Five things you can get from our upcoming Sector Spotlight Series

Meeting with employers does involve networking – which we know can seem terrifying! But don’t let that put you off coming to talk to some of the 300 plus employers that come to Careers Service events every year. There’s so much you get from coming along. Here’s our top five:

1. Productive research

Coming along to a large scale employer event, like one of our Sector Spotlight Series (27 October to 11 November) events, is a great way to get a lot of information quickly. There’s no better bang for your buck than being able to research multiple employers on the same day.

2. Insider information

As you’ll be speaking directly with employers, you get the inside scoop on the work culture and can get answers to questions that aren’t on their website or FAQs list. Employer representatives might include recent Bristol graduates who can tell you all about their work. Come and get the gossip!

3. Work experience opportunities

Employers come to our events because they want to hire Bristol students. They will have work experience and internships on offer as well as graduate jobs. Recruiters will often hire people to their full time roles that have completed work experience with them, so you can get in there early.

4. Get ahead

Meeting employers in person (even if that is through Zoom!) is the best way to make a good impression. The people you meet might be a future interviewer, so you can make a good contact and start to stand out from the crowd early on. You can also ask for tips on making applications 👍

5. Something for everyone

It doesn’t matter if you’re starting to explore your options or ready to apply for opportunities, you can get useful information from an employer. The range of employers we connect with is huge – large and small, local and international – and from a huge array of sectors.

At our Sector Spotlight Series, you can meet employers from:

  • Banking and Finance – 27 October
  • Law – 28 October
  • Consultancy – 29 October
  • Public Sector – 3 November
  • Engineering – 4 November
  • Technology and Data – 5 November
  • Consumer Goods and Retail – 10 November
  • Sciences – 11 November

👋 We look forward to seeing you there!

And if you’re worried about networking, use our resources to build your confidence, our elevator pitch builder to prepare your introduction, and our how to prepare guide for ideas about questions to ask. Remember, you can always ask your Careers Service for help through our live chat too.

🎪 All the fun of the (careers) fair

❤ Employers love Bristol students

Your Careers Service connects you with employers – large and small, local and international. Every year we link Bristol students and graduates to over 300 employers, and are one of the top five most targeted UK universities by employers (High Fliers).

We’ve been in this position for the last ten years, so we’re not going to let this new, mostly digital world stop us! This autumn term, we are bringing over 100 employers directly to you through our Careers Showcase Week and Autumn Fair (19 to 23 October).

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Get Career Ready with the Career Ready Course

Banner image with career ready course text and two women seated, talking


Do you know how to get started or move forwards on your career journey?

Many students and graduates ask us for help in deciding what to do. Others are looking for advice on how to upskill, gain relevant experience or stand out in the application process.

Career planning is a cycle, and to support you at every stage, whether you’re a first year considering your options, or a recent graduate navigating the jobs market, the Careers Service has developed the Career Ready Course for you. (more…)

8 reasons why you should do the Bristol PLUS Award!

As the new academic year starts, we are so excited to welcome you all back and *drumroll pleaseopen the Bristol PLUS Award for registration!  (more…)

Do you have questions about disability and employability?

person thinking
Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash

Many disabled students and graduates ask the Careers Service for help making the transition from study to work. We support students with a variety of physical, mental health, and neurodiverse conditions such as dyslexia, autism and ADHD when thinking about their career. In this blog post we’ll go over some of the common questions we get asked around the recruitment process, what we can do to help, and where you can get extra support.

 

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Chambers of Commerce: the successful job hunter’s best kept secret

What are Chambers of Commerce?

Chambers of Commerce are membership organisations which businesses can join to access services to help them grow and play a part in their local business community. They exist around the world at the local, regional and national level. Bristol Chamber of Commerce is run by Business West. You can easily find Chambers for your nearest home town or city, or home country, by searching online. For example, “[name of city] Chamber of Commerce.”

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2018 graduates: what’s your advice to 2019 graduates?

We asked some University of Bristol graduates from the class of 2018 how their first year of graduate life has been, and what advice they would give to the class of 2019?

Name: Tom Wallis
Degree: History 
Current job: Student Development Coordinator (Sport and Physical Activity)

Leaving university can feel like a monumental change, that can come with my challenges; new environments and uncertainties which make losing the comfort of your course daunting. You can overcome it, here’s the thinking I’ve been developing that has gotten me through my first year: (more…)

10 ways to avoid being tricked by a job scam

Using online recruitment agencies and websites is now the most common way that students and graduates find a job. While most jobs that you see advertised online are real, fraudsters make use of online advertisements to trick you into paying for something that doesn’t exist.

Scams come in many different forms, but the people who carry them out are always looking for new ways to make easy money. To detect a scam and avoid being tricked, here are 10 things to look out for:

1. Always do your research. Type ‘name of the company’ + ‘scam’ into Google and see what comes up. Are they registered with Companies House? For VAT? Are they on mycareer? Check student forums to see if anyone else is talking about them or has experienced problems.

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Using LinkedIn to research employers and network

As you probably know, LinkedIn is a social media site for professionals on which you can host a kind of online CV.

However, to really benefit from the site as a student it’s highly likely that you’ll need to actively use it to seek out opportunities, rather than hoping that the opportunities will come to you.

So, whilst it’s worth developing an “all-star profile” so the people you contact (or whose profiles you visit!) will quickly be able to get a sense of who you are and what you have to offer, LinkedIn will only really become useful to you if you actively use it to find potential employers.

Here are three tips on how to use LinkedIn to find relevant people and employers.

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