CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE

CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE f /PlymUniEmp t @PlymUniEmp 0 01752 587456 / employability@plymouth.ac.uk < www.plymouth.ac.uk/employability Careers & Employability Service Careers & Employability Hub Ground Floor Roland Levinsky Building Plymouth University PL4 8AA STUDENT JOBS f /PlymUniJobs t @PlymUniJobs 0 01752 587722 / studentjobs@plymouth.ac.uk < www.plymouth.ac.uk/studentjobs Student Jobs Careers & Employability Hub Ground Floor Roland Levinsky Building Plymouth University PL4 8AA

WHERE WILL YOUR DEGREE TAKE YOU? CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY WITH PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY

FUTURE PLAINS GREATER OPPORTUNITY

ISLAND OF OPPORTUNITY BRIGHTER FUTURE 3

WELCOME TO PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY from your Careers and Employability Service WHAT IS EMPLOYABILITY? Employers across all industries want more than just a degree; they want graduates who can demonstrate a wide range of skills, qualities and knowledge, often referred to as Employability Skills. What does this mean for me? Too many students reach the end of their degree with only their degree to put on an application form. We aim to help you develop the essential skills over your university years to ensure you are confident and capable of the career start you want when you finish whether it s a grad scheme for a multi-national, an internship at an SME or starting your own business. 4

WHAT ARE THESE EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS? Employers look for a wide range of skills in graduate applicants, below are the top 10 competencies which employers value: COMMUNICATION PLANNING & ORGANISING ABILITY TO NETWORK MAKING DECISIONS TEAM-WORKING FLEXIBILITY & CONFIDENT MINDSET INITIATIVE & ABILITY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY COMMERCIAL AWARENESS PROBLEM-SOLVING GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY 5

SO HOW CAN THE CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE SUPPORT YOU? Start with bringing in your CV and we can help highlight the gaps in your skillset and suggest ways of broadening your experience. We have lots of ideas which you may have spotted on the Student Journey map. Whether its getting a part-time job or coming along to one of our weekly events, everything helps! Your path through university is unique and we re here to support you through all stages, making sure you make the most of every single opportunity whilst at Plymouth University. Where can you find us? We are based in the Careers and Employability Hub, ground floor of the Roland Levinsky Building. We are open Monday to Friday throughout the year including term time and vacation periods. I have gained invaluable skills over the last 4 years, through being proactive, and taking up the opportunity to do projects, placements and employability events. My advice? Make the most of every opportunity, as every adventure start with one step! James McKellar, BA Marketing, 2015 TO FIND OUT MORE f /PlymUniEmp t @PlymUniEmp 0 01752 587456 / employability@plymouth.ac.uk < www.plymouth.ac.uk/employability 6

PART-TIME JOBS WITH STUDENT JOBS Student Jobs aims to provide all Plymouth University students the opportunity to gain part-time work while studying. We contact with local employers including UPSU to identify part-time opportunities to fit around your studies. We also recruit over 300 Student Ambassadors every year to work on campus at university events! Being a Student Ambassador has been one the best parts of my time at the University! The flexibility of work allows me to do as little or as much whilst studying at the same time. My job as an Ambassador has helped build my confidence and communication skills for the future, earning the extra money is definitely useful. Q Buspanathan, BSc Psychology, 2015 SEARCH OUR VACANCIES www.plymouth.ac.uk/ studentjobs ATTEND OUR JOB FAIRS Meet employers on campus at our Part-Time Jobs Fair Wed 7th October 2015 REGISTER YOUR INTEREST To become a Student Ambassador, email studentjobs@plymouth.ac.uk TO FIND OUT MORE f /PlymUniJobs t @PlymUniJobs 0 01752 587722 STUDENT JOBS WITH PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY / studentjobs@plymouth.ac.uk < www.plymouth.ac.uk/studentjobs 7

COME ALONG TO ONE OF OUR EVENTS! Getting involved in our huge range of employability events will fast-track your skills and confidence ready for graduation. And good news, it is never too early start! Practice your interview, assessment centre and networking techniques in a safe environment and before you have to face the real thing. We have practice sessions available throughout the term with real employers. We also are running various networking events too! Explore your career options at our three Autumn recruitment fairs, with the chance to meet over 30 exhibitors at each fair offering placement and graduate opportunities. Meet employers and receive top tips for success at employer presentations and skills sessions. TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OUR EVENTS f /PlymUniEmp t @PlymUniEmp 0 01752 587456 / employability@plymouth.ac.uk < Browse our Events Calendar bit.ly/1s1ymlt for full listings and to sign up 8

Launch yourself into our business strategy competition FLUX and our interview competition HotSeat to practise your skills, win substantial prizes and catch the eye of recruiters! We can help build your confidence and skills at our programme of Accelerate workshops. These weekly sessions every Tuesday and Wednesday will cover all stages of finding your dream job from job searching to networking to formal interview panels. I have just had a phone call confirming I have a job offer with the Babcock Grad Scheme! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the Employability team for basically helping me get a job! I genuinely believe that the FLUX competition was a huge factor for me to get on the Grad Scheme because it allowed me to build essential skills and showcase them in front of employers who were actively recruiting. In total 3/4 of our team have gained job opportunities from the event. Matthew Hodge, MEng Mechanical Engineering, 2015 Our Careers & Employability Team are available to chat to in weekly drop in sessions so don t be shy in asking for help. It s what we re here for. THIS YEAR WE RE PUTTING ON A HUGE NUMBER OF EVENTS Please see our Events Calendar for the full list bit.ly/1s1ymlt 9

ACCELERATE WORKSHOPS Our workshops run Tuesday evenings and Wednesday afternoons every week in termtime giving you the chance to learn vital skills in the hands of our team of experts. These sessions are designed to fit around your studies and are held in informal, small groups with lots of discussions and activities. Don t worry if you miss one, they repeat 3-4 times over the year so you can catch up at a later date! Here is a flavour of the Accelerate programme: Career direction Graduate jobs and schemes Elevating your CVs and applications Assessment Centres Interview skills Postgraduate study Don t forget we also have employers on campus every week delivering skills sessions on subjects such as commercial awareness, assessment centres and interviews from their perspective. To find out more information on dates, timings and who s visiting please see our Events Calendar bit.ly/1s1ymlt I secured a placement with Enterprise Rent-a- Car after meeting them at a Careers Fair and at FLUX. I would recommend taking part in as many events and workshops as possible to be able to boost your skill-set, perspective and approach to personal and professional experiences. It really helped me stand out amongst the ever growing competitive job market. It s updated weekly so make sure you check back regularly! Marc Rowbury, BA Business Studies, 2015 10

PLACEMENTS AND WORK-BASED LEARNING What is a placement year? Simply put, it s a year spent working for a company after you ve finished your second year. Once completed, you ll return for the final year of your course. What is Work-based Learning? Work-based Learning is a mini placement where you gain work experience over one module during your normal studies. Different courses have work-based learning modules in various years so ask your academics if this option is available to you. For both placement years and work-based learning you ll have to find and apply for your own roles which means you get to pick somewhere you d really like to work. The Placement Team advertises thousands of vacancies and also helps you search and apply for roles. What s in it for me? Be their first choice, many employers favour graduates with real and relevant work experience A familiar company when you graduate employers regularly choose their previous placement students for their graduate schemes Earn some money gaining experience Get a taste of your chosen career, find out if it s really what you want to do Take the chance to work abroad, we advertise hundreds of international vacancies Having completed an internship with SANCCOB during an industrial placement year, I would highly recommend it to anybody! It was such an amazing experience for me that it changed my entire outlook on life and broadened my knowledge of careers in the animal field. I loved every single moment (even the tired ones), and can honestly say it was the best thing I have ever done in all of my life. Lucy Burge BSc Animal Science, Behaviour and Welfare, 2015 TO FIND OUT MORE 0 / 01752 588588 Faculty of Science & Engineering / Faculty of Health & Human Sciences: placements@plymouth.ac.uk Faculty of Business: fobplacements@plymouth.ac.uk Faculty of Arts & Humanities: FoAHplacements@plymouth.ac.uk < www.plymouth.ac.uk/employability 11

CAREER NAVIGATOR Career Navigator is your extensive online career guide which you can access 24/7. By logging onto the portal you ll find: Video tutorials from some of the UK s leading businesses CV, covering letter & application form templates and advice Career options for your particular degree A comprehensive job search engine with thousands of jobs available Recommended answers to the top 100 interview questions! SUCCESS POTENTIAL ASPIRATIONS HAPPINESS 12

CAREER GUIDANCE The changing nature of the graduate labour market now challenges you to think less about finding that one job for life and to shift your thinking towards recognising, seizing and adapting to the wealth of opportunities that are available to you. Our qualified and experienced Careers Advisers will support you with all aspects of your student journey, by providing expert guidance that is tailored to your needs. A one- to- one guidance appointment gives you the space to talk through your ideas or discuss where to start if you are not sure. By giving thought to this in your first year, you will be able to make the most of the range of the developmental, networking and work experiences that are available to you during your time at university and ensure that your applications have maximum impact. 13

WHAT CAN I DO TO BUILD MY SKILLS UP? Binder m Copy m clear of t Use our events to build both your confidence and skills ready for that dream job, whether it s part time or a placement during university or a graduate role afterwards. Here s some suggestions of the skills and knowledge you can gain by taking part in our different events. Why not tick them off once you ve taken part? BUILDING YOUR CONFIDENCE IN OUR EVENTS PRESENTATIONS NETWORKING INTERVIEWS CV / APPLICATION WRITING COMMUNICATION SKILLS FLUX 6 6 6 Hotseat 6 6 6 6 Recruitment Fairs 6 6 6 Networking Evenings 6 6 Practice Interview 6 6 6 6 Mock Assessment Centre Employer Presentation / Workshop 6 6 6 6 6 6 Accelerate Workshop 6 6 6 Placement Year & Work Based Learning modules 6 6 6 6 6 Plymouth Award 6 Take an active part in a society or sports club Get a parttime job or a volunteering role 6 6 6 6 6 6 14

argin: ust be his area EVIDENCE YOUR SKILLS IN TEAMWORK PROBLEM SOLVING COMMERCIAL AWARENESS LEADERSHIP TIME MANAGEMENT WORKING UNDER PRESSURE 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 15

Plymouth University Branch Smeaton Building, First Floor, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA Santander have a branch on campus, located on the first floor of Smeaton building, open to students, staff and our local community. Together with Santander, we support the local community. A great example of our work together is in support of Brain Tumour Research, raising funds for the University s Centre of Research Excellence. Santander staff volunteer at fundraising events and match fund donations. Santander campus branch opening hours Monday: 10:00-18:00 Tuesday: 10:00-18:00 Wednesday: 10:00-17:00 Thursday: 10:00-18:00 Friday: 10:00-18:00 Saturday: Closed Sunday: Closed 16