Students spring into job-hunting March 17, 2010
Posted by thecareersgroupnews in employability, graduate recruitment, students.trackback
Renewed optimism about graduate job prospects for 2010 encouraged a record numbers of students to attend a graduate employment fair held today at the University of London.
More than 1000 students visited 
The Spring Fair at Senate House organised by The Careers Group, part of the University of London. During four hours they networked with representatives from over 50 potential employers, received professional careers advice, had their CVs checked and discussed job-hunting strategies with each other in an effort to help raise their level of employability.
Clare McSheaffrey, Head of Events at The Careers Group commented: “The high number of students who attended and their professional approach to finding a job confirms a trend we have noticed since the beginning of 2010. Many students have personal experience of how tough the graduate job market is and they see events like this as a vital way to gain invaluable interaction with employers and increase their chances of securing that first step into a position that could get their career started.”
Employers attending the event ranged from traditional graduate recruiters to a number of employers less well-known amongst the graduate community, including City Year, CRCC Asia, Genesis Housing Group, Home Fundraising, Savi Trading and the Windsor Fellowship. The finance and banking sector were well represented by KPMG and Capital IQ as well as HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, HM Treasury, Trading Screen. Other employers included the retail, IT, engineering, hospitality & tourism, government, science and recruitment sectors, plus a number of top class postgraduate institutions for further study, including The College of Law, London Business School and Goldsmiths.
With high competition for every vacancy, many students are setting up their own businesses or becoming self employed to broaden their options and demonstrate organisational skills. These students were able to connect with Make it Happen, operated by The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship where Jason Tromans reported:“The location of the Spring Fair at Senate House in the University of London is ideal and we were able to inform many entrepreneurial students that there is 12 months free business support and on-line mentoring available at http://www.mihmentoring.com/apply . The event was facilitated efficiently and we have benefited tremendously with the result that we would certainly look to to it again.”
Dan Evans, Marketing Executive at The Graduate Recruitment Bureau http://www.grb.uk.com/ added:
“Perfect venue and for a new event on the calendar, the footfall really impressed me. The flow of quality candidates remained consistent throughout the day which is always hard to maintain at these kinds of events.”
Many students reported how helpful they found the experience, like Julio Garcia Requena from Westminster University who said” There were many exhibitors. It was a good opportunity to meet and network with a range of employers and trainers, whichever your discipline was. The “CV surgery” was of special interest. I managed to have my CV checked and gained a lot of useful advice. Overall I found the fair a really useful experience.”
The next Graduate Fair organised by The Careers Group takes place on 23rd/24th June 2010 http://www.londongradfair.co.uk/summer/
Further information contact: Clare McSheaffrey, Head of Events, 020 7863 6051 Clare.mcsheaffrey@careers.lon.ac.uk
For press queries about The Careers Group contact: Frances Bonnington, PA to the Directors 020 7863 6002 news@careers.lon.ac.uk
The Graduate Market in 2010 reported:
• The UK’s leading graduate employers have increased their recruitment targets for 2010 by 11.8%, compared with the number of graduates actually recruited in 2009, following two consecutive years of declining job opportunities for university-leavers
http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GM10Release.pdf
