Opportunities at AECOM

AECOM, worldwide provider of professional technical and management support services, is recruiting for Trainees and Apprenticeship positions from 16+ in their St. Albans office. There are lots of vacancies available, with incorporated on-the-job training as well as being assigned to a suitable College course. If you are interested an Open Evening is being held on Thursday 3rd December 2015, starting from 5.00pm. Email openevening2015.uki@aecom.com if you would like to attend.

Recovering Jobs Market

The Hays recruitment agency has said that a recovering jobs market, a UK skills shortage and an increase in business confidence, will put pressure on employers to increase salaries next year, with one in five employers expected to increase pay above 2.5%. Hays surveyed 20,000 employers and employees in the UK. The latest survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation found that 80% of businesses plan to hire permanent staff in the next three months, and 76% plan to increase headcount in the medium term. A shortage of contract/temporary workers is expected for technical and engineering roles (16%), construction roles (11%) and driving/distribution roles (11%). [ source: GTAssociates ]

The benefits of being "well-rounded"

The job market is becoming increasingly more competitive, especially for young people looking to get a foot in the door of their chosen career. New research by expedition experts, World Challenge, which looked at 500 UK small and medium-sized enterprises, found that young people who took part in extra-curricular activities, such as volunteering and team sports, were likely to be more successful in gaining employment. As well as making applications stand-out, extra-curricular activities also demonstrated transferable skills such as team-working.

Careers in Law

As of April 2015 there were 132,087 practising solicitors, the total number on the roll was 167,147. Women make up 48% of the profession, however only 30% of partners are women. As of April 2014 there were 15,690 barristers of whom 81% were self-employed. Women make up around 35% of all practising barristers. As of May 2015 there were around 20,000 trainee and practising legal executives, of whom 74% were women. Please note that there are many more people taking law courses than there will ever be jobs for, and the minimum annual trainee salary has been abolished, which means that law firms can (and many do) pay the minimum wage.  [ source GTAssociates ]

What employers want

A major study of graduate recruitment practices was undertaken in 2014 by the Institute of Employment Studies and the Higher Education Careers Service Unit. They undertook in depth interviews with 76 employers of varying size and 30 stakeholders, including university careers services. Most employers said they had a huge number of applicants but often struggled to find the right people, with most large companies saying “They wanted fewer but better quality applicants”. A number of employers were giving much more attention to apprenticeships and ‘growing their own staff’ and there was a “blurring of jobs occupied by graduates and non-graduates”. 

Most recruitment activity is now online, this makes it more accessible but means that employers have a much higher number to sift through. Some employers are moving recruitment earlier to the start of the final year, with a few recruiting in the first and second year. Many employers used work experience to build relationships with students in their first and second year. Some used social media to attract and keep in touch with the type of student they want. Most large employers had specific links with some universities, with targeted institutions responsible for a large proportion of the graduates they hired. Work experience was, “Of high and growing interest to employers of all sizes and nearly all believed that work experience helps graduates develop the skills they require and so leads to improved performance both in selection and at work”.

Employers want to recruit graduates because “Of their perceived intellectual/analytical abilities, their ability to learn quickly and to bring fresh ideas”. The skills they look for can be summed up as; 

• Intellectual ability, including the ability to solve problems quickly and learn quickly. 
• Communication and people skills. 
• Positive work and commercial attitudes. 
• Flexibility and resilience in the face of change and adversity.

Careers in Healthcare

A new Health Careers website was launched by Health Education England this week, bringing together the information from NHS Careers, Medical Careers and PHORCaST (public health careers) websites. It provides detailed information on more than 350 roles in health, real-life stories and videos and a comprehensive course finder which lists more than 1,000 courses leading to a career in health. The new site also allows you to save your previous searches and personalises your homepage based on your interests. There is also a compare roles tool where you, you can get bite-size information on up to three roles in health and save them to your account. Health Careers has been built following in-depth research and user testing, and created with the user experience firmly in mind. It has been designed to be compatible with all browsers and devices, including mobile phones and tablets. Visit the site here.

British Intelligence Apprenticeship

British Intelligence Higher Apprenticeship - IT, Software, Internet and Telecomms

£17,539 pa - Cheltenham

This is a Technical Apprenticeship like no other. On top of developing unique technical skills, you'll be at the heart of British Intelligence. Working on some of the world's most sophisticated technical systems and equipment, you'll help to protect the UK against cyber threats, terrorism, espionage and organised crime. 

This exciting programme starts in September 2016 and offers a mix of classroom learning and practical experience, including a variety of research, development and project work. You'll be taking on real business challenges that will stretch and develop your expertise in areas such as cyber security, engineering, signal processing and telecoms. In the second year, you could have the chance to work in London at MI5 or MI6.

On completion, you'll have a Foundation Degree in Communications, Security and Computing (with the option to convert to a BSc at a later stage) and a Level 4 Diploma in IT Professional Competence.

To join us you'll need a strong interest in programming and technology and will either have, or will be expecting to gain three A-levels at grade C or above, or equivalent, including at least two in Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths related subjects. 

To find out more and apply, visit www.mi5.gov.uk/careers