HOW TO GET A CAREER It's that time of year again, when a student's fancy turns lightly to thoughts of a job. The large firms hover over College at the Careers Fair, throwing out lures for the anxious students who have suddenly realised that, in nine months they will no longer be part of the sheltered college life. Notices appeal with anxious hints that it's time to start hunting, or reassuring messages of the sort, 'it's later than you think'. Don't panic. If you concentrate on one step at a time, common sense and a bit of application (effort, I mean) should give you a fair chance of winning a job and/or starting a career. And to make it easier, there are people able to advise you on every step of the way. The Careers Advisors, while they can't tell you what to do, can point you in the right direction to get started, test whether you're being realistic and otherwise generally help you. Stage one in the job hunt is deciding what type of work you want. If you don't already know what you're aiming for, there's an article further on in this issue which should give you some ideas on how to choose. So let's move on to the next stages. The autumn and spring terms should be taken up with yet more research. The indexes of the graduate recruitment directories (ROGET, GET, GO and numerous others) are usually easily available sources. A visit to the Careers Information room should be well worthwhile. The University of London Careers Service offers a wide range of publications including the 'matrices'—folders of computer printed vacancy news which give important information on employers' requirements and are regularly updated. 'Employment requirement forms'; the fortnightly lists, 'Forward Vacancies'; 'Recruitment Update' and 'Careers Extra'—all these should be available either in College or at the FELIX
University of London. The London University's Central Careers Office can be found at 50 Garden Square, London WC1. The result of your investigations should be a comprehensive list of Their possible employers. recruitment literature is important reading, most of the big companies are represented in the College Careers room collection, but if you can't find information on any particular employer try writing directly to them. When you have as much information as you can scrape together, you can start narrowing the field. Compare the pros and cons of the names on yourfirstlist, and pick out the most promising. About a dozen would be a reasonable number for a first attempt. It would be wise to include some small or lesser-known employers on your short-list; the competition for most of the well-known 'giants' will be fierce so having some back-up is a good idea. If any of your short-listed employers are taking part in the Careers Fair (see the list on page 26) applying for an interview will be relatively easy. If not, use each employer's preferred format (their own application form, standard application form, or C V with covering letter are the most usual) to apply directly to them. The College Careers room has application forms for many companies on file. Some employers keep a low profile (including some of those graduates might find most interesting) so if you want a job with them you'll have to make a speculative approach directly to them. Names and addresses can be found in the various directories. There are also the information booklets produced by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services—look for the vast collection in the College Careers room- which should help
Friday October 23rd 1987
you track down employers. If you can spare the time from revising during the summer term you can start applying for jobs that require you to be immediately available for work. This is because many employers are willing to wait two or three months for the right candidate. Otherwise you can wait until after the exams before applying again. The good news is that you can still use the College careers facilities after you graduate. Under a 'mutual aid' system you may even be able to use those of any other university of polytechnic if that would be more convenient. Public reference libraries should also have some of the sources of information you might need. For information on employers try trade directories (eg 'Who Owns Whom'), Extel cards, the Yellow Pages, professional associations and institutions (listed in the 'Directory of British Associations', published by CBD Research) and, of course, company recruitment brochures and annual reports. 'Current Vacancies' and 'Job Opportunities Bulletin', are useful publications telling you of vacancies; the 'Graduate-Employer Matching Register' is a computerassisted register which sends your details to employers with vacancies to fill. Many employers now recruit at summer fairs; national or local newspapers and specialist journals (Nature and New Scientist for example) carry advertisements for jobs. Then there are the local Job Centres for 'non-professional' and 'non-managerial' jobs if you need to earn your bread while you're looking for something more to your taste. And then there are the private employment agencies. Another point to remember is that many jobs aren't advertised. Treasure your contacts—friends, relatives or people you meet through leisure interests or parttime work. It's surprising how often graduatesfindjobs through contacts they have made for themselves, and though these people may not be able to get you a job, they may put you in touch with someone who can help. They may even be able to get you an interview. But once you've obtained an invitation to an interview, it's all up to you. Read on to learn how to cope. Good hunting.