IBM Mock Interviews – Wed 21st Nov

Do you want to feel more confident and prepared for an interview?

The School of Economics is pleased to announce that IBM are running Mock Interview Sessions on Wednesday 21st November, open to all students across the University.

IBM will be giving a presentation on how best to prepare for an interview, exploring potential interview formats and content at 12pm in KS17, followed by one-to-one Mock Interviews during the afternoon, which will include feedback.

The Mock Interviews have bookable time slots, so please email econemploy@kent.ac.uk to express your interest and we will let you know what slots are available. Spaces are limited, so book early if you would like to secure a slot.

BEIS Insight Day – Fri 16th Nov

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) University Outreach Team has 10 places for students from the University to attend its ‘working in government’ insight day on 16th November 2018 (10am-4pm), in the heart of Westminster, at 1 Victoria Street conference centre.

If you would be one of these ten students, submit a 100-word argument detailing why you would like to attend the workshop, and a potential future career as a civil servant. Click here for the sign-up form and to submit your argument. For more information, contact the team by phone on 07741 689057.

Remember that you can submit a claim to have your travel expenses covered for unpaid work experience activities, such as this insight day, through the University’s Work and Opportunities Fund!

Sharpen your Writing Skills and Build a Powerful CV

Sharpen Your Writing Skills and Build a Powerful CV

 

At the University’s Career Fair, graduate recruiters put communication skills top of the list. Sadly for them, about 20% of graduates’ English skills are not up to scratch for the workplace.

These free practical workshops will help you make your words count. We’ll pin down the function of different kinds of writing. We’ll identify who we’re writing for. We’ll learn about tone, content and structure. We’ll include a scattering of grammar and punctuation so you’ll avoid the worst pitfalls. We’ll examine exactly what will make an employer love your CV. Above all, we’ll write. Bring a pen and paper or a laptop and be ready to try out all kinds of writing.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Understand what writing skills employers look for
  • Be ready to write clearly, accurately and effectively in a professional context
  • Have a toolkit for approaching any piece of writing, from emailing the CEO to writing a press release
  • Be ready to write a persuasive and effective CV.

Course details:
Dates: Wednesday 14 November and Wednesday 28 November 2018
Time: 13:00-16:00
Location: This will be confirmed once you have booked your place in SDS
Cost: FREE

If you have any questions about this workshop, please feel free to contact us at studyplus@kent.ac.uk.

Click here to book your place via SDS.

Productivity tools at the University

The University has launched a new service on its website, collating a whole range of productivity tools that students and staff can access.

These range from apps to help your time management, sharing files, collaborating with others, running surveys and polls, improving accessibility of websites and other software, and all sorts of other things.

Each tool is simply explained, including how you can access it and what it can do to help improve your productivity.

The website is still in its beta form, but it is open for all students to access. Head over to https://www.kent.ac.uk/productivity-tools/ to see if it lists anything that might help you work in the future.

Stage 1 students: Historian’s Toolkit session on Fri 16th Nov

This is a brief reminder for all Stage 1 students that the Historian’s Toolkit session this Friday will be on ‘How to get an awesome job after University’, and will be delivered by Nicola Urquhart from the Careers and Employability Service.

In preparation for that session, you are strongly advised to enrol on the Careers and Employability Award on Moodle. This award is worth 60 Employability Points (if you’re signed up to the scheme – head here if you would like to join), and covers all the practical skills you will use when job-hunting, and will help you reflect on your skills and prepare a CV.

Enhancement Week – Enhancing Personal Performance

This week (5th-9th November) is Enhancement Week, with some really exciting events being held at Canterbury and Medway campus.

One of these events is Enhancing Personal Performance (EPP); improving your results by knowing your own strengths and controlling how you think, which is an exclusive FREE 2-day event being held 8-9 November, at Canterbury campus. It is a personal/professional development workshop designed to support personal growth, self-confidence and career/life management skills.

It is activity-based and highly participative, providing opportunities for students to develop and enhance their self-awareness, self-belief and relationship with others. Please note: you must attend both dates, 8th and 9th November. Breakfast and lunch provided.

BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE: Click here to book 8-9 November

This event involves a series of group work exercises, each of which explores a different aspect of group and individual human behaviour:

  • The Communication Model – how we think/ feel/ behave/ act
  • Building rapport with others
  • Communication styles
  • Managing your state/emotions
  • Personality types and group dynamics
  • Personal Goal setting

Each session will come with a full explanation, real life examples and facilitator-led exercise.

Continue reading “Enhancement Week – Enhancing Personal Performance” →

L’Oréal BRANDSTORM 2018

THE GAME

An innovative competition like no other that has brought together ambitious students from all over the world for the past 27 years. This year we’re taking it a step further by introducing a new ultimate prize.

The way the competition works:

  • Build an amazing team of 3 superheroes to solve the Mission
  • Come up with the most innovative idea, sharpen it throughout the selection process and become the champion of your country.
  • Fly to Paris, immerse yourself at L’Oréal’s headquarters and pitch your innovation to top L’Oréal executives.

Be the best and further develop your idea. How far can you take it?

Registration closes 9th November.

HAYS ‘Recruitment as a Career Choice’ Open Day

  • Date: 15/11/2018 or 28/11/2018
  • Venue: 23 Lower Belgrave Street, London Victoria SW1W 0NT
  • Time: 09:30am

Starting your graduate job search but unsure what you want to do? Considered recruitment but not too sure what it’s all about? Come along to our Open Day to find out more.

Recruitment is an exciting role in a dynamic and fast-paced industry. As a recruiting expert you’ll match the right person to the right job to transform lives and businesses, making a real impact every day. Few people see recruitment as a career of choice and there are many misconceptions about the industry in general so Hays is holding an open day to find out if recruitment could be a good match for you.

In addition you’ll pick up some great tips to help get your graduate career off to a flying start, such as:

  • Developing a strong personal brand
  • Making a great first impression in your new job
  • The key thing you’ll need to unlearn if you want to succeed in business

HOW TO REGISTER

Registrations are open now for our ‘Recruitment as a Career of Choice’ Open Day. Please contact the team to ask any questions and book your spot on 020 3465 0030 or email graduatecareers@hays.com stating that you would like to attend the open day.

Guest post – Innovation and Enterprise Hub

Today, we have a guest post from the Kent Innovation and Enterprise Hub, a part of the University dedicated to helping current students and recent graduates start their own businesses. If you’ve ever had an idea for a business, read on to find out about events and opportunities the Hub offers to support you.

You may have a business, you may have a business idea, you may want to learn how to generate ideas – Hub is a dedicated base for start-up support and incubation at the University of Kent.

To talk to our professional business advisor, sign up through our website.

Events coming up

In November we are inviting our external business mentors to come in for a day to run business surgeries:

  • Want to propel your business in the digital space?
  • Not sure how to evaluate your start-up expenses?

Continue reading “Guest post – Innovation and Enterprise Hub” →

Diaries of the Here and Now

The University’s Special Collections and Archives is taking part in an exciting project designed to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice, and they would like to invite you to take part.

‘The Diaries of the Here and Now’ has been developed by artist Dawn Cole, and will record 11th November 2018, and give a snapshot into the lives of the people who take part in the remembrance of the centenary of Armistice Day.

For more information, see the the University’s blog for details:

Diaries of the Here and Now

If you are interested in remembrance, you may also be interested in the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation project to create a digital archive of the First World War artefacts stored in bedrooms and attics across the UK.

Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation is working in collaboration with Oxford University to create a digital archive of the First World War artefacts stored in bedrooms and attics across the UK.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, they will be staging events across the UK, encouraging people to bring along their family heirlooms to be included in the project.

As well as hosting four major Roadshow events, they aim to help support local events across the country. However, they cannot do this without a team of dedicated volunteers who will help them host and support these events.

If you are interested in hosting your own collection day in your community, the Foundation can provide support and training from the planning to the wrap-up of an event. If you aren’t able to host your own event, but would still like to be involved, then you can sign up as a project volunteer. The Foundation will let you know of events happening near you, and you can help out in a variety of roles, from interviewing visitors to record their First World War stories to photographing the objects they bring in.

Hosting an event in your local area is a great public engagement opportunity and provides an opportunity to engage with primary source material in understanding the way that the First World War has been interpreted and remembered by subsequent generations, as well as contributing to a national, publicly accessible archive project.

More information can be found here: https://www.cwgc.org/lest-we-forget

If you are interested in volunteering, fill out the ‘Expression of Interest’ form at the bottom of the page and send it to volunteers@cwgc.org You can also use that email address if you have any questions about this project.