Author Archive for NathanTLR
A Student Guide to Twitter
To celebrate our last Follow Friday (#FF) of the 2011, The Lecture Room team have put together a “who’s who” list of followers to maximise your investment in Twitter.
Our “who to follow” list includes academic sources, student social guides, job and career prospects and a few not so obvious sources of entertainment and knowledge – some may even impress the great Stephen Fry.
For the newbies, our list will serve as a “starter kit” for Twitter.
Twitter is a great place to grab some valuable and FREE advice and tips, on a range of topics. To help get you started – and partly to convince those that remain monogamously attached to Facebook, The Lecture Room have put together a list of worthy “follows”.
Who to follow – Who to follow – Who to follow
@Euromonitor – Not sure how many students are actually aware of the usefulness of Euromonitor’s industry news tweets. Great for building case studies and for filling your assignments with quality stats.
Your university – Universities in general are a great follow – providing they’ve got someone good managing their account. Campus closures, exam result release dates, research papers ALL ON TWITTER 
A list of UK universities on Twitter, courtesy of Lizzie Fane (@thirdyearabroad)
@timeshighered – news and current affairs impacting higher education.
@THEworldunirank – Provides insight into the state of higher education, on a global scale.
“Research” is always a great way to explain away questionable browser pages. Unlike Facebook, Twitter offers more than enough blagging material if “research” is your go-to when facing down a tutor, manager, or overzealous study-group leader.
@vouchercloud – Discounts and deals alerts. Not specific to students but they tweet regularly enough for you to come across something that might be of use.
@studentbeans – great for student-relevant deals and competitions.
@thirdyearabroad – VERY useful if you’re studying/working abroad or considering it.
@vinspired – Volunteer opportunities and social experiences.
The 140 character limit makes everything a lot tidier and less busy - also means that people tend to be a bit more fussy about what they post. Granted, not everything is literary gold but I can guarantee it’ll be easier to explain-away than a cat that looks like Hitler … This said, if you’re not on Twitter, you should be – we are!
@GuardianCareers – Early heads-up on some valuable industry Q&As.
@enternships - Find entrepreneurial internships and work placements in start-ups and small businesses.
@InspiringIntern – Work experience and paid internships.
@Targetjobs_jobs and @targetjobsUK – Job alerts, work experience opportunities and industry advice and Q&As.
@studentcooking – Extremely useful for those of you who get confused by too many buttons on a microwave. Their website also has recipes and video guides.
@milkround_jobs – Jobs
If you feel you, or anyone that you follow, should have made the list let us know – leave comments below. Thanks.
*This list appears in no particular order
TARGETjobs is getting you organised for Christmas
Be sure to share this! TARGETjobs is offering up something extra special for the Christmas holidays.
The run-up to Christmas can be a stressful time for many, with to-do lists growing, time ticking and budgeting worries. However, for final year students and indeed all students, this stress is amplified by graduate job and work experience deadlines fast-approaching.
To get you organised and make sure you reach Christmas day stress-free TARGETjobs will be running a 12 days of Christmas Cheer campaign.
On their Facebook page, TARGETjobs will be announcing one exclusive tip every day on how to organise your job hunt, how to make the most of your temping job during the festive season and even how to get your parents working for you!
These tips will run from Monday December 12 till Friday December 23.
Christmas give away
Being is it’s just 12 days till Christmas, TARGETjobs is feeling extremely festive and will be spreading some extra Christmas joy by entering everyone that likes the Facebook page between December 12 and 23 into the TARGETjobs Christmas give away.
Prizes for the Christmas give away
Prizes for the Christmas give away are:
- an iPad (16GB)
- two digital cameras worth £100 each and
- three Amazon vouchers worth £50 each.
The competition will close at midnight on Christmas Eve and the six lucky winners will be announced on Boxing Day!
Midweek Motivation: Running and Reading, Keys to Life
Perfect message to get you over that midweek slump Will Smith breaks down his keys to success. Is it really this simple?
Running and reading – a simple message from Will Smith. This was his acceptance speech at a Nickelodeon Awards ceremony. Short, sweet and very motivational. – NuruTLR
Using Your Degree to Teach Others
It’s graduation day; there’s a smile on your face and a diploma in your hand, but you’re sweating underneath your cap and gown. You’re anxious to see what the world has to offer outside of the classroom, but let’s face it; the economy has seen better days, those student loans aren’t going anywhere soon, and you’ve completed your degree just in time to realise that maybe it’s not what you fancy doing after all.
Never fear; the world can still be your oyster. More and more university grads in the same position are finding that teaching English abroad can be a fine way to put their degree to use. It’s easy to see why; you can experience living abroad, gain some real-world experience and bring in a decent salary – it doesn’t look too shabby on your CV, either.
So where do I start?
First off, you must be a native speaker of English and have at least completed an undergraduate degree. Surprisingly enough, you don’t need to have studied teaching or even a foreign language, although preference can be given to individuals with teaching qualifications.
Second, while experience is not a necessity, it will definitely serve as an advantage. So when you dust off your CV, be sure to highlight any experience (paid or unpaid) in teaching or working with people, both children and adults alike. Dig deep and think outside the box; while it’s important to be honest, bear in mind that there is quite a lot that can count as teaching experience, depending on how you choose to present it (for example, leadership and customer service roles draw upon the same skill sets as teaching).
Undertaking this kind of experience is best done by those with an open mind, a certain amount of flexibility and a sense of adventure. – Laura Liszewski
Now it’s time to do your homework and start applying. There is a wealth of information about teaching English abroad on the web. Do a few Google searches, read some blogs, peruse a few forums, and if you have specific questions about certain countries, schools or companies, then don’t be shy to join the conversation and start asking. Once you have developed an idea of what to expect in way of salary and working conditions, you will be able to weed out the good positions from the bad (and the downright dodgy).
Most jobs teaching English abroad can be found on the internet. In fact, your entire application process will most likely be conducted purely via the web; even
interviews are often via Skype. Expect to spend anywhere from 1-6 months on this process, from the initial research, to the applications, interviews, acceptance and the time it takes to sort out any final details like a work visa, contract and your flight.
Why teach?
You’re stepping out into the world; you’re doing something new and out of your comfort zone, and still managing to put that hard-earned degree to use. Teaching can be very rewarding, and the experience you gain will be valuable no matter what path you choose to take in the future. You can earn a comfortable salary and possibly even save some money for future endeavours – or pay off endeavours of the past!
Things to consider before choosing a career in Teaching
While teaching can be extremely rewarding, you will probably find out very quickly that it can also be extremely frustrating. You will have a newfound respect for all of your teachers of the past, even the ones you used to hate. You may also find it hard to acclimate yourself to your new environment, with different rules, expectations, food and even different smells. More than anything, no matter how much research you do, taking a job as an English teacher overseas will always be a bit of a blind leap.
Just remember; going abroad isn’t for everyone, and neither is teaching. Undertaking this kind of experience is best done by those with an open mind, a certain amount of flexibility and a sense of adventure. If you do your research, use your head and trust your gut, all will be well.
Monday Motivation: “I Am A Champion”
Not just for Mondays but any day you need a little BOOST
I Am a Champion – A coach is hyping his team for a football match. Ironically the opposing team watched the SAME video and they won but that aside, lol, it’s motivating I feel. – NuruTLR
5 Tips for Making the Most of Your Internship
By Amy Sillince
The real aim of an internship should be for the intern to gain something from their experience. However, no internship will be worthwhile unless you decide to make it so. These tips for making the most of your internship should seamlessly take you from your first day to your last and make sure you reap the benefits along the way.
HAVE A CHAT. Chat to the receptionist, the other interns, your boss, the bloke at the photocopier, the person next to you… The list is endless. Ok, so an hour-long chinwag isn’t appropriate but saying “Hello” IS important. You want the people you’re working with to remember you, and making sure that they know you’re there is really the easiest way. By getting to know the people around you, you’ll show a little bit of that wonderful personality that only you know if so fabulous and job-worthy. And remember, too – you never know who you’re chatting to, and who they might be in the future…
KEEP ASKING. It might sound obvious, but it’s so easy to just complete the tasks you’re given and then wait for the next instruction. Most of the people you’re working for are busy all day (they wouldn’t need an intern
Image courtesy of Oledoe
if they weren’t!) so they won’t realise you need something else to do unless you tell them. A lot of businesses may have day-to-day jobs for interns to do; however once these are done, then you might be able to move on to the fun stuff… and you never know what you’ll learn with a new task. An employer will always be glad to see that you’re pro-active; so don’t be afraid to interrupt their speed-typing to see what you can help with.
ASK SOME MORE. You’re at your internship to learn something, right? Then make sure you do! Your employer knows that too, so if you’re given a job you don’t quite grasp, ask them. Maybe you want to know the context or reason behind what you’re doing, or how something in your industry works? Maybe you want to know what their role actually is? You’ll look inquisitive and eager and willing to learn, and all of the other qualities that employers like. One day you’ll see all the skills and knowledge you gain come in very handy, so start finding stuff out!
HAVE FUN. Before getting into this, lets just put it out there that conducting yourself in an appropriate and orderly fashion at work is paramount to any “fun-having”. This being said, it’s still important to make sure you enjoy yourself. Consider your internship a 
really new and exciting experience where there just happens to be some work and learning thrown in. Graciously accept and enjoy any perks that might come with the job (anything from free breakfast to free clothes), make some friends, and do fun and interesting things after work.
SAY THANK YOU. Make it known to your employer that you’ve had a great time. You probably want to be remembered, either for a reference or for any future jobs, so a (highly metaphorical) show-stopping last day is recommended. Blatant bribery isn’t advised, but cupcakes/sweets/chocolates/thank you cards all are. You should aim to put a smile on the faces of everyone in the office that day – so that (here it is again) they remember you.
Dress to Impress: What to Wear to Interviews
By Amy Sillince
Deciding what to wear when you need to impress is always stressful, and those nerves can feel so much worse when it’s a prospective employer that you’re dressing for. If you’ve never been for an interview before it can be impossible to know where to with start choosing an outfit – especially when all Google comes up with is a bunch of ugly suits (no really, try it!). So, we’ve gone all Gok Wan on you with our top tips for looking good.
The golden rule when thinking about what to wear to an interview is to remember to dress appropriately for the job you’re applying for. Try to do some research into the types of people that already work there, and the area and environment that you’ll be working in. This should give you some clues as to what everyone else might be wearing.
“You can tell everything about a man from his shoes” – Amy Sillince (2011)
If you know you’re going into a serious office environment then a suit is probably going to be your winning choice. But what if you’re interviewing at somewhere like an advertising agency, a hospital or a museum? Loads of workplaces won’t necessarily have a strict dress code – so this is when your detective skills can come in handy. Have a look on their website for any videos or images of people at work, or if you’re applying for a job related to your course, then ask a tutor as they should know your industry.
The second point to consider is all about getting the right balance. You do of course want to look like you’ve made an effort, but trying too hard can be just as fatal as not trying hard enough. This is a point the girls in particular should consider, as it’s all too easy for ladies to turn up the style and end up looking more like The Only Way Is Essex, than The Apprentice. Consider the below a checklist to keep you… well, in check:
Ladies:
- Tone down the makeup – get your mum’s honest opinion, and consider the above TOWIE point.
- Leave the skyscraper heels at home – skating like Bambi in the marble reception is never going to make you appear ‘responsible and organised’ – like it says on your CV.
- Put a ban on cleavage – just no.
Gentlemen:
- If you’re wearing a suit make sure it matches! – unless you’re going for the ‘my old school trousers and dad’s jacket’ look.
- Whatever the style, have clean shoes – As the saying goes, “you can tell everything about a man from his shoes” (true fact).
- Try to avoid stubble, and get a haircut a couple of days before if you can – don’t argue, you know your mother would tell you the same.
The last thing to remember is to dress comfortably. By all means buy something new to wear, but if you’re happiest in your favourite shirt that you know always looks great, you’re going to look infinitely more relaxed and confident when you walk in to wow the boss!
How to Grab an Employer’s Attention In 30 Seconds
“The average employer takes around 30 seconds to scan a CV and make a judgement” - Mildred Talabi.
"no employer has time to go through each CV in detail"
Photograph: Steve Murez/Getty
Writing for the Guardian’s The Careers Blog, Mildred Talabi (author, consultant and trainer) begins: ”Things have changed dramatically in the job market over the past five years. Seven years ago, I got my first ‘real’ job within two months of graduating from university; nowadays, it can take several months and maybe even years for some graduates. The competition is undeniably a lot tougher”.
Something you’ve all probably realised by now but something very few of you have adapted to. Just like the giraffe evolved to reach the taller leaves (according to Darwin), graduates in 2011/2012 must be prepared to stretch that bit further if they’re to survive and prosper in today’s fiercely competitive employment market. You’re no longer competing against hundreds of students but thousands of “suitable candidates”. What are you going to do to stand out from the crowd?
“A small business owner recently shared with me his complete shock at receiving 400 applications for one secretarial position they had advertised.” – Mildred Talabi
Knowing you’re competing against upwards of 300 other applicants for your first job [post-graduation] is a scary reality to face but one you should get used to, fast. How to grab an employer’s attention in 30 seconds is a great resource if you’re stuck for ideas on revamping your CV. Mildred breaks down her approach to constructing a “winning CV” in to three easy to understand components: the look, lingo and length of your CV. Covering everything from your choice of typeface (Get the look right) to the length of your personal statement, there is plenty of useful info to take away.
Mildred's insights on CV content
To find out more and to read the full article, visit The Careers Blog.
VIDEO: The Only thing you need to get the grades
“When you put forth effort, you get reward” – Malcolm Gladwell
A solid work ethic isn’t costly but still remains something few people are able to obtain.
Chasing a First Class degree or that dream job isn’t an easy journey but this video should help with the navigation.
Hard Work will always beat talent if talent doesn’t work Hard – Malcolm Gladwell
VIDEO: How to get through all your challenges this year
Very valuable lesson to learn here – sometimes it’s not just about throwing punches at life.
