This is an archive of our old news and events pages. This site is no longer maintained, as such some links may no longer work.
The Careers & Employability Service will be open over the Summer break.
Help and Support available includes:
Visit the Edge Student Development Centre (outside the library) Monday-Friday, 9am-4.30pm.
You can also book face to face, telephone or skype appointments via MyCareerHub.
The support offered both on and off campus by the BU Careers & Employability Service includes:-
You can drop in to our career centre in the Edge Student Development Centre (outside the Talbot Campus library), Mon – Fri between 8.45am – 4.30pm, and speak to members of the team about your careers and employability needs, loan out job hunting and application books, as well as pick up free careers and job hunting guides.
Accessible 24/7 you can access the following with your BU username and password:-
*Careers advisors will see students from any course but they are also attached to the Schools/Faculties as follows:-
To help you with finding careers and jobs within a specific sector, there is a whole section on MyCareerHub dedicated to providing resources for different job sectors to help you with identifying potential employers, job opportunities and careers information as follows:-
To access the ‘Sector Resources’ in MyCareerHub click here
Each year, over 90% of UK-based BU graduates find work soon after graduation. Placements, course content and the range of extra-curricular opportunities available at BU, all play a huge part in this success.
BU’s Careers & Employability team can provide you with access to loads of resources to help secure your ideal placement. They can help fine-tune your CV and most importantly, have links to a huge catalogue of employers, locally, nationally and internationally.
Find out more online, by booking a careers appointment or attending a great line-up of employer events.
Online
If you haven’t yet used MyCareerHub, then sign up now. It’ll only take a few minutes and to give you access to everything you need to start preparing for your future career.
The Edge
If you’d prefer to talk to one of the advisors about your options for jobs, placements or to get tips on writing and submitting applications, visit them in their newly refreshed offices at The Edge (just outside the library on Talbot Campus).
Careers appointments
There’s also a Careers Advisor in each Academic School/Faculty, with specialist knowledge of your academic area:
Events
The BU Graduate & Placements Fair takes place on 12 and 13 November 2014 (11am – 3pm), in Kimmeridge House, Talbot Campus. Sponsored by JP Morgan and Phillips, there will be over 150 organisations from all sectors, including hospitality and retail, creative and digital industries, finance, teaching, engineering, government and more.
Employer workshops are taking place throughout this semester. We’ll be welcoming Sky and IBM, among others, to share their placement and graduate opportunities and application advice. Check the Events pages in the Student Portal for more information or book now via MyCareerHub.
Contact the team at careers@bournemouth.ac.uk or 01202 961663.
The achievements of BU students were celebrated at the ROCK Star Award gala dinner. Twelve BU students were nominated by their employers across five categories, with three of them taking home a trophy.
The ROCK Star Awards were created by ROCK Recruitment Specialists to recognise the outstanding achievements of Dorset’s students, young employees and entrepreneurs. The local company hosted 373 guests including sponsors, nominees and members of Dorset’s business community in a night of celebration at the O2 Academy Bournemouth.
Each of the individual Star of the Future categories were sponsored by local businesses. The Star Company Award, sponsored by Frettens Solicitors, was given to the company who invested in young people in terms of training and apprenticeships.
BU also sponsored two awards at the event – The Bournemouth University Student Star of the Future Awards for Under 19 and Over 19 categories. Linda Ladle, Careers & Employability Manager at BU, presented the awards and explained just how important student placements were for students and graduates.
“This ROCK Award honours students with both academic and employment skills,” Linda said. “It recognises that our nominees are developing both life skills, by becoming involved in charitable and voluntary projects, and commercial awareness during their studies, as well as really making a difference.
“BU is really pleased to sponsor the Rock Star Awards for a second year running to celebrate and recognise young talent, and our future stars.”
The winner of the Over 19 Student Star of the Future Award was Lee Merchant.
Lee, 21, is studying BSc (Hons) Applied Geography at BU and was nominated by his placement employer for his enthusiasm and passion in implementing carbon reducing schemes for local businesses. While undertaking his full-time placement he also continued to captain his cricket club despite the distance and will be completing his dissertation early to link in with his placement work. After collecting his trophy Lee said,
“This award is extremely special for me and I was honoured to just be nominated against some extremely talented and skilled individuals.” He went on to thank his family and girlfriend for their support and his placement line manager, Paul Cooling, for the opportunity.
Dr Philipa Gillingham, one of Lee’s lecturers said,
“It has been fantastic to see the transformation Lee has made during his placement year, into a confident and valued member of the team at Poole Borough Council. All the Geography staff are very proud of him!”
The Under 19 winner of the BU sponsored award was Bournemouth & Poole College student, Charlie James-Peers, who was nominated for being an inspirational student, with a passion for current affairs that encourages him to strive to make changes in access to education.
BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism student, Jasper Taylor, won the Fire Radio Media Star of the Future Award, but was unable to attend the ceremony because he is currently in Brazil working on the FIFA World Cup. Jasper, 20, is making a name for himself in sports journalism, gaining extensive experience in broadcasting and has already accepted a job with Sky Sports.
The WDS Inspirational Star of the Future was Nathaniel Hawley, studying BA (Hons) Television Production, who was nominated for inspiring and empowering those around him. Despite having to overcome multiple difficulties, his list of achievements so far is impressive. To date he has been a Young Ambassador for the Princes Trust, a mentor for Aim Higher and has volunteered in Ghana and Tanzania.
Speaking about what the award meant to him, Nathaniel commented,
“The award is proof that having a disability or growing up in difficult situations does not have to be a barrier to achieving your dreams. I feel more empowered and inspired than ever. You do not stop when you achieve your dream, you just expand on it and make it more and more ambitious each time you reach your goal.
“Winning this award will hopefully give me more credibility when applying for jobs in my chosen field. I hope to bring together my passion for telling stories through video and continue to dedicate my time helping vulnerable young people achieve their highest potential by one day starting up my own film school charity.”
As the night closed Angela Fletcher, Rock Recruitment’s Managing Director and creator of the Rock Star Awards, thanked the guests and sponsors for their support:
“I would like to congratulate each of our winners once again and also to acknowledge our runners up. With so many applications, getting to the final stage was exceptional and every judge told us how impressive each finalist was – I hope that current and future employers recognise what bright futures these individuals have ahead.”
Congratulations to all BU Winners and Nominees:
Daniel Abberley, BA (Hons) Business Studies with Operations and Project Management
Erin McDermott, BA (Hons) Event Managing
Lee Merchant, BSc (Hons) Applied Geography
Nomitha Gallagher, BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy
Daniel Hunter, BSc (Hons) Computing Framework
Scarlett Dixon, BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism
Jasper Taylor, BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism
Charley Packham, BA (Hons) Television Production
Tom Summerfield, BA (Hons) Events & Leisure Marketing
Isobel Kearsey, BA (Hons) International Hospitality Management
Nathaniel Hawley, BA (Hons) Television Production
Sa’id Haruna, BA (Hons) Communication & Media
Find out more about the ROCK Star Awards and the other winners and nominees at www.rockstars.uk.com
The guide, called ‘Making internships work: an intern’s guide’, offers advice on what interns should expect to receive and the rights they have when they take up positions in organisations.
It also offers prompts to companies and businesses that hire interns and work experience staff and act as a warning that all staff should be treated, and paid, properly.
As well as giving guidance on pay, the guide seeks to promote the value of internships and provides prospective interns with information about what they should look for in a good placement and how to make the most of it.
Linda Ladle, Placements and Careers Manager at Bournemouth University, helped to produce the guide and said: “It is time for employers to be more accountable with the internships they offer. Interns provide a valuable service for companies and should be paid, and respected, accordingly.”
She added: “Similarly, interns should know their rights and understand how to get the most out of their time with the organisation.
“They deserve to be paid for a good day’s work and this guide should help them to understand what taking an internship really means.”
The guide links to the Common Best Practice Code for High Quality Internships, relaunched in November. and follows recent stories about zero hour contracts and companies who offer internships on a regular basis with no promise of payment or wage in exchange for work carried out.
Linda added: “At Bournemouth University, we are very proud of the way we prepare our students for the workplace.
“It is important that all students know that they will be valued members of the workforce, and that they are respected accordingly.
“Internships are vital for giving valuable experience to young professionals and we want to ensure that people do not feel that they are just making up the numbers but that they bring value to the companies they are working in.”
Last week, the Graduate and Placements Fair welcomed over 2,600 BU students and 90 employers to Talbot Campus.
The event, sponsored by Philips and Enterprise Rent-a-car, gave students an opportunity to network with a host of companies including L’Oreal, BSKYB, Intel, Kondor and Hilton.
Every year, a large number of students find information that helps shape their career and placement applications, this year being no different.
This was the first time the Careers Fair has spanned over 3 days, and organiser Rachel Clarke believes students have engaged well with the concept: ‘It was great to see so many students attend the Graduate and Placements Fair. We attracted many employers who hadn’t been on campus for a few years but who were really keen to engage with and recruit our students’
A new partnership between Bournemouth University and AFC Bournemouth will create exciting opportunities for students, graduates and the local community.
The four-year partnership between BU and The Cherries is designed to enhance students’ experiences through a variety of exclusive work experience opportunities, giving them a competitive edge when looking for full-time work.
This includes working alongside the AFC Bournemouth Community Sports Trust in delivering an annual season-long project for every year of the partnership, as well as supporting the club’s media and commercial team on match days.
Bournemouth University Vice-Chancellor John Vinney said he was delighted to see two of the town’s biggest institutions working together for the benefit of the students and the community.
“We are very excited about the partnership with AFC Bournemouth and the opportunities and experiences it will create for our students,” he said.
“It is also exciting that our two institutions will be partnering to make a difference in our local community, showing a continuing commitment to the area in which our staff and students live.”
The new partnership will also mean BU’s varsity football teams receive expert coaching from AFC Bournemouth’s Community Sports Trust.
At the launch of the partnership, the teams were treated to a training session with AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe at the Goldsands Stadium.
“I think it’s a great tie-up,” Eddie said.
“We would love to give people the experience of how a football club works and obviously, from the students’ perspective, that will be something that they will value greatly.
“We’ve already had a few interns getting full time jobs with us, so it’s hopefully a set up that works and hopefully both parties will benefit.”
Megan Cave, from the BU women’s varsity football team, took part in the training sessions at AFC Bournemouth.
“It’s been good to have this experience and see it all, and the coaching will help develop us as players and as a squad,” said the second year Sports Development and Coaching Sciences student.
“I’m interested in working somewhere like this in the future so it’s great to be able to get in here and make those professional links.”
A number of Bournemouth University graduates are already employed by AFC Bournemouth, including the club’s commercial director Rob Mitchell.
AFC Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn said that he hoped the new partnership would also benefit the local community.
“This is the start of what we hope will be a really large and successful partnership, with two of the most esteemed organisations in the area joining forces to create centres of excellence,” he said.
“We like to think that the football club is the hub of the community and the contribution of the university will help this develop into an amazing relationship, bringing both local businesses and students in the area together.
“It is a great opportunity to develop the skills of young people both within the university and the football club.”
Bournemouth University has leapt up 14 places in The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014.
The report on 22 September highlighted the fact that BU is the first university to have been “commended” for the quality of student learning opportunities by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) – the highest award possible.
Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University said: “I am very proud that BU has made such a big leap up The Sunday Times League table, especially coming so soon on the heels of the QAA commending the quality of our student learning opportunities.
“We are working hard at the University to provide inspirational teaching, world-class research and strong links with the professions to create forward thinking graduates with the skills and flexibility to succeed throughout their career – wherever it may take them. It is very satisfying to see this work being recognised and we look forward to further advances up the league tables.”
The feature also focused on the fact that every undergraduate honours degree student at BU is promised a work placement of typically 40 weeks and claimed that our degrees in public relations, retail management, scriptwriting and tax law were all ahead of their time.
The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) also was given a deserved mention.
BU was one of the top five universities in the UK to have gained the biggest leaps up in the league table as we moved to 67th.
Bournemouth University is top of the class when it comes to offering students work placements, a new study has found.
Research conducted by graduate-jobs.com found that BU has the highest proportion of graduates with work experience on their CVs compared to other UK universities.
According to the study, nearly nine out of ten Bournemouth students graduating in 2013 have spent time in a workplace prior to graduation.
Gerry Wyatt, Operations Director at graduate-jobs.com, said: “Bournemouth University graduates often have a comparatively substantial spell in the workplace, practical and relevant experience of their chosen career, enriched CVs, and an understanding of the importance of both teamwork and interpersonal skills.”
He added that work experience was crucial in helping graduates stand out in the recruitment process, demonstrating work ethic and career aptitude when they apply for a job.
“Those Bournemouth students that have taken advantage of the work placements available to them have also shown initiative, ambition and drive in finding and being chosen for such employment experiences,” said Gerry.
“Their future employers benefit by filling entry-level positions with graduates who have an understanding of the graduate’s chosen industry.”
Bournemouth University offers every Undergraduate student the opportunity to undertake a professional placement – typically 40 weeks in length – and has more students on a work placement than any other university in England.
Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, said, “This study is another example of the brilliant work taking place at Bournemouth University.
“I am truly proud of the student experience our graduates have and am happy to see that they are leaving BU prepared to succeed in their chosen fields.”
A new online portal will allow students and staff from BU’s School of Applied Sciences to share their knowledge and research more easily with the local community.
The Poole and Purbeck Portal will highlight the work being done in the area, as well as providing a space for employers and key stakeholders in the region to post placement and project opportunities.
BU Networking and Bid Development Officer Ben Thornes has helped create the Portal.
He said: “The community is open to anyone who wishes to understand, study, protect or improve the region – this includes professionals in organisations outside the university, as well as students, academics, scientists and anyone who lives in the area.
“Exciting opportunities, knowledge and expertise will be shared on the Portal, creating a gateway for new collaborations across the region.”
The Poole and Purbeck region is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with rich biodiversity and important heritage sites.
It has long been a popular place for research within BU’s School of Applied Sciences, ranging from archaeological investigations of an Iron Age port at Poole Harbour to analysis of woodland patches to see if biodiversity is being lost.
The website will be used as a showcase for the work and research that the School of Applied Sciences is doing across the region, as well as an area for staff and students to network with employers, local authorities and key stakeholders.
Dr Genoveva Esteban, Associate Professor in Aquatic Environmental Sciences at BU, is principal investigator for the Poole and Purbeck Portal.
She said: “Job offers will go on the portal, as well as third year dissertation and research projects.
“We have already been out speaking with businesses and organisations in the area about it. They think it is an excellent idea and now they can easily see what we do.”
The project has been funded by a £41,000 grant from the university and the team are also hoping to connect with wildlife, conservation and heritage groups in the region.
“If you want to find out what the university has done in a particular area, it is an easier way of locating it right there and then without having to go through all the different journal sites,” said Ben.
“It is a way for people to be easily able to see the work that BU does in the community and the benefits of that.”
You can find the Poole and Purbeck Portal at: www.pooleandpurbeckportal.co.uk
Bournemouth University