Welcome

Welcome to the October 2007 edition of Careers@GU, our regular Careers Newsletter for academic staff, written by the Careers Service.

HOT TOPICS

University appoints Scotland's first Careers Adviser for International Students

The University’s Careers Service has become the first in Scotland to recruit a careers adviser dedicated to developing service provision for international students. Jim Campbell, until recently Head of Career Development at the University of Stirling, took up the new post of Careers Adviser (International Students) at the beginning of August. His remit will be wide but can be split into two main strands – work with students and work with employers.

The International Student Barometer has highlighted the difficulties faced by international students in connecting with the local work place during their studies. Providing easier access to information about opportunities for work experience including placements, volunteering and part-time vacancies will be one priority area and Jim hopes to link with colleagues in the Student Representative Council as well as Glasgow University Student job Search.

International students also face particular challenges when competing for jobs in the UK graduate labour market. Jim hopes to add a number of careers education activities and careers information resources to current provision. He will also make efforts to promote the value of Glasgow’s pool of international talent to graduate recruiters within the UK market.

Of course not all students will wish to remain in the UK beyond their studies and Jim will aim to enhance the quality of information and support made available to those looking to pursue careers abroad. Part of this effort will involve building stronger links with graduate recruiters in other countries around the world.

Thus far, much of Jim’s time has been taken up with information gathering and networking activities across the campus. He is keen to meet with anyone similarly engaged with international students and/or employers. His contact details are:

Direct Line: 0141 330 3119

Email: j.campbell@admin.gla.ac.uk

Vocation Vocation Vocation

One of our Careers Advisers, Ann Duff, was chosen from dozens of hopefuls as one of the two presenters fronting an exciting new programme aimed at helping students choose their careers. Channel 4's ' Vocation Vocation Vocation ' takes 10 school leavers from all over the UK and helps them to figure out what to do next. You can see Ann in her debut role on Channel 4, starting 5 November every day for two weeks at 9.30 am.

Careers Service News

Information Centre

In preparation for our relocation to The Hub next year , the Careers Service Information Centre has merged with Careers Service Reception to provide a more efficient service for both our users and staff.

It is hoped that this will allow our Information Team to diagnose enquiries and offer instant help, if applicable, or to encourage an appointment with a Careers Adviser. A lunchtime ' drop in ' session has also been introduced to try and answer career questions as quickly as possible.

In tandem with the move to The Hub , we are encouraging students to self help as much as possible. With this in mind, some staff here have spend the summer converting our website to the user friendly T4 system. The new site will be launched in October 2007 and we would welcome feedback on it.

Please encourage all your students to sign up with JEM, our jobs and events service at www.gla.ac.uk/careers/ It is now the only way for them to receive details on jobs whether part time, vacation, internships and graduate jobs and events both on-campus and elsewhere relevant to students’ career planning.

If you have any questions on our information provision or would like to visit the Information Centre to help advise your students, please contact the Information Manager, Fionna Black, at: F.Black@admin.gla.ac.uk.

Up and Coming Events

Internship Fair - Tuesday 30th October, 11.00 – 15.00, Hunter Halls

Internships, work experience, gap year placements in the UK or abroad, are among a few opportunities available at the Internship Fair.

This FREE event provides an opportunity for students to gain valuable work experience and help raise awareness of the range of opportunities available and the transferability of their degree subject in a variety of occupational sectors . Open to all students of all disciplines at the University of Glasgow. There is no need to register.

For more information and a full exhibitor list contact the university’s Careers Service or visit http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/index.htm

Skills for Work: Finance - Tuesday 6th November 2007, 11.00 -14.00, Hunter Halls.

A networking and recruitment event dedicated to the finance sector open to all students of all disciplines at the University of Glasgow.

This FREE event provides an opportunity for students to talk to some of the key players within the financial sector; a networking lunch and skills workshops with some of the best known names in the industry.

All students must register prior to the event.

For more information and a full exhibitor list visit http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/index.htm

Opportunities to Work in Scotland: Job Search in Scotland

The University of Glasgow is hosting the above event in conjunction with the Universities of Strathclyde; Glasgow Caledonian; Paisley and Bell College (soon to merge to create a new university for the West of Scotland). This event will be marketed to all students within these institutions, with special emphasis on international students.

This free information and recruitment event will be held on 21 November 2007 from 2.00 - 4.00pm in Hunter Halls.

Many international students wish to work in Scotland after graduation through the Fresh Talent Initiative (FTI). FTI, introduced by the Scottish Executive, allows international students to remain in Scotland for 2 years, following graduation, to undertake employment.

For further details contact gufairs@gla.ac.uk .

Employabilty

Aiming University Learning @ Work Project – Update

The AUL@W Project is well under way with three of the pilot subjects Biosciences, (UoG), Physics, (StA) and Psychology, (GCU) having started, whilst the remaining three, all based here, are coming on stream now in History, Management and Mathematics.

The original pilots have made a lot of headway; Biosciences held a successful event for employers and students to showcase their Business and Biosciences Course at the end of September, at Scottish Enterprise headquarters in Atlantic Quay. St Andrews has been busy developing its Transferable Skills for Physicists Module and GCU has been marrying students` part-time work experience to Psychology Modules, in addition to running the Voluntary Work and Mentoring Scheme.

Initial research across the three institutions and the six subjects has been completed, with some very interesting results. (These will become available in due course). Other research is about to get underway on those subjects across other HEIs in Scotland.

We held a very successful dissemination event on 31 August 2007 in the Gilmorehill Centre, which brought all the practitioners from the three institutions together, in addition to some of the academics who took part in the research. Thanks again to those who attended (and to the other research participants).

The Project has generated a lot of internal interest from other subject areas, as well as external interest from, e.g. the HEA, QAA, Scottish Enterprise, SFC`s Skills Committee, SHEEN, and UVAC to name but a few.

Future developments include the three other pilots, Work Related Learning (WRL) research and a dedicated website. If you have any ideas of what you would like the website to include, or indeed if you want to find out more about the Project, please do not hesitate to contact Irene Bell, the Project Manager,

i.bell@admin.gla.ac.uk, or on 330 8586/3280.

Student Diaries

In a joint initiative between the Careers Service and the SRC, all first year undergraduates this year have received a diary .This comprehensive guide to student services and campus life has been produced with the aim of supporting our new undergraduates to integrate effectively into the university. It will also help them to plan and organise their timetables and reflect on their learning, thus paving the way for the introduction of Personal Development Planning (PDP). If you would like to see the diary, copies are available from the Careers Service and the SRC.

Time for Feedback

To better support you, we welcome your feedback on this newsletter.