Section outline

  • Introduction to Week 2

    In the second week of the Careers section of the module, you will explore approaches to marketing yourself and investigate  ways you can start to gain work experience relevant to your career goals.


    • Week 2 Goals and Objectives Page
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      View the goals and objectives for the week.


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      Self Marketing: How To Impress with Applications


      Transcript: Slides

      In the video, Careers Consultant Serena Spoendlin provides an introduction to strategies for Self Marketing and ways to impress with your  applications


    • Careers Masterclass: Marketing Yourself and Work Experience Book

      Watch this set of Career Masterclass presentations by Careers Consultant Serena Spoendlin with a focus on Self Marketing yourself in Applications, CVs and Cover Letters, and approaches to Networking and gaining Work Experience. Please click on the arrow in the top right corner, to go to the next video. 

    • Video: Perfect Your Pitch Page

      This video from professional services network PwC introduces approaches to creating a successful elevator pitch to self market your unique skills and experience.

    • 2.1 Forum Activity: Virtual Elevator Pitch
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    • 2.2 Activity : Tell Your Story ‘What makes you unique? Forum
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    • Students must
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      Gaining Work Experience

      Over a third of recruiters say that graduates who have had no previous work experience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection process and have little chance of receiving a job offer for their organisations’ graduate programmes.

      Martin Birchall from the High Fliers graduate jobs research institute which publishes the annual UK Graduate Careers Survey says:


      "In this highly-competitive graduate jobs market, new graduates who've not had any work experience during their time at university have little chance of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer, irrespective of the university they've attended or the academic results they achieve”

      High Fliers (2020) Available at: https://www.highfliers.co.uk/


    • 2.4 Poll: What Soft Skills do Graduates Need to Develop? Choice
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    • 2.5 Forum Activity: What are the top 10 soft skills employers are looking for?
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    • Students must
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      Video: What does it mean to be Commercially Aware?


      For an insight into ways to develop your commercial awareness in Finance and Economics, take a look at this video from EY Careers.

      Developing commercial awareness of the bigger picture factors relevant to the jobs you are applying to will help you to be successful in  applications and job interviews.  So what does it mean to be commercially aware? In the article ‘Commercial Awareness: Its How the Industry Fits Together’ Target Jobs defines commercial awareness: 


      “Commercial awareness is prized by graduate recruiters across all industries and in the private and public sectors alike. Commercial awareness is not so much a skill as a way of thinking and may be described on a graduate job advert in various ways, including: commercial thinking, having a commercial attitude, having big picture focus” 


      Target Jobs (2020) Commercial Awareness: Its How the Industry Fits Together


    • 2.6 Forum Activity: If you had £100 million what would you invest in?
      Students must
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    • 2.7 Networking Activity: Expand Your Professional Networks Forum
      Students must
      Mark as done

    • Week 2 Review

      In  Week 2, you have investigated what employers in your field are looking  for, and considered how as a postgraduate student you can develop your employability for the future.

      Over the week, you  have investigated the soft skills that graduate employers are looking for, developed and applied your commercial awareness and started to expand your professional networks.

      As you start your postgraduate course, you are encouraged to make the most of your studies including available opportunities to develop your professional practice and employability. 

      Additionally, you are very much encouraged to keep in touch with the QMUL Careers Service, to take advantage of opportunities for further guidance and to continue to use the Careers Resources available to you.

      We wish you all the very best and every success with your postgraduate studies and your career  in the future!