We’re moving…

We’ve moved our blog to:

http://www.gradsouthwest.com/careers-advice/news/

See you there!

The Gradsouthwest Team

Do Grads Love Bristol? We asked University of Bristol students if it is true…

Last night Gradsouthwest attended the University of Bristol’s first Grads Love Bristol event aimed at supporting students who want to stay in the city after graduation.

From our discussions with over 70 students on the night, find out if Grads Love Bristol by CLICKING HERE

If you are interested in seeing current entry level graduate jobs in the area then CLICK HERE.

Graduate jobs near me

It is clear from recent data that graduates really do want to stay local for their careers if they can. For example, the University of Bristol have done a study that shows 46% of Bristol students want to stay in the city after graduation; and almost 20% of their recent graduates who are working in the UK are actually based in Bristol 6 months after graduation.

Gradsouthwest can support this desire by making graduate jobs in the South West more visible to students – assisting those that want to live and work in the South West find graduate level work – whether they stayed in the region to study, or could be attracted to work here from elsewhere.

To see the recent data analysing the geographical mobility of students and graduates between their home, study and employer locations click here.

 

ICYMI: Our top tips for students to make sure you make the most out of attending University Careers Fairs

The round of autumn 2017 careers fairs for Gradsouthwest kick off next week at the University of Exeter and the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, so we thought it timely to re-issue our blog post from earlier this year: “Our top tips for students to make sure you make the most out of attending University Careers Fairs“.

8 things you should know about graduate schemes

Large graduate recruiters often run ‘graduate schemes’ or ‘graduate programmes’ – a route to employment with on the job learning, a good salary and (probably) a household name on your CV.  

But, if you are considering this path here are some things you should consider.

Whichever path you take good luck!

Attracting and retaining talent – a view from the Centre for Cities, and what we can learn in the South West.

It is well known that students and graduates are mobile – with many travelling away from their home to study, and then again to find their first graduate job.

The ability of a place to attract students and retain graduates impacts its economy and potential for growth. The Centre for Cities has shown that Bristol, Bournemouth, Exeter, Gloucester, Southampton, Swindon and Plymouth are all net gainers of graduates. This is good news for the South West!

To learn more about their research and what we can learn in the South West click here.

 

 

Retaining graduate talent in the South West – Gradsouthwest launches first SW Grad Scheme Directory

Gradsouthwest, the South West’s graduate jobs board, is pleased to launch its’ first ever South West Grad Scheme Directory – a guide to the range of graduate schemes, programmes and traineeships available in the South West.

You may be surprised by how many employers offer grad schemes in the region, and how many options there are for graduates to remain locally.

Covering Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol & the West of England; the Directory aims to help those graduates that want to work in the South West find graduate employment. There are three sections – a full listing of employers offering schemes with graduate web address, and then listings by county area and by sector.

This is the first year Gradsouthwest has pulled together a Directory following requests from students for more information about what is available in the region. Our aim is to provide an easy to read guide that students have access to that helps them find suitable schemes in the region.

In addition, we will of course continue to advertise 100’s of graduate job vacancies throughout the year – so whether it’s a grad scheme, or a single job vacancy – Gradsouthwest is the place to go!

Commenting on the Directory, Dr Deborah Watson, Director of Gradsouthwest, said:

“We’ve been asking students and graduates about where they want to work, and they tell us that they’d love to ‘stay local’, but roles aren’t very visible and they don’t know what is available locally. So we decided to act: to help students and graduates find local jobs and to help employers recruit we created a free graduate scheme directory for opportunities in the region.”

To download your copy click here.

If you are running a graduate scheme and would like to be listed in the next version of the Directory please let us know. If you are recruiting graduates – either for a scheme or individual jobs, and would like to advertise with us please email us at admin@gradsouthwest.com.

 

To find out more about Gradsouthwest, visit www.gradsouthwest.com

Postgraduate Study Guide and South West Open Day Dates

Postgraduate study is open to anyone with a good first degree, and there are a huge number of courses available – whether you are looking to increase your knowledge in your chosen field, specialise or change direction there will be a variety of options open to you.

• What is Postgraduate Study?
• Why Postgraduate Study?
• What are the benefits?
• Is funding available?
• What next?

Have a look at our Guide to Postgraduate Study for help in answering these questions.

September – November is traditionally Postgraduate Open Day season where many Universities open their doors to prospective students looking to continue their studies at postgraduate level.

To help you out, we try to list all the Postgraduate Open Day dates in South West England each year.

Here are the dates we know about for this year (2017-18):

Postgraduate Open Day Dates

If you remain here in the South West or go further afield for your postgraduate study, don’t forget to use www.gradsouthwest.com to get your job in the South West when you finish!

Featured Courses…MSc in Data Science – University of Exeter

Footnote: Are you a course provider advertising postgraduate study? For more information about promoting your Postgraduate Open Days or Programmes then look here.

How social media can get you your dream job…

When we asked our graduates and employers about social media usage we came up with a few differences of opinion that are worth sharing. Firstly, most of our employers are using Twitter and LinkedIn to look for new staff; whereas most of our students and graduates are using Facebook to look for jobs! If you’re not looking in the same place you won’t find each other… that’s why Gradsouthwest use all three :-) Both recruiters and job seekers now actively search out information on-line about the other… This is now a given, so clean up your profile and make it reflect how you’d want to be seen.

	Sort Out LinkedIn… Comprehensive Guide to LinkedIn in 2017 (New Look) Employers are looking at LinkedIn and some are even using it so that you can apply for jobs directly with your profile. So you really do need to sort yourself out a fine looking profile! We have been working with Alastair Banks at Optix Solutions to provide high quality support in how to use LinkedIn to grow your network. In two months it’s had over 160 students from all over the world and is rated in the top 3 on that subject on Udemy. At the end of the course you will be able to create a LinkedIn profile that gives you the edge over others. You will know how to build your network quickly and effectively. You will be able to use quick tips and tricks that Alastair has picked up in the last ten years of using this platform for generating opportunities and business for yourself. If you are interested in finding out more – preview the course.

	Now it’s time to tidy up Facebook. We know. We’ve looked! We’ve been conducting a little experiment. Every time one of you lovely graduates likes our Facebook page, we click on your profile. Not to be nosy you understand, but to gauge how savvy graduate job seekers are about privacy on social media. What have we learnt? Well, let’s just say you’re all having a cracking time out there!  Mostly we’re envious, occasionally we’re shocked and every now and then, we’re impressed. Impressed because we can’t see anything about you. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. And with Facebook, that’s how it should be. It’s a social forum and while even serious graduate types are allowed to have fun, recruiters don’t need to see you dancing on tables, pouting in selfies or swapping risky anecdotes. They will look – probably before you even meet at interview – and you don’t want to lose out on a great job as a result. So take these steps now to lock down your Facebook activities Time invested now in tidying up your settings will be well worth it when you come to apply for jobs. But please, don’t stop having fun – just be more discreet online so that we don’t feel quite so envious.

	What about Twitter, Instagram etc..? Again – the message is the same… tidy them up so that you are showing employers either nothing, or the YOU they should employ!

And finally… Now your social media accounts are sparkling don’t forget to give us a follow or connect so that we can make good on our promise to help you use social media to get the job of your dreams! The key ones are our job e-alerts, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – go on do it now! Other social media tools, like instagram and snapchap, have yet to make it into recruitment mainstream, but with regular new social media arrivals we are always looking at how we can help you find the career of your dreams! Give us a quick follow on our Instagram account to see what we are doing there!

 

Graduates – How to be useful and loved quickly in a new job role! From Nicky Luke, Unlocking Potential

Starting a new job role can be daunting for you and the employer.  Here are our suggestions to ease your nerves and make a good impression on the job.

1. Remember TIME = MONEY – Being on time means being 5 minutes early to start work and if you can’t make it for whatever reason, let someone know and apologise. Wasting time will devalue a business.

2. Question everything – at an appropriate time! – You are going to have a lot of questions in a new work placement – this is normal – no one is expecting you to know everything. Remember other people will be concentrating and might struggle to answer your queries every time they arise. So jot them down and agree a time with your boss when you can get together for 10 minutes and talk through all your questions. As long as this strategy doesn’t hold you up with a deadline (in which case you should interrupt and ask) your boss will LOVE this!

3. Be on top of your workload – When you’re asked to do something, write it down. Check when it needs to be done by and get organised. You will only be able to prioritise by knowing everything you have to do and checking regularly with your boss about what is most important. Make it easy for your boss to trust you know what, where and when you are doing things.

4. Be pro-active – think broadly about the team around you and become useful. If you have come to an end of your immediate task list, bang the kettle on and whilst taking orders, offer to help someone else. Being flexible means you become more valuable in the long term and everyone likes a nice cup of tea!

5. Communicate effectively – computer based workers are continuously bombarded with emails, so think of email as an efficient, ‘need to know’ communication strategy. Think of ‘To’ as – ‘you need to action something as a result of this email’ and ‘cc’ as – ‘you need to be aware this is being actioned’. However, if you can speak to someone in person, that is far better than email because making personal connections is a far more efficient way of building relationships.

6. Be curious – new ideas are usually welcomed by business owners so if you have them, share them at an appropriate time. Observe, listen and understand the business and its wider market; your ideas might help the business grow. Remember, this isn’t about telling, it’s about asking.

7. Be real – be your-work-self. Everyone likes to work with genuine people but your ‘Friday night you’ isn’t necessarily going to be appropriate for your work colleagues! Remember if there is a professional code of conduct at work to read and adhere to it. But stay you.

8. Follow the rules – for example, if you have to work on computers, make sure that you find out and agree where and how to save your documents.  There are often protocols for things like this, so understand and follow the rules.

9. Do what you say you are going to do – being trustworthy and valued is about setting in place realistic expectations and following through on your promises.  This is the best way to ensure you gain respect, trust and develop integrity.  Sometimes it’s not possible to do everything, so be aware of others’ pressures and keep people informed with plenty of time.  If it’s really important to them and isn’t a priority for you, they can make other plans.

10. Make and take cake – If you are good at baking, take cake. If not, buy cake. Most people love cake and subsequently, will love you when you feed it to them. And for the health conscious, buy/make cake with fruit in.

 

Nicky Luke, Head of Talent Development, Unlocking Potential