The spring term is now in full flow, which means the deadline for logging Employability Points – Monday 19th March @ 5pm – and the chance to cash in on rewards is not too far away.
Since 2010, the EP team has worked with industry to offer a diverse selection of rewards to students who engage with co-curricular activity. Rewards are located across the Southeast of England and London; they cover both the private and public sectors; and will take place between June and September.
As Medway Ambassador it seems pertinent to highlight seven EP sponsors in the local area; the necessary points required for each reward is in brackets.
Nucleus Arts, Chatham
As the award-winning creative and cultural heart of Medway, this could be a great platform for you to develop artistic and commercial skills. Nucleus Arts was founded in 2002, and operates as a charitable organisation with more than 50 resident artists, 2 shops and organizes about 30 exhibitions each year.
This summer, they are looking for innovative students with an interest in business or the arts industry. There are 2 weeklong work experience placements (150 points) in arts management, which will involve event coordination and marketing– perfect, perhaps, for an SMFA or KBS student.
There are also work-shadowing rewards (100 points). One offers an insight into Nucleus Arts’ community outreach programme; the other is focused on retail and operations. An experience day (75 points) includes a tour of the centre and Q&A with resident artists, whilst the highest scoring EP student on a creative degree will receive a £150 Amazon voucher courtesy of this sponsor.
KMTV, Pembroke Campus
Are you at least a 2nd year undergraduate or postgraduate? Do you have video skills and knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud or CS6? Would you like to work with the UK’s fastest-growing regional network, with thousands of daily users?
If yes, then KMTV – a new TV channel run jointly by the KM Media Group and the University of Kent – are offering work experience (150 points) for two EP students in 2018 to contribute promotional content or graphic design over a 2-week period from their purpose-built studio in Gillingham Building.
This could be an invaluable chance for Journalism or Digital Arts students to work with real clients and understand the nature of a potential broadcasting career.
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust
With SMFA and KBS Medway situated on the same site, the Historic Dockyard Trust could not be more local to some students. The Trust manages 3 historic warships, museums, galleries and much more, and is offering 4 work experience (150 points) rewards for 2 weeks each.
All rewards cover a specific aspect of the organisation, which reflects the diverse nature of the Trust’s work. There is an opportunity to work in a marketing role, for which applicants will need to demonstrate a keen interest from either previous experience or your studies. If you’re a prospective teacher, you could assist in the facilitation of workshops and educational programmes.
For School of History students in Canterbury, it would be worth the commute to experience archiving and cataloguing; meanwhile, EP students with an interest in events have the opportunity to contribute to the Trust’s public outreach and engagement efforts.
My Tipi Event, Rochester
This sponsor is a Kent-based events company, who provide Scandinavian tepees to help personalise weddings, birthdays or other significant events. My Tipi Event is offering one project placement (175 points) for an EP student to shoot and edit a 50-second promotional wedding video this summer.
You would be paid £300 upon completion but must have previous experience, your own filming/editing equipment and a creative flair. Travel expenses can be reimbursed within reason so this reward could be perfect for creative students seeking to develop their portfolio.
Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham
Just a ten-minute walk from the Pembroke campus, Kent’s largest military museum is offering three 2-week work experience placements (150 points), which will cover cataloguing, auditing and displays of collections. School of History or SECL students on related courses – you could further your understanding of how museums operate on a daily basis and gain invaluable insight into the heritage sector.
The museum is also rewarding engaged EP students with a guided tour (75 points) including exclusive access to rare items, and an employability session (50 points) with the Head Curator to learn more about the industry. These are both scheduled whilst the campus shuttle bus is still running, so a commute to Medway is manageable.
Medway Council
This is one of EP’s longest-standing and most generous sponsors. Medway Council have already confirmed a diverse selection of rewards for the summer of 2018.
Four 12-week internships (200 points) are open to any EP student in the housing services team, youth work, statistics and cooking! You’ll need to exemplify the relevant skills and display a genuine interest in a particular role, but there seems something here for students of SSPSSR, Computing, Maths and Business at least.
The council is also offering a further 12-week internship, exclusive to the Faculty of Sciences, which involves research for the Public Health team’s annual report. Additionally, there is a shorter 4-6 week reward to design and create info-graphics.
A research-based project placement (175 points) about social isolation amongst over-65s would be ideal if you have academic postgraduate ambitions; 2-week work experience (150 points) opportunities cover legal, HR, financial and technological matters; and there’s a chance to develop project management skills during 5-days of shadowing (100 points) the School Organisation and Capital Projects team.
Medway Council are also incentivising EP students with two Amazon voucher prizes for the highest scoring student on a business-related degree in Medway – £150 – and the highest scoring Medway student overall – £350.
MidKent College, Gillingham
One of the largest further education providers in the Southeast of England has rewards available at both its Maidstone and Medway campuses. At the latter: two 2-week placements (150 points), the first of which is focussed on developing IT solutions to staff and college students. You would need to be studying a related degree so this could be ideal for a Computing EP student.
The other Medway placement is in MidKent College’s finance department. In addition to education, the college manages commercial ventures such as restaurants and salons therefore a KBS accounting student, for example, could experience the reality of course theory.
An additional reward from this sponsor is the chance for 1 EP student to shadow (100 points) the college’s Director of Enterprise, who deals with business development, marketing and HR.
If a particular organisation or reward has peaked your interest, you can find more information via the Employability Points reward pages: www.kent.ac.uk/employabilitypoints/ep-rewards.html
And, don’t let travel costs be a barrier – some sponsors will cover reasonable expenses or you can utilise one of the University’s bursary schemes (B:KEW) if the work experience you undertake is unpaid.