Why did you initially want to do an Internship?

I knew an internship would enhance my CV and further my career prospects, as well as giving me useful relationships and contacts. I wanted to gain experience and develop my skills in a role and industry I would want to go into after graduating from University. The idea of obtaining a year-long placement in arguably the most competitive time for employment was an extremely attractive proposition and one I was determined to succeed in. The entire reasoning for my choice of University and course was the fact it was a sandwich course allowing a year out working. At the time of applying I was 20 years old with average A-levels at an average University with an average CV, like the majority of 20 something year olds. Competition was high with thousands of other students going to University and attaining a degree, in today’s world, having a degree was becoming the norm, I knew a placement would help me differentiate myself.

Was it easy to get an Internship?

My idea of differentiating myself through an internship was shared with a large number of other students and I soon realised that it is not just jobs that are incredibly competitive and over applied for, it was also placements and internships that were equally hard to find. Obtaining a placement in the first place was perhaps the most difficult part and I had certainly underestimated the scale of the task. After receiving limited assistance from my University along with hundreds of fellow students competing for the same position, I independently set up introductory meetings and informal chats with family friends and senior management. Attaining an internship requires dedication, determination and a large amount of effort as well as picking yourself up when things don’t work out. One of the most difficult aspects of searching for an internship is rejection and failing to get the position you wanted. After several meetings and interviews I soon was offered a position at Jobs Direct. I feel if you put the effort in and dedicate your time to the process, you will get your reward, but it is no easy feat.

What were your experiences during the Internship?

Comparing a year placement with a year studying at University would result in so many differences, but I have the ability to reflect and learn from both. As a student going into a working environment with fairly limited experience, I encountered difficult times where I felt overwhelmed, stressed and at times unhappy. However, I reflect on these times as positive and part of my self-development on this huge learning curve, signifying the start of my career journey. There were difficulties and daunting actives from the small tasks, such as answering the phone, to larger scale tasks such as attending meetings. I realised they have been positive factors in my experience, and these are only overcome with practice by jumping in head first and tackling them. I learnt a lot about myself in one year, doing a placement was incredible and something that cannot be achieved through reading books and doing exams.

What difficulties did you encounter?

The major difficulty I would face before I had even started was my contract and more specifically my wage. Based on the industry standard and what other companies had been offering as well as what my friends were on, I felt my wage was considerably below average. As an individual who is extremely motivated by money, at times this was a burden and obstacle to overcome. However, I looked positively on this as not only was I grateful for the opportunity, I also knew of individuals who were not being paid for their internship. Depending on how you interpret a difficulty, I felt I faced difficulties each day where I either learnt something new or had to work hard at something. I feel my experiences and difficulties toughened me up and only improved my skills and outlook on my career.

What were your major achievements?

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements I could give myself was actually obtaining, completing and seeing through the internship. From the day I started I had witnessed fellow colleges’ leave who started prior to me. This reminded me that to do a job that is unenjoyable or doesn’t suit your needs and skills will not last long, therefore finding the perfect match is key. I feel I achieved more than I would ever have imagined prior to starting, perhaps one of the most unexpected aspects was the fact I will be leaving with genuine friends who I will certainly be staying in touch with. I enhanced my interpersonal skills and confidence which I feel are fully optimised in working environment, making me a more attractive candidate for a future job with an increased amount of skills, requiring less training time. This idea that future employers will see me as less of a risk with experience is another key achievement I feel I have gained which will remain a key factor for a number of years when applying for future positions. It will also allow for the process of obtaining the desired job easier through an enhanced CV and the relationships made.

Was the year worth it?

For me personally, the year out working for a company in the real world has no doubt given me skills and experiences that I would not have learnt at University. The time scale of a full year compared to other shorter placements, such as summer placements, has given me the opportunity to develop over a long period of time. A year-long placement does take determination and at times feels like a long stretch, it is a large commitment and a happy state of mind is certainly required. I found support was there if needed through my University and supervisors which made me feel well looked after during the year. My colleges understood my position and were always looking to help me develop and pass on their knowledge. There were times where I felt I was doing repetitive laborious tasks in which I was learning very little, but I soon matured and understood that at times work isn’t always fun and responsibilities occasionally had to be uninspiring.

What would your advice be to someone looking for an Internship?

My advice for somebody who has just finished their A-levels would be to explore courses that offer the option of a year-long internship. This is after all optional and if an internship doesn’t materialise or doesn’t become a possibility, the course and graduation remains the same. For a student currently on a sandwich course deciding whether to obtain one, I would advise highly on taking it and couldn’t recommend it more. I feel it is a massive undertaking with a number of difficulties to overcome, but feel the advantages outweigh these and in the long-term it will be extremely beneficial. Not only does it look fantastic on your CV, employers will look fondly on it and it will boost your career prospects.

Upon reflection of my internship and final summary, I would suggest to Universities, companies and the Government to welcome the fact that in the future the majority of University courses incorporate a sandwich style course with a year placement. With rising University fees, it is not only an ideal way of going towards paying off these debts, it prepares students for the real world. In my opinion and my own experiences, I feel the majority of students are naive and University does not prepare students enough for working life. I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship, making friends, developing my skills and most importantly giving me a clearer idea of what career path I want to go down. I now feel much more confident graduating from University knowing that I have gained experience through my internship and I am ready to embark on my career path.

For instance, did you know that only 38% of job seekers use LinkedIn as a source for available positions? That would seem quite high, until you realise that 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn as a resource for advertising their open jobs. That’s a massive job base with little competition for the more savvy social media job seekers out there. If you have researched your chosen industry and narrowed down a list of companies you are desperate to work for, their LinkedIn page should be your first port of call.

The numbers are similar for Twitter. 34% of job seekers look for a job by following a company’s Twitter feed, yet 54% of recruiters use it to get the word out. If you want to be one of the first out of the gate to have a chance of a position in a company, then you need to subscribe to the their feed and become active on it. Ask and answer professional questions, get involved in conversations and retweet as often as possible. Be a name they won’t forget.

Job seekers and potential employers are nearly even on using Facebook as a tool to get a dream position. More than half of the open positions are advertised on Facebook, with a massive 66% of recruiters using it to advertise jobs. Only 52% of job seekers actually take the time to peruse a potential company’s Facebook page to see what they have to offer, or to hear about what may be coming up. Again, being active on the company’s page is a great way to showcase your ability to be part of a team, your professionalism, the fact you’re ahead of everyone else in technological trends and your familiarity with modern communication.

Why do so many employers use social media for all their open positions? Quite simply – because it’s free! It also has the power to reach further and wider with an amazing speed in a way no other media can touch. It’s a win/win for any recruiter, but also a huge win/win for any job seeker, especially new graduates. The graduating classes in recent years have been bought up on a diet of social media and internet ability that most established companies are missing from their work force. They may have a well-oiled and experienced business machine running, but it may be so heavy on experience it is shallow on the technological know-how of the modern age, and every company knows that if this balance is not addressed they are in danger of being left behind. Many companies use social media to employ not just because it’s cheap, but because they are going where the people they want to employ are.

This post was courtesy of Free Resume Builder

]]> http://www.graduatejobtips.com/use-social-media-secure-job/feed/ 0 http://www.graduatejobtips.com/interview-with-zac-williams-from-gradtouch/ http://www.graduatejobtips.com/interview-with-zac-williams-from-gradtouch/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:06:54 +0000 GraduateJobTips http://www.graduatejobtips.com/?p=735 In this interview I get to chat to Zac Williams, founder of Gradtouch, a company whose mission is to bridge the gap between graduates and employers.

What you can find in this interview:

• The motivation behind founding the company
  

• How Gradtouch can help make the interview process easier for you

• What makes their advice service different

• Who can apply to them

How to connect with Gradtouch:

www.gradtouch.com

@gradtouch

www.facebook.com/gradtouch

How to find a job in a recession.

Are you finding it tough to get a job in the ongoing recession we find ourselves in? I certainly did. With the level of competition for graduate/entry level jobs at an all time high we really have to grind it out on the job hunt in order to stand any sort of chance in even getting an interview. Surely there must be other ways to put ourselves at the top of the pile?

In this interview with Denise Taylor I find out about the methods we can use to find a job in a recession.

Denise has been a career strategist and chartered psychologist for the last 15 years. She has also written the books, “How to get a job in a recession” and “Now you’ve been shortlisted”. More recently she founded the career-coaching consultancy, Amazing People, and is considered a thought leader within her field.

In this interview you will learn about:

• How to get a job in a recession
• Why you should target the job hunt as much as possible
• The biggest mistake job hunters make
• Whether social media deserves more attention than traditional networking
• How Denise can help you find a job

Denise’s details:

@amazingpeople

denisetaylor.co.uk

amazingpeople.co.uk

Buy Denise’s book, “How to get a job in a recession” here

Besides being a recruitment guru, David is an interesting guy with some great stories on job hunting and innovation within the space. Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters is in its 3rd edition, and without banging on about how good it is, I will just say that it is definitely worth a read for both those people that are presently looking for a job.

In this interview David tells us:

• What a Guerrilla Job Hunter is

• How to get a job using Facebook ads

• Why you need to get your CV found on the web

• Why you should stop APPLYING for jobs

• A top recruiters secret

• How to strategically approach interview questions

• How to optimize your LinkedIn profile

Note: The audio quality gets a little fuzzy in places. Apologies – this was due to a temperamental internet connection

David’s links:

www.gm4jh.com

@RogueRecruiter

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=113709&locale=en_US&trk=tyah

Enter Instant Impact

They place paid-only internships and graduate jobs in the SME market, and pride themselves in finding high calibre candidates for challenging and meaningful roles.

In this interview with founder Rob Blythe, we cover the following:

• How Instant Impact came about
• What sectors they place in
• The advantages of working for a smaller company
• What differentiates Instant Impact
• How you can make some money with them

How to get hold of them:

http://www.instantimpactinterns.com/

@InstantImpactuk

One person who decided to take a stand, and disengage with the whole corporate ‘thing’ is Marianne Cantwell. Marianne up until 2010 had a few jobs in the Media and consulting space before deciding to break the shackles of the corporate world, and go it alone. She simply had had enough of working for somebody else, and felt the effort she was putting in could be better spent on her own venture. What initially started out as a path to create some sort of business, soon transpired into a community driven blog and consulting service known as Free Range Humans.  Since starting out, Free Range Humans steadily attracted a loyal following, and as a result Marianne now gets to travel the world and promote her concept lifestyle.

I recently got to catchup with Marianne for a chat to find out more about Free Range Humans, and what graduate job tips she had for those who perhaps are looking for an alternative to finding a graduate job. This is truly an unconventional look at the graduate job search.

In this video interview you will find out about:

• Free Range Humans
• How Marianne made the move and started working for herself
• How to take an idea to the market
• How to build a loyal following online
• Her book

Here it is:

Marianne’s Links:

http://www.free-range-humans.com/

@FreeRangeHumans

I recently got in touch with good friend and digital marketing guru, Howard Kingston to find out from him how we can create a online personal brand.

After a tough game of tennis, we sat down over a beer and talked about building a personal online brand.

In this interview Howard will talk about the following:

• The best platforms for a graduate to use for building an online personal brand
• How to make LinkedIn really work for you
• The importance of creating an opinion based blog
• How to integrate a multitude of platforms and create one interconnect online CV

Watch it here:

Howard’s details:

blog: http://www.startupremarkable.com/

@howardvk

One way is to look at doing an internship. An internship is a great precursor to a job, and gives graduates the skills and experience to then go on and get a full time job. Yes, I know, what a generic statement!

In actual in fact, two of the best benefits of doing an internship are networking opportunities and actually being able to test out the job sector/function before making a commitment.

If you want to find other interesting benefits of doing an internship, then watch the video interview below. I get to chat with Andrew Scherer, author of the book ‘Brilliant Intern’ and Communications Director at Inspiring Interns.

He will tell us about:

• What Inspiring Interns do
• How they can help you land an internship
• Why a video CV adds another dimension to a candidates profile
• What the conversion rate is from internship to job
• The crazy things candidates have done to get jobs
• His book

Enjoy:

Links:

http://www.inspiringinterns.com/

@inspiringintern

@scheza (Andrew Scherer)

Andrews Book: Brilliant Intern