School’s out for summer! What to do next?

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Festival_ImageFinished university for the summer? Here are our tips on how you could spend the next three months!

By now, most of you second years will have finished university for the summer and many of you will be wondering what to do for the next three months!
Whether you’re soon to be starting an internship, placement job or it’s your final summer off before the start of your final year it’s important to assess your options.

1)      Travel!

If you’re lucky enough to have some savings, a generous family or you’ve managed to save just enough of that last student loan instalment, make the most of it!…

Quick revision tips & exam advice

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It’s that dreaded time of year again, yes exam season is well and truly here. Luckily for you we’ve put our heads together at Witlr to try and come up with some tips for revising that may just help you retain your sanity and come out the other side with the grade you wanted. As recent students ourselves we both empathise with your situation and reckon we know a thing or two about revising for exams.
Exams
Here’s a few of our suggestions…

Get organised!
We all know that sometimes a spontaneous last minute decision to go out leads to a great night.…

Be positive and proactive in your job search!

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We’re a bit sick of the doom and gloom surrounding the graduate jobs market. Maybe it’s the first signs of summer making us go a bit funny but in the witlr office today we’re very positive about, well, everything. Clearly trying to get a job can be frustrating- not everyone immediately gets their ideal role – however for students and graduates maintaining a positive disposition is a must!

DON’T WORRY!

The witlr team is made up of recent graduates so we’ve all been there. Looking for a job, or even deciding what route you want to go down after university can be akin to water torture for lots of people.…

Why it’s time for graduates to consider working in a smaller company

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Here at witlr you may have noticed we want to do our bit to help promote the benefits of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the student masses. We aim to educate students and graduates about the jobs available in SMEs and why they should consider applying for jobs within these businesses.

Firstly I want to hit you (metaphorically) with a few facts about SMEs;

  • An SME is defined as any business with fewer than 250 employees or annual turnover of less than £50m
  • They make up 99.9% of UK businesses
  • There are more than 4.5 million SMEs in the UK
  • They employ over 14 million people

These figures and facts highlight the scale of SMEs in the UK.…

Diary of a Uni girl – Getting the job of your dreams!

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Upon starting University I thought that obtaining a degree = securing my dream job.  I am since learning however, that it’s not really about the degree, it’s about ME.

 

I’m NT, a country girl from the Emerald Isle currently in my second year studying Business Administration at the University of Bath, and I want to share with you my realisation that academia is not employment’s saving grace.

 

Having landed the job of every girl’s dreams in Marketing at L’Oreal Paris Cosmetics for my first placement, I know from personal experience that although a degree does help, it is not the be-all and end-all in job procurement.

…

To work part-time at university or not? That is the question.

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Currently approximately 50% of university students have part time jobs. With the cost of university rising faster than you can say ‘the cost of Uni is getting a bit steep these days’ , as well as increasing everyday living costs, it’s possible more and more students may have to partake in a bit of part-time work…

Clearly if you do decide to get a part time job at Uni it would be beneficial for the role to be related to your degree subject or the area of work you want to go into. However, for most people, a part time job in the service industry is easier to come by than a paid opportunity in an area relevant to the career you’re looking to get in to.…

What employers, and now experience, has taught us

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We’re big on learning from our experiences and more importantly learning from others, so we thought we would share some of our feedback on the graduate job scene with you.

As we travel around the country and speak to students and universities there is an interesting trend, and dare I say it a lack of understanding, around the problems employers face and the solution they are looking for.

This stems from a lack of connection between the needs of employers, the universities and the job seekers. This problem leads to numerous amounts of frustrated graduates, puts businesses off recruiting and results in negative press coverage; leading to further problems in the higher education sector.…

Take a Chance on You

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DiceIf you read any newspaper these days, online or not, you might have the impression that demand outstrips supply and that your chances of getting a job are diminishing by the day/month/year.  Numbers and statistics can have a strange distorting effect on our perceptions and a paradox exists.

Employers say about a third of graduate jobs are unfilled because of a shortage of skills.  At the same time, the figure of 73 graduates chasing each graduate job is often quoted (that’s just an average, it’s double in retail and investment banking). Some areas of employment have more vacancies than others and some are more popular than others. …

Take up for lent

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Will you be giving up this lent?

Lent is a time of giving things up; whether it is chocolate, late nights, drinking or cleaning your student flat.

Sometimes though, giving up is just too easy.  That’s why we’re proposing a ‘take up’ lent this year. So why not join in and try one of the 20 things below (or all of them). See if you can last until Easter…

Eat 5 fruits (or veg) a day. Why? They’re delicious, full of vitamins, low in fat and it’s a great way to get rid of a horrid hangover!

Drink at least 2L of water a day.…

5 Ways to make yourself more employable

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Finding a graduate job amidst fierce competition isn’t easy. So how are you going to stand out to employers? Here are five contributing factors that will make you an employers dream. Here it goes…

1. Work Experience

Work experience, work experience and you guessed it; more work experience. Not only does it provide you with valuable skills and prepare you for the expectations of the workplace but it is also viewed as a necessity that most employers look for when recruiting a graduate.

Tip: Start early – get as much experience whilst you’re at university. If you have graduated then be pro-active and persistent with finding companies to give you experience.…