{"id":734,"date":"2016-06-30T09:15:13","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T08:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/?p=734"},"modified":"2016-06-30T10:29:11","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T09:29:11","slug":"applying-for-your-year-in-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/2016\/06\/30\/applying-for-your-year-in-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying for your year in industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnThird year, or in my case my \u2018Year in Industry\u2019 year, seemed like a lifetime away when first starting web computing in 2014. I was also very sure of what my plan was; working in California for a huge well known company at the cutting edge of technology, Cisco or Google to name a few. But, what happens when you don\u2019t actually get accepted, or the offer isn\u2019t exactly what you had in mind, or you find yourself having to choose between two very attractive offers? Here are the do’s and don\u2019ts I learned during my application process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Your summer job CV won\u2019t make the cut!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the fun part! If, like the School of Computing, you have exceptional placement officers putting up company links on Moodle and having 1-to-1s with students to help improve their CV and cover letter, my advice to you is visit them as much as you can. My CV & cover letters changed so much from the very first placement I applied for up to the very last one. Make sure only relevant information and skills for the position you\u2019re applying for is on the CV and make sure you research that company well enough so you can show off in your cover letter.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u2018I like making websites but um I don\u2019t have one\u2026\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      It always helps your chances in securing that job or placement if you have proof of what you say you can do in your CV. Mine was way overdue which meant I had to explain to some employers that I was working on an online portfolio, but it wasn\u2019t published yet. This doesn\u2019t just apply to tech savvy students, nor does it mean everyone needs a website to show off their work \u2013 I\u2019m sure an employer will love a presentation with photos of your charity work (for example). Whatever it is, make sure it can be backed up by you at an interview.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Interviews<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Be open-minded and prepared for any question! Straight after one of my second interviews, I was asked to stay behind and take a technical test (I had to recreate the website example in front of me from scratch). \u2018Sorry my lift is waiting outside\u2026\u2019 or \u2018the thing is, I wasn\u2019t expecting this\u2019 won\u2019t go down very well with them. If you are travelling a long way for this interview, give yourself enough time to get there relatively early (even if you sit down at the nearest caf\u00e9 going over your info) and understand that these can sometimes go on for longer than expected. I always found it helpful to write down a list of potential questions they could ask me and I would study their answers, so there were no surprises.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Rejection<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          It still stings a little.. that interview you are absolutely sure you nailed but it turns out you weren\u2019t the right candidate. In fact that doesn\u2019t mean you didn\u2019t nail it, you probably did, but as more and more employers value experience over grades now-a-days, the pool of placement applicants becomes bigger. So don\u2019t give yourself a hard time if you keep getting rejected at first, interviews are always good practice whatever the outcome, and rejection will only make you wiser for the next set of interviews<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. \u2018Time is running out, I\u2019ll just take anything.\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Not necessarily! Remember you will spend an entire year in this position, wherever it is based in, so make sure you do your homework on what the job entails and visit the area you are relocating to (if any at all) before accepting. Students from previous years have started applying close to the beginning of term and haven\u2019t found one they were completely happy with until summer after that year ended. So don\u2019t give up!<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Don\u2019t sell yourself short!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Something I found I always did during assessment centres was to compare my skills and experiences along with those of the other applicants. Now, whilst this can be good as you get an idea of who you are competing against, it is also bad if you don\u2019t realise that everyone has different experiences and skills that can get them the job. The person sitting next to you may sound very confident, but are they more interested in your energy and willingness to learn? You just don\u2019t know. So as you\u2019re sitting there thinking \u2018what have I gotten myself into\u2019 just remember, you were also given a shot at an interview, and for a reason.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. I\u2019ve got an offer!!!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                ..hang on; I\u2019ve got two offers and the interview I wanted?!<\/strong><\/p>\n

                Most companies will have a time frame for you to reply back to them with your yes or no answer, but remember that whilst you haven\u2019t accepted any offers, you are still free to attend any interviews you want. Don\u2019t reject any interviews for any uncertain offers, unless you are absolutely sure you want that offer of course.<\/p>\n

                Being three weeks away from starting my year in industry, I can honestly say it has been a journey I would have welcomed even if I hadn\u2019t been given an offer by the end of it. I feel a lot more confident about interviews and what employers look for in a candidate. So take the plunge and go for it!<\/p>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                This post is by Natalie Mclaren<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Third year, or in my case my \u2018Year in Industry\u2019 year, seemed like a lifetime away when first starting web computing in 2014. I was … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9871],"tags":[9658,9667,9645,8814,37,143768,74,37392],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":739,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kentstudents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}