Hi,

I am a second year media, communication and culture student and I find it quite hard to believe I have actually managed to make it this far, mostly because I have pretty much zero organisational skills, and i mean zero. My version of an organised filing system simply means that most of it made it to a file, although that’s usually not the case, most files are sat gathering dust and have been since college.

I have come to realise that this tactic soon stops working. I decided instead of sitting on my backside all year with my clever filing system, I would take on the world. Well start a society. I began my quest at the beginning of the year thinking I could get some credit and praise for organising a few drunken nights out, oh how wrong was I? Yes there are druknen nights involved, but the paper work is unreal, not so good for a girl that has a fear of paper work, I dont think my intelligent filing system is ready for that. After 2 weeks of running round my bedroom (which is possibly as messy as my sophisicated filing) searching for bits of paper work, the ones that hadn’t been reprinited about 4 times due to the early morning coffee spills (which are much more regular than I would like) I was handed a gift by my dearest mother, lots of plastic files (genius), it’s amazing how files can change my life.

I also realised this week that in order to complete my Journalism placement in India this Summer i was meant to email my CV to the guy planning my trip, about erm…….6 weeks ago, luckily after going to a CV workshop today(which was very uselful and I would reccommend) the penny dropped, only plastic files can’t save me now, this is going to take some serious apology, although I’m sure the grand I am paying him may sweeten the deal. But more on India next time, if I haven’t burned my bridges that is.

I must say even though I have chatted some utter rubbish I learned a lesson this week, as much as my laid back attitude has suited me this far, I think it time to face the facts that I need to put myself in gear.

I’ll leave you one piece of advice though, go buy yourself some colourful files and get organised now, it will prevent the 12 hour sessions that I have endured through college and first year while trying to compile an entire years worth of work into some comprehensive order. I think after years the message may have taken.

So I’ll sit here and rewrite my coffee stained notes while attempting to draft my apology for the extreme late submission of my CV. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Kerry

I was always one of the ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’ kids. A royal pain in the butt. I enjoyed everything at school and went through merry hell choosing my A Levels.
I still can’t pin my interests down – I love naturalism, wax lyrical about erosion and study engineering, but freelance for music magazines and aspire to write a comedy script that is actually funny to people other than just me. A pure ‘Renaissance Woman’ if you are being kind, ‘indecisive’ if you are being realistic.

Naturally I had no idea how to choose my first degree – English, Engineering, Geology, Biology, Geography, Archaeology, Squid Fishing? I may as well have picked one out of a hat. BSc Natural Sciences (Earth Science and Archaeology) seemed a happy(ish) medium. Cue a surprisingly rapid three years at Durham University.

Perhaps this serious career-related consideration should have begun in earnest the best part of three years ago, before my BSc left me the proverbial ‘fish out of water’. Without a strong direction to take from my degree I was unable to secure a relevant or stimulating job and although I knew that further study was probably the route for me, I simply hadn’t banked on the difficulties that I would have in funding myself through another academic year.

TO BE CONTINUED> > > >

On completion of my A levels I struggled with the concept of furthering my education to university level, so I thought, yes a gap year is in order. The aim of my gap year was to gather my thoughts regarding higher education, (which I had deferred my entry). Then in 2005, I thought well I can not see my self doing a job without a degree qualification. So I pursue my degree at Lancaster. I all told myself that ‘I wanted to work out doors’ and i loved earth sciences, thus Earth and Environmental Science was for me, however deep down I know I really wanted to do pure geology but at the time of applying I was determined to live at home.

Then during my second year at Lancaster I thought to myself, that I could not see myself working in the environmental sector, therefore I begin to search for geology related jobs, but with my broad degree I struggled to qualify for the pure geology jobs. Then I thought that a masters was in order to enable me to pursue my geological related job.

I applied to Newcastle before Christmas in 2007 as I needed realise they did an engineering geology MSc. I was fortunately able to get funding, which I was a surprise.

Therefore I conclude that it is never too late to pursue your dream as I have been able to convert back to geology……

Currently I am applying for jobs that will be outlined in my next post…

A wordy title I realise, my apologies. Aside from wondering where the last two years have gone, a common concern for third year students is what will happen next year. This anxiety is likely to be doubled if, like myself, you’re on a course without much obvious career direction and aren’t really sure what you want to do with your life.

Without rattling off my entire CV, I thought a reasonable first post would be to give you an idea of some of my jobs, both past and present. Last Christmas I worked in a concession in a department store [hint #1 – in retail, it’s always a good idea to ask whether there are any concessions in the store as people usually presume everything is part of the store as a whole. For example, in Fenwicks Newcastle, both Ted Baker and All Saints have concessions, and receive considerably fewer applications than Fenwicks].

Recently, I have been working in a smaller menswear store in Jesmond [far less faceless and anonymous than working in the city centre…], where I am the acting manager – responsibilities include orders, opening up, displays etc. Because of my interest in fashion I have applied to a 6 month internship with a major brand in New York City. I also DJ [though as yet, unpaid – house parties, promo mixes being played as warmup mixes by other DJs] and am a reasonable way into writing a collection of short stories, the largest of which may at some point emerge as a fully fledged novel. I’m hoping to have a couple of stories finished by the end of the week to send to an editor.

Hint #2 – So important it deserves its own paragraph; it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. If my experience seems remotely daunting, you might be relieved to discover that I was trusted with so much responsibility in the clothes shop because my aunt used to date the owner, and it is my father who is sending my writing off to his editor friends. Of course, talent still means something too…

Thus completes post numero uno, I’ll be sure to update this with any news on anything I’ve mentioned, or anything else that happens on the careers front.

Stu

I am a final year Food and Human Nutrition student, which means it is time to apply for graduate jobs!
In July 2008 I completed a 12 month placement working for Cadbury as a product developer, which I really enjoyed, so I have decided to apply for research and development graduate schemes within the food industry.
I have already begun the long winded graduate job application process with Marks and Spencer, Mars, Sainsburys, Tesco and Unilever, so I plan to blog about my experiences throughout the application process with these companies as well as my previous knowledge of applying to and working for Cadbury.
I hope that this will give you a useful insight into different application processes as well as passing on valuable tips and hints I pick up along the way, so you can be better prepared when it is your turn!