LEARNING LOG RECORD SHEET:

Vinay Ramamurthy 16 March 2011

SOURCE/FULL REFERENCE Jobes, J. (2011) Bright Futures , Swansea, SMU Bright Futures Club, March DESCRIPTION Jackie Jobes, Regional Manager-south(BRIGHT FUTURES) gave a presentation which aimed at creating awareness amongst graduate students, the job opportunities which are available, different ways to search for a jobs, preparations which are essential before attending an interview, what must your curriculum vitae include and the use of assessment centres etc. The above topics, which are huge areas of concerns for most of the students, were discussed with the help of facts and examples. The goal was to motivate students to be successful, find their dream jobs after graduating from the university and how BRIGHT FUTURES can help the students to achieve this. ANALYSIS (CONCEPTS, EXAMPLES, STATUS OF SOURCE, CRITIQUE etc) The session kicked off with a small photo shoot before things actually started, she was quite confident about the things which were to be put forward to an audience of roughly around 40, and was quite surprised to see most of them being international students. She started off with facts which were quite astonishing to know like each year 3335000 new students graduate from universities, 100% more applications in 2010 than in 2008, more than 60% students receive 2:1, an average graduate salary is between 18-20k (in euros) etc. Suggests different ways to find graduate jobs through1. Internet from websites like www.milkround.com, www.graduate-jobs.com 2. Career services 3. Graduate Directories like Prospects, GET, and Target. She talks through the necessary things a CV must include like Qualifications, Achievements, Extra curricular activities and also comments on the order in which they ought to be organised. According to the IOD survey 64% of directors believe employment skills are more important than the knowledge gained from a degree. Then she grabbed the attention of the audience by playing a hilarious video THE ORIGIN OF JOBS INTERVIEW. She moved on to the different types of interviews we may come across once the hunt for the job begins Telephonic interviews Face to face interviews Organisations prefer telephonic interviews which are quite common these days as they are very economical and time saving from the employers point of view. She also pins down the key aspects the employer looks for during such interviews like Can you do the job? Or Will you do the job?, she gave a small tips like standing in front of the mirror when you are actually on the interview call and keep yourself organised and well prepared before hand. On the other hand in face to face interviews, where she gave some useful tips on body language, Being prepared to ask questions, Showing focus on career you want,

Know the reasons why you are suited for the particular job you have applied for and have some examples of key competencies. She tries to get the audience more involved by doing a small exercise at this point of time where she asked the students to shake hands in different ways. Next, the importance of Assessment centres where she discusses the range of activities across half a day or a full day. It involves interviews, tests, role-plays, group tasks, negotiation exercises presentations etc. The main skill tested out will be on how you prioritise when multiple tasks are given to you which is also known as an intray exercise. The use of psychometric tests is becoming more popular as there is an increase in number of applications which are received for jobs nowadays. 65% of employees are using them in the recruitment process. They are a series of tests involving analytical, mathematical, logic and reasoning. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure (Colin L Powell). She finally leaves the students saying how to differentiate yourself from others, the attitude difference and quotes her favourite saying Your on the ride you might as well open your eyes. A normal presentation could have been better if the speaker could have kept the audience busy by making them do some group activities. Discussed on topics which were interesting but could have been more practical with it. It was more of a promotion than a presentation to say at the end. USEFULNESS/FUTURE RESEARCH/ACTIVITY PLANNED The presentation was informative and it led to research on more open areas like the organising the curriculum vitae, focusing on the type on job one has to look out for which is not always based on his degree and facing an interview. Would like to do further research on CV writing which is first step towards my dream job.