Becoming Employable, An introduction Adam Watling – Employment Consultant Our Talented Future Consultancy Ltd

1. Becoming Employable, An introduction Adam Watling – Employment Consultant Our Talented Future Consultancy Ltd

2. Our Talented Future • Our Talented Future is a consultancy established to support Further Education and Higher Education institutes deliver a high level of employment expertise to their students. • The aim of our consultancy is simple: to provide students and graduates with the employability skills required to pursue a successful career in their chosen field.

3. ‘Our Talented’ Background • With an extensive background in both public sector and private sector employment solutions, Our Talented Future possess a proven track record in supporting job seekers from diverse backgrounds. • The team behind Our Talented Future have over seven years recruitment experience including three years working and consulting for London College of Fashion • Additional experience includes managing recruitment contracts for the Department of Health as well as blue chip companies such as Accenture and Virgin Media.

4. Today’s Objections • To share some of the knowledge we have gained from our recruitment and resourcing experience, valuable to job seeking • To provide you with some key practices you can apply whatever your background or desired career • To explain how you may want to research job roles of your choice and identify your own key skills to help identify a range of career opportunities

5. 1. Defining your career path • Understanding what you want • Your relevant Skills • Researching roles of interest 2. The Job search • Identifying the ideal company • Applying for jobs • General Employment Knowledge • Our Talented Future and Questions

6. DEFINING YOUR CAREER PATH • What is your ideal job role? • What stages did you need to go through to get there – training, add.exp etc? • What skills and experiences are recruiters looking for in that area? • What relevant skills and experiences do you already have that will help you achieve your career goals?

7. Understanding what you want • How much do you know about the daily requirements in a job of your choice? • Which roles will help nurture my talents and enhance my experience?

8. It’s easy to do your own research!! • Use the internet to understand what the role involves • FIND RELEVANT JOB DESCRIPTIONS – remember to look out • for key skills and requirements of the recruiter • Who are the companies that actively recruit in the career • areas that interest you? • What the key personal and technical skills that recruiters are • asking for ? How many of these do you already have?

9. What are Technical Skills? Supporting the smooth running of the office Managing departmental budget Report writing for meetings Example - An Office based Personal Assistant Excellent typing and comp. skills Diary Management for senior manager Regular Minute taking Arranging & Co-ordinating meetings Scheduling travel for senior managers Which Technical skills do you possess?

10. What are Personal Skills? Very good communication skills Excellent organisational skills Work well under pressure Example – An Office based Personal Assistant Ability to multi task Able to understand instructions and put into action Professional approach to any task undertaken Ability to work independently Ability to work well in a team Which Personal skills do you possess?

11. Other Career Possibilities Have you explored other job opportunity's that might be Relevant? It is better to have a number of job roles to apply for Some specialism's are limited due to the nature of the role

12. YOU ALL POSSESS TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS! • Think about.....PART TIME ROLES • CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS (T) • ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS (P) • TIME MANAGEMENT (P) • CASH HANDLING – NUMERICAL (T) • PROFESSIONAL MANNER (P) • STAFF ROTA MANAGEMENT (T) • JUNIOR STAFF TRAINING (T) • Think about.....EDUCATION • REGULAR TEAM WORKING (P) • PROJECT REPORT WRITING (T) • PRESENTATION OF IDEAS (T) • COMMUNICATION SKILLS (P) • DETAILED RESEARCH ANALYSIS (T) • WORKING WELL IN A TEAM (P) • WORKING WELL INDIVIDUALLY (P) http://www.pwc.com/uk/en/careers/student/employability_home.jhtml

13. IDENTIFYING YOUR FUTURE EMPLOYER Brainstorming!!....

14. REQUIREMENTS OF THE RIGHT CAREER CHALLENGING FURTHERS EDUCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE BUILDS ON WORK EXPERIENCE LEADS INTO OTHER CAREER OPTIONS OFFERS CAREER PROGRESSION PROVIDES JOB SATISFACTION FINANCIALLY REWARDING REQUIREMENTS OF THE RIGHT COMPANY FOR YOU THE RIGHT SIZE ENCOURAGE YOUR INPUT HELP YOU REACH YOUR POTENTIAL ENHANCE YOUR EXPERTISE LET YOU MAKE THE STEP UP LET YOU PRACTICE YOUR SKILLS RECOGNISE HARD WORK AND EFFORT Who’s right for you?

15. What’s it like to work there?......... • Go on company websites – Review careers sections • Look at company news, understand the important activity/issues for that company • What are their company aims? • Where are they based? • Does their website excite you?

16. http://www.pwc.com/uk/en/careers/student/employability_home.jhtmlhttp://www.pwc.com/uk/en/careers/student/employability_home.jhtml

17. http://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/careers/meet/meet_profile.html

18. Competitive Industry A well prepared and interesting CV will help you stand out amongst your competitors, get you the interviews you need and ultimately secure the role you are seeking

19. RECRUITERS • Most recruiters have limited time to consider each applicant • You need to be clear about your objections and relevant skills • Remember that you need to stand out from the crowd, what do you do well? • Your first contact needs to help them understand why you would be good for their organisation

20. APPLYING – A NUMBERS GAME • The more applications you make, the more likely you are to secure a role; • Directly applying for a vacancy • Open vacancy’s posted on company website • In industry related magazines • Through Recruitment Agencies • Online recruitment sites • Speculative Applications • Applying for a role you don’t even know is vacant • CV sent directly to Resourcing team • CV sent specifically to personal contact

21. JOB APPLICATIONS – DO’s and DON’TS • Always • Understand company recruitment process • Make sure you have the correct email address • Include a cover letter • Provide an up to date CV • Keep a list of your applications – who, when and how? • Follow up on your applications • Never • Send an application with spelling mistakes • Include your specific salary expectations or demands • Commit yourself to anything before an interview

22. GO THE EXTRA MILE • Try and speak to current employers about their experiences (mentoring) • Read blogs related to that company, try to get an all round perspective • Finally; • Imagine holding a conversation with someone from that organisation. Would you feel confident? • Remember this is your career and industry, you should • know your stuff

23. WORK EXPERIENCE

24. Trial run of the role – is this what you really want? Confidence building Enhance CV Benefits of Work Experience Gain valuable work industry insight Enhance your chances of securing paid work Make new contacts - networking Continue to practice technical skills Improve personal skills – organisation, communication etc Understand other roles of interest

25. Avoiding exploitation • Discuss the purpose of the internship and clarify expectations from the start • Ensure the placement is valuable • Re-consider the value of the internship if it ceases to supply useful contacts and training opportunities • REMEMBER : Everyone has a choice and if the balance between valuable work experience tips into exploitation then it is up to you to decide whether to continue or not

26. IMPORTANT WEBSITES • www.linkedin.com – Business Networking • www.prospects.ac.uk – Online job advice • www.totaljobs.com – Vacancies and Research • www.work-experience.org – National Council for WE

27. Finally, remember; • STAY POSITIVE • STAY FOCUSSED • CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR OPTIONS • RESEARCH IDEAL COMPANYS • RESEARCH IDEAL JOBS • MAKE CLEAR YOUR AMBITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS • UPDATE CV’S YOU ALL HAVE THE ABILITY TO FIND THE IDEAL JOB AND SECURE IT!

28. Our Talented Future....Our Talented Support • Individual Cover Letter and CV support -Send us your Cover letter & CV - 48 hour reformatting and telephone support • Our Talented ...Newsletter - Fill in our feedback form and provide us your email address - We send you a free monthly employability news letter with essential career hints and tips, as well updates on OTF initiatives and workshops - Update on our new forthcoming OTF student recruitment website! • Our Talented...Workshops - Job Applications, how do I enhance my chances of success? - Interview Techniques, everything you need to know - Key employment talks, hear from recruiters looking for new talent - Graduate Fairs, Organised days for recruiters to attend your College and talk to you about their job vacancies

29. Our Talented Future....Our Contacts To Contact us; Adam Watling Telephone ourtalentedfuture@gmail.com 07785 589417 Neil Harvey Our Website ourtalentedfuture1@gmail.comwww.ourtalentedfuture.tumblr.com