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Graduates Turning To Extra Curricular Activities To Boost Employability

April 23, 2010

Work experience

With a global recession going on, it is no longer a sure thing to get a degree, get a job, and be set for life. There are more and more students vying for fewer and fewer jobs. It is important to get real life skills that apply to jobs, and students are now taking this into their own hands.

Undergraduates at university have always been involved in extra curricular activities, but now they are using these activities to gain marketable skills. By creating student run organizations, undergrads are teaching themselves management skills that can be hard to come by at a young age.

While the extra curricular activities may not be the job a student intends to get after college, they can offer a ticket to a desired job. These activities can help students learn networking, confidence, social skills and technical abilities.

These student run activities also show potential employers that these kids have ambition and the drive to be self starters. Companies are no longer looking for a cog to fit into the corporate machine, they are looking for ingenuity and creativity. Signing up at the career canter for work experience does not look the same on a CV that creating your own job opportunity does.

Students are beginning to help one another instead of rely on career fairs and advisors to give them job advice. Students helping each other fosters teamwork, problem solving and communication. All of these are skills that employers are looking for.

Extra qualifications beyond a degree will give a prospective employee a good edge, especially if they are looking for work in the major cities looking for graduate jobs london or manchester for example . Students are even organizing their own career fairs with large companies to show off their skills. These fairs also allow students to make valuable contacts before they even leave the university.

Meeting employers face to face allows students to show their skills rather than just writing them in a resume. Being a self starter allows these students to branch out beyond just academic knowledge and show what they can really offer to a company.

It is important for students to be proactive about their own job skills training in such a competitive environment. Student run programs can sometimes get bogged down with such a high turnover rate that can stall things from going forward. That aside, students are taking more and more control of their own futures by creating and participating in more and more extra curricular activities.

The national council for work experience and the prospects.ac.uk websites have in depth resources to help you find the perfect placement or extra curricular experience to add to your CV.

Fancy a career in Further Education?

April 23, 2010

further education training

Many graduates are now considering an education in further education but just do not know how to go about doing that. There are many different resources that one could consider using to get the information they need. If you are interested in getting information about further education programs, then you have come to the right place.

To work as a teacher in state-maintained schools in England and Wales you need to have professional qualified teacher status (QTS). For further information on teaching in other areas of the United Kingdom please see teaching in Scotland and teaching in Northern Ireland.

Teachers in independent schools are not required to have QTS, but most do.

To be awarded QTS by the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) you must:

  • Complete a period of training, such as a one-year professional or postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course, which recommends you for QTS. This is known as initial teacher training (ITT).
  • Complete a period of induction, known as the newly qualified teacher (NQT) year. This is your first year of employment as a teacher in a school. You do not have to start this induction period immediately after your ITT, but you would be expected to complete it within five years.
  • Pass QTS Skills Tests in literacy, numeracy and information and communications technology (ICT) by the end of your ITT period (if training in England). These tests can be taken at any of the 50 test centres throughout England, and most students complete them while on their PGCE course.

If you want to work as a teacher with the full range of responsibilities in further education (FE) colleges or sixth form colleges, you need Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status or QTS.
Further education in the UK is on the rise. There are many qualified instructors needed in order to properly teach a class. There are many things that graduates can do if they are interested in further education such as attend special events for teachers and get as much information as possible about becoming a teacher for beyond high school. Many institutions are offering to help students get started any way they can. They are helping students get as much information as possible about the professional further education program, teacher education programs, and applying to the programs as well.

There are many institutions that are accepting students in their programs for further education. You must be interested in teaching beyond the high school years as that is what a further education career is. The University of Windsor is one of the many institutions offering this kind of career program. You have to be able to attend classes on campus and be willing to participate in certain program hours in order to complete the education requirements. This school has been in the education business for many years and has one of the best curriculum that is available to anyone interested in further education. They also have many openings for anyone that is interested in applying for employment with them.

If you are interested in furthering your education with a degree in further education, it would be in your best interest to get online and start researching the many institutions that offer that. Finding an approved degree for furthering education can take some time. Not everyone is going to meet the requirements set forth for each institution, so it make take you some time to find the right one. You can also find additional qualifications for teachers programs online as well.

Summer and Autumn registrations are already beginning so it would be in your best interest to find your learning institution pretty fast and start the process for teacher training. Furthering education can be one of the best careers in the world to get into. It can offer tons of rewards and be one of the best jobs that you ever have.

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