The Career Ahead- Carlisle Careers Fair took place at the Fusehill Street campus on the 30th January, 2013.
On the day prior to the event the careers staff delivered workshops on creating successful CV's and networking, there was also the opportunity to attend a presentation on setting up as a sole trader. Students registered for these workshops online and attended various sessions throughout the day. Examples of student comments about the workshops are below:
"I feel more confident and more prepared for tomorrow and future networking"
"The CV exercise encouraged us to get thinking of ways to promote ourselves"
"Brought points to my attention that I've missed on my own CV"
"Concise, factual, engaging"
"Clear, concise information. Everything I wanted to know to start me off with CV writing"
The aim of the workshops was to prepare students for the Careers Fair the next day, enabling students to use their networking skills and market themselves more effectively to employers. A mix of 27 employers, agencies, professional bodies and advice and information services attended the event over 2 floors of the Learning Gateway.
As well as providing information and advice for students the representatives welcomed the opportunity to build relationships with the University of Cumbria including the Careers team, Unite with Business, the Student Enterprise Coordinator and many more, developing a greater awareness of university provision.
Students were encouraged to investigate and register for volunteering opportunities in a range of career sectors. Also many employers provided details of part-time vacancies as well as advice on their organisation and future recruitment. Many employers also committed to support Career Ahead - University of Cumbria's Employability Award, by offering opportunities for volunteer placements, mentoring schemes and mock interviews.
Overall, Carlisle Careers Fair was a success, with many representatives commenting on how well organised the event was and that they would be willing to attend similar events in the future.
Special thanks to Joanne Watson (Senior Adviser - Careers and Employability) for all her hard work in organising this event.
Showing posts with label self-employment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self-employment. Show all posts
Monday, 4 February 2013
Monday, 29 October 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Enterprise Support Agencies in Cumbria
In addition to Business Link, there are a number of agencies in Cumbria that can offer advice, training and support on becoming self-employed depending where you live:
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce covers Copeland District and Carlisle area (n.b the web reference only mentions Copeland).
Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency covers Eden District and South Lakes.
Furness Enterprise covers Barrow area.
West Cumbria Development Agency covers Allerdale District.
Follow the links to see exactly what is available in each case.
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce covers Copeland District and Carlisle area (n.b the web reference only mentions Copeland).
Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency covers Eden District and South Lakes.
Furness Enterprise covers Barrow area.
West Cumbria Development Agency covers Allerdale District.
Follow the links to see exactly what is available in each case.
Friday, 10 June 2011
Make It Happen
Make It Happen is a national mentoring service for students and graduates thinking of starting up their own business. The service is an online website href="http://www.mihmentoring.com/" www.mihmentoring.com and the service is very student focused. Everything has been designed in response to students’ feedback in forums and questionnaires.
For example Make It Happen run twice weekly webinars on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm on a variety of topics about starting your own business. Many of the speakers are from well-known companies e.g. HSBC.
Currently 2% of graduates decide to go into business for themselves after completing their studies.
Note: This information was provided by Sarah Fox, Senior LISS Adviser Careers and Employability, University of Cumbria
For example Make It Happen run twice weekly webinars on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm on a variety of topics about starting your own business. Many of the speakers are from well-known companies e.g. HSBC.
Currently 2% of graduates decide to go into business for themselves after completing their studies.
Note: This information was provided by Sarah Fox, Senior LISS Adviser Careers and Employability, University of Cumbria
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Fancy Entering the Dragon's Den?
The BBC series Dragons’ Den is open for business once again, giving entrepreneurs from across the country the opportunity to pitch for investment and fulfil their business ambitions.
Last year the multi-millionaire investors offered their own money to 17 worthy entrepreneurs.
The rules are simple: entrepreneurs can ask for cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get at least the amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing.
The Dragons want to invest in the very best that British business has to offer. They're prepared to listen to a pitch for any type of business but they have to believe that it requires investment and will make money before they'll back it with their own cash. If you’re genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, we’d like to hear from you. For an application form please send an e-mail to dragonsden@bbc.co.uk or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/apply for details on how to apply.
Note: Apparently Dragon's Den are very open to applications from students and graduates.
Last year the multi-millionaire investors offered their own money to 17 worthy entrepreneurs.
The rules are simple: entrepreneurs can ask for cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get at least the amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing.
The Dragons want to invest in the very best that British business has to offer. They're prepared to listen to a pitch for any type of business but they have to believe that it requires investment and will make money before they'll back it with their own cash. If you’re genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, we’d like to hear from you. For an application form please send an e-mail to dragonsden@bbc.co.uk or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/apply for details on how to apply.
Source: Email received from Universities UK
Note: Apparently Dragon's Den are very open to applications from students and graduates.
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