Lifestep’s Insight

Fresh from Insight’s creative festival, Lifestep is happy to report back on a highly enjoyable and successful day!

The day was a whirlwind of workshops, clinics and networking; a collaboration of experienced professionals and budding entrepreneurs. We were very impressed by the enthusiasm and calibre of students who took part on the day. Let’s not forget, this was a free festival on the hottest day of the year so far. It would have been oh so easy for the students to sack the day off and head to the park instead, turn back the clock five years and I know where I’d have been! Yet not only did the students turn up, they impressed as well.

Here at Lifestep we’re always telling students that good grades are no longer enough to compete in today’s job market. The student entrepreneurs of Hertfordshire Uni had got the memo; we were enlightened with stories of students setting up amateur photography websites, starting web design companies and all sorts of other enterprising projects.

By all accounts the students had great day as well. They enjoyed Theodora’s interactive workshop entitled “Land that job,” as well as one-to-one CV clinics. Second-year-student Chloe reflected “It was a really great day, I learned loads of handy tips from the workshop and the time we spent on my CV has made me feel far more confident!”

It’s also worth noting that the day itself was an example of the power of networking and making connections. We were invited to the event by our friends at Jobs4creatives, whom we had met 6months earlier, having received a last minute invitation to their launch party. It just goes to show the importance of these functions, and how one seemingly innocuous event can lead to so much more.

We would like to thank all those involved in the day, and look forward to seeing the footage of the day!

 

Photos taken by Lucy White.

www.likeacyansunday.com

2012 – The year of the unemployed graduate by Louis Collin

I am 24 years of age. I have a well respected degree from one of the UK’s top universities as well as good GCSEs and A-Levels. I am hardworking, a team player, ambitious, enthusiastic, organised and any other characteristic you can throw at an employer. Yet I don’t have a job. I am your archetypal unemployed graduate of 2012.

A day in the life of the unemployed can be a tedious monotony of checking emails, sending emails and countless cups of tea. This coupled with having no money can sap morale.

In 2012, academic excellence is no longer enough, and by no means a guarantee of a career. Graduate schemes typically have over 80 applicants for every job. “Graduate jobs” now require 2-3 years previous experience.  Putting it simply, graduate unemployment is at a 20 year high.

I’ve done the graduate fairs, filled out various questionnaires (Do you like working outdoors? Yes – become a zookeeper), and signed up to all the job sites. So far these approaches have proved utterly useless. So what’s the solution?

One possible solution is to jump on the internship bandwagon.  The internship debate is raging at the moment, and when there’s such a fine line between personal benefit and exploitation it’s hardly surprising. Getting a genuinely rewarding experience from an internship is a two pronged process: finding the right internship and making the most of it.

There is no doubt that the right internship can be invaluable. You learn skills on the job, you get to network and ultimately you come out of the experience better placed than when you started. Yet there are an abundance of internships out there that offer little more than the skills needed to negotiate a photocopying machine. This means that finding the right internship – let alone job – is a competitive process. You’ll need to stand out from the crowd.

Even to get an interview you need to get noticed. It may sound obvious, but when an employer has a pile of 100 similar CVs only the exceptionally well tailored ones will get noticed.

Once you’ve got an interview you need an edge over your competitors. You need to be confident in what you’re doing. I find it remarkable that interview technique is not taught at school. Its seems ridiculous that most graduates will go into their first post-university interview with no formal training. Preparation, presentation and dealing with interview day nerves can all be easily taught and practised.

Once you have your dream job the name of the game is networking, making connections, ensuring you make the most of your – well deserved – opportunity. Sounds easy enough, right? As Lifestep’s new intern I’m looking forward to being trained in these areas and no doubt reporting back their overwhelming success!

It is the small things that make a difference

It is the small things that make a difference. No, I am not giving relationship advice neither am I talking about the fiscal policies of European countries. Rather, I am talking about the small, easy steps you can take to stand out from the crowd when applying for a job.

You only need to be 5% better than the other candidates to land a job. However, with competition for places so fierce, it can be the little things you do when applying for a job that make you 100% better in the eyes of the employer. At Lifestep, we have come up with a few easily doable steps that can add real value to your job application and have so far proven to be successful in securing interviews.

i.            Presentation – Instead of typing up your cover letter and CV and then sending it via email to the jobs inbox of that company, perhaps never to be read, write up a proper letter that clearly targets one or two named individuals within that company. You can type the main body of the letter, but for a personal touch, the individuals name at the beginning and your name at the end should be handwritten.

ii.            Stationary – To make your letter stand out, use top quality letter writing paper. Printing your letter on standard A4 will look sloppy whereas quality paper will demonstrate to the employer you have taken a bit more time and effort and that you are someone who cares about good presentation.

iii.            Delivery – So you have decided to write a well presented letter to a specific individual. Obviously you cannot now send this by email but as you have gone to the time and effort to write this letter using good quality paper, it would be a shame to just post it. To make yourself really stand out and to quite literally go the extra mile, why not hand deliver the letter to the company to ensure the targeted individual reads the letter. You don’t have to actually march up to his/her desk, just drop it at reception and ask the secretary to make sure said individual get the letter because when they do, they will be sure to read it.

As the current Lifestep intern, I can testify to the success of these measures having so far fired off 4 applications in this manner and having received 3 positive replies within a week asking for me to come in for an interview.

Links: http://lifestep.co.uk/

 

Learn to earn with Lifestep

Long-term youth unemployment is one of the biggest problems facing our society today. The unemployment figures for those between the ages of 16 -24 have been the highest since the last major recession. 1 in 4 graduates remain unemployed after 4 years.

Now more than ever, there is a need for young people to get out, be proactive and prove their real value to potential employers. At Lifestep we have adopted the mantra that to get the job you desire, you need to make the employer want to create a job for you. You have to prove to the potential employer that your skills and talents are too good to miss.

However, this is a lot more easily said than done but at Lifestep we have now coached 500 students and 75% of them have gone on to find their first proper job or an internship. We have a consistent record of coaching students through the most important stages of the job application process. Furthermore, we have strong links with Pareto Law so we can recommend suitable students for roles with them.

To kick start your job search, we recommend you write a personalised cover letter to a named individual and make sure you use good quality stationary. Do not just print your letter on plain A4. Once you have done that and you secured an interview, why not get in touch with Lifestep for some practice. Recently we had a graduate from the University of Leeds come in for an interview clinic. He wanted to work in insurance but kept falling short at the interview stage. Upon being coached at Lifestep, the student received two job offers from the interviews he had later that week.

The job application process is a rigorous exam and can be a long journey. At Lifestep we are able to make sure individuals are fully prepared so they can come out on top, whatever stage of the process they are at.

Links: http://www.pareto.co.uk/

http://lifestep.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe1m_PgnQRM

Internships in a Charity

The last blogs have focused on very industry specific case studies for internships. Sector specific internships are clearly excellent opportunities for those who know what industry they want to work in. However, if you do not manage to get a place on the KPMG internship programme and you want to work in accountancy or similarly with the Lloyd’s programme and you want to work in insurance, then it is not the end of the world. The trick is to be flexible and proactive. You do not necessarily have to do an internship in your dream industry to guarantee a job in that sector later on. Employers look for well-rounded individuals who can display the qualities and skills that will make them employable.

One of the best and ever increasingly popular places to do an internship is with a charity. Typically this will be unpaid so donations are not wasted but travel expenses and a food allowance are often covered. Working at a charity offers an excellent opportunity for an intern to amass a wide range of skills that will be crucial when looking for full time employment in the industry of your choice. The role will be varied and graduates will have the opportunity to work in a number of disciplines from fundraising and organising events to marketing and PR so there is often an opportunity to do work that is directly relevant to another industry. Such is the rush to get an internship that Cancer Research is running a competition with 10 prizes of 3 week summer placements to be won. Places are not awarded to those who raise the most money but rather those who come up with the best and most innovative ways of raising money. Working in a charity is a great opportunity for a graduate to build a portfolio of work that will be impressive and demonstrate the skills required to work in a number of industries.

Links:

http://aboutus.cancerresearchuk.org/jobs/

http://www.charityjob.co.uk/

Get to the front of the queue with an internship

As we all know competition for jobs is fierce and the fact of the matter is 1 in 4 students from 2011 still do not have a full time employment. Employers have told us at Lifestep that academic achievement and a respectable degree are no longer enough to guarantee a good first job. Nowadays, all employers want to know what you have done to make yourself more employable, and what you have done to set yourself apart. It is crucial that you can demonstrate to employers the skills and behaviours that are transferable to the work place.

This easier said than done and developing your transferable skills will require more than just your experiences at university or on a gap year. The specific transferable skills that employers are looking are; working with others, resilience, leadership and drive. All of these are particularly relevant to the work place and that is why the best place to develop them is when working. For this reason internships have proven to be so valuable for those looking to improve their employability.

Internships have proven to be one of the best ways to increase your chances of getting a good first job and consequentially, they are becoming ever more popular. The professional services company Ernst & Young received 2,800 applicants for 750 places, up 200 per cent form last year. In fact entries opened 3 months early this year to accommodate the enormous demand.  But why is demand so high?  In the case of Ernst & Young, 90 per cent of interns are offered jobs at the company. It is felt that those who have undertaken the internship perform more strongly once a full time member of the company. Similarly, KPMG, another professional services company takes on 150 interns on a paid vacation programme and many of those involved are later offered jobs in the firm.

Internships allow for a rounded training experience in all departments and it gives both parties time to get to know each other so once fully employed, those who have done internships really do hit the ground running.

Useful Links:

http://www.ey.com/UK/en/Careers/Students

http://www.kpmgcareers.co.uk/Graduates/default.aspx?pg=2

http://lifestep.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping you to get a good first job

What’s your ‘AND’?

Employers tell us that academic achievement and a respected degree is no longer enough to guarantee a job.

All employers want to know what you have done to make yourself employable, and what you have done to set yourself apart.

What skills and behaviours can you demonstrate that are transferable to the workplace?

How will you make contribution to their business from day one?

Lifestep has now coached and mentored close to 500 students from post AS at school to recent graduates from university.

With our strong links to leading recruitment companies we have been able to find 75% of our students their first proper job, an internship and meaningful work experience.

“As a direct result of the course, I genuinely feel far more equipped for job hunting and confidently able to approach any job also in the knowledge that there is a much higher chance of success.

This course gets you the closest to a job guarantee you will find without a contract. This course lets you understand exactly what employers are looking for, from interview technique through to mastering your CV.”

-current undergraduate and former Lifestep alumnus of Headstart 2011

For more information call us on +44 (0) 207 953 4084 or email paul.dezulueta@lifestep.co.uk