UCL CAREERS
Whilst you’re waiting…
1. When is the ‘Milkround’?
2. Who is currently the largest graduate recruiter in the UK?
3. Who is currently the highest published graduate starting salary for
2015?
4. “Recruiters have confirmed that ___ % of this year’s entry level
positions are expected to be filled by graduates who have already
worked for their organisation.
5. Think of 2 things now considered inappropriate to add to a CV.
6. How long will the average recruiter spend looking at a CV?
UCL CAREERS
MAKE THE MOST OF THE
UCL CAREERS FAIRS
HOW TO NETWORK WITH EMPLOYERS
Carla King
Careers Consultant
UCL CAREERS
What we’ll look at today……………..
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why….networking with people is so important
How….to make the best use of opportunities….
What…you can do to prepare yourself
What…to do when you leave this room
UCL CAREERS
Why do firms exhibit at a fair?
To raise profile on campus
To promote their vacancies and deadlines
To ensure students are accurately informed and answer
questions
Recruitment of potential trainees – to sell their firm to
you & encourage you to apply!
UCL CAREERS
Demystifying ‘Networking’
Formal
Informal
UCL CAREERS
Benefits & Barriers
1. Identify 3 benefits of engaging in ‘networking’
as part of your job search?
2. Identify 3 barriers that would hold you back?
UCL CAREERS
NETWORKING: Benefits and barriers
BENEFITS
Learn from other’s experience:
• more conversations
• more exposure to different paths
• more potential inspiration
Showing motivation:
• competitive job market - expectation
• organisational culture is often the differentiating factor
• use examples drawn from connecting with people in your applications/ interviews
The hidden job market:
• majority of opportunities are sourced through connecting with others
• potentially short-cut recruitment process
UCL CAREERS
NETWORKING: Benefits and barriers
BARRIERS
Confidence:
• I’m not good at networking
• I don’t feel comfortable talking about myself
• what would I talk about?
• why would they be interested in me?
Lack of contacts:
• what if I don’t have a ready-made network I can use?
Ethical:
• it seems to be who you know, not what you know
• I’m uncomfortable about asking someone to give me a potential advantage
UCL CAREERS
Overcoming barriers
UCL CAREERS
PRACTICE
MAKES PERFECT
UCL CAREERS
Making connections…(can actually be fun!)
Connecting - Pairs exercise:
nominate ‘storyteller’ – for 1 minute recount an
experience, academic or professional (social) that you
are proud of/ enjoyed
The best way to be interesting is to
be INTERESTED!
partner LISTEN
at the end, ask questions to find out more
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UCL CAREERS
Good questions:
Closed v open:
did you enjoy it? – invites ‘closed’ response
Instead use: what, why, how, describe, tell me
more……
what did you enjoy the most?
what was the worst thing….?
what happened next?
how would you describe…?
tell me more about…?
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UCL CAREERS
Introducing yourself
Irrum video
UCL CAREERS
Introductions can be tricky
On your own, prepare an ‘elevator pitch’ to an employer to
introduce yourself in not more than 15 seconds
Practice in 3’s – components:
introduction,
relevant background and your interest in opportunity
what do you want to know
Give each other feedback on introductions and how it might be
improved
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UCL CAREERS
How did it go?
UCL CAREERS
WHAT NOT TO
SAY…
UCL CAREERS
What NOT to ask………
•
•
•
•
what does your organisation do?
could you check my CV?
what kind of salary could I expect?
what is your closing date for
applications?
• why should I work for you?
• and so on………..
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UCL CAREERS
Careers Fairs......employer feedback
‘a baseball cap and ripped jeans didn’t create the best first
impression……’
‘unlikely we’ll be bringing freebies next year in those quantities…..’
‘I wasn’t really in a position to update a student on the progress of their
application….’
“What makes us different is the way we do things and the people we
hire. The only way for you to really understand what are culture is like
is by engaging with our staff, asking lots of questions and
understanding more about what’s it like to work here.”
‘constantly surprised by how ill-prepared students
seem, how poorly considered their questions are and
little use they make of the opportunity to REALLY talk
to us…’
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UCL CAREERS
SO, WHAT DO I
SAY?
UCL CAREERS
Think before you do
What is the one thing you want this person to
remember about you?
What are your key selling points in relation to
them?
What do you want to get out of the
conversation?
UCL CAREERS
Pairs exercise
Brainstorm in pairs ‘open’ questions that you
might ask an employer at a careers event
based on any current job focus
UCL CAREERS
Interviewing the job market…….
Interviewing the
‘job’
Questions to find the answers to…..
Details of the work
•
•
What does a typical day look like?
What did you learn in your course that has really helped you to do your job? Do you
get the opportunity to use ‘X’ skills?
Motivation
•
•
•
Why aspects of the job you enjoy? What do you enjoy less?
What are the biggest challenges?
How did you decide that consulting was for you?
Progression and development
•
•
•
What are the typical training opportunities involved – how tailored are they to your
specific needs?
What is the typical career progression timeline?
Support for professional qualifications?
Culture
•
•
•
What proportions of the time are you working on your own or as part of a team?
Is there a particular type of person who works at X?
What are the opportunities to socialise and get involved with activities outside of work?
Routes in
•
Where are opportunities for this type of role advertised? How else do vacancies get
filled?
What is the typical recruitment process involved?
•
UCL CAREERS
Keeping the flow
Talk about things that matter to you
Ask questions and listen to the answers
Remember names, faces and details to avoid embarrassment
After the pitch, have an opening line handy to break the ice
Bring what you do to life and focus on the positives
Knowing when to move on in an event and exit
UCL CAREERS
TIPS
UCL CAREERS
Engaging employers
Do your homework
find out who’s attending (www.ucl.ac.uk/careers)
who do you want to talk to what do you want to find out?
Pre-register and get there early
if nervous, ‘warm-up’ before approaching key target employers
Creating the right impression:
appearance/ go solo/ target individual
consider staff role – (HR v business line/ Senior v junior)
take CV copies (handout only if requested)
The exit / later
know when to move on
make notes of important points (use for later) – note pad
Follow up immediately if you have a contact name
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UCL CAREERS
Engaging employers
7 October: Management Consulting
13/14 October: Banking and Finance
(2 evenings)
21/22 October: IT and Technology (2 evenings)
26 October: Engineering
16/17 November: Law (2 evenings)
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UCL CAREERS
What we offer
Alumni
Careers
Mentoring
Specialist
support:
Masters,
International,
Researchers
and GradClub
Sector
Themed
Weeks
Find your
Future
with:
One-to-one
Careers
Guidance
UCL
Careers
Skills4Work
Fairs and
Presentations
Application
and
Interview
Advice
Careers
Resources
UCL
JobOnline
and UCL
Talent Bank
UCL CAREERS
Questions?
UCL CAREERS
Were you right?
1. When is the ‘Milkround’? October to December
2. Who is currently the largest graduate recruiter in the UK? Teach First
3. Who is currently the highest published graduate starting salary for
2015? Aldi (£42,000)
4. “Recruiters have confirmed that 31% of this year’s entry level positions
are expected to be filled by graduates who have already worked for
their organisation.
5. Think of 2 things now considered inappropriate to add to a CV.
Religion, marital status, children, date of birth…
6. How long will the average recruiter spend looking at a CV? 6 – 9
seconds