Taking welfare with you…
Keren Coney
Careers and Employability
I will cover:
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What skills do you have to offer?
What are employers looking for?
Selling yourselves to employers
What next?
What skills do you have to offer?
Skills likely to be developed through
Nightline activities
 Active listeners
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Communication skills, particularly effective listening skills
Patience
Resilience
Ability to stay calm under pressure
 Publicity team members
 Effective team working skills
 Communication skills, including being friendly, confident and
enthusiastic
 Creative ability
 Ability to work autonomously
Skills obtained by studying
Politics
The ability to:
 demonstrate knowledge and understanding of different political
systems, the nature and distribution of power in them and the
social, economic, historical and cultural contexts within which
they operate
 Evaluate different interpretations of political issues and events
 Gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information from
secondary and primary sources
 identify, investigate, analyse, formulate and advocate solutions to
problems.
 Construct reasoned argument, synthesise information and
exercise critical judgement.
Source: the Higher Education Academy (Skills profile for Politics)
Skills obtained by studying
Marketing
The ability to:
 anticipate customer demand, identify target markets and
communicate effectively with them,
 express yourself clearly, both verbally and in writing,
 to demonstrate understanding of organisations: the
external environment in which they operate and their
future needs,
 show skills in critical thinking analysis and synthesis
 be effective at problem-solving and decision-making
 create, evaluate and assess options, together with being
able to apply ideas and knowledge to a range of situations
 be effective at listening, negotiating and persuasion
Sources: www.propects.ac.uk and the HEA (Skills profile for Marketing)
What are employers looking for?
What are employers looking for?
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Communication
Problem solving
Strategic planning
Decision making
Innovation management
Independent thinking
Ability to prioritise
Numerical/IT skills
Dealing with pressure
Team working
Resilience
Sources: AGR, NACE, Graduates for the 21st Century, Dearing.
What are employers looking for?
Graduate Programme,
Charityworks
‘As a Charityworks Graduate Trainee you will deliver a full time job in a partner
charity or housing association, and take part in a acclaimed leadership
programme which will introduce you to what you need to work and lead in the
non-profit sector.’
Person specification:
 A 2:1 or a Masters in any degree subject
 At least one piece of experience which allows you to demonstrate your
commitment to social change
 Key competences including beneficiary/customer focus, effective
communication skills and resilience
 Ability to build positive relationships and to be adaptable, innovative and
entrepreneurial
 A commitment to personal development
What are employers looking for?
Senior Mentor, National Citizen Service
‘The Senior Mentor is responsible for leading, inspiring and developing a team of
twelve young people aged 15-17 on our NCS programme.’
Person specification:
 Experience of working with young people. A belief in their potential and the
ability to build rapport with them.
 Energy and enthusiasm to enable young people to use their skills.
 Willingness to take responsibility for delivering a challenging and safe
experience for participants
 Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve successful results
 We expect all staff to act as role models to our young people. In addition to the
above this includes being organised, proactive, reliable and punctual.
 Ability to understand and follow safeguarding and Health and Safety guidelines
alongside other organisational policies and procedures.
Selling yourselves to employers
Your approach: the importance of selling yourself
1. Not selling yourself – too negative:
‘I did not enjoy university so I deferred and travelled around for a couple of years. I
eventually returned home and I am now seeking a job...’
2. Good selling – turning negatives into believable positives
‘After enrolling at university I was provided with an opportunity to join a crew
sailing around the world. I accepted this challenge, which offered me invaluable
lessons in the importance of teamwork and leadership. I am now seeking to apply
these skills...’
3. Bad selling – over the top and unbelievable
‘I found I was not sufficiently challenged by the intellectual rigour of university and
left to pursue more appropriate ventures. I masterminded a round-the-world
yacht race and, although there were other crew on board, most would agree that I
was the leader. I can do wonders for you...’
Selling yourselves to employers
Selling yourselves to employers
CVs
 Tailor your CV to the job you are applying to
 Research and preparation are very important:
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What are you applying for?
What does the organisation actually do?
Is there a job description?
Is there a person specification?
 Sources of information:
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Websites
Career publications
Career fairs
Networking
Selling yourselves to employers
CVs: what should be avoided?
 Errors in spelling and grammar
 Not adding any detail about the content of your degree or
the skills that you gained from it
 Listing all of the GCSEs you have taken
 Presenting your interests as a list
 Including irrelevant or out-of-date information
 Writing ‘CV’ at the top
 Including information from school/sixth form
Selling yourselves to employers - Application forms
• Know the competencies
and demonstrate using
examples
• Keep it short and brief
• Get a personal
reference from work
experience and attach it
to application form
• When using STAR or
giving examples explain
the benefit you achieved
• Innovative and creative
Sheena Patel,
Graduate Management Consultant, Capgemini
Amandeep Oppal, Finance and
Risk Consultant, IBM
• Demonstrate commercial awareness
• Industry experience
Scott Young, HR Manager, RedEye
• Maximise relevance
of experience
• All else being equal
we look at extracurricular activities
Rob Taylor, HR Manager,
Enterprise Rent- a-Car
Selling yourselves to employers - Application forms
• Computer reads
application first!
• 3 or more spelling or
grammatical mistakes =
automatic rejection
Amandeep Oppal,
Finance and Risk Consultant,
IBM
• Rushed
applications, better
to do 1 properly
than 3 quickly
Rob Taylor, HR Manager, Enterprise
Rent- a-Car
• Untargeted/tailored
• No research
• Applying for wrong
role!
• Spelling and grammar
• Too long or too short
Scott Young, HR Manager, RedEye
Selling yourselves to employers Application forms
 Speak the language of the employer – Key words and
phrases
 Don’t leave blanks – use ‘N/A’
 Tailor your answers – always keep the job role and
employer expectations in mind
 Why are you applying questions – use a story
approach
 If there is a personal statement section, have a strong
introduction and summary.
Selling yourselves to employers - Application forms
Situation
Task
Action
Result
Situation = setting the scene
Task = what where you asked to do, wanted to achieve etc.
Action= step by step what you did (demonstrates competencies)
Result = benefit achieved
competency
Person
Specification
Identify where
competency is
used in job role
Job
Description
Choose an example that
specifically relates to this
What next?
Make a start so you have time to
meet deadlines and gain the skills
package you need:
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Exploration
Work experience
Voluntary work
Applications for further study
Hone your applications to draw
out your skills/added knowledge
Careers and Employability
• Location: The Library
• 9.30am-4.30pm, Monday to Friday
• Careers Resource Room
• Drop-in sessions, full guidance interviews
• Events, employer talks
• Careers and Employability database
• www.keele.ac.uk/careers