Placement Preparation Workshop Debbie Kemp Head of Employability & Placements Sophie Davis Employability & Placements Manager Today’s workshop • • • • • • • • • Looking ahead What placement do you want? What are you missing? Developing your brand Recap on CVs Submitting your CV Competitions Paul Dyer Challenge Your summer action plan 1 Looking ahead Timeline • • • • • • April Easter May/June Exams June-September Summer holidays End of September Back for Stage 2 October onwards Applications June 2016 onwards Start placement What placement do you want? • • • • • Multinational / SME Location Corporate / more informal Pay Role? 2 What are you missing? • • • • • • Relevant work experience Part time work Volunteering Societies Specific skills – Excel, languages, driving Competencies – communication, teamwork, commercial awareness, leadership, creativity, problem-solving, attention to detail, cultural dexterity, time management Personal branding “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon 3 Your brand online • • • What shows up when you Google yourself? What does your Facebook page / twitter show about you? Are you using LinkedIn to best show yourself off? Recap on CVs • • • • • • • Not a school leaver CV Keep it relevant! Make sure it is clear and easy to read Check for typos/formatting errors Get it checked Use the CV checklist Use the employability blog 4 Submit your CV to KBS • • Write or update your CV (using guidelines from CES/ KBS blog (tab: CVs and cover letters) http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/kbs-employability Support & professional feedback: • Careers & Employability Service (G0-05 drop ins Mon-Fri 14:00-15:00, no appointment needed) Extended drop in on Tuesday 17th March 14:00 – 16:30 • Irena Jennings & Sophie Davis (M3-03 office hours: Mondays 10:00-12:30 & 14:00-16:00) • Submit your CV by Tuesday 31st March 2015 to [email protected] CES CV Competition 5 CES CV Competition Friday 20th March 2015 http://www.kent.ac.uk/employability/working/studen ts/CV-competition.html Apply by emailing your CV and answers to the questions to [email protected] Summer Employability Competition How will you add value to your summer? What can you do that will improve your employability skills? Come up with a great idea and win £500! 6 The criteria Think widely: • • • • • • • It doesn’t have to be financial or a formal task within a company It can be incredibly technical or purely people skills It can be a solo activity or contribution to a team (with a clear indication of what the contribution was) It can be achieving something, turning round a mis-firing process or helping others achieve something they thought impossible It should be something that has real long term impact to your skills, thinking and outlook Tenacity, thought and an action plan are what we seek Think carefully and look for clear evidence of the ‘value’ How to apply Send no more than 2 sides of A4 or 3 PowerPoint slides explaining your idea to: [email protected] If you are shortlisted you will be invited to come in and “pitch” your idea to a panel of staff from Kinetic Solutions. Winner will be given £250 upfront and the remaining £250 at the end of the summer. 7 Deadline Closing date for applications: Friday 20th March Shortlisted students pitch: Wednesday 1st April 8 Paul Dyer Challenge http://www.kent.ac.uk/kbs/business/studententerprise/paul-dyer1day.html Deadline for applications is Friday 20th March Event on Friday 27th March 9am-5pm Summer Action Plan Start thinking ahead now Enjoy your summer Use it wisely! 9