Guest post – Applying for Graduate Schemes

Welcome back, and happy new year to you all! I hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing break, and that you are refreshed and ready to go into the Spring term.

The January/February period is particularly important for employability, as most graduate schemes and postgraduate scholarships have their deadlines during this period, along with summer/year-long internship schemes. There will be posts over the next few weeks aimed at students in each stage of study with suggestions on what you can be doing now, and over the coming term, to be honing your employability prospects for the future.

To that end, I’m happy to bring you the first post of the new year: a guest blog from Thomas Knight, a former student of the School of History and now working with Lloyds Banking Group in finance security, on his experience of applying for, and securing a place on, a highly competitive graduate scheme.


Applying to a graduate scheme can seem a daunting and time consuming task. However, if you approach it in the correct way it can be achieved with immense efficiency – allowing you to concentrate on your studies! Graduate recruiters chiefly look for evidence that you are a well-rounded candidate – someone who displays a good blend of academic ability, has an active extra-curricular life and displays a desire to learn. Make sure you illustrate why this is you in every answer!

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New video – Career Options with History

On Wednesday 28th September, Jenny Keaveney, a Careers Advisor for the University’s Careers and Employability Service, gave a talk on the different career options open to students of History and Military History. I’m pleased to say the turn-out on the day was excellent, and I hope that many of you will come along to the future talks and events run by Jenny and other members of the CES.

The talk was recorded, and you can watch the video in the Job-hunting – Your Career page of this blog.

Keep an eye on the Upcoming Events list in the top-right corner of this blog to make sure you don’t miss out on future employability workshops and events, and on the School’s events calendar to look further ahead.

Career-hunting – The Graduate Recruitment Bureau

The School of History and the University are regularly contacted by organisations and companies who offer services to help you find either part-time jobs while you are studying, or to help you get started on your career after you graduate. We pass on those that we have vetted and consider to be offering a good, honest service to you.

To that end, below is a message to students in the final year of your degree from the Graduate Recruitment Bureau:

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Getting the most out of the Careers Fair

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A new page is up on the blog, focusing on helping you prepare for the University’s Careers Fair on Tuesday 3rd November. This will be your opportunity to meet with representatives from up to 130 different organisations, from a vast array of industries and sectors, and so preparation will be essential.

Head to the page for advice on how to make sure you get maximum benefit from this great opportunity, and click the link below to download the flyer prepared by the Careers and Employability Service.


Flyer – Getting the Most from the Careers Fair

EmpFest 2015!

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The Employability Festival is a month-long series of over 170 events held across the University and on every type of subject, with a single goal – helping you to maximise your employability prospects.

The Employability Festival is organised centrally by the Careers and Employability Service, with support from each of the academic schools around the University. These events range from large fairs – the Careers Fair, one of the largest employment fairs in the country, on 3rd November; the Work and Study Abroad Fair on 27th October, and the Kent Opportunities Fair on 5th November – to bespoke training designed to improve your skills – developing a CV, confidence at interviews, and tackling graduate employer assessment centres, to name just a few – to sector-specific events to highlight opportunities in teaching, banking, software design, marketing, the arts, and a huge range of others.

The University’s Employability Festival begins on 12th October on the Medway campus, and 26th October at Canterbury. You can find out more information about a few of the events organised by the School of History below, and you can read the full programme online, or pick up a copy from the History Office. You can find out more about Employability Festival at http://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/empfest/index.html.