Civil Service Fast Stream drop-in session

Monday 3rd December from 11.30 – 14.30 in Keynes Seminar Room 4

Have you applied to the Civil Service Fast Stream? Are you currently going through the recruitment process? Or are you thinking of applying in the future, but have questions about their schemes or working for the Civil Service? 

Join Elliot and Sophie, current Fast Streamers, who will be on hand to answer any questions you may have regarding your application, the recruitment stages (including the assessment centre and final selection boards) and working for the Civil Service! They’ll be on campus on Monday 3rd December from 11.30am – 2.30pm, so drop by, no appointment needed! If you have any questions about the Fast Stream, come along and have a chat!

Event link: https://careers.kent.ac.uk/leap/event.html?id=3597&service=Careers+Service

The Civil Service Fast Stream is an accelerated career path to leadership with supported development. They are a graduate employer that is consistently ranked in the top five of The Times Top 100.

The Civil Service is looking for graduates with the potential to progress to the most senior levels of the Civil Service and become our future leaders.  By ‘potential’ we mean graduates who have the motivation and ability to progress to the highest levels of our organisation. We are seeking the widest range of people, who can bring differing life experiences to their roles, enriching our organisation and helping us to better represent the whole of the society that we serve.  There is no typical Fast Streamer. We believe that people perform their best when they can be themselves at work.  We value who you are before you join the Fast Stream and ensure that through flexible working you will still have time for the things that matter the most to you outside work.

Undergraduate of the Year Awards

The TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards celebrates the UK’s best undergraduates. It is the only undergraduate award in the UK and is widely recognised by graduate recruiters.

The final shortlist of ten from each category are invited to the exclusive awards event in Canary Wharf, London on 26 April 2019 to network and dine with graduate recruiters before the winners are announced. The Awards are run in partnership with a range of high-profile graduate employers, including VISA, P&G, Rolls Royce, Deutsche Bank, and TeachFirst.

Applying to these awards is a great opportunity to reflect on yours skills, and potentially setting you on course to gain great experience of the graduate job application process. To find out more, head to the Awards website!

 

Essay competition with Volkswagen Group UK

WIN A £500 CURRYS PC WORLD VOUCHER & TAILORED WORK EXPERIENCE

As technology advances and becomes more innovative, it will impact and influence the ways in which people drive and travel today and in the future. At the forefront of new technology is autonomous driving alongside many other advances in the industry.

To enter, your task is to draft an essay between 1,500-2,500 in length discussing the short-term and long-term considerations for Volkswagen Group UK when bringing autonomous vehicles into the automotive industry.

To register your interest and receive a full brief, please email: inspire@vwg.co.uk

Completed entries must be submitted to the above email address by Friday 1st March 2019.

If successful, you will be invited to a Finalist’s Day on Wednesday 10th April 2019. This will include the chance of experiencing the Volkswagen Group UK Headquarters along with presenting your ideas.

Postgraduate Studentships PhD Funding Fair

Wednesday 5th December 2018, Central London

The Fair is your opportunity to meet and talk with representatives from some of the top UK universities. All of the universities present at the Fair have PhD funding opportunities to offer and are looking for the best students.

As this is a specialist Fair, there are limited spaces in both the morning and afternoon sessions. In order to attend, you will need to have applied, been accepted, and have received a personal invitation to the Fair. Click here to register to attend.

Free journalism workshops at the News Associates

If you’re interested in a career in journalism, News Associates is running a series of free, hands-on workshops to give you a glimpse into the industry and their award-winning NCTJ training.

News Associates is recognised by the National Council for the Training of Journalists as the best provider of journalism courses in the country – for more details, see their website.

London Workshop Dates

  • Friday, November 30 – News journalism (10:30am-1:30pm)
  • Tuesday, December 4 – News journalism (7:30pm-9:30pm)
  • Saturday, January 5 – Sports journalism (1:30pm-5pm)
  • Tuesday, January 15  – News journalism (7:30pm-9:30pm)
  • Friday, February 1 – News journalism (10:30am-1:30pm)
  • Saturday, February 16 – Sports journalism (1:30pm-5pm)

If you are interested in attending one or more of these workshops, click the following link to go to the application form on the News Associates website:

Click here to apply

Remember, you can apply for funding to support the cost of unpaid employability development events such as these via the Careers and Employability Service.

If you are interested in a career in journalism but would like to remain at Kent, the University’s Centre for Journalism offers a free week-long introductory workshop in the summer term, as well as a highly-respected MA in Journalism. See their website for more details.

Volunteer opportunity – Archival project with Blind Veterans UK

Blind Veterans UK is a charity working to support ex-service men and women who live with significant sight loss. The charity is beginning a project to explore the rehabilitation and training work undertaken by the charity since its inception, and it is looking for volunteers to support the scoping study that will be put together to support an external funding application.

This is a substantial opportunity for students who wish to gain first-hand experience of both the charities sector and of archival research. The successful applicants will be expected to support the project for roughly two days per week for several months. Travel and other reasonable expenses will be covered by the charity.

For details, download the role profile below. If you are interested in this role, please contact Roy Baker via email at archives@blindveterans.org.uk, or by telephone on 020 7616 7933.

Archive Project Volunteer, Blind Veterans UK

Alumni research presentation – Russian cross-domain coercion

On Friday 30th November, the School of History will welcome back Sam Cranny-Evans, a former Military History student who is now working as a defence analyst with IHS Jane’s, a leading defence and security analysis and consultation firm.

Sam has very kindly been supporting the School’s employability activities for the last few years, and has recently completed a book on armoured fighting vehicles around the world, and a detailed analysis of Russian war-making activities in Ukraine, Georgia, and Syria.

Sam has accepted an invitation to come and speak to all interested students and staff on this highly-charged contemporary subject. Sam will also be more than happy to give his advice on how to approach a career in research, analysis, and journalism to any students considering these areas.

Sam’s talk will be held at 6pm on Friday 30th November in Eliot Lecture Theatre 2, and all are welcome to attend.

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” →

Age of Revolution project – call for volunteers

Do you have a desire for a career in a museum or as a teacher, or maybe you just think it would be cool to do some research that extends beyond your degree, or you like blogging, or photography, or you are interested in the time period 1775-1848?

The Age of Revolution project are looking for additional student volunteers to join an exciting project running from 2017-2020, in partnership with Waterloo200, the Historical Association, Culture24, and a range of museums, libraries, and archives across the UK.

If you think that this could be something you would be interested in, please find further information on the attached flyer and complete the application form, returning to Becky Beach at ageofrevolution@kent.ac.uk by Monday 19th November.

You can visit the project’s blog page here: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/ageofrevolution/home-page/. You can also find out more at: http://waterloo200.org/