Working Behind the Scenes at The Career Zone

Working Behind the Scenes at The Career Zone Getting work experience while you study is crucial to landing your dream job. Kerry Mann current BA History, Streatham Campus, told us about her time on the Uni’s Student Campus Partnership (SCP) scheme.   Jo McCreedie, Kerry Mann, and Sam Jackman delivering the Pathways training week Student jobs are supposed to be working late in bars and clubs, right? Wrong! My experience as an SCP for the Internships Team has given me a real insight into the workplace, and how the University works hard to support its students. My position as the Administrator for the Pathways to Arts, Culture and Heritage programme means that Ive taken this training and internship from the planning stages to delivery. The Pathways programme sought to provide a group of talented students intensive and specific training from industry professionals and then place them in companies in the arts, culture and heritage sector, to implement their new found skills and ideas. As a History student myself I was excited that the University was providing such an in-depth programme for a sector which is often neglected. To pull this programme off, with the help of Sam Jackman from the RAMM and led by Jo McCreedie, was really satisfying, especially seeing how enthusiastic the students were about something I had helped to create. Being given the responsibility of supporting the development of an important new programme was at first a little daunting but now I am proud of what we have achieved and feel ready to take on any graduate job. Working with the Internships Team has been a blessing for my personal development. From the basics like working the telephone to spreadsheets (lots of them) and Twitter I am now fully equipped to get on with the job and feel confident in what I do. Being given the responsibility of supporting the development of an important new programme was at first a little daunting but now I am proud of what we have achieved and feel ready to take on any graduate job. My role has involved a lot of project management skills. Advertising the programme back in January meant liaising with the Design Team to create posters, banners and flyers and the overall brand of the programme. I then managed the application process, becoming competent behind the scenes of My Career Zone. Having never thought myself as a computer wizz, I’ve built my confidence learning new systems and even how to schedule tweets on Twitter. I’ve then been involved in booking rooms, food, speakers and coordinating paperwork between students and internship providers. For me, being involved in running the assessment centre was the most exciting and relevant part of the job. Being able to see exactly what it is that assessors want to be hearing will be particularly useful in future job applications. It was, however, being given the opportunity to be an assessor on the day that fuelled my interested in HR. I really enjoyed matching the student’s attitudes and capabilities to those we had outlined to assess and have since sought further experiences in this sector. Being around a careers team has shown me opportunities many students miss out on whilst they are at University. As I’m constantly telling my friends: ‘check out the Career Zone website; there are tonnes of info, and you can get loads of support like on the Career Mentor Scheme and eXepert!’ Whats it like having a ‘real’ job while at Uni? Well it’s actually a lot less stressful than your average retail job. Whats it like  having a ‘real’ job while at Uni? Well it’s actually a lot less stressful than your average retail job. Firstly it’s an internship, so there’s a lot of support and training. Plus the regular (and daytime) hours, flexibility and being on campus makes it the perfect student job. I would encourage anyone to get in touch with the Careers team to help you start getting an edge on those grad job applications, whether that’s through research, a job or a Pathways programme next year. Coming to the end of this job I knew I wanted to do something similar in my final year, and was fortunate enough to get the position of eXepert Administrator, working with the same team, I really didn’t want to leave! As I’ve really enjoyed my experiences in recruiting and assessing students, I have also secured experience with a recruitment agency for the summer- something I would not have dreamed of without the experiences and support I’ve gained in my position.