The C2 library will be closed on the morning of the 5th of February until 2pm for staff training.
There will also not be any one-to-one sessions available during this time.
The C2 library will be closed on the morning of the 5th of February until 2pm for staff training.
There will also not be any one-to-one sessions available during this time.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: opening times
Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming for.
Whether you are a current student or a graduate there may be aspects of this website that are relevant to you. Visit the site here:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: equal opportunities
C2 will be going to The Postgraduate Study & MBA Fair which is taking place next Wednesday (20th January) in the Business Design Centre in Islington.
At the Fair you can:
There will also be an opportunity to meet with a C2 adviser. You can discuss your options and they can help to evaluate which course would be best for you and your career. If you have already decided what you want to apply for then we can review your application form.
You can book a 25 minute advice session for a special reduced rate of £25 at the fair – email fairs@careers.lon.ac.uk to reserve a place.
Posted in Uncategorized
Please note that C2 will be closed from the 23rd of December at 5pm. We will reopen on the 4th of January. There will be no appointments during this period and we also won’t be able to respond to any requests for e-advice.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: closure
Are you an end of the year student or a recent graduate? Do you feel you have barriers to access to employment?
Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming for. Visit the site here: http://reach.thecareersgroup.co.uk/
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: career information, equal opportunities
The Society of Biology have created a new jobs board. It lists a wide range of careers related to Biological Sciences. There is a great range of jobs listed from Curator of Natural Life at a museum, to sales person to Senior Toxicologist.
In order to see the full job details you will need to register with the society of Biology (which is free).
Visit the site here: http://www.societyofbiology.org/jobs?page=2
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: job seeking
Sorry for the long period of time that has somehow flown by since the last post. C2 has been really busy in the last couple of months with individuals trying to get their career back on track before Christmas, and organisations trying to fit training sessions in before the year-end. Busy times! But enough excuses…
Today I have been researching professional mentorship. I have recently been matched with a mentor at work, and in preparing for our first meeting several questions occured to me: fundamentally, what exactly is a professional mentor, how will having one help me, and how I could help them? I thought the answers that I found to some of these questions might be useful to some C2 blog readers who are considering finding their own mentors.
What is a professional Mentor?
I found this article on Business Blogs: What Makes a Good Business Mentor Basically it summarises a mentor as someone you can trust and confide in. Someone who will give you good advice and constructive criticism. Someone who will fill the gaps in your knowledge.
So far this description sounds good, if somewhat vague. I found this interesting post about how to find a mentor: Should you ask for a Mentorship? This article discusses whether you should ask someone to be you mentor, or allow it to develop naturally. This article further helped me to understand what a mentor is- someone you can turn to for advice or guidance. A follow-up comment to the above post quotes: “The hardest part of having mentors is not finding people who will do it. It’s finding the right questions to forge the relationship.”
So what can you ask a mentor?
I googled: “How do you find a mentor? And once you find one, what do you do next?”
Which is how I came to this article in the Guardian: If you do one thing this week… find a mentor
It states a mentor can help you with “Thinking in new ways, optimising performance, [gaining] networking contacts and understanding how to get things done outside of the formal processes and systems, which don’t always work.”
In order to achieve this you need to attend meetings with questions ready. Have a purpose and a goal of what you want to get out of sessions. The guardian advises:
“Be specific and be realistic. For example, suggest that over the next six months you have a conversation once a month for an hour. Perhaps the first meeting is face to face, with [subsequent meetings] over the phone.”
If you do set up regular meetings, be prepared for each one. Have questions ready, bring relevant documents, and always make sure you have a purpose.”
Is having a mentor beneficial?
So overall, it seems as though a mentor can be really beneficial to your career and professional development. But it’s not a passive thing- you need to be prepared to put some effort in. When it works well a mentor can help you to gain new skills and perhaps a broader perspective- but it requires work on both parts.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Career development, mentoring
Increasingly frequently as a part of an interview process you may be required to to prepare, and deliver, a presentation as part of the interview process.
The employer will want to assess your oral communication skills. Can you present your case in a way that your audience will understand and find interesting?
Setting the scene
The employer may ask you to prepare your presentation before the day of your interview, or you may be given a limited time for preparation once you have arrived at the interviewer’s premises. Sometimes you can choose the subject of your talk, possibly from a list of suggested titles. Otherwise, you will be given the topic. You will normally be told the maximum duration of your presentation, for example three minutes or fifteen minutes. Audio-visual equipment such as a lap-top with PowerPoint, whiteboard, overhead projector, or flipchart may or may not be available. Your audience will consist of your interviewers and possibly the other candidates. Expect the interviewers to make notes as they assess your performance.
EXAMPLES OF PRESENTATIONS REQUESTED BY EMPLOYERS
TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE
YOUR NOTES
Reading your presentation aloud can sound stilted and you will not be able to look at your audience. Use brief notes consisting of key words on note cards. Make sure you number the cards and use large writing and a highlighter pen so that you can follow them when under pressure.
YOUR BODY LANGUAGE
Be aware of your body language:
USING VISUAL AIDS
You may be allowed to use visual aids to help the audience to understand the point you wish to make. Visual aids can make your presentation more effective. People retain 10% of what they hear, but retain 50% of what they hear and see.
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?
Many people are afraid of speaking publicly but the more you practise, the more your performance will improve. Learn to use PowerPoint or an overhead projector. There is a knack to using them confidently. Take opportunities to give presentations to your fellow students.
Finally: GOOD LUCK!
This info is from a resource sheet provided by The Careers Group. You can see the original here: http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/page482.asp
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Interview Skills, presentation skills
Have you ever wondered about the theory behind career coaching? A couple of C2 advisers have set up a new blog called Careers in Theory. This makes an interesting read for anyone interested in careers theory or theory in general.
It’s also a great source of information for aspiring or current careers advisers. Find out more here:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: careers advice, theory