SoBE Employability
|Monthly Newsletter—May 2007|
University of Exeter—School of Business & Economics
May 2007
Looking for a Graduate Job when you
leave Exeter this summer?
If you are a finalist at SoBE and haven’t
yet secured that dream job you want for
when you graduate, then read on!
Your final exams are looming and finding
that graduate job may be the last thing on
your mind. However, once those exams
are finished there are a number of things
you can be doing to help yourself find
and get the graduate job you want:
1) Make the most of careers and employment events on campus before the end of
term. The careers service are running a
number of sessions throughout June and
some have been developed just for finalists. For information about all of these
take a look at ’What’s on in June’ on page
3.
2) Gather as much information & talk to
as many people as you can. Why not
book an appointment with a careers advisor to talk through your options (email:
careers@exeter.ac.uk) or go up to the careers service at Reed Mews and pick up
information leaflets & guidance about all
the industries you might be interested in.
You might not read them now, but you
may be very glad of them in a couple of
months time when you are looking for
employer details.
3) Use online resources to start your
search. There are a number of websites
you can use to search for graduate job.
These are just a few:
www.exeter.ac.uk/employability
www.milkround.com
www.targetcareers.co.uk
www.doctorjob.com
www.prospects.ac.uk
4) Find out more about the Graduate
Business Partnership Scheme run by Exeter University at www.services.ex.ac.uk/
businessprojects/gbp. The scheme places
graduates with local organizations for
about 20 weeks. (See page 4 of this Newsletter for more details of this).
SoBE Alumni Careers Forum
Friday June 15th, 5.30pm Xfi
Come and explore life after Exeter with the best guides around: SoBE graduates from previous years. We are expecting graduates from a range of companies and sectors, and many
of them have only recently left university. This is your chance to find out exactly what is
expected of you if you join a graduate training scheme, or just how many application
forms DO you need to fill out before you land that perfect job! After brief introductions
in the Xfi lecture theatre come and enjoy a drink and a BBQ with the alumni who will
speak to groups of students informally. The event will last approximately 2 ½ hours. Don’t
miss this chance to have your questions answered!
To register email jill.williams@exeter.ac.uk
21st May
Issue 3
Inside this issue:
Employer of the
Month —Reed
2
Considered a
2nd Language?
3
What’s on in June 3
Graduate Business Partnership
4
Industry Sector of 5
the Month: Retail
Post Grad
Careers Week
5
And finally…
5
Work Experience
this Summer
Did you know:
• This year’s Finalists
at Exeter University
expect an average
starting salary of
£20,100
• London is the preferred location of
Exeter finalists for
their first job after
graduation
• That “Not working
evening or weekends” was the most
important aspect of
first employment for
Exeter finalists.
Source: The UK Graduate
Careers Survey 2007
Employer of the Month:
The name Reed is synonymous with the Recruitment market, and as a company it has a leading position in the UK
recruitment sector. However, you may not be aware that
Reed also holds leading positions in the training and HR
consultancy sectors too, and is actually split in to 7 different operating companies each focusing on different markets from recruitment consultancy to HR outsourcing services. Reed is one of the UK’s largest private companies
with over 3,000 employees and 305 branches nationwide.
Reed has a well established graduate training scheme that
aims to give trainees exposure to all aspects of the business
The starting salary for the training scheme is between
£18,500 and £23,500 (depending on location & experience) which is complemented by a wide range of innovative benefits too.
But don’t just let me tell you about Reed and their graduate training scheme. Here’s what Simon Feeney a current
Reed graduate trainee and a SoBE Business and Management Grad (2003) has to say about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Simon Feeney
Course studied at Exeter / Year Graduated: Business and Management. Graduated in 2003 with a 2.1(hons).
Job: Currently working as Executive Assistant to the Operations Director of Reed
Hospitality and Industrial
What attracted you to Reed as an employer: I signed up to
the Reed website to look for jobs as I wasn’t entirely sure
what it was that I wanted to do. Within a day of registering
on the website I was approached by one of their consultants asking me if I would be interested in the Graduate
Training Scheme. On hearing more about it I was highly
impressed, and submitted my application immediately.
What are Reed looking for in students that apply to their
graduate training scheme? You must have 300 UCAS
points and a minimum 2.1 degree (or equivalent) plus the
ambition and confidence to succeed in a fast moving and
highly competitive environment. This is a true fast track
scheme—some of the previous graduate trainees are now
directors within the company! There's no one particular
type of person that is destined to succeed in Reed. Instead,
they look for a range of people, with a variety of different
qualities to manage the many different areas of the business.
What does the scheme involve? Typically you will look to
do 3 placements, each lasting approximately one year. Although many graduate trainees do concentrate on recruitment careers, Reed also offer graduate opportunities in
consultancy, marketing, recruitment outsourcing, accoun-
Issue 3
tancy, sales and client relationship management amongst
others.
The Graduate Training Scheme is designed to help you
learn about every aspect of the company and therefore gives
you the opportunity to work in a variety of roles available
in the 7 Reed companies.
So what might an 'average' day hold for you? It sounds like
a cliché but there really is no such thing as an average day. I
began my career with Reed working in the City of London
recruiting staff to work for a major bank in Canary Wharf,
and in my current role (my second placement) I assist the
Operations Director of the Hospitality & Industrial division. I offer support and assistance to the whole division,
carrying out roles such as compiling reports and management information, putting together sales tenders, presenting to clients, interviewing potential consultants and running assessment days. As you would expect, in assisting to
run a division of 23 branches, I also have to deal with
many problems, questions and situations that arise on a
daily basis so it is essential to be flexible in your approach;
although I am lucky to have complete autonomy to plan
my workload each day!
What do you enjoy most about working at Reed? Reed
has a great atmosphere amongst its staff. I have made many
friends across the country and was even taken for a weekend in Amsterdam as a reward for our branch's performance in 2005. The Executive Assistant position has given
me a multitude of opportunities to develop my skills and
grow as a person. My confidence has soared in the last 6
months.. On top of all the opportunities at work, Reed are
also paying for me to study towards my CIPD and have
given me days out of the office to attend lectures and exams. This means I can gain a professional qualification
whilst I work and it’s free of charge!! They even offer up to
£500 towards non-work related development. I'm thinking
of doing a sky diving course this summer but I'm not sure if
I've got the nerve to jump without an instructor strapped
on!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information about the year-round recruitment
for the scheme go to www.reed.co.uk/workforreed. Simon
has also kindly offered to be a point of contact for anyone
wanting to apply. Contact Simon at
Simon.Feeney@reed.co.uk.
And don’t forget Reed also has a Graduates department
which specialise in recruiting graduates to work for other
companies. Go to www.reed.co.uk/graduate to find out
more.
Page 2
How Language Skills can make you more employable!
Ever wondered whether employers
really value a second language? Well
according to Marcus Rees, Service
Manager at Reuters,
“...people with language skills make a
difference. And importantly, they
make a difference in a number of valuable ways; culturally, the ability to
connect with people, networking,
injecting something new and vibrant
to the social mix, as well as the tangible benefit of being able to converse
in their mother tongue with someone
else.”
Marcus was speaking at the opening of
the newly re-furbished Foreign Language Centre (FLC) on Campus here
at Exeter.
The FLC offer credit-rated or noncredit rated language courses to all
students during their time at Exeter.
The centre provides teaching in
French, German, Italian, Spanish,
Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese,
taught mainly by native speakers.
The FLC is located on the 2nd Floor
of the Queen’s Building and has 3
new stat-of-the-art digital language
laboratories, a suite of small seminar
rooms and a large resource area.
Marjorie-Anne Howe and
Anna Verhamme, both from
SoBE, at the re-opening of
FLC
So given Marcus’ view that, “As a representative of a local, national and
international employer, the needs of
our business for language-skilled people hasn’t, and is unlikely to, diminish. Indeed there are greater choices
and opportunities available to people
today.” Why not consider adding a
language skill to your CV and opening
up new opportunities for yourself. To
find out more about courses contact
the FLC at:
languages@exeter.ac.uk
01392 264306
www.sall.ex.ac.uk/languages/flc
Careers & Employability—What’s on in June?
There is lots going on in June after
your exams have finished. This is a
great opportunity to make the most of
your time before you start your summer holiday— and for finalists who are
about to start looking for jobs there is
lots of support to help you before you
leave.
Monday June 11th
How to Complete an Application
Form (10am)
How to write a CV (11.30am)
Psychometric Testing (2.00pm)
Wednesday June 13th
How to write a CV (10am)
Job Hunting for Finalists (11.30am)
Psychometric Testing (2.00pm)
Monday June 18th
Psychometric Testing (10am)
How to complete an Application
Form (1.30pm)
How to write a CV (3.00pm)
Tuesday June 26th
Job Hunting for Finalists (10am)
How to write a CV (11.30am)
How to complete an Application
Form (2.00pm)
Issue 3
Wednesday June 27th
Job Hunting for Finalists (10am)
How to Complete an Application
Form (11.30am)
To register for any of these skills sessions go to:
www.exeter.ac.uk/employability
Tuesday June 20th & Wednesday
June 21st (choice of times)
The Interview Experience.
These interactive sessions for second
or third years will teach you the skills
you need to help secure the job you
want! It will consist of 3 parts:
1) The Interview Preparation
2) The Team Interview
3) The Practice Interview
For more information and to register
go to: www.exeter.ac.uk/employability
Monday 18th June—Wednesday
20th June
SoBE Careers & Employability
Week!
Need I say more—I hope you’ve heard
all about this by now! But if not, then
all information about the week and
how to register is available from me:
jill.williams@exeter.ac.uk. We have
graduate employers including RBS,
PwC, Citigroup, Friends Provident,
Accenture & Procter and Gamble
involved so don’t miss the opportunity to develop new skills & find out
about the opportunities these employers have.
Friday 15th June Xfi
Alumni Careers Forum
Information on the front page of this
newsletter
Monday June 11th—Friday June 15th
SoBE Post Graduate Careers Week
Information on the last page of this
newsletter
Page 3
FINAL YEAR STUDENT? STAYING IN THE DEVON OR
SOMERSET AREA?
THE GRADUATE BUSINESS
PARTNERSHIP Programme is
aimed at graduates and Final Year
students who are looking to find
graduate-level work in the Devon and
Somerset area.
tion about any of them use the contact details above, and even if you
don’t see a project that you like, you
can still send a CV and the team will
try to match you against future projects that come to them.
The scheme is especially useful for
graduates who are seeking work experience, although some placements
may lead to permanent jobs.
IT Placement—Tiverton, Devon. Projects planned include review of CRM
software, roll-out of Window Server
2003 to European Offices and development of pilot project on internet
sales & direct customer order entry
amongst others.
The programme is a 20-week projectbased placement with 10 days of training in a variety of business-related
areas such as Project Management,
Marketing, Finance, Presentation
Skills, and Entrepreneurship.
By undertaking practical work within
a company on a real business project,
you will enhance your CV, and improve your chances in the job market.
In addition, there is a rolling programme of Careers Management
workshops available for graduates
regardless of whether or not they want
to do a placement.
Graduates on placements receive a
minimum of £250 a week salary, although some may pay more.
For further information about the
programme, please contact:
The Careers and Employment Service
Reed Mews
Telephone: 01392 264400
Email: careers@exeter.ac.uk
www.exeter.ac.uk/employability
There are currently the following available placements, for more informa-
Issue 3
Account Manager—role to include
management & development of client
relationships for the company, plus
sales proposals and reports
Transport Planning—numerate graduates required for planning positions
Programmer—software and web application project management and development. Working on specific client
projects
Project Leader in Asset Management
and Development—major utilities
company based in the south west.
The role will involve supporting programme leaders for an allocated portfolio of projects, plus coordination &
leadership of a number of diverse projects related to the firm’s Capital Programme.
There are also a number of placements managed by the University of
Plymouth. For further information
about any of these placements you
should refer to: www.plymouth.ac.uk/
pages/views.asp?page=17511
Marketing — to involve developing a
company’s existing marketing within a
framework in line with the marketing
strategy
They have placements available in the
following areas:
Graphic Design Project—need to be
able to demonstrate creativity in the
field of graphic design
Programme Developer
Software Development—Internet services company providing opportunity
for individual to develop a range of
core business applications to manage
all aspects of the company
Linux Hosting Support
Product Safety, Reliability & Environmental Programmes—Responsible
for the planning and reporting of
these programmes across a number of
different projects and industries
Marketing / Researcher
Creation and Development of Website—Manufacturer and distributor of
specialised tools providing a placement that involves all aspects of promoting the product to organisations
and increasing the client base. Any
degree discipline but interest in marketing including web design and development.
Graphic & Web Design
Marketing and Sales
Marketing
Marketing Analyst
Food Technologist
Controls Engineer
Resource Efficiency / Waste Management
Software Developer
Digital Programmer
Page 4
Industry Sector of the Month: Retail
Did you know that retail is the largest
private sector employer with nearly 3
million people employed across the
UK, and just over 6% of all graduate
vacancies are in the retail industry?
The sector will also see the creation of
270,000 new jobs in the years leading
up to 2012— with nearly a third of
these at managerial / professional
level. The retail industry is one of the
most diverse in terms of areas of work,
types of business and size of operation, with organizations ranging from
global supermarket chains to niche
retailers with one or two outlets. Deciding which retail area you’d like to
work in is an important step in the
job-hunting process—the main areas
cover store management, buying, fi-
nance, HR, IT, Marketing, Merchandising and Retail Banking.
Many of the large retail companies
have graduate schemes, some of which
are fast-track programmes, and in
2004, around 1500 graduate traineeships were offered by the larger retailers.
Retail can offer early responsibility
with store based recruits potentially
taking on a staff of 25 or more within
the first couple of years. There are
currently no professional qualifications in retail operations but depending on your area of work you can gain
qualifications through other organizations such as the Chartered Institute
of Marketing or the Chartered Insti-
tute of Personnel &
Development. In
the TARGET National Graduate Recruitment Awards,
students voted the
following companies the most popular
in the retail sector:
1)Marks & Spencer, 2)Arcardia Group, 3)John
Lewis, 4)Tesco Stores Limited, 5)Debenhams,
6)Harrods, 7)House of Fraser, 8)Next, 9)Asda,
10)Sainsbury’s, 11)Gap, 12)HMV, 13)Boots,
14)WH Smith, 15)Waitrose Ltd, 16)DSG international plc, 17)Woolworths, 18)BHS Ltd,
19)Carphone Warehouse, 20)Aldi GMHB
For more information about the retail
sector and vacancies take a look at:
www.targetcareers.co.uk/retail or
www.prospects.ac.uk
SoBE Post Graduate Careers Week—11th June
The first SoBE PG Career Events
Week starts on the 11th June.
main on campus for these unmissable
events.
Post graduates will be delighted to see
the series of Career Presentations,
Workshops and Clinics that have
been organised for the week.
Job Hunting in the UK
There will be talks and workshops on:
Career / CV clinics
Visas and remaining to work in the
UK
This is a unique opportunity for you
to take advantage of expert advisers in
these areas, so please ensure you re-
How to prepare a CV
Interview Skills
For a schedule of all the events please
contact Shirley Learmonth at:
S.J.Learmonth@exeter.ac.uk
If you are interested in attending any
of the events sign up on the sheets
that will be posted on the Notice
Board in Xfi G.14
And finally…..
Work Experience
If you are still looking for work experience this summer, and are not sure
what to do or where to search then
why not come and see me to discuss
your options. There are still a small
number of formal internship opportunities available, the Shell Step
Scheme, and ways of approaching
smaller firms close to where you live.
If you would like an appointment
Issue 3
then email me at
jill.williams@exeter.ac.uk
& friends you have met on your
course over the last 3 or 4 years.
SoBE Graduate e-Yearbook
And finally...
If you are a finalist at SoBE then why
not be part of the graduate eYearbook. To complete the form go
to:
http://www.sobe.ex.ac.uk/sobegrads/
submit.php. It only takes a few minutes to complete and will be a really
nice way to remember all the people
Good luck with all your exams that
are coming up over the next few
weeks!
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