Does chief pie taster David have the best job in Wales?

When it comes to job satisfaction, David Jackson really takes the pies.

The 40-year-old ex-chef and food science graduate has an unusual – but some would say vital – role in everyday Welsh life.

While many of his friends are confined to the office from nine ’til five, David can normally be found travelling the length and breadth of the country – tasting pies.

To give him his proper title, David is chief pieologist for Caerphilly-based food suppliers Peter’s.

A typical working day can see him conduct taste panels at breakfast and lunch with as many as eight or a dozen pies on offer.

It means buying lunch has now become a dim and distant memory.

And such is the value of his work that David’s bosses are now looking into insuring his tongue and taste buds for a massive five-figure sum.

David, from Rogerstone, Newport, said: “It’s a typical comment when you go away on holiday.

“People say: ‘What do you do?’

“When I say I’m a pieologist it kind of stops them in their tracks and it gets a giggle.

“It’s a pretty rare role. You have great fun with it and meet interesting people and customers.

“At the end of the day, it’s a hoot and you can’t take it too seriously when your job is to develop the next great pie.”

David’s job sees him work with food retailers to watch food trends, work on recipe development, plan products – and, well, eat.

And despite his pie-heavy diet David says it hasn’t had too adverse an effect on his waistline over the years.

“Obviously with the great job which I have you have the great opportunity to try a different trouser size every year,” he said.

“We have a fairly fixed diet. And it’s a balanced diet because you have a pie in each hand!

“I have actually lost weight during the last two years but you do have to be careful with your diet.

“Normally we don’t swallow a lot of what we are tasting. We are trained to professionally taste rather like the wine tasters.

“Though every once in a while, yes I will admit, you eat the whole product.”

The work he and his colleagues do has reportedly brought in millions of pounds of extra business over the last few years.

It means there is a high price on David’s mouth and his bosses are now looking to insure his tongue and taste buds, though premiums run above £10,000.

David said: “Because we have had such great success in recent years, and brought in £20m worth of business from product development, the business investigated the potential for insuring my taste buds and tongue.

“I understand the costs around it are not all that terrific and the premiums are rather steep and going into five figures.”

Recently, David has been devouring a beef and coca-cola pie as well as thai green and red chicken pies, which are all in development.

He said: “For more than 30 years we have had steak and kidney and chicken and mushroom. But we always have to keep an eye on the market.

“The really interesting part of the job is looking at trends in food.

“There’s a big trend for food with spiciness and a lot of British, patriotic products with the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee this year.

“Just last week we were tasting a coca cola and beef pie.

“It had a coca cola-based sauce with prime British steak and a little hint of chilli just at the back.

“My taste buds have taken a bit of a battering.”

Alongside pies, David’s other big passion is racing cars which he has done recently with some success in his Caterham 7 sports car at the Castle Combe circuit.

“I have had a few wins so the pies aren’t slowing me down too much,” he said.

“I have always had an interest in cars since I was three-years-old and I have been fortunate enough to fulfil my dream and buy a Caterham.”

And asked if there was any job he would swap for his own, there was only one thing David could possibly think of.

“Yeah, beer tasting at Brains,” he said.

Source: Simon Gaskell, Walesonline.co.uk, Saturday 28th April 2012

What to do when property graduate jobs and internships are hard to find

If you are still looking for a graduate job or work experience in property, now is the time to get proactive. There might still be a couple of vacancies available with the larger firms, but the vast majority have now filled their posts for this year. So you need to look beyond these firms into other opportunities.

‘You have to go and find them’

James Kinnersly, a recent graduate planning consultant at Gerald Eve, agrees with this: ‘If I had my time again, I’d be more proactive with sending off speculative applications,’ he says. ‘I’d advise you to look beyond the big service companies with their graduate schemes. There are a lot of very good companies who are willing to hire if the right person comes along but you have to go and find them and show them you want to work for them.’

So, how do you find job or work experience opportunities? You have to accept that they might be unadvertised; you’ll have to ask.

Asking property recruiters whether they have any unadvertised opportunities

Start with your local area, whether that’s in your home or uni town. You can do a Google search or go old school: check your local newspapers (the estate agents advertising properties might be an obvious place to start – if nothing else, it’ll give you an insight into agency work) and local business listings. You can also ask your wider network if anyone knows of any property employers; your network includes family, friends and your lecturers.

Once you have a shortlist of employers, don’t dash off a generic letter. Why should they do more than glance at your application when you haven’t bothered to put some time into it? This is what you do:

• Apply to a name: not ‘Sir/Madam’ or, even worse, ‘To whom it may concern’. Ring their reception and ask who would be the best person to apply to.
• Be very clear about what you want and how long for: if you are looking for ideally a week’s work experience, or if you want to work shadow (observe) a surveyor for a day, or if you are looking for a job, say so. If you are seeking work experience, state whether you anticipate it being unpaid.
  NB: a day’s unpaid work shadowing might be the easiest to get and can widen your network, so it’s worth considering if it’s at all feasible.
• Show you’ve done some research on the employer and why you’d find it valuable working for them in particular: for example, make it clear that you know they specialise in residential.
• Say what you can offer them: show that you have the skills to be an asset to a property employer.
• Attach your CV.
• Finish by stating that you’ll ring to follow up this application in a week or so.

Bear in mind that the larger firms, who run formal schemes, won’t appreciate a speculative application – they’ll expect you to go through their formal channels.

Asking for feedback could get you a job

James has another tip: ‘If you get turned down, ring them up and ask for feedback – this paid off for one of my friends when the employer took another look at his CV, invited him for an interview and then offered him a job!’

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Wednesday 25th April 2012

You have an excellent chance of finding a job

“I’ve never been out of work,” says Aaron Saxton, head of ICT at Ashton on Mersey School in Cheshire. He qualified four years ago and was taken on immediately by the school where he’d trained. Within four years he’d progressed to management level. “You definitely get a good grounding from your training. And you do feel more secure in your job.”

When work is scarce, teachers still have a good chance of finding the work they love. Teaching Agency figures show that nine out of 10 new teachers looking for a post find one in their first year after qualifying.

“Nearly all of our secondary level teachers who want a job will find one,” says Professor Debra Myhill from the University of Exeter Graduate School.

Figures released this spring show that more than a third of university graduates have no option but to take low-skilled jobs such as cleaning – up from a quarter of graduates a decade ago.

One in five new graduates is unemployed, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Not only are teachers more likely to get a job, they’re twice as likely to stay there, says the Teaching Agency. Some 44 per cent of graduates in popular non-teaching roles switch career within the first three and a half years, compared to just 21 per cent of teachers.

As job hunters, teachers can draw on direct experience gained during training.

Two or more substantial placements in schools equip trainees not only with references and a proven track record in the classroom, but might also offer the possibility of further work.

Many trainees are offered a job in the school where they completed a placement and others are advised of posts in other schools by supportive staff.

“Trainees are very well prepared for what they encounter,” says Myhill. “We try and get them through the ‘initial practice ’ element of teaching as early as possible during their placement so they are ready to push to higher levels. They continue to develop professionally.”

Maths teacher Kris Spreadborough found a job at Plymouth’s Marine Academy during a “brilliant time” on another placement, and was ready to start as soon as he qualified in 2011. “Between two placements at very different schools, I feel I was prepared for wherever I would have been employed.”

He’s preparing to begin teaching the academy’s sixth formers next year, and is mulling his options. “With this career I can see there is a path you can take to help you aspire. Your colleagues can help – we are all trying to get the best out of our students.”

Careers advisers recommend that you begin hunting for a job at the start of the spring term. “If you have difficulty finding what you’re looking for, don’t despair,” says the Teacher Support network. “It’s not unusual for some schools to wait until the beginning of the summer to advertise vacancies.”

“If you keep plugging away with applications, you’ll get a job: there are nearly 500,000 teaching posts in England alone,” says author and teacher Francis Gilbert.

As Saxton found, opportunities to reach more senior levels are there for the taking. Teachers are twice as likely to reach management level just four years into their career, compared to peers in other graduate careers, such as accountancy and law.

Starting salaries are competitive. A newly qualified teacher will start on an average £22,800. Experienced teachers can earn up to £64,000 in London and £56,000 in other parts of the UK, while head teachers earn an average £84,600 in secondary schools, and in some cases up to £112,000.

“As a teacher, you are highly employable. There are so many opportunities within teaching – it’s probably one of the most flexible careers you could choose,” says Myhill.

Case study: Kerry Tabb, 25

Kerry Tabb, 25 is in her second year of teaching at All Saints School in Dagenham. She completed a PGCE in 2010 at the University of East London after a first degree at Queen’s University Belfast.

“I’ve just found out our students are going to be involved in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – they were ecstatic.

It’s a wonderful feeling. They’ve been torturing me for days asking whether they’re in. I’m in charge of the Olympic organisation at school and that’s a great thing to put on my CV.

There are so many opportunities in London with so much going on there. Once I saw what was going on here work-wise, there was no going back. This is a great city to work in: the children have great personalities and there’s a big community of younger teaching staff so we all socialise together. I’m on a permanent contract.

At home (in Northern Ireland) I’d have been lucky to get even temporary work. Some of my (non-teaching) friends have emigrated or gone back to university as they haven’t found work.

I’ve always wanted to teach, and this was the second job I applied for. Out of my year group nearly everybody got a job.

Training helped massively; it gave me ideas and a sense of what type of school suited me. I like a smaller community school, where you can walk down the corridor and say hello to the students.

Just make sure you have as much experience as possible when you come into teaching. Be open to trying new things, have a broad range of strategies in your locker.”

My first day

Nirvana Plante is in her fourth year of teaching French and Spanish at Arthur Terry School in Sutton Coldfield.

“I was quite shaky, my knees were knocking, but once I had settled in I really did think ‘this is great’. It’s a good idea to get the background on your class, and a list of names beforehand. I took some time to do the introductions, I didn’t launch straight into instructions. All of the children wanted to know who I was and where I had come from, so it was good for building up relationships (to start with).”

Source: Independent.co.uk, Thursday 26th April 2012

A ban on Graduate Wanted?

Graduates may need to read between the lines when they apply for a job. That's because a new UK Supreme Court ruling claims companies who advertise for graduates could be discriminating against older British workers.

So an end to "degree-qualified" or "graduate" job offers? Very possibly.

Fair?

The change hinges on a judgement concerning an ex-police officer. Terence Homer, an ex detective inspector, was effectively disqualified from a newly introduced top tier at the Police National Legal Database because he didn't have a law degree - and he was not given enough time, at 62, to take a law degree before retiring at 65.


But a new Supreme Court ruling means that Homer suffered indirect discrimination. Which means UK employers from now will have to be rather more careful when recruiting, particularly if they are targeting graduates.

Going the other way, since 2006 employers now cannot specify a certain number of years' experience for many roles in case it discriminates against younger candidates.

University = higher intelligence?

More broadly, this decision could rankle many. However many UK employers still equate a university degree with a higher intelligence or IQ. And many older people are put off applying for jobs when an advert is clearly directed at a younger candidate.

Lawyer Beth Hale from legal firm Stephenson Harwood told AOL Money that the move is not as groundbreaking as some claim. "When the Age Discrimination regulations came out in 2006 we all thought that a requirement of a Degree might constitute indirect age discrimatinon. And so it has proved."

She goes on: "The degree itself is often not what is necessary. Employers should think hard about why they are asking for a Degree and whether an equivalent or work experience would suffice."



Source: Adrian Holliday, AOL.co.uk, Friday 27th April 2012

Report shows graduate jobs struggle

A third of graduates have been looking for work for more than six months, often applying for over 100 jobs, according to research.

A study among 300 graduates by jobs website totaljobs.com also revealed that one in four of those who wrote more than 100 applications was not offered a single interview.

The difficulty in finding work has led to lower wage expectations, with today's graduates expecting to earn less than £20,000 a year.

Mike Fetters of totaljobs.com said: "Overall, the picture for graduates is tough, but there are signs of improvement. We are seeing some growth in the number of job available.

"This is little comfort, however, for those that took the advice of successive governments and invested in their education only to find themselves forced through necessity to claim the dole and fail to be invited to a single interview."

Source: The Press Association, Thursday 26th April 2012

Over 80% of students say fees hike will cause drop in University applications

Universities can expect a decline in applications following the fee increase, according to students. Many even claimed their current course is not worth the money.

A survey of more than 100 students and graduates by graduate recruitment website Milkround (www.milkround.com) revealed more than 80 percent of its respondents believe raising university fees will have a negative effect on the number of university applicants. Over half believed the degree they are currently studying or have graduated with is not worth the fee.

Despite this, many students are not willing to compromise on getting the full university experience to save money, rejecting a variety of potential solutions.

Some 35 percent stated they would not consider staying at home whilst studying in order to cut costs, compared to only 24 percent who would see this as a strong potential option.

There was little call for more degree subjects to be available online, with two thirds (66 percent) of respondents dismissing this suggestion.

Nearly a third (31 percent) favoured the alternative of condensing three year courses into two year courses as long as they didn’t lose content. The group was divided when asked whether this should be done by abandoning the first year of courses if the work in this year does not count towards the final grade, with 54 percent for and 46 percent against the concept.

The pros and cons of first years generates debate. Students would save money and time spent on work that does not contribute overall, but many universities argue that the first year is important to establish the transition from A-levels to producing work of a degree standard.

Taking the first year away may lead to students needlessly losing marks that would count towards their degree for simple errors which do not genuinely reflect the quality of their knowledge.

The survey also highlighted students’ astute awareness of the current job market. Seven out of tenbelieve placement years should be compulsory for all subjects, reflecting that many recruiters now actively seek applicants with experience as well as good grades.

The importance of having a degree has not been forgotten, with over half of respondents commenting that they do not believe they would have progressed in their career faster, had they gone straight into employment instead of attending university.

Milkround spokesperson Abbie Baisden said: “Students value the University experience as a whole, but resent the rise in costs. The rejection of living at home while studying, and the insistence of more courses to include placements, proves they want their University experience to provide them with more than knowledge on the subject they studied. They expect life skills and experience that will benefit them in their career and beyond – especially with the rise in study costs.”

Source: Onrec.com, Wednesday 25th April 2012

Overtaken by the LSE, Oxford gets only a third as university slips down the league table

Oxford has been overtaken by the London School of Economics in a university league table published today.

The ancient university was forced into third place behind the LSE and arch-rival Cambridge, which took top spot.

A decline in the job prospects of Oxford's graduates contributed to its slide from second place in last year's table.

The prospects of Cambridge leavers suffered a lesser fall while the LSE, which concentrates on a narrower range of subjects, bucked the recession by increasing graduate employment rates.

It is the first time in the 15-year history of the tables, which rank universities on a range of measures including research quality, entry standards, staff-to-student ratios and job prospects, Oxford has been beaten by the LSE.

The tables - part of the Complete University Guide - show how leading universities are toughening up entry requirements to counter rising A-level pass rates.

The average student accepted to Cambridge now achieves the equivalent of almost five A grades.

There are also wide variations in the likelihood of gaining a good degree - a first or 2.1 - depending on the university attended.

Oxford handed good degrees to 91 per cent of honours students and Cambridge 87 per cent, while just 44 per cent of University of East London graduates achieved the distinction.

Despite relatively lowly positions in the tables, some universities gave out large numbers of firsts and 2.1s, with 69 per cent achieving good degrees at Gloucestershire University, which was ranked 74th.

The table, which ranks 116 universities at www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk, also showed stark differences in graduate job prospects.

Across all universities in the list, 63.7 per cent of leavers from the class of 2010 were working in graduate-level jobs or taking further qualifications six months after graduating.

The rest were on the dole or under-employed in jobs unlikely to justify the time and expense of studying.

At Bolton University, the figure was 41.1 per cent and Southampton Solent it was 41.9 per cent.

In contrast, the LSE boasted the highest employment rate, with 87.8 per cent of graduates in good jobs or further study six months later - up from 84.1 per cent last year.

Average employment rates have declined from 68.6 per cent among the class of 2007.

Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of the guide, said rises and falls in the rankings were driven to a considerable extent by the recession.

Some had adapted to the changing financial climate by focusing sharply on the employability of their graduates.

'The employment market for graduates remains challenging and this is reflected in the rankings. Some universities have been more successful than others in adapting to the new conditions,' he said.

'League tables carry a health warning for good reason and the order at the top of the ranking should be treated with some discretion.

'What is beyond dispute is that all three institutions - Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Oxford - are outstanding in their fields. The LSE's range of disciplines is less broad than Oxford's, and it has a better record for graduate prospects.'

He suggested employers with typically recruit Oxbridge graduates may be struggling, affecting their employment rates.

In separate listings covering 62 subjects, Cambridge takes top place in 30 of the 46 it offers, and is in the top ten for 46.

The LSE is in the top ten for all twelve of the subjects offered and is top for three. Oxford is in the leading 10 universities for all 32 of its subjects, and is placed first in 12.

Across all measures, the top ten universities were Cambridge, LSE, Oxford, Imperial College London, Durham, Warwick, St Andrews, University College London, Lancaster and Bath.

Oxford has previously been beaten in the table by Imperial College London, in 1999 and 2000, when it again took third place.

However, Oxford has taken top spot in the tables more times than Cambridge over the past decade.

The new rankings are a boost for the LSE after it suffered acute embarrassment last year following revelations of extensive links to Colonel Gaddafi's regime.

It accepted a £1.5million donation from Saif Gaddafi, the son of the then Libyan dictator, a year after Saif was awarded a PhD and also agreed to a £2.2million contract with Libya to train its civil service.

Source: Laura Clark, Dailymail.co.uk, Tuesday 24th April 2012

'It's kind of an empty cliff': Half of new graduates with bachelor's degrees are unemployed or underemployed

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs - waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example - and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees.

Opportunities for college graduates vary widely.

While there's strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder.

Median wages for those with bachelor's degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers.

Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.

Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor's degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

'I don't even know what I'm looking for,' says Michael Bledsoe, who described months of fruitless job searches as he served customers at a Seattle coffeehouse.

The 23-year-old graduated in 2010 with a creative writing degree.

Initially hopeful that his college education would create opportunities, Mr Bledsoe languished for three months before finally taking a job as a barista, a position he has held for the last two years.

In the beginning he sent three or four resumes day.

But, Mr Bledsoe said, employers questioned his lack of experience or the practical worth of his major.

Now he sends a resume once every two weeks or so.

Mr Bledsoe, currently making just above minimum wage, says he got financial help from his parents to help pay off student loans.

He is now mulling whether to go to graduate school, seeing few other options to advance his career.

'There is not much out there, it seems,' Mr Bledsoe said.

His situation highlights a widening but little-discussed labor problem.

Perhaps more than ever, the choices that young adults make earlier in life - level of schooling, academic field and training, where to attend college, how to pay for it - are having long-lasting.

'You can make more money on average if you go to college, but it's not true for everybody,' says Harvard economist Richard Freeman, noting the growing risk of a debt bubble with total U.S. student loan debt surpassing $1trillion.

'If you're not sure what you're going to be doing, it probably bodes well to take some job, if you can get one, and get a sense first of what you want from college.'

Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University who analyzed the numbers, said many people with a bachelor's degree face a double whammy of rising tuition and poor job outcomes.

'Simply put, we're failing kids coming out of college,' he said, emphasizing that when it comes to jobs, a college major can make all the difference. 'We're going to need a lot better job growth and connections to the labor market, otherwise college debt will grow.'

'Simply put, we're failing kids coming out of college,' he said, emphasizing that when it comes to jobs, a college major can make all the difference. 'We're going to need a lot better job growth and connections to the labor market, otherwise college debt will grow.'

It was followed by the more rural southeastern U.S., including Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The Pacific region, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, also was high on the list.

On the other end of the scale, the southern U.S., anchored by Texas, was most likely to have young college graduates in higher-skill jobs.

The figures are based on an analysis of 2011 Current Population Survey data by Northeastern University researchers and supplemented with material from Paul Harrington, an economist at Drexel University, and the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

They rely on Labor Department assessments of the level of education required to do the job in 900-plus U.S. occupations, which were used to calculate the shares of young adults with bachelor's degrees who were 'underemployed.'

About 1.5million, or 53.6 per cent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years.

In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 per cent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Out of the 1.5million who languished in the job market, about half were underemployed, an increase from the previous year.

Broken down by occupation, young college graduates were heavily represented in jobs that require a high school diploma or less.

In the last year, they were more likely to be employed as waiters, waitresses, bartenders and food-service helpers than as engineers, physicists, chemists and mathematicians combined (100,000 versus 90,000).

There were more working in office-related jobs such as receptionist or payroll clerk than in all computer professional jobs (163,000 versus 100,000).

More also were employed as cashiers, retail clerks and customer representatives than engineers (125,000 versus 80,000).

According to government projections released last month, only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor's degree or higher to fill the position - teachers, college professors and accountants.

Most job openings are in professions such as retail sales, fast food and truck driving, jobs which aren't easily replaced by computers.

College graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their education level; those with nursing, teaching, accounting or computer science degrees were among the most likely.

In Nevada, where unemployment is the highest in the nation, Class of 2012 college seniors recently expressed feelings ranging from anxiety and fear to cautious optimism about what lies ahead.

With the state's economy languishing in an extended housing bust, a lot of young graduates have shown up at job placement centers in tears. Many have been squeezed out of jobs by more experienced workers, job counselors said, and are now having to explain to prospective employers the time gaps in their resumes.

'It's kind of scary,' said Cameron Bawden, 22, who is graduating from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in December with a business degree.

His family has warned him for years about the job market, so he has been building his resume by working part time on the Las Vegas Strip as a food runner and doing a marketing internship with a local airline. Bawden said his friends who have graduated are either unemployed or working along the Vegas Strip in service jobs that don't require degrees.

'There are so few jobs and it's a small city,' he said. 'It's all about who you know.'

Any job gains are going mostly to workers at the top and bottom of the wage scale, at the expense of middle-income jobs commonly held by bachelor's degree holders.

By some studies, up to 95 percent of positions lost during the economic recovery occurred in middle-income occupations such as bank tellers, the type of job not expected to return in a more high-tech age.

David Neumark, an economist at the University of California-Irvine, said a bachelor's degree can have benefits that aren't fully reflected in the government's labor data. He said even for lower-skilled jobs such as waitress or cashier, employers tend to value bachelor's degree-holders more highly than high-school graduates, paying them more for the same work and offering promotions.

In addition, U.S. workers increasingly may need to consider their position in a global economy, where they must compete with educated foreign-born residents for jobs.

Longer-term government projections also may fail to consider 'degree inflation,' a growing ubiquity of bachelor's degrees that could make them more commonplace in lower-wage jobs but inadequate for higher-wage ones.

That future may be now for Kelman Edwards Jr, 24, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who is waiting to see the returns on his college education.

After earning a biology degree last May, the only job he could find was as a construction worker for five months before he quit to focus on finding a job in his academic field.

He applied for positions in laboratories but was told they were looking for people with specialized certifications.

'I thought that me having a biology degree was a gold ticket for me getting into places, but every other job wants you to have previous history in the field,' he said. Mr Edwards, who has about $5,500 in student debt, recently met with a career counselor at Middle Tennessee State University.

The counselor's main advice: Pursue further education.

'Everyone is always telling you, `Go to college,'' Mr Edwards said. 'But when you graduate, it's kind of an empty cliff.'

Source: Dailymail.co.uk, Sunday 22nd April 2012

Assertiveness classes for Oxford undergraduates

They may be young and gifted but research at the elite institution has found that female undergraduates are shying away from applying to jobs in banking, finance, management consultancy, engineering and resource management.

Partly as a result, starting salaries for women when they graduate are on average £2,000 to £3,000 lower than their male counterparts.

“Women are earning less on leaving Oxford. On the face of it, this is ridiculous,” said Jonathan Black, the careers service director at the university. “We have high quality, high achieving students of both genders.

“From the research it appears that women are selecting lower paid jobs. They perceive more prejudice in certain industries and are saying 'I won’t strive for that really high paid job’.

"We are not trying to push loads of women in to the City but we are trying to say, you should feel able to apply for these sorts of jobs.”

The four day programme at Oxford which starts this week will help 45 female undergraduates improve their self-confidence and decision making, think positively and build on their strengths.

Assertiveness training will teach them how to deal with opposition and thrive in challenging situations.

“What we find is that women can be pretty assertive in some parts of their lives but not in others,” said Jenny Daisley, the chief executive of the Springboard Consultancy which will run the programme along with staff at the university.

“The undergraduate sitting quiet as a mouse in supervision, giving the impression that they have not got anything to say, may have lots to say but needs positive advice so that they are not invisible.”

Successful female employees from RBS and BP, which are sponsoring the course, will talk about their lives and careers. A small number of sought-after internships at the two companies will be made available to the Oxford course participants.

RBS’s involvement follows a commitment by the bank to target female recruits, increasing its national proportion of female graduate applications from 35 per cent to 50 per cent by 2014.

Sophie Kelley, 20, studying law at Corpus Christi College, is hoping the course will make her more confident in tutorials and interviews.

“I am applying to London law firms for vacation schemes and it is so competitive,” she said. “The rejection letters don’t give any real feedback so I’m hoping the Springboard programme might give me an insight and advice.”

Anna Broadley, 19, a first year history student at Brasenose College, who is also taking part said: “Boys seem to have a more self conviction and see the bigger picture generally, even when their self-belief is not necessarily based on any greater academic merit.

"While the girls are freaking out about whether they have done enough work for a tutorial, the boys are more likely to say 'I’ll just blag it’.

“I’m really interested in the elements of the course on being assertive and taking the initiative - turning that uncertainty that women may have in to a positive thing.”

Poppy Waskett, 22, a first year experimental psychology student from Harris Manchester College, said she was tempted by management consultancy but hoped to gain inspiration from the career women giving presentations.

The Springboard programme was developed in the 1980s for the BBC and is now a social enterprise company. Its programmes, tailored to specific groups, have been delivered to hundreds of thousands of women worldwide.

Women currently make up just 15 per cent of FTSE 100 directors. A study last year revealed that of the 200 most senior bankers at a sample of 20 investment banks and investment banking divisions, just 17 were women.

David Cameron has said that business leaders have not made sufficient progress in ensuring women get top jobs.

In February, he attended a summit in Stockholm to learn from countries such as Norway and Iceland, which have so called “golden skirt quotas” to increase the number of women in boardrooms.

So far, the Government has called for firms to voluntarily increase the number of senior female executives to 25 per cent of the total by 2015.

Top tips for Assertiveness

1. Listen to what someone else is saying

2. Demonstrate that you understand it

3. Say what you think

4. Specifically say what you want to happen

5. After stating what you want, find a joint solution

Top tips for career success

1. Rule yourself in

2. Stretch yourself early on

3. Learn how to do the job once you have got it

4. Concentrate on what you can do, not what you can’t do

5. Have a variety of goals, from the short term to the “fantastical”

Source: Julie Henry, Telegraph.co.uk, Sunday 22nd April 2012

Graduate starting salaries to drop to lowest level in nine years - but there will be more jobs

Graduate starting salaries are predicted to drop to their lowest level since 2003 with almost all employers planning to freeze pay.

Nine out of ten firms will not increase salaries this year, according to a survey of more than 100 employers with graduate entry training programmes.

Median starting salaries for graduates will be £25,000, unchanged from 2011, the study by Incomes Data Services (IDS) showed. With the cost of living having risen it effectively amounts to a pay cut.



Supply and demand: It remains a 'buyers' market' for recruiters with so many candidates for each vacancy that is advertised

When adjusted to account for inflation at 3.7 per cent (RPI), it amounts to a 2 per cent pay cut from £19,020 last year to £18,705 in 2012.

It means graduates entering the workforce this summer will find themselves worse off on real terms than their predecessors were a decade ago.

While, on this basis, graduate pay hit a peak of £20,601 in 2008, the last time salaries were lower than this year's forecast was nine years ago, when they stood at £18,524. You would then have to go back to before 2000 to find a lower one.

Nasreen Rahman of IDS said: 'It remains a buyers’ market for graduate recruiters this year, with starting salaries set to stagnate for a further year.

'High rates of price inflation over the last few years have been eating away at the purchasing power of starting salaries for new graduates.'

To add to graduate woes, the number of applicants for every vacancy increased from 41 to 46 in the past year. The good news is that IDS forecasts a 9.1 per cent rise in graduate recruitment in 2012 as the overall jobs market recovers. The services sector plans to boost graduate numbers by 38 per cent, while the public/not-for-profit sector expects a 7 per cent increase compared to a reduction last year.

'Even though the demand for graduate recruits is showing signs of revival, the competition for places means that employers are under little pressure to increase current rates despite high inflation,' said Rahman.

Legal firms are projected to pay graduates the highest starting salaries this year, with pay of £36,000 at the median, which remains unchanged from 2011. In contrast, the lowest starting salaries in 2011 were paid by the public/not-for-profit sector (£22,958).

Salaries in banking and finance are also projected to remain unchanged this year, at £31,250, while starting salaries in professional services remain at £24,750.

With the rises in tuition fees in recent years graduates face leaving university with an average debt of around £28,500-£37,500. Last year, independent student guide Push predicted that freshers embarking on university degrees in 2012 will end up with £53,400 of debt by the time they go looking for work.

Source: Harry Glass, Thisismoney.co.uk, Monday 16th April 2012

Sports graduate founds fitness empire

A super-fit graduate has fought back against a flailing jobs market to start a new business venture.

Carl Conifey, 22, from Red House, had applied for hundreds of jobs before he set up his own business and is now expanding his fitness empire.

Carl studied sport and exercise development at Sunderland University and saved his student loan in preparation for when he graduated.

“I knew there was not going to be a lot of jobs when I graduated and I’ve always wanted to be a personal trainer, so I used the money to get my instructor course,” said Carl.

“I did more and more courses and got my qualification so I could teach.”

Carl was working as a shelf stacker at Asda, which gave him even more determination to realise his dream of being a fitness instructor.

“I was focused and wanted to do something with my life, so I left Asda. I was struggling for a while and applying for 10 jobs a day.”

Carl had been putting plans into place to start his own business, Meso Fitness, and set up his first fitness class in January.

“I started one class and got a lot of people coming and it just went from there,” said Carl.

Carl now runs different classes across Sunderland including boxercise, circuit training and his own creation, resistance blast.

“It’s aerobic training using rubber bands. It’s quite dancey and high intensity,” said Carl.

“It’s been really successful so far and I’m planning to set up more classes in the future.”

As well as teaching his fitness classes, Carl is also trained in full-body Swedish massage and operates as a mobile masseur.

He is determined that, despite the current economic climate, taking things into your own hands can be the best solution.

“My experience has showed that even though it can be really hard to find a job you can turn it into something positive.

Source: Sunderlandecho.com, Friday 20th April 2012

How teaching became top choice for graduates

No one pretends educating today’s children and young people is easy – that’s why it’s a job for the top performing graduates of today. It’s a profession that will test you to the limit, draw on all your resources and challenge you to the hilt – but you are supported every step of the way.

“If you’re really ambitious and prepared to work hard, there are plenty of opportunities for promotion, even at an early stage of your career,” says Neil Dhanda, who became head of modern languages at a London comprehensive school after just four years.

As a career, teaching offers a host of career possibilities – from management to regional specialisms or a focus on pastoral care. “Applications with us have risen this year – in quality and quantity,” says Professor Debra Myhill, associate dean at the University of Exeter’s Graduate School of Education. “Teaching is a high level professional career of the utmost importance.”

Teaching appeals to the brightest graduates – last year’s entrants were the highest qualified yet, with the most 2:1s and firsts on record, says the Teaching Agency. “There’s never been a better time to teach,” says Lin Hinnigan, chief executive of the agency. “It’s a very different profession today. Bright graduates who go into the classroom can quickly gain increasing levels of responsibility and have a broad range of career progression opportunities.”

“It’s a demanding job,” says Kirstie Green, a teacher since 2009. “But it’s very special and so much more rewarding – you get such immediate feedback. Suddenly I’m looking at all these different routes I could take with my work.”

It’s challenging, but you are supported throughout your journey from trainee to the day you face your first class, with close mentoring and professional development as your career progresses.

“Teachers are mutually encouraging and open and happy to share their resources and knowledge,” says Green.

This is a sentiment reflected by many new to the profession. “I never have to hesitate about asking for advice on anything, because everyone is so supportive,” agrees Dhanda.

From guidance on applications through to strategies for managing behaviour, teacher training is targeted, practical and effective – nearly 90 percent of newly qualified teachers declare themselves highly satisfied with the quality of the instruction. As a result, trainees have never been better prepared to enter the classroom.

This year, graduates in sought after subjects such as maths, physics, chemistry and foreign languages are eligible for tax-free bursaries of up to £20,000 on secondary training courses. Bursaries for primary level are available up to £9,000. Training places are being snapped up faster than last year, so hurry if you’re thinking of teaching for a career, advises the Teaching Agency, because the current level of bursaries might only be available this year.

Knowing your subject is crucial – and here the agency can help with access to refresher courses.

“This is an endlessly fulfilling and challenging job if you don’t panic,” says Francis Gilbert, secondary school teacher and author of I’m a Teacher, Get Me Out of Here. He expects the focus on more creative approaches in schools will entice better quality trainees.

“That can only be a good thing for genuinely talented people who want to go into teaching,” he says.

Teachers in the sought-after subjects will also benefit from one-to-one guidance with a personal adviser who can help right from the start of the application process through to the start of your training.

“Teaching is a highly professionalised career requiring the highest calibre of professionals we can get,” says Myhill. “A good teacher can bring their own experience to the classroom, give the pupils a fresh outlook and show them what they can achieve.”

Case study: Hilda Sarfo Frimpong, 29, maths

Hilda Sarfo Frimpong, 29, graduated with first class honours in maths and computing and went on to qualify as a teacher at Kingston University in 2008. She teaches maths at secondary level at Saint Cecilia’s, Wandsworth.

“I’ve always enjoyed maths. When I graduated I worked as a programmer for six months but found it monotonous – just sat in an office with a computer and not much human contact. At university, I’d tutored students and really enjoyed that. I realised I wanted to work with people so I gave teaching a try.

I was nervous at how the pupils would see me – I’m quite petite and could get mistaken for one of the kids. But it’s been really rewarding.

My education in Ghana was traditional – blackboard, chalk with a stick at the side. Before I started teaching, I expected pupils to take their pens out, listen to what I would say, then I’d mark the work and give it back. Things couldn’t have been more different. And there’s so much more technology you can use.

You have to personalise lessons and give individual feedback – it’s not what I expected, but teaching has definitely changed for the better.

And with new technology you can make maths exciting in different ways. I try to engage them at the start of a lesson – today, I showed a clip from YouTube to start them thinking about compound shapes.

Our department works really well together. If I have a question I can pop in to see any of my colleagues and we share ideas on how to teach. We helped some pupils plan and deliver their own lessons; it was great to see them work together so well. If a child doesn’t understand, I try to be encouraging and stop them giving up. When a pupil finally “gets it”, it’s amazing.

There’s a huge number of career options and you can go for management early on. It’s really comforting to know I’ve got job security and I’m sorted in my career. My advice is to go for it: it’s a hugely rewarding job. It’s not the easiest, but the holidays are a great perk.

I’m never bored and I can call on people for advice at any time."

My first day

Katrina Crowley, 23, she began teaching in September 2011 at Holy Cross Catholic Primary in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.

I was excited but apprehensive because it could all go wrong. I'd come in during the summer just to get used to the place. I'd heard you should have a straight face on the first day, but as soon as I saw my year one class I had to smile. They made such lovely, funny comments. A few tested the boundaries so we went through the classroom rules. When I sat in the chair, I got a real sense of the power you have as a teacher.

To find out more about teaching visit: education.gov.uk/getintoteaching

Source: Thisislondon.co.uk, Thursday 19th April 2012

Universities failing on 'employability', students say

"My tutors were brilliant and without my course I wouldn't have the job I have, but there was no mention of careers," says Bee Pahnke, 21, who graduated last summer with a degree in creative writing from the University of Greenwich.

"In the third year we had a talk, but it all seemed to be 'if you want to do a master's and how to get published'. And I just thought, 'yes, I may do a master's and I may eventually publish a novel, but in the meantime I need and want a job.'"

Pahnke, now working as a junior writer at a business language consultancy, says that with creative jobs, there seems to be an assumption that "you have to be the luckiest person ever to land one of them. But there are jobs out there – it's a careers adviser's job to know what they are."

Her experience is not unique. Jessie Barstow, 25, who studied creative media practice at Bath Spa University and graduated last summer, was also disappointed with the careers advice on offer. "It seemed to be set up to roll graduates towards positions in companies structured with last-century ideas, not for a world dominated by media and online content. I was given the same advice as every other student, rather than anything tailored for me, or for my particular sector."

But good-quality, independent careers advice has never been needed more in universities. According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, in the final quarter of 2011, the graduate unemployment rate stood at 18.9% – almost one in five, and very slightly below the spike of 20% in the third quarter of 2010. And with fees set to rise to £9,000 in many institutions from September, many predict that students will become far more discerning "customers", so university careers services will need to up their game.

Following last year's higher education white paper, universities will be required to publish data on how many of their graduates get jobs – making "employability" the new buzzword in universities. But providing careers advice is only part of the story, says Candi Hindocha, who graduated last year from Lincoln University with a journalism degree. Given that new types of job are emerging all the time, students need access to industry-specific advice and guidance, she says. "It's about contacts: if they'd [the university careers service] had specialist advisers for different parts of the university, it would have helped people a lot more."

But the universities say they do offer a good service. Greenwich University provided Education Guardian with an extensive list of initiatives to help their students get work, including recruitment fairs, employer presentations and interview skills clinics. Eleanor Keyhoe, head of guidance and employability at Greenwich, explains that "the whole curriculum is designed to help students to develop the skills employers value. Final-year creative-writing students are also offered careers advice within their main academic timetable and the chance to meet guest speakers from television and other creative industries."

Bath Spa's head of employability, Adam Powell, says that the emphasis is now increasingly being placed on "more flexible, blended" support. "We certainly do understand the need for preparing students for the 'modern world' – especially given our emphasis on subjects across the creative industries – whether it's through developing their networking skills with employers, equipping them for freelancing or self-employment or using social media to aid their job search," says Powell. "We also recognise that our students are competing for jobs in an international marketplace and the need for our students to think and gain experience globally has never been more important."

And Lincoln's careers and employability services manager, Mark Stowe, says the university is already providing industry-specific advice and guidance. Instead of having a central careers service, specialist careers officers dedicated to each department or school work with students on an outreach basis. "The university responded to student feedback by relocating the advisers to bases within each individual college," Stowe explains.

So why are some students feeling short-changed? The mismatch between what universities say they provide and what students feel they're getting could simply be a communication problem; careers services may simply not be telling students what's on offer in the ways they most readily engage with – or it could be that no matter what's available, it doesn't hit the spot for every student jobseeker.

What they really want from their career service, say students, is detailed industry insight, established networks and a highly personalised service.

But Martin Pennington, interim chief executive at the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (Agcas), says it is not realistic for all students to expect a completely personalised service. Getting personal tutors in relevant departments working closely with the careers service can be successful, but "it's not the sole responsibility of careers services; the responsibility needs to be spread out across the university", he says.

But as Sheffield University graduate Joe Stanbridge found, employing careers advisers with in-depth industry expertise can go a long way.

A careers day that showcased a range of relevant employers – and not just the obvious suspects for someone studying mechanical engineering – gave him ideas for possible jobs, and inspired him to apply for one even though he was planning on a gap year after graduation.

"They had specific careers advisers for individual departments, so the one I saw actually specialised in my area of engineering," he explains.

He also got detailed feedback on his job application – in a follow-up appointment with his university careers adviser – so even though he didn't get the job, he says the whole experience "was a very positive thing".

But having a discrete careers service is not the only way to support a student in search of a job. Embedding employability into degree programmes, with industry placements sourced and supported by the university, is a tactic that institutions such as Surrey – which has the best graduate employment rates in the country – say they've been doing for years.

Others have completely remodelled their careers offer. As part of integrating careers support into the degrees it offers, Southampton's pro vice-chancellor for education, Professor Debra Humphris, explains that through its new "curriculum innovation programme", undergraduates can now tailor their course to include particular modules that will help them to develop the knowledge and skills their target industry requires.

This isn't something all universities are willing to do, points out Jonathan Black, director of Oxford University's careers service. For top-ranking universities, with an international reputation for academic excellence, introducing employability into the curriculum – at least too overtly – could dilute their brand.

But there are many ways to tackle employability issues. Black has recently introduced performance measures for careers advisers and says that when he recruits, candidates are expected to have innovative ideas – and to implement them. He has also lobbied for extra money to invest in outreach, marketing and social media contact with students, and careers service activities are now assessed against feedback from a randomised sample of students surveyed every year.

However they choose to go about it, Pennington says that many academic staff "are now realising that this is no longer something they can avoid".

Source: Louise Tickle, Guardian.co.uk, Monday 16th April 2012

Students: what will you do if you get a 2:2?

Did you hear about the girl who did a degree in ballet? She got a tutu. Rubbish jokes aside, many students are deeply troubled by the prospect of discovering, at the end of their final year, that they've been accorded a 2:2. And that's mostly because of reports that "around three-quarters of large graduate employers routinely use the 2:1 to sift [job] applications".

Two-thirds (66%) of the full-time students who graduated in 2010-11 would have sailed through that sifting process with their firsts and 2:1s. But 28% (the ones who ended up with a 2:2) would've ended up in the recycling bin, their CVs junked for having one too many twos. A further 6% graduated with thirds.

So what happened to those who didn't quite reach the gold standard? Did they drown their sorrows in drink and tense up every time they met someone named Desmond? No. They got on with their lives.

Jordan Blake graduated with a 2:2 in history with geography at St Mary's University College in 2010.

"Afterwards I didn't find life and the prospect of employment too difficult. Having a BA degree opened lots of new doors for me and put me on the road to pursuing a career in museums and the heritage sector," says Blake.

Regrets? There've been a few. Anmol Sekhri studied law at Manchester Metropolitan University before transferring to a business course. "When it came to applying for jobs, I started to realise just how much of a difference the 2:2 made," says Sekrhi, who blames his own complacency for his poor result.

"It effectively ruled me out of a job with many large companies. It forced me to scale back some of my aspirations. I realised that many graduate fast-track schemes were out of my reach, so I would have to climb the ladder the hard way."

But here's the really startling thing. Of those who achieved a first in 2009-10, almost half (48%) were in full-time employment six months after graduating, according to statistics I obtained from the the Higher Education Statistics Agency (results for 2010/11 are published in June). What may surprise you is that the percentages for those with 2:1s and for those with 2:2s are almost exactly the same.

And anecdotally, when you talk to graduates about the perils of job-hunting, there are tales of woe from those with every sort of degree.

It is interesting to hear from those who graduated in the "olden days" (anything before the millennium), when 2:1s were less common. Kate Morfoot, 37, read public relations and English at a time when PR degrees were rare. She finished with a 2:2 and now runs an award-winning PR agency.

What would she do if presented with two applicants from either end of the degree scale? "I would hire someone regardless of their degree grade, as I believe just getting a degree proves a commitment to study." Morfoot emphasises the importance of work experience in preparing candidates for employment.

As for me, well, I am worried. I wrote this article partly out of the fear that I may land a lower second.

I've heard people say that getting a 2:2 didn't affect them, that it spurred them on to work harder. But the reason success stories are told and retold – of the high-flying ex-dropout or the tycoon who triumphed despite a poor academic record – is precisely because they're unusual.

Why give yourself those obstacles? What are you proving? If life is about eliminating as many future regrets as possible, then you need to make the most of your opportunities at university.

The wisdom of our parents holds true: work hard now so you don't have to work hard later.

Source: Lu-Hai Liang, Guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17th April 2012

Graduate Job Salaries Lowest For Nearly A Decade

A new report from Incomes Data Services (IDS) shows that starting wages for a graduate job this year could be at their lowest real term level for 9 years.

According to the research, graduate starting salaries peaked at just over £20,600 three years ago and could remain at around the £25,000 mark this year. With the cost of living rising, it could leave the average graduate with even less in their pocket than last year’s crop once they start their new graduate job.

The survey took into account figures from over a hundred graduate employers and revealed that, after adjusting for inflation, a graduate of 2012 will be over £300 worse off than a graduate of 2011.

Head researcher at IDS, Nasreen Rahman, said that the demand for graduate jobs was in fact returning but that there is still strong competition having a dampening effect on starting salaries for graduates.

“It remains a buyer's market for graduate recruiters this year, with starting salaries set to stagnate for a further year. High rates of price inflation over the last few years have been eating away at the purchasing power of starting salaries for new graduates,” said Ms Rahman.

If you are wondering where the big money lies, then graduates who find jobs as lawyers are set to receive the highest starting salaries, with an average of £36,000.

Source: E4s.co.uk, Monday 16th April 2012

Which graduate recruiters use which psychometric tests?

If you apply for a graduate scheme with a popular graduate employer, chances are you’ll be asked to take psychometric tests. This could happen at an early stage of the application process, at the assessment centre, or both. So what should you expect?

We’ve researched the psychometric tests used by a selection of sought-after graduate employers in different sectors. Our findings show how employers use this type of assessment in different combinations depending on what skills and competencies they are seeking. Online numerical reasoning tests are particularly widely used.

Read on to find out which employer uses which tests and to get advice on where to go for tips and practice tests. This will give you the best possible chance of getting the graduate job you want. Forewarned is forearmed!

Psychometric tests used by top graduate employers

• Airbus sets timed psychometric tests online before the assessment centre stage to gauge candidates’ logical, numerical and verbal capabilities. While the tests may vary, they’ve previously included pattern recognition and analysis of symbols and numbers.
• Atkins tests include an open-ended personality questionnaire, perception test and communication test.
• BAE Systems asks most candidates to complete online psychometric tests after submitting their applications. These are standard verbal and numerical reasoning tests. Candidates may also be asked to take psychometric tests at the assessment centre to confirm the first set of results.
• BT asks candidates to take two online multiple choice psychometric tests after the online application stage. These are designed to measure basic competencies. The first is a numerical reasoning test and the second is a situational judgement test that asks candidates to choose the best course of action in different situations.
• Citi sets numerical or verbal reasoning tests depending on division, understood to be from assessment provider Talent Q.
• Deloitte After the application form stage, successful candidates are asked to take an online numerical reasoning test. If they pass they are set a verbal reasoning test.
• Ernst & Young sets online psychometric tests before the interview stage, covering verbal, logical and numerical reasoning.
• Jaguar Land Rover sets online verbal, numerical and diagrammatical reasoning tests, repeated at assessment centre to confirm results.
• KPMG sets verbal and numerical tests provided by Cubiks, which offers practice tests on its own website, although the texts it produces for KPMG are bespoke. The tests are both 20 minutes long.
• L’Oréal invites candidates to take an online psychometric test, understood to be supplied by Kenexa, after the online application stage. This usually involves a numerical reasoning test. Candidates sit further psychometric tests at the assessment centre.
• Mazars invites candidates to complete online numerical and verbal reasoning tests after successfully submitting their online applications. Tests are provided by Kenexa.
• National Grid sets an online situational judgement test.
• PwC sets verbal reasoning, diagrammatic reasoning and numerical reasoning tests, provided by SHL, as part of its online application process and during the assessment centre.
• Rolls-Royce usually sets standard numerical, verbal or logical reasoning tests.
• Royal Bank of Scotland candidates are set an Aptitude for Business Learning Exercise (ABLE) test. This type of test is a written test that provides candidates with the information and methods they need and assesses how well they make use of them.
• Transport for London candidates are set a logical and numerical reasoning test put together by SHL. They are given a number of cards and asked to work out what the connection is between them.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 12th April 2012