Careers News Weeks 9 and 10: York Award applications, Christmas market, international work plus starting your own business

/ Hilary Neary
  1. Run it! Apply now to be a York Children’s University Ambassador
  2. Ever wondered how you’d set up your own business?
  3. York Award assessment for final years
  4. Holidays are coming with Careers‘ Christmas Market!
  5. Employer events in Weeks 9 and 10
  6. Careers briefings in Weeks 9 and 10
  7. Putting on a careers event? Get help with costs from Careers
  8. Careers’ Student Internship Bureau
  9. Sirius Programme – new scheme supports international students to set up business in UK after graduation
  10. International Work – new site to help you find opportunities in Africa
  11. Go behind the scenes of the education sector…YSIS Plus is coming!
  12. Networking through Professional Connect
  13. Help shape online recruitment – research survey
  14. Win great prizes with the Trendence Graduate Barometer
  15. Coming up next term
  16. Further information about how we can help you

1. Run it! Apply now to be a York Children’s University Ambassador – 10 Roles available
Could you support the re-launch of York CU and inspire children aged 7-14 to engage with learning outside the curriculum throughout the Spring Term? As a CU Ambassador you will spend about 2 hours a week acting as a key contact for a local primary school, helping to publicise the scheme and supporting the delivery of activities across the city. This will include engaging children and families in our new February festivities and Spring graduation ceremony. Apply now via YSIS Run it! Deadline Thursday Week 9 (28 November)

2. Ever wondered how you’d set up your own business?
Our new workshop, ‘First Steps to Starting a Business’, is perfectly suited to both those who have a business idea but don’t know where to go from there, or those who just want to discover the things to think about when starting a company.

Delivered in conjunction with business advisers, you’ll find out what it takes to be an entrepreneur, in addition to practical advice on launching yourself as a freelancer or getting a start-up off the ground. Thursday 28 November (week 9), 5pm to 8pm. See the Careers Gateway for details.

3. Final Years – The York Award application form is now online
The York Award application form will be available on the York Award website from week 8.  If you are in your final year of study, you can begin the assessment phase for the York Award. The assessment requires you to reflect on your experiences during your time at York and the skills you have developed. We ask that you assign points to your experiences and these must collectively total 100 points.

If you have any questions, come along to an Applying for the York Award workshop on Thursday 28th November, 1pm in V/123 or book a Careers Information appointment via Careers Gateway.

4. Holidays are coming with Careers‘ Christmas Market!
Come along and support enterprising student stall holders with an event to get you into the holiday spirit – the Christmas Market! With 26 stalls, there’ll be a range of gifts and treats for the festive season. Get ahead of the rush and do some Christmas shopping or simply fill up on festive confectionery. Make sure you visit on Wednesday 27 November between 11am – 3pm in James Dining Hall.

5. Employer Events in Weeks 9 and 10
Full details of events including location/booking on Careers Gateway

  • Monday 25 November, 1.00pm – Employability and Commercial Awareness with PwC
  • Tuesday 26 November, 12.00 noon – Macfarlane’s City Law Presentation
  • Wednesday 27 November, 2.00pm – The Bloomberg Aptitude Test (BAT). The BAT is a multiple choice test that evaluates your abilities as relative to a career in finance.

6. Careers Briefings in Weeks 9 and 10
Full details of events including location/booking on Careers Gateway

  • Tuesday 26 November, 1.00pm: Work Experience in Finance
  • Thursday 28 November, 1.00pm: Applying for the York Award

7. Putting on a careers event? Get help with costs from Careers
We are happy to support clubs, societies or colleges who want to put on events that support employability and skills development. You can apply for help with funding – up to £100 per event – to help with cost of catering, publicity or travel expenses for a speaker. Find out more about our Careers Fund online.

8. Careers’ Student Internship Bureau
The Student Internship Bureau advertise internships exclusively for University of York students throughout the year on Careers Gateway. To find out what internships are on offer and to apply, log in and search by organisation “Student Internship Bureau”. Keep up to date with the latest projects as they are advertised, by liking our SIB Facebook page.

9. Sirius Programme – new scheme supports international students to set up business in UK after graduation
There is now a new programme for international students who want to set up a business in the UK after their studies. The Sirius Programme is a new UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) scheme which allows young entrepreneurs working in a small team of up to 4 people to apply for help setting up their business in the UK. There is a lot of support available but specific conditions apply for the programme which is run under Tier 1 of the Points Based System. Read more about it and find out if it’s for you.

10. International Work – new site to help you find opportunities in Africa
GradLink Africa is a specialist careers website designed for African students and graduates across the UK (although it can be used by any students interested in working in Africa). It includes jobs, links with major graduate employers, in-depth advice sections, and the latest news and events relating to the graduate labour markets across Africa.

GradLink Africa is completely open access for use by all. and it follows the very successful GradLink China, Gradlink India and Gradlink Malaysia sites. GradLink Africa covers job opportunities across the continent and there are also in-depth careers advice/information sections for Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya with more to be added soon.

11. Go behind the scenes of the education sector… YSIS Plus is coming!
Interested in education or in teaching? Want to gain more knowledge about the education system? On Wednesday afternoons of the spring term we are privileged to offer interactive workshops led by experts from the Local Authority and TeachFirst. The workshops focus upon key educational topics, including Behaviour for Learning, Literacy and Numeracy, and supporting bilingual learners. By attending you will gain valuable hints and tips and techniques for working in schools, as well as learn about current theory and practice.

To download the full programme visit the YSIS Start it! pages

12. Networking through Professional Connect
If you want to know what it’s like to work for a company – who better to tell you than someone who already works there? As well as giving you a great insight into different roles within a sector or different companies, networking may also allow you to access opportunities that are not advertised widely. In both Spring and Summer terms (in conjunction with the Alumni office, YUSU and GSA) we will be holding two large scale networking events in a wide range of sectors including retail, public sector, PR, advertising, marketing, journalism, publishing, sciences, politics and public affairs. More details of Professional Connectwill be announced soon but in the meantime find out more about how networking can help you plan your future.

13. Help shape online recruitment – research survey
Every year, the Potentialpark research study is read by many of the top employers worldwide and influences the development of career websites, mobile phone applications and social media communication. Please click here asap to take part in the 15 minute survey to help shape the future of online recruitment and have the chance to win the latest iPhone or iPad.

14. Win great prizes with the Trendence Graduate Barometer
The Trendence Graduate Barometer 2014 is a large scale piece of research into students’ views on graduate careers and recruitment across the whole of Europe.

– take the survey for the chance to win great prizes.

15. Coming up next term
Look out for the Education Fair (21 Jan), Assessment Centre Activity Day (29 Jan) and Professional Connect networking events in Retail, Public & Third Sectors and PR, Marketing & Advertising (25 Feb). For more details of these and many more events see www.york.ac.uk/careers/events.

16. Further information about how we can help you: