The 9th international ePortfolio & Identity Conference has a call for papers - deadline 31 March 2011. Link: http://events.eife-l.org/epic2011/
The conference itself is on 11-13 July, at the Savoy Place, London.
Monday 17 January 2011
Employers Talking - great website
http://www.innovatecv.com/tv
The above website contains a range of short clips of employers talking about their sector and what they look for in applicants. Recommend it to your students - could be useful in their career research or pre-interview preparation.
The above website contains a range of short clips of employers talking about their sector and what they look for in applicants. Recommend it to your students - could be useful in their career research or pre-interview preparation.
Thursday 13 January 2011
Company Research for graduate job seakers
One of the things that can be the difference between success and failure or enjoyment and unhappiness at work, can be the culture of the company you work for. However, it can be very difficult to find out about the culture of an organisation unless you know someone who is working there or who has worked there.
I came across a website called Inside Buzz http://www.insidebuzz.co.uk/home.html. It provides company profiles, but also, more unusually, comments from graduate trainees and employees of the company, talking about what it is like working there. It would be useful to put this site on the radar of our final year students.
I came across a website called Inside Buzz http://www.insidebuzz.co.uk/home.html. It provides company profiles, but also, more unusually, comments from graduate trainees and employees of the company, talking about what it is like working there. It would be useful to put this site on the radar of our final year students.
Wednesday 5 January 2011
"Bridge Jobs"
See the link to the video clip of Stanford University post graduate Jullien Gordon talking about Bridge Jobs. http://bit.ly/g20kl2
Graduates nationally are finding it difficult to find opportunities for direct graduate level employment. I think it is incumbent upon the HE sector to ensure that graduates leave with insights into a range of routes into the graduate employment they are looking for, which may be less direct, but will help them to hang on to their goal and achieve it.
There are different approaches to career management. (See blog - http://pdpsupport.blogspot.com/ - “Alternative approaches to Graduate employment.” 4th January 2011)
A bridge job:
- helps you to get you from point a-b , from where you are now to where you want to be.
- is 18 months or shorter / six months of savings - covering your cost of living for your first six months as an entrepreneur or portfolio worker.
- only works you 40 hours a week. You have the other 40-60 hours to invest good energy into what you ultimately want to do.
- has a set a time period of when you are going to leave, which means you actually start maximising that opportunity and not just fill time (Parkinson’s Law)*
- can help you increase your personal, intellectual, financial and social capital, including building relationships with future customers.
* Parkinson's Law “Work will expand to fill space” http://www.heretical.com/miscella/parkinsl.html
** Shift Happens (You Tube) mentioned in above video clip http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shift+happens&aq=f
Graduates nationally are finding it difficult to find opportunities for direct graduate level employment. I think it is incumbent upon the HE sector to ensure that graduates leave with insights into a range of routes into the graduate employment they are looking for, which may be less direct, but will help them to hang on to their goal and achieve it.
There are different approaches to career management. (See blog - http://pdpsupport.blogspot.com/ - “Alternative approaches to Graduate employment.” 4th January 2011)
A bridge job:
- helps you to get you from point a-b , from where you are now to where you want to be.
- is 18 months or shorter / six months of savings - covering your cost of living for your first six months as an entrepreneur or portfolio worker.
- only works you 40 hours a week. You have the other 40-60 hours to invest good energy into what you ultimately want to do.
- has a set a time period of when you are going to leave, which means you actually start maximising that opportunity and not just fill time (Parkinson’s Law)*
- can help you increase your personal, intellectual, financial and social capital, including building relationships with future customers.
* Parkinson's Law “Work will expand to fill space” http://www.heretical.com/miscella/parkinsl.html
** Shift Happens (You Tube) mentioned in above video clip http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shift+happens&aq=f
Graduate Recruitment through peer to peer recommendations
"According to the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 consumers, personal recommendations and reviews are the most trusted form of advertising. The Graduate recruitment marketplace is no different." (Graduate Recruiter, AGR, "The Word on the Street ..." Jan 2011)
The above article reports that several graduate recruiters have introduced peer to peer recommendations to their formal recruitment policy, where existing graduate employees are asked to use their extended networks to identify graduate talent.
Personal recommendations have always formed a part of the informal recruitment practices of many companies, given the high costs of recruitment. However, the formal use of peer to peer recommendations by some of the larger graduate recruiters further confirms how important it is for undergraduates to understand networking and develop the skills they need to do it effectively.
The above article reports that several graduate recruiters have introduced peer to peer recommendations to their formal recruitment policy, where existing graduate employees are asked to use their extended networks to identify graduate talent.
Personal recommendations have always formed a part of the informal recruitment practices of many companies, given the high costs of recruitment. However, the formal use of peer to peer recommendations by some of the larger graduate recruiters further confirms how important it is for undergraduates to understand networking and develop the skills they need to do it effectively.
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Alternative approaches to Graduate employment
Happy New Year everyone!
For many graduates at the moment there will not be a direct route into graduate level employment, and portfolio careers can be a realistic option. There are a series of short 5 min videos that might throw light on what is meant by a portfolio career - see link below: http://portfoliocareers.net/category/portfolio-careers/
The Planned happenstance approach can also provide a route to the type of work you want to do. Planned happenstance is about being open to opportunities that come your way and making the most of those opportunities. The link below is to an article that gives a good example of how this can work:
http://www.sgm.ac.uk/pubs/micro_today/pdf/050908.pdf
For many graduates at the moment there will not be a direct route into graduate level employment, and portfolio careers can be a realistic option. There are a series of short 5 min videos that might throw light on what is meant by a portfolio career - see link below: http://portfoliocareers.net/category/portfolio-careers/
The Planned happenstance approach can also provide a route to the type of work you want to do. Planned happenstance is about being open to opportunities that come your way and making the most of those opportunities. The link below is to an article that gives a good example of how this can work:
http://www.sgm.ac.uk/pubs/micro_today/pdf/050908.pdf
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