice sessions on Assessment Centres to students and the University of Cumbria is no exception. On 13th November, we plan to run two practice assessment centres in collaboration with Enterprise Rent-a-Car at our Lancaster campus (exact location to be confirmed).  Priority will be offered to students from the New Business School but a large number of places will be available, so watch your student globals at the start of next session.

If you can't wait until then, here are a couple of links to help you gen up on the subject of Assessment Centres:

http://www.diigo.com/user/uoccareers/assessment

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/interview_tips_assessment_centres.htm

Enjoy!

New Postgraduate Business Courses at the University of Cumbria

The new University of Cumbria Business School is offering a series of postgraduate courses that will be starting at the University on 14th January 2013. They are:

        · MBA - full time (Lancaster)
        · MBA - part time (Fusehill St, Carlisle)*
        · MA Business Management (Lancaster)
        · Certificate of Management Studies - part time (Fusehill St, Carlisle)*
        · Diploma of Management Studies - part time (Fusehill St, Carlisle)*

Also on offer from the same date are:

        · BA (Hons) Business Management (Lancaster)
        · BA (Hons) Business Management - top up (Lancaster, Fusehill Street, Carlisle and Energus, Whitehaven)

Interested candidates can get more information at www.cumbria.ac.uk/newstart or from our course enquiry centre on 0845 606 11 44.

Alternatively you can visit one of the School's open evenings in early December.

* All on Tuesdays

What Do Graduates Do?

Although graduate employment levels for 2010-11 were slightly down on the previous year, there were considerable variations between different subjects of study, according to "What Do Graduates Do?" (WDGD) 2012, based on the annual survey of Destinations of Higher Education Leavers that takes place each year.

One career area that clearly bucked the downward trend was Computer Science and IT which showed an 8.5% rise in graduate employment and e-skills UK have forecast that growth in IT employment will grow at twice the UK average until 2020.  Of course, not all entrants into the industry will have studied IT as a main subject at University.

Less good news came unexpectedly from the public sector with a big fall in entrants and the trend extended to include occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiographers, teachers and probation officers.  These areas each offered over 100 posts less than 2010-11 but the biggest drop was in the number of social work entrants, which fell by 420.  This is certainly not great news for the University of Cumbria, which offers courses in all the professions listed except probation.

The report once again showed the importance of self-employment to graduates from performance arts, media production and art and design. 64.6% or artists and 85.3% of musicians were recorded as being self employed or freelancers six months after graduation.

The Business Studies area is one that exemplifies the "mixed message" theme identified in the WDGD report.  Although it shows up with a higher level of unemployment than average (10.1%) and a sharp drop in the numbers going on to further study, each of the key disciplines of Accountancy, Business Management and Marketing showed high levels of graduates going straight into relevant employment.

They were also some of the subjects that produced less graduates working as Retail, Catering, Waiting and Bar staff, a denomination which covers a large number graduates yet to find a suitable career opportunity by the date of the survey - although longitudinal studies show that many succeed in doing so over a longer period of time.

Forthcoming Careers Fairs in Manchester

This is our annual message to let you know the dates of autumn careers fairs for students and graduates, organised by the University of Manchester.

This year's dates are as follows:

• ETHNIC DIVERSITY FAIR 2012 (Whitworth Hall, Manchester) 10 October
• ENGINEERING, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FAIR 2012 (Manchester Central, G-MEX) 17 October
• FINANCE, BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT FAIR 2012 (Manchester Central, G-MEX) 18 October
• LAW FAIR 2012 (Manchester Central, G-MEX) 20 November
• POSTGRADUATE STUDY FAIR 2012 (Manchester Central, G-MEX) 21 November

 The next Graduate Recruitment Fair will take place in June 2013.

For more information, visit www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/fairs

Running Your Own Business: Have You Got What It Takes?

There has been a recent stream of articles encouraging Careers Advisers to promote self employment options to students and graduates.  Those who are long in the tooth will recall this is something that happens now and again at times when youth unemployment statistics are particularly shocking.  Incidentally the latest US term for the current batch of well-qualified individuals who cannot find suitable opportunities is "Generation Limbo".

Ignoring the cynical interpretation that your country needs the unemployed to start up businesses because there aren't enough jobs to apply for, there is no doubt that self-employment is a serious options for many graduates.  And there is a lot of evidence that those who acquire the necessary skills also make themselves more attractive to employers.

It is sometimes stated that entrepreneurs are mainly born rather than created. But what are the qualities that mark out the potential business tycoon?  Here is my stab at listing seven key qualities that many self-employed people possess:

1) Creativity

Essential to the process of creating a business opportunity, your ability to produce ideas, spot new ways of doing things and find undersupplied 'niche' opportunities are often the vital factors that will help you decide the direction your business needs to take. 

2) Commitment

The need to work very long hours in sometimes trying circumstances for little or initial reward is a component part of many business start-ups. Are you convinced it will be worth it?

3) Tolerance of Frustration


...resulting from the many obstacles placed in your way. Examples are legislation, tax, bureaucracy, problematic customers, suppliers and employees, banks and accountants. To even get started you will invariably have to produce detailed business and marketing plans for potential funders.

4) Acceptance of Risk

Although there are some businesses that can be run with minimal outlay, you need to be able to live with the possibility of spectacular failure and major financial loss.

5) Resilience

The stresses of being self-employed can affect your health and relationships. Are you the sort of person that sees an opportunity in every setback?

6) Networking Skills

Being self-employed can mean spending large amounts of time on your own, but you also need to be a great networker. Other people are potential customers, suppliers, partners and providers of new ideas. Can you win people over?

7) Obstinacy

If you read all this negative stuff, and still want the rewards and the freedom to determine your own destiny that self employment offers, then maybe you are the sort of person to give it a try!

For more information about self-employment, take a look at this Delicious stack put together by our Careers Advisers in Carlisle.

Note: This post was inspired by Dan Hawes' article "The Age of The Entrepreneur" in Phoenix magazine.

Careers Fairs at Manchester

Her are details of forthcoming careers fairs organised by Manchester University:

Wednesday 5 October 2011 - Ethnic Diversity Fair (graduate careers and student work experience, organised primarily for black and Asian students/graduates);

Wednesday 19 October 2011 - Engineering, Science & Technology Fair (graduate jobs and student placements);

Thursday 20 October 2011 - Finance, Business & Management Fair (graduate jobs and student placements);

Tuesday 22 November 2011 - Law Fair (law firms offering training contracts and placements, course providers offering training courses, professional bodies such as the Bar offering advice);

Wednesday 23 November 2011 - Postgraduate Study Fair (universities and training organisations promoting their postgraduate study places for 2012 - this is NOT a jobs fair for postgraduates);

Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 June 2012 - Graduate Recruitment Fair for graduate jobs and courses commencing 2012.

All details are on the Manchester University website at: www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/fairs

Manchester Careers Fairs 2011

The dates for this year's careers fairs run by Manchester University are as follows:


Graduate Recruitment Fair Manchester: WEDNESDAY 15 & THURSDAY 16 JUNE 2011 - different exhibitors each day.


Engineering, Science & Technology Fair: WEDNESDAY 19 October 2011.


Finance, Business & Management Fair: THURSDAY 20 October 2011.


The Law Fair : TUESDAY 22 November 2011.


The Postgraduate Study Fair: WEDNESDAY 23 November 2011.


Ethnic Diversity Fair: 5 October 2011 subject to confirmation.

More details nearer to the dates from the Manchester Careers Fairs page.

The Economist - Online MBA Forum

National magazine The Economist is launching a free Global Online MBA Forum on November 15th and 16th, 2010 for all potential MBA candidates interested in meeting business schools, gaining practical advice, and learning about different MBA programmes across the globe as the Forum will feature some of the world’s leading business schools.

The Global MBA Forum is free and accessible to anyone via the internet; attendees can log in at any time during the live 48-hour event.