Newsletter 1. August In the news: UK graduate vacancies recover but posts left unfilled. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

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1 Find out about Staffordshire University KTP at: /index.jsp Read the KTP brochure at: _Brochure_1202_tcm pdf Newsletter 1 August 2014 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships If you want to apply your degree, start a real job straight away and gain a further professional qualification, then KTP might be what you are looking for. KTP can help you enhance your career prospects by providing you with an opportunity to manage a challenging project, within an organisation. A KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) is a three way project between a graduate, an organisation, and a university/research organisation (called the Knowledge Base ). Graduates are recruited to manage strategic projects within a company, whilst being supported by a dedicated Knowledge Base. One of Europe s largest graduate recruitment programmes, KTP has worked with over 3,000 organisations (from small companies to large ones like Unilever and Rolls Royce), 140 Knowledge Bases and over 6000 graduates (from engineers to marketeers). Visit the national KTP website at: In the news: UK graduate vacancies recover but posts left unfilled. In a recent BBC article Hannah Richardson reports that here has been a significant increase in the number of graduate vacancies in the UK but many employers are struggling to fill posts. AGR (Association of Graduate Recruiters) Chief Executive Stephen Isherwood said: "Graduates must ensure they really do their research, target their applications and ensure their CVs do them justice if they want to be in with a good chance of securing a place on a graduate scheme following university." If you re hoping to find your first graduate job then read our full Graduate Guide, which includes a graduate checklist and details of how to get help from us here at the Careers Centre. Go to and click on Graduate Guide. Full article available at

2 How to get the most out of being a member of Ask Staffs Alumni. My membership has been approved, now what? Student. Defined as: someone who can benefit from the expertise of our alumni (so, not necessarily just students could be graduates too). Experienced graduate. Defined as: a graduate who has experience and expertise that they would like to share with the group. First things first. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is perfect it s an online CV after all. Then ask one of our Employability Coaches to review it for you. They ll take a look and give you some constructive feedback just as they would with your CV. You can either call in to Careers or drop us an at careers@staffs.ac.uk. See the first section on our Ask Staffs Alumni page for links to information about setting up a LinkedIn profile areers/alumni/asaguide.jsp Communicating with alumni. Generally, when you contact alumni, it will be to gain information. These types of query can help you to do several things: Get information about a specific career, industry, company, or job of interest by asking questions of somebody currently working in that field. Obtain ideas about how your skills and experiences might be useful in the world of work you can ask any/all alumni about this. Build relationships: our alumni will be happy to share their experiences and give advice. Get referrals to others who might know of interesting career opportunities. Remember, Ask Staffs Alumni gives you the opportunity to gain information from alumni it is NOT an appropriate platform for asking for jobs. How to ask questions. Look through, or search, the Ask Staffs Alumni members to find contacts you are interested in talking to. Think about what you want to ask keep it simple. Here is a made up example of a potential question. Don t copy it word for word, and make sure to personalise it with your own information. There is a list of other appropriate questions after the sample text. Message to individual/s: Dear David My name is Joe and I am a Staffordshire University Business student/graduate. I found your name in the members list of Ask Staffs Alumni and wondered if you might give me some advice? I am exploring my career options and would 2

3 like to learn more about the work you do in Health Service Management in the NHS. I think the field of General Management in a health service environment might be a good fit for my organisational, problemsolving and team working skills. I would like to get your personal perspective on this career and ask for advice on how to prepare myself for the field. I know that you are busy, but would appreciate any help you could give me in this matter. Thanks for considering my request Sincerely Joe Bloggs Message to the group. Alternatively you might want to post a more general question to the group as a whole via the discussion forum: Here is a made up example of the sort of thing you might say: Hello Alumni My name is Joe and I am a Staffordshire University Business student/graduate. I really want to get into General Management, possibly in a health care setting. Do any of you have any advice or information about the best way to get into this type of career? Thanks in anticipation for any information I receive. Appropriate questions: What attracted you to your current career/job? What do you most like about this position or field? What do you least like about this position or field? Describe a typical day or week How typical is your job compared to other jobs in the industry? What steps did you take to break into this field? What skills and attributes are most helpful in your job? What are typical career paths and salary levels in your field? To what professional associations do you belong? What are some related jobs or fields? How do you think my skills set would best fit in your field? (make sure your LinkedIn profile is as good as it can so that the alumni can learn about you and your skills) What advice would you give somebody interested in pursuing your line of work? Who else might be able to share their experience of this field with me? Can you tell me more about the organisation you work for? After you have received a response/s: Send a thank you message immediately. Keep your alumni contact/s up to date with your career in the future you might want to ask them for some more advice. If something positive happens as a result of their advice (for example: you apply for/get a job in the field) let them know and thank them for their help. 3

4 Tips: Make your LinkedIn profile perfect get help from one our Employability Coaches. Be professional and polite at all times. Do some research before you contact an alumni directly. Be brave by joining Ask Staffs Alumni our lovely alumni have volunteered to help you, so make the most of this fabulous resource. Don t ask for jobs! progression routes, salary, and lots more... Job profiles at Graduate Prospects _of_jobs.htm Job descriptions at Targetjobs descriptions Job profiles at The National Careers Service ct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobfamil y/pages/default.aspx Any questions about Ask Staffs Alumni, drop us an at askstaffsalumni@staffs.ac.uk. Resources. Need some career inspiration? Browse through the online resources below to get some ideas about what you can do with your degree, and what different graduate roles entail: What can you do with your degree? Visit Graduate Prospects and read their Option series leaflets. If the exact subject you have studied is not represented, then have a look at ones that sound similar. Options series leaflets at Graduate Prospects ns_with_your_subject.htm Where can I find information about different sectors? Sector by sector advice on the major graduate careers covering: how to get in, applications and interviews, training and development, industry news, and graduate jobs, schemes and work experience opportunities Job sectors at Graduate Prospects rs.htm Job sectors at Targetjobs Job market information at The National Careers Service ct.gov. uk/advice/planning/lmimaps/pag es/lmi_landingpage.aspx I d like to find out more about certain jobs... Follow the links below to research types of work including entrance requirements, day to day activities, 4

5 JobZone. Find below links to a few of the new jobs on JobZone. To view all the jobs on JobZone you will need to register/login at Graduate Software Developer. Awareness Software Ltd. r/vacancy/alert/view?id= Application Services Analyst. New Look. r/va cancy/alert/view?id= Filmmaker in Residence Millfield School. r/va cancy/alert/view?id= Corporate Training Contract Greenaway Scott r/vacancy/alert/view?id= Need help from the Careers Team? Don t forget, if you need help we re here for you, drop us an at careers@staffs.ac.uk, pop in and chat to one of our Coaches, give us a call on or View our Graduate pages and Graduate Guide online at Commercial Training Contract Greenaway Scott r/vacancy/alert/view?id=