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

• Tell us about yourself and what you can offer this organisation (5 minutes, a very open subject).
• Why I enjoy Latin-American dancing (10 minutes, chosen by the employer from information given on the application form).
• Choose a science topic, currently in the news, of interest to pupils aged 11 years (15 minutes, interview for teacher training course).

 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE

• If you have a choice, choose a subject about which you feel confident to speak.
• Who is your audience? Pitch your message to their level of understanding.
• Do not overwhelm with too many details and figures.
• Be explicit about the outline of your content. State what you are going to talk about, outline your main points and summarise your conclusions. This is known as signposting.
• Personal stories, anecdotes and examples are often interesting and memorable. However, telling jokes can be risky. The audience may not share your sense of humour.
• Practise delivering your talk in front of a trusted friend or the mirror.
• Ensure that the audience at the back of the room can             see and hear you.
• Remember that the audience wants you to succeed.  They also want you to recover from any disaster.
• Time yourself – it is better to end a little early than to overrun but be aware that you may speak more quickly in front of an audience.

 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:

• Smile, show enthusiasm and the audience should respond more enthusiastically.
• Maintain a relaxed but confident posture.
• Make eye contact with individuals in the audience. They will feel more involved.
• Avoid talking too quickly or too slowly and try not to talk in monotone.
• Don’t fidget; the audience may find this distracting.

 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.

• Keep it short and simple; use bullet points not sentences. Too many words become a jumble.
• Use large print and bold images.
• If possible, use a variety of colours but keep a consistent ‘brand’.
• It can be harder to write neatly when using an OHP or whiteboard, so check that what you have written is clear and spelled correctly.
• Do not block the audience’s view by standing between them and your visual aid.
• Do not talk to the screen. Talk to the group.

 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

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:

http://careersintheory.wordpress.com/

In the midst of the recession there was a lot of people moving into the teaching profession. There were a few posts on this blog on the topic:

Are You Considering a Career in Teaching

Banking Versus Teaching

New Jobs for City Boys

However, whilst city workers may flee to the profession there is also some movement in the other direction.

This week  the Guardian has released an interview with the head of the education centre at the Guardian, Margaret Holborn. They talk to her about her decision to leave teaching…

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/audio/careers-talk-leaving-teaching

Relay Jobs is a website that has been designed to help individual access 2012 Games-related jobs and training.

They provide links to different services within London that may be able to help you to gain employment in the build up to the Olympics.

In particular they specialise in providing training such as CSCS (Health and Safety) training for jobseekers keen to access vacancies on a construction site, as well as training in a range of modern construction methods and other skills such as plant, scaffolding, security, steel erecting and PTS (rail work).

They state: “It is very likely that graduates of these courses will secure employment on the Park, as employers actually visit the training centres and interview candidates.”

For more information visit their website: http://www.relaylondonjobs.co.uk/

 

 

Thursday 19 November 2009
4pm – 7pm
Senate House, Malet Street, University of London, WC1E 7HU

•  More than 2,000 postgraduate study programmes
• An internationally recognised degree, acclaimed for its quality and excellence
• Study full-time, part-time or by distance learning
• Access to world class research library resources

 The Postgraduate Open Evening is an opportunity for prospective students to gain an insight into studying at the University of London.

 Not only will you be able to explore the range of study options available at the Colleges within the University of London, you can also find out about student life in London.

 Participating Colleges/Institutions:

Birkbeck, The Central School of Speech &Drama, Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, Heythrop College, Institute of Education, King’s College London, London Business School, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LSE, Queen Mary University of London, Royal Holloway, The School of Advanced Study, SOAS (including The Centre for Development, Environment and Policy and Centre for Financial & Management Studies), The School of Pharmacy, St George’s, UCL, University of London External System and University of London Institute in Paris.

 Also exhibiting:

The Careers Group, University of London, Senate House Library, University of London Housing Services and University of London Union (ULU).

 Click on the banner below to go to the event website and pre-register.

Following news that career advice would be made available to 7 year olds in the UK (see here for more info) a lot of discussion has been sparked.

In particular I like an article from the BBC which asks celebrities including Will Young, Sian Williams and Edwina Currie what they wanted to be when they were 7 years old. Click here to read more.

When I was 7 I wanted to be a milkman. My logic behind this was that I could finish work at lunch time and play with my friends. Sadly this career goal never became a reality!

What was your goal when you were 7, and how does this compare with the job that you actually have? Comments welcome…

There was news in the papers yesterday that children from the age of 7 would receive careers advice in schools.

The comments from the public following most of the articles that I have read generally concur that this is a ridiculous idea. I agree that the thought of making children decide what they want to do at such a young age is not a good idea- but this is not what the scheme is encouraging.

In fact the opposite is true; ministers want to introduce coaching to encourage children from poorer backgrounds to aim higher and have more ambitious career aspirations. According to an article in The Guardian “too often those from poorer backgrounds fall short of their ambitions, suggesting better guidance may be needed.”

If career coaching can help to inspire young people to aim high in their careers then it seems like a sensible idea. The only trouble is that many 7 year olds will change their plans on a daily basis.

Nonetheless encouraging aspirations is a great function of career coaching. We find at C2 that many people come to us with the potential to fulfil their career aspiration, but lack the confidence to do it. Perhaps if we start to instill in school children that they can aim big, and show them how to do it, then this will be a skill they can draw upon throughout their whole career.

You can read more about this story in the following articles: 

The Daily Mail: Pupils aged seven to get careers advice

The Guardian: Children as young as 10 to be given careers advice

The Telegraph: Primary school careers advice ‘designed to break middle class dominance’

The Careers Group has created a series of podcasts and videocasts. They cover diverse topics from difficult interview questions to networking to writing a CV.

On top of that there are recordings from workshops that we have run. This includes videocasts of the talks given by the speakers on the Arts Administration Course.

There are also recordings from he following workshops: Careers in Charity, Graduate Entry into Medicine: Entrance Exams and many more.

To watch/listen to these recordings please go to: http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/Page795.asp

Happy viewing!

On Wednesday the 14th of October LinkedIn announced that it had 50 million users. 1 million of which had joined within the last 12 days. Newsflash- LinkedIn is growing fast!

If you’ve thought about using LinkedIn but are not sure how or why then this website offers great tips on how to get started and why you should: http://learn.linkedin.com/

I’ve posted a few things about redundancy on this blog. The current economic client is unfortunately making it quite a relevant topic. Another major side-effect of the financial crisis is that many organisations are restructuring; this isn’t just leading to redundancy, but it also means that many individuals have had their job changed. This may involve them taking on more responsibility or an entirely different role.

This can prove equally as stressful as redundancy, if not more so. This has been brought to the media’s attention most dramatically by the company France Telecom. Recently 24 of their employees committed suicide – some in the workplace and others attributed taking their lives to management practice and restructuring (click here to read more about this case).  Of course this is an extreme example but it highlights the seriousness of the issue and how stress at work can spiral out of control.

A recent article in The Telegraph discusses how the economic client is increasingly putting pressure on individuals to take additional responsibility or take on a role at work that they do not want to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/tracycorrigan/6313304/Congratulations-you-didnt-get-the-job.html

This leads employees to feel out of control of their situation. Dramatic changes in the work place also cause a significant amount of stress and anxiety. Below I have compiled some sources that help individuals to deal with stress and change.

The World Mental Health Foundation’s website offers useful tips on handling stress in the workplace: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/wmhd/

They also recommend publications and podcasts that might be useful to you.

The Samaritans offer a 24 hour help line for those who would like to talk to an impartial listener: http://www.samaritans.org/

The 4th of November is National Stress Awareness Day – so it’s a great time to start thinking about tackling stress at working.

Here are some sites with stress busting tips:

How to Cope with Pressure:

http://c2careers.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/are-you-stressed-out/

Top tips to reduce stress at work:

http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/news/employment/5703861/top-tips-to-reduce-stress-at-work.thtml 

How Staying Logged on all day can ease stress levels:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1219919/How-staying-logged-day-ease-stress-levels.html

Mental Health: Taking Care of Each Other at Work:

http://www.straightgoods.ca/Utilities/CheckCookies.cfm?RefPage=/2009/ViewFeature.cfm?Ref=499

 Finally, taking your career into your own hands may help you to feel more in control. You could re-train or take an evening course in order to re-skill. Apply for different jobs. Whilst it may not be an idea time to job hunt, there are still opportunities out there.