BYWYD CAMPWS 7 Why apply for a CUROP Your last chance to meet employers this academic year or CUSEIP by Cerian Jones scheme?
The Big Grad Fair
T
he final gradd fair of this year is coming up and it’s an amazing opportunity you can’t miss! It’s open to all years and it’s never too early to start thinking about your career after university and making connections will really help boost your chances when it finally comes to looking for a career. The event is on Friday, 29 March from 11:00 until 15:00 in the Great Hall of the Students Union. Over 55 employers will be in attendance, offering a range of opportunities, from internships to graduate roles. Attending is a great idea no matter what stage of your degree you’re
at. Even if you’re not ready to start networking with employers, or you’re not sure if you’re prepared enough, the careers team (FORCardiff) is in attendance and they can check your CV, and offer workshops and help in the world of work. There are also presentations running throughout the day on subjects such as how to enhance your career prospects using LinkedIn and Hays Recruitment are running a CV workshop too! Don’t go just to pick up pamphlets and let the recruiters sell you their pitch, ask difficult questions. If you think beforehand what you want to get out of this opportunity you’ll come up with some helpful questions
Image Source: Stan Zurek via Wikimedia Commons
that you can use later on to show you have researched the position thoroughly. But by all means help yourself to free pens! You might already know, or think you know, what career you’re interested in following your graduation and think the grad fair is pointless. However, it’s good to see all options you have in front of you if plan A doesn’t work out. You might find multiple firms that have careers which entail the kind of work you want to do, and you need to ask questions at all of these stalls to find out which business will suit you best. Remember right now you’re the customer. It also could be a good
idea to take a CV or two with you and hopefully start a rapport with a firm which might secure you a job before you even graduate! If stalls are busy, quickly ask if you can contact them via email - remember to keep emails professional and typo-free, every contact with the firm is giving them an impression of you. Maybe if you haven’t already, now is a good time to install Grammarly! Another great reason to attend is the abundance of prizes available to win if you’re one of the first 500 students in you’ll get a goody bag of awesome freebies and a chance to win £200 worth of shopping vouchers, free pizzas, and more!
Image Source: Kevinquickle via Flickr
by Ashley Boyle
A
re you a Cardiff University student? Are you available over the summer period? Are you interested in a career in research? If you’ve answered yes to all of the above, then you should definitely consider applying to the CUROP or CUSEIP schemes. CUROP (Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme) and CUSEIP (Cardiff University Student Education Innovation Projects) give students the chance to work alongside university lecturers on a wide range of current research projects for up to eight weeks - whilst getting paid! Project applications were made available on the Careers and Employability portal on Monday the 18th, where each project is explained in detail. Currently, there are projects which explore Big Data, perceptions of teenage pregnancy, materials designed to reduce concussions in rugby, the British Press and even sheep. The eight week programme pays £9.36 an hour with an additional 12.07% of holiday pay. This works out at roughly £10.50 an hour, and £2,100 for the project. The research opportunity, whilst also paying pretty well, is a great addition to your CV. University lecturers are also happy to act as a reference at the end of the project - a great credible source to help boost your future endeavours, regardless of whether you choose a career in research or not. At the end of the project, when all theories are explored and all data is logged, CUROP and CUSEIP students are invited to showcase their work at a poster exhibition in City Hall. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the other student projects. If you’re really keen, there’s the opportunity to conduct a short three minute presentation to attendees, giving listeners a chance to understand how you underwent researching your subject and what you found. I was lucky enough to participate in an academic research internship last year and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As a JOMEC student, I initially assumed I would be eligible for JOMEC projects only, but I soon found that this was not the case, having being accepted onto a CARBS project focusing on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Overall, it was a great experience that gave me several new skills. I was taken out of my comfort zone and it left me considering a career in research, and I would definitely recommend applying.
Poster Presentation: At the end of the programme, a poster exhibition is held at City Hall. Source: Ashley Boyle