Business and Entrepreneurship - a Reggae Story!

For those of you who like the idea of keeping in touch with the cutting edge of business development, please note that the Judge Business School of Cambridge University is due to begin its "Enterprise Tuesday" Lecture Series again on 20th January. The first speaker will be Levi Roots, last seen on "Dragons Den" trying to convince the Dragons to back his idea of Reggae Reggae Sauce!

Levi's talk will be about, "When do you pursue an opportunity and when do you decide not to? The role of intuition versus cold analytical decision making will be explored".

For a direct link for information about the lectures, click on http://www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk/ and select the more icon in the left hand column of the section headed Enterprise Tuesday.

If you would like to attend this lecture, or any of the others on the timetable, then please note that they are FREE, however you must register online in order to attend. Registration needs to be done only the once and to do this you should go to the top of the Enterprise Tuesday page and follow the instructions in the left hand column, clicking where it says, "How to register".

We hope you enjoy the show!

You Go Further

For all those year 12 and year 13 students who are thinking about University in the future, (whether you have applied yet or not), please note that a new website has been set up by UCAS called www.yougofurther.co.uk. If you click on the link, it will take you through to the site where you can find out more information about University and even talk with other students who are in the same position as you. Try it. It may help you to make a more informed decision about your future.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, from the Careers Department.

You are back! You have survived the excesses of the festive period, and now it's time to put all your hard work into action. For some, it is about exams, for others, it's all about starting the New Year with a strong and positive attitude. Remember, we are here to help, no matter what stage of thinking you are at...even if you haven't started to think about the future at all!!

Just come on down at any time to the Department on C Corridor to use our resources, or arrange an interview with a Personal Adviser. Perhaps you have a short question, or thoughts about Work Experience? Whatever your need, if it's Careers related, we'll do our best to help you.

See you soon, Andy Goodwin, Careers Manager

Careers News: BT Applications now open!

The 2009 BT Apprenticeship Scheme is now open until 19th January! Read the following message for tips on how to apply successfully (and make sure to read it all before you proceed).

Click on www.bt.com/apprentice to apply.

BT expect a huge number of people to apply in the first week so warn applicants that they might experience difficulties getting onto the system at first. If this happens try again the following day.

Top Tips
First off, watch the film in this Cmail and also in the video lounge of bt4me. These will give applicants a better understanding of which apprenticeship suits them so they know which one to apply for. When they apply, applicants will need to check that they fill in all the fields correctly. If they fail to do this their application will not be taken further. Applicants will also need to make sure they answer all four questions on the application form with full answers and check their spellings because the answers they give here are what BT will base their second stage sift on.

Start to get documents ready: anyone lucky enough to be invited to one of the BT Hub Days in March and April will need to bring their passport and exam certificates with them. If they do not have these, make sure they know to apply for them now so they are ready for the Hubs. If they follow all of these tips they''ll be ready to apply here!

Construction Industry - Resources in the Careers Library

Following a review of resources in the careers library, please find below a list of all information regarding the Construction Industry. Furthermore, there is a display for you to look at currently in the careers library. If you would like access to any of these resources, just come and ask...

Working in Construction & the built environment
(Connexions booklet 2007)

Covers various jobs from Trainee Architect through Joiner to Apprentice Leakage Field Technician.
Each job focuses on a person in that role and explains the route they took to get there.
Briefly describes what they do.
Gives related jobs & a guide to salary.
Easy to follow lay-out with clear information for each job described. Published in 2007 so, the salary information is fairly up to date. Lots of website addresses for self research.


Real Life Guides: Plumbing
Real Life Guide: Construction
(Books)

· Background information about plumbing, training, tools of the trade & possible problem areas.
· Case studies of 3 people – how they qualified.
· Chapter on training, pay, holidays & working abroad.
· Useful websites.

Does what it says on the cover and is broken down into chapters that follow on logically. Interesting ‘did you know’ facts dotted through the book. “The Last Word” should only be used loosely – don’t change your mind as a result of the tick list.


At the moment, we also have some leaflets and CD ROMS available by:

CR ROMS:
www.careersinquarrying.co.uk
www.vinci.plc.uk/careers
RICS prospectus of surveying education
The Royal Academy of Engineering www.raengbest.org.uk

Leaflets:
British Plumbing Employers Council http://www.bpec.org.uk
Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors
JTL www.jtlimited.co.uk (Gujerati and Bengali versions)
JTLWomen in Electrotechnical Industry www.jtlimited.co.uk
JTL Electricians www.jtlimited.co.uk
JTL Plumbing and Mechanical Engineering Services www.jtlimited.co.uk
JTL Women in Plumbing and Mechanical Engineering Services www.jtlimited.co.uk
JTL Socket, The JTL Electrical Apprenticeship Magazine
JTL Your Application for a Secure Future in the Building Engineering Service Industry (Electrician, Plumber, Heating and Ventilating Fitter, Gas Fitter) www.jtlimited.co.uk
Why Not Suggest Quarrying? www.careersinquarrying.co.uk
The Independent Educational Publishing – The Guide: Built Environment
RICS A Career in Surveying www.rics.org/courses

10,000 Apprenticeship Places to be created, including many in the Construction Industry

At least 10,000 apprenticeships will be created in spite of the contraction in the economy, as the bill which launches the National Apprenticeship Service was announced last week by John Denham and Ed Balls. New Government commitments are expected to see upwards of 7,000 new apprenticeships in construction, while high street giants released plans for large-scale increases in the numbers of apprenticeships they offer.

Sainsbury's, Tesco, Superdrug and Phones4u have committed to expand massively their numbers of apprenticeships, to ensure they have the right skills to stay ahead of the competition. Sainsbury's has recently quadrupled the number of apprenticeships across its stores to 465, Tesco will have a further 800, Superdrug plan a further 1,000 while Phones 4u intends to train at least 1,000 apprenticeships by next April.

Skills Secretary John Denham said: "This shows that we are well on the way to making apprenticeships a mainstream option for young people who want to get on. We anticipate that one infive of all young people will be undertaking an apprenticeship by the end of the next decade. "in 1996-97, just 65,000 people started an apprenticeship. that figure nearly trebled to 184,000 in 2006-07. But we need to go a lot further , which is why we are investing £1 billion by 2010/11.

"It's great that private sector employers are making such a commitment to, and an investment in, their workforce. We need to do the same in the public sector and must ensure that every pound invested by taxpayers not only helps deliver new infrastructure projects but will help provide the skilled workers needed in the future, and enable more people to build a strong career. Apprenticeships are an excellent way to do this."

Source: Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, 8/12/08.

More Apprenticeship news from BT

Following on from the Blog entry on 25th November, BT have now announced their application dates for Apprenticeships in the Cambridgeshire area. Job opportunities include training in both I.T. and Customer Services (see last entry for short films on both of these sectors).

If you would like to apply, please click on the following link for applications...LINK, and the best of luck.