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OxfordGuideToCareers2017
OxfordGuideToCareers2017
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GAINING EXPERIENCE + DEVELOPING SKILLS<br />
IDEAS ON GAINING EXPERIENCE<br />
C<br />
Work experience can be many things, and is essentially an opportunity to make<br />
good things happen! There’s no ‘one way’ to do work experience, so think carefully<br />
about what you want to get out of the experience.<br />
Work experience can be:<br />
] Enjoyable!<br />
] A way to develop valuable skills and accomplish something<br />
noteworthy.<br />
] A chance to try out possible career directions.<br />
] <br />
] A chance to earn some money.<br />
Work experience provides a valuable opportunity to develop<br />
awareness and understanding of yourself: what really interests<br />
<br />
It also has a very important role in enhancing your<br />
employability. In a study of major graduate employers<br />
(HighFliers 2015), recruiters reported that around a third of<br />
<br />
<br />
Moreover, half the recruiters surveyed warned that graduates<br />
with no work experience were unlikely to be successful in<br />
applying for graduate level jobs in their organisations. This is<br />
because work experience both:<br />
] Enables you to enhance and apply your skills (see pp.30-32<br />
for more on Core Employability Skills).<br />
] Provides evidence of your skills and achievements that<br />
you can highlight in your applications and talk about in<br />
interviews (see pp.40-55 on Application Essentials).<br />
<br />
doing without ever having formally applied for it: student<br />
committee roles, volunteering, summer jobs and individual<br />
projects. What you’ve chosen to do already can be a useful<br />
clue as to what other forms of work experience and ultimately,<br />
<br />
Developing Your Career Ideas (pp.12-14).<br />
There are plenty of different, equally valid ways to get work<br />
experience …<br />
DO AN INTERNSHIP<br />
These might be advertised opportunities requiring an<br />
application, or arranged with an organisation after contacting<br />
them speculatively. They can take place at any time of year,<br />
but most advertised opportunities take place in vacations,<br />
particularly the summer. Some organisations offer internships<br />
<br />
experience and do not expect to hire interns at the end of<br />
the period. Others use internships as a core part of their<br />
recruitment process, particularly major graduate recruiters,<br />
which often advertise summer internships for penultimate year<br />
students in Michaelmas Term.<br />
The Careers Service also runs its own unique schemes<br />
exclusively available to Oxford students:<br />
] The Oxford University Internship Programme<br />
(OUIP),which provides 4-12 week summer work experience<br />
across the globe.<br />
] The Micro-Internship Programme, which provides short,<br />
convenient work placements in Week 9 of each term based<br />
in organisations across Oxfordshire and London.<br />
VOLUNTEER<br />
Volunteering is a great way to develop employability skills and<br />
help others at the same time. As a volunteer you can work on<br />
projects or tasks which still use and develop your skills, but<br />
<br />
hours.<br />
<br />
while at Oxford:<br />
] OUSU – organises diverse fundraising activities you can<br />
get involved in, including the annual RAG campaign.<br />
OUSU also wants volunteers for Target Schools and other<br />
programmes. See www.ousu.org.<br />
] Oxford Hub – a student-run organisation that acts as<br />
a focal point for charitable activity in Oxford. They coordinate<br />
a variety of volunteering projects in many sectors.<br />
<br />
www.oxfordhub.org.<br />
] Do-It – a web-based national database of volunteering<br />
opportunities. Search for projects in Oxford and your home<br />
town at www.do-it.org.uk.<br />
] OCVA – Oxford Community and Voluntary Action is our<br />
local city volunteering hub, with lots of opportunities<br />
available: www.ocva.org.uk.<br />
] UN Volunteers (Online) – international volunteering<br />
opportunities with a development focus, that you can do<br />
on your laptop. See www.onlinevolunteering.org.<br />
] Consider getting in touch directly with local organisations<br />
or causes you care about to discover if there’s something<br />
you could help with, or to suggest a project, both in Oxford<br />
or near your home.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
www.careers.ox.ac.uk 35