Careers and Employability – Page 3

How to enhance your CV in first year

Hello, my name is James, and I’m a second year Business Management student. In my first post for the blog I am going to talk about how to enhance your CV in your first year at University!

This might seem like a boring topic, especially when you’re not even in first year yet, but trust me – first year is the best time to get stuck in and try loads of different things, all of which will build your CV!

One of the great things about university life in Sheffield is the massive amount of volunteering available to students throughout the University. As a fresher, you’ll get the chance to attend a volunteering fair. This is a really good way to find out about the different volunteering roles available and get a feel of what might suit you. At the fair you’ll find a massive range of opportunities – from working with Sheffield Museums, helping out at an animal shelter, and even helping local students with their homework! Broomhill (about a five-minute walk from Endcliffe/Ranmoor student village) is full of charity shops which are always looking for people to come in and help them out. The best part about so many of the volunteering roles in Sheffield is that you don’t have to commit to a set number of hours each week; you can just sign up to the different projects being run by the organisation and only commit to what you are able to do!

Volunteering is a great way to gain experience, build your skills, meet new people and learn more about your new city! All of these things just give you that little bit more to talk about in any future interviews which might just give you the edge over other candidates.

Joining societies at University is another way to get involved and enhance your CV. There are literally hundreds of societies that will almost definitely cater to your interests. All societies have positions such as president, social secretary, and finance secretary. Any member of the society can apply to these positions. Being involved in a society gives you real life experience of working to maintain an organisation – which is a great transferable skill. Not only this, but you will have the chance to meet lots of new people and get involved in all the societies events! All of which, you guessed it, give you more to talk about in any interviews you might have in the future!

The University also offers students services such as 301 – an entire department dedicated to developing your skills. Here, you’ll be able to book appointments with advisors who will help you work through and develop your CV. The Management School also has its own Student Experience Office, and a dedicated careers service through the Employability Hub. Both of these departments will work alongside students giving you advice about things such as applying to placements and writing your CV.

Like I said, building your CV in first year at this point might feel like a million miles away, but first year is a great time to get involved in all of the activities offered to students by the University, which will not only benefit you and your CV, but also give you the opportunity to make new friends, try new things, and develop your skill set.

How to get a part time job

My name is Charalambos Phokou, but people call me Harry because Charalambos isn’t the easiest thing to pronounce. I am originally from Cyprus and before moving to the UK I did some quick maths, I realised that if I got a minimum wage job when I arrived here together with my maintenance loan I could live entirely financially independent. So I vowed to do just that.

Slight issue was I had ZERO work experience, but despite that I have now worked 7 jobs since stepping foot in the UK. So using what I have learned over the past year I have come up with this brief guide to getting a part-time job while studying at the University of Sheffield.

Get experience! You can get some through the taste of work scheme with the Careers Service here or by volunteering at local shops. In my case I worked at Sport Sheffield for a day and my mentor there acted as my reference which made it easy to volunteer at Oxfam, a charity shop.

Now that you have experience or if you were lucky enough to already have it you need to develop your CV and cover letter writing skills. We go back to the Careers Service. They are an excellent resource where you can book an appointment to go through your CV and give you tips and tricks to apply to new jobs.

With your great looking CV it’s time to apply. The Careers Service constantly post local vacancies that are appropriate for students. My top tip is to apply to any university job that seems appealing, the pay is great, they are usually extremely flexible and also fun! You can may contacted directly about vacancies through a group email or you may have to go the university website to search for student job vacancies. Another source of jobs are local shops. I applied to everything I was remotely interested in. Getting a job is a job.

After hours of personalised applications, I got a job with Tesco through an online application and worked there for 6 months, upping my hours from 15 during term-time to 30 hours during the summer. I have since left Tesco and am currently working 3 jobs. I am a Student Ambassador for the Management School, a Global Campus Ambassador for the University of Sheffield and a Brand Ambassador for Circle.

From working hard in my first year I was able to afford a trip to Greece which was simply the best experience of my life. I was able to develop a decent CV and a strong LinkedIn page by connecting with all my employers. It’s what I’d say the best part of university, the sheer amount of opportunities thrown at you as a student. You just have to make sure you catch them.

Running for SU Officer

By Margaret B Barrionuevo Camacho

Last February, I decided to run as International Officer candidate for the 16/17’ SU officer elections. After receiving loads of emails from university about nominations and the available positions at the Student’s Union, I booked an appointment with some of the current SU Officers in order to find more about it and also looking forward to hear their first-hand experiences. I managed to meet and talk with the International and Women SU Officers, who were very happy to share their experiences with me as well as answering all my questions (always one too many ha-ha).

Encouraged by their involvement with their roles and their passion to make change happen, I decided to take the challenge and hopefully become the 2017-18’ International Officer. On the first week of February, I and my fellow candidates, attended a ‘Candidate Training session’ which covered all the aspects from running a campaign to recruiting friends to be part of our campaign team. It was a very intense and long (4 hour) session which made me realize the challenge I got myself into! Reality hit me, I had so many questions and so little time to get everything ready. What would be my slogan? How could I design my posters? Who could edit my campaign video? Would I be able to make lecture shout-outs in front of hundreds of strangers? Luckily, I received help from my friends, who supported me throughout the campaign which lasted about 2 weeks! The whole experience was very intense and tiring but I enjoyed every single moment. I stretched myself and got out of my comfort zone by doing public speaking in big lecture rooms; especially the ones in the Diamond, those are massive and scary! I also retook my ‘artistic career’- ha-ha. I had to be creative, from creating a slogan to painting t-shirts and banners; my fingers were multicolored for weeks!

Election results were announced on the 9^th of March, where I came second out of the four SU International Officer candidates. Even though I didn’t win, I was so grateful to the 1200+ people who trusted and voted for me. And also very thankful for the whole experience itself, I got to make new friends, challenge myself, and feel supported by my mates. Definitely an invaluable experience, where every candidate was a winner. Many little achievements I am proud of such as; speaking in front of several (uncountable) big lectures, learning to use the green screen and feeling confident to stop and approach anyone, anytime, anywhere. Being a SU Officer candidate is demanding and challenging I assure you, you will feel great after completing it!

Women in Business

By Margaret Barrionuevo Camacho

Hello everyone, this is my first time writing for the blog! My name is Margaret (Gigi) and I am currently on my final year of International Business Management at the University of Sheffield. In this, my first post, I would love tell you about one of my favourite societies at university; Women in Business (WIB). This is a brand NEW society, founded by Olivia Lynch, who was the 2016-2017 society President and one of the most driven and determined persons I have ever met. After months of planning and working along with the SU, Liv finally achieved her dream to create a society which not only aimed to empower women but also to provide them with support to enter a career in Finance, Business or Commercial Law.

I joined the Women in Business society in September 2016 when I attended their very first event which consisted on a skills workshop in collaboration with EY. During this session, I did not only get the chance to meet other society members but I also discovered more about my own strenghts and weaknesses and how to tackle the latter. Furthermore, I got to meet the committee members and see how passionate they were about helping us to develop professionally. This is the reason why, later on, I decided to run to be on the WIB committee. In October 2016, the society announced 2 available positions on the committee; activities officer and publicity officer. I ran for ‘activities officer’ and after writing and sharing my manifesto with other society members, I achieved to get into the committee.

My role as an ‘activities officer’ has consisted on building partnerships with recruiters from various companies such as PwC and Enterprise Rent a Car (ERAC) as well as planning and delivering events aimed at helping our society members to develop their professional skills and career aspirations. These events have included: LinkedIn master session (PWC), Commercial awareness session with DLA Piper, MOCK assessment centres and even a visit and networking event at Slaughter and May in London!

The society is fully committed to help every member to achieve its full potential, however, it also aims to promote integration and friendship between our society members. As a result, we have organized various socials which have included: pub quiz, Bollywood dancing class and an evening of free pizza at Bloo88 (yummy)!

During its first year, the Women in Business society has achieved to gather more than 120 members, organize a wide variety of events and also holding 3 nominations for the 2017 Activities Awards: (1) Academic society of the year, (2) New society of the year and (3) Most enterprising society.

What are you waiting for joining WIB NEXT year? I totally recommend it and I can’t stress enough how much I have learnt out of the different workshops, a society that definitely cares about you and your development!

This picture was taken after our first AGM, where the new committee members were elected! Old committee on the low row; Olivia Lynch (President) is the third from left to right, and I am next to her on the white blouse.

Operations and Supply Chain Management: A Rolls Royce Sponsored Module

By Hannah McLennaghan

BA Business Management with Employment Experience

Hello! My name is Hannah and I am a final year Business Management student. As my graduation date is steadily approaching, I’ve been looking back over everything I have learnt across my degree and all my best bits. For me, my most challenging yet rewarding module was my Second Year Supply Chain Management module. This was a core module at the time and made up of a group project and a written exam at the end of the semester. The most amazing thing about this module was that it was sponsored by Rolls Royce! This meant that senior industry professionals from the company were involved in the creation/ structure of the module content and the assessment. The group project was our way of applying the theories we had learnt throughout the module, to a real life business!

Our task was simple; generate a 10-year operations and supply chain plan for one of 4 companies in the aviation industry; Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney, Airbus or Boeing. My group chose Pratt and Whitney, a major competitor of Rolls-Royce. Each group member was given a director role within the company: Director of Operational Design, Planning and Control, Enterprise Resource Planning, Manufacturing Operations, Supply Chain Management and my role which was Director of Quality Control and Total Quality Management. Working collaboratively, we analysed the company’s current situation and how the market was operating. Using the theories, we had developed during the lectures, some of which were given by Rolls-Royce executives, we applied it to Pratt and Whitney to generate a plan for their future operations. Although this may sound complicated, it was incredible to take on a task that felt so real! It was also the kind of thing I’ll have to do when I graduate and work for a real company so it was really great practice.

Our plan was assessed through a written report, and a formal presentation to the module leaders from the University of Sheffield, and senior executives from Rolls-Royce. This was the starting point for me developing my presentation creation and delivery skills which I am now extremely confident in thanks to all the chances I have had to practice during my degree. My groups hard work finally paid off when we were awarded second place for our 10 year plan out of the entire module! This meant we were awarded the Rolls-Royce Academic Award of Excellence, something that looks INCREDIBLE on my CV, and I have found that employers just love it in interviews! Specially to have my academic work accredited by senior professionals such as Ian Shellard- Director, Global Physical Logistics, Rolls-Royce, it’s a great talking point that really makes me stand out.

This is just one example of the way Sheffield University tries to link the theory of management studies to a real industry organisation. It was a strong turning point for me in becoming a more practical learner, which also gave me a greater confidence in my own academic and business operational ability. I hope you get a chance to do this module as I absolutely loved it- Good luck!

IBM with an Industrial Placement

By Elise McDonald, BA International Business Management

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

Slightly weird post this time as I’m actually writing this from the UK nearing the end of my incredibly long Christmas/semester break. I am definitely so excited to be returning to Vienna next week.

Towards the end of last semester, I started applying for industrial placements to add in to my course before returning to Sheffield for myfinal year. The main reason I picked the IBM course at Sheffield was actually because it was the only University I could find that offered the opportunity to complete both a year abroad and a placement. I was so surprised to find out that I’ll be only the 2nd person on this course to do both, so I just thought I would share my experience of the application process with you all to encourage you to consider doing the same as me!

So, I started applying for placements towards the end of November which was fairly hard to manage with my final exams of the semester, but definitely doable. To be honest, most of the application deadlines weren’t until the end of December/January so it worked out perfectly with the holidays. If you’re worried you won’t be able to attend interview/assessment centres due to being abroad, don’t be! These days most of the application process is carried out online and I was therefore able to do telephone interviews and videos whilst in Vienna. Although, even if you do need to fly back, the company tends to pay for your travel expenses. Logistically, there have been no issues for me during this whole process (if anything the long holiday has been ideal!). Throughout the whole recruitment process I was able to talk about my experiences abroad, which was so helpful. Not only was I able to talk about my interest in international business, but also my ability to work in multicultural groups which is definitely a selling point.

Now comes the bragging… but I promise I’m only mentioning it to show you all how amazing the year abroad looks on your CV and application. I was lucky enough to be offered a Marketing placement at the FMCG Giant Unilever. Some of you might be reading that with a blank expression, but I’m sure you’re all familiar with Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Lynx, Marmite, Persil, Domestos and PG Tips, to name a few! Well, Unilever owns all of those brands. I was also invited to the final stages for Microsoft, Hyundai, Bosch and Panasonic but was unable to accept these due to my place at Unilever. So, my advice to all of you considering doing IBM instead of another normal Business Management course – please do! Not only will you have the most amazing time but you’ll also make yourself much more employable.

I should also add that I also took the decision to work for a year in a junior office role before attending University and I also do some temporary office work in the summer holidays – I have been working at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles during my semester break. It’s therefore also a good idea to make the most of your time away from Uni to gain some valuable work experience. Don’t underestimate how important work experience is for a Business undergraduate’s CV.

Sorry to deviate away from the usual study abroad blog post, but I thought it might be something interesting to share with anyone that was considering a year in industry, like me.

I will keep you updated with how the next semester goes as much as possible!

Advice from a Placement Ambassador

By Hannah Mclennaghan

Hi, I’m Hannah, a student Placement Ambassador for 2016-17, and also studying for my BA in Business Management with Employment Experience. I carried out my placement year at Virgin Media in 2016.

If you’ve already got a house in Sheffield for next year or want to stick around Sheffield while on Placement, I’ve put together some really useful advice about how and where you can find a placement in Sheffield, that might just help you.

Why do a placement year in Sheffield?

It is the perfect opportunity to get the best of both worlds! You can remain in the City you love whilst gaining an invaluable experience and a complimentary asset to your degree. It also means if you have only just decided to do a placement year it is not too late, as you do not need to drop out of your housing contract for next year!

Where do I find a local placement?

The easiest place to start your search is the University’s internal portal Career Connect. You can access this through MUSE and use the filters: Yearlong placements, (the business area) and South Yorkshire as your location and you will arrive at a list of opportunities. Other great job sites are Milkround, Graduate recruitment Bureau, Rate my placement & Linkedin

What kind of opportunities are in Sheffield?

There is a magnitude of placements currently available; on Career Connect alone there are 50 currently still open. A local placement can be a great opportunity to gain experience in a corporate or slightly smaller company which can provide a more unique, tailored and rounded experience- giving you an insight into the company’s operations in its entity. Many local placements advertise solely to the University of Sheffield management students, giving you an extremely high chance of success!

What support is available for me?

If you would like to do a placement year, contact the employability hub: mgt.employability@sheffield.ac.uk and you will be assigned a mentor. They will provide you with support in searching for placements, doing your application, preparing you for interviews and general advice and guidance. The employability hub can also check CVs and cover letters. Once out on placement your degree will change to add “with employment experience”. You will be visited twice during the year and you will need to carry out a small assessment at the end (which is easier than you think!)

If you would like any further advice you can get in touch with all of the Placement Ambassadors at mgt.pl.ambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk

My placement story

By Charlotte Howe

Hey everyone, my name’s Charlotte and I’m in my fourth year studying Business Management with Employment Experience. I returned to Sheffield as a Placement Ambassador following my placement year at PwC in London, in September 2016.

During my placement year I worked in Learning and Development, part of the wider HR function at PwC. Taking a placement year is one of the best decisions I’ve made, the team I worked in are responsible for delivering soft skills training across all areas of the firm, so I was able to learn more about the workings of the firm and explore future career opportunities.

Through my placement I achieved so much, learning about myself as well as invaluable skills for both in the workplace and beyond. Some of the key stand-out skills I learnt are:

Networking and maintaining these networks
Leading yourself and managing my time more efficiently
Leading others and how to efficiently work in teams
Managing stakeholders
Communication skills and dealing with conflicts
IT skills
Office Etiquette
If you would like any further advice you can get in touch with all of the Placement Ambassadors at mgt.pl.ambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk
A placement is a great opportunity to trial a career that you think you may want to go into or a city you may want to live in, it gives you the opportunity to decide if it’s for you. For me, I loved living in London and working for PwC, however I decided HR wasn’t the career for me. Through the networks built during my placement, I was able to try out different areas of the business and decide on a career path, interviewing whilst still working at the firm and securing a job for after I graduate back in London. Going into my final year with a job offer really takes the pressure off, however, if you decide you want to search around for jobs elsewhere, having a year of experience on your CV with all these new skills will really help you in the eyes of potential employers.
All of these have led to an increase in my confidence in terms of speaking out in meetings, voicing my opinions to others and in my own ability, all of which is invaluable coming back to University and also when I return to the workplace.

My advice to prospective placement students:

There is so much help available to management school students applying for placements, such as the employability hub, career connect and placement ambassadors. Take full advantage of these people who want to help you!

Secondly, keep going, and please don’t get knocked back by rejections. They happen to everyone, think of it as a learning curve, allowing you to take on the next application stronger and more confident after learning from the previous applications.

Finally, say yes! Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and when out on placement don’t be afraid to take yourself outside your comfort zone and try something new, a placement is as much for you to learn as it is for the companies to benefit from your skills.

On placement: ‘A day in the life of…George at RSM’

By George Philipson

My name is George Philipson and I am a final year Accounting and Financial Management student. I completed my year in industry with Top 10 accounting firm RSM as an Audit Assistant, in 2016. This was a typical day for me out on placement…

8AM

Monday: Quick walk to work with a coffee in hand catching up with this morning’s financial and business news stories. I get into work for around 8:30AM, set up my laptop and other equipment and quickly catch up with the other employees in the office. I check my diary to find I am auditing a large dairy producer for the week ahead, liaise with my Manager and Supervisor and prepare them for our meeting with some pre-fieldwork files I assembled on Friday afternoon.

9:30AM

The Partner, Manager, Supervisor, and I set up for a client planning meeting which is around 30 minutes long. It allows the Partner and Manager to highlight any key risk areas involved with this client, along with a brief introduction into the audit history of the company. I take minutes for the meeting, making sure it is evidenced that the audit team have outlined all potential areas of the audit file. In addition, duties and responsibilities are delegated and I am made aware of my role in this job.

12PM

I grab a quick bite to eat with the other graduates before I head out to the client site. We quickly compare weekends and clients for the week ahead, whilst also discussing our plans for the audit party on Friday.

I have spent the rest of the morning preparing some areas of work which do not require client interaction, as this helps to save the Supervisor time at the end of the fieldwork after I have left. I also set up some files on the network and some documents, so that I can be more time efficient whilst carrying out the fieldwork of the audit.

1PM

My Supervisor, Jen, and I arrive at the client site just outside of the city centre. We meet with the Financial Director (FD) and Financial Controller (FC) who discuss their time commitments for the week, whilst we also update them on our schedule for the week ahead. We are greeted with fresh coffee, and a great office view, before setting up our work stations.

5PM

Gosh, the first day of an audit always goes quickly! I spent the remainder of the day collecting evidence such as bank statements and reports from Sage (an accounting software) whilst also completing some shorter pieces of work. These involved: Other Audit Areas which look at non-financial aspects of the audit, along with Updated Minutes Review and updating the Audit Findings Report. I also finish my emails for the day and update the client of any remaining information I require.

I head back to the office as I have a 5-a-side fixture together with some colleagues from the auditing department. This is a welcomed break to release some energy and practice for our upcoming national RSM football tournament, I am told a place to represent the UK in Warsaw is up for grabs!

If you would like any further advice you can get in touch with all of the Placement Ambassadors at mgt.pl.ambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk

Applying for a placement or internship

By Ellie Thornber

Hi, I’m Ellie, one of your Management School Placement Ambassadors for 2016-17. I did my placement last year at Accenture, a large management and technology consultancy company. I am so glad I did a placement and would recommend it to anyone. I developed so many transferrable skills, established a really valuable network of colleagues and secured a graduate job too. Here is how I found my placement, the application process, and my hints and tips to help you secure a placement or internship.

How did I find my placement?

It is helpful to know what kind of organisation you want to work in before you start applying. Websites such as Rate My Placement allow you to read about other student’s experiences whilst on placement and can give you more information from the responsibilities they held, to the social side of work. This helps you to understand the type of job you want to be doing and can help you create a list of companies you might be interested in.

Websites such as Rate My Placement, Milkround and Career Connect provide a great database of companies which are offering placement and internship opportunities and will show you those with deadlines approaching. If a company you are interested in isn’t formally advertising any opportunities it is always worth contacting their HR department and asking, especially for smaller companies. Family and friends are also a great network to use to find opportunities!

The application process

The application process for placements/internships can sometimes be long and daunting, but I found that once I had submitted one, they got much easier. The length of the process varies, often depending on the size of the company. Some can have multiple stages to their application process such as online tests, telephone interviews, assessment centres and final interviews. However small companies may simply ask for a CV and cover letter before inviting you to interview. I found the Employability Hub and the Careers Advisors really helpful in going over my applications before I submitted them, helping me prepare for telephone interviews and giving me tips for assessment centres. I also used the online learning tools on Career Connect to help practice for psychometric tests such as verbal and numerical reasoning.

Hints and tips

Tailor your CV to highlight the skills you have that the company is looking for
Ask someone else to check your application – a second opinion always helps!
Use websites such as Glass Door to find out common and tricky interview questions

Contact me at: ethornber1@sheffield.ac.uk if you would like any further advice or you can get in touch with all of the Placement Ambassadors at mgt.pl.ambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk