STEM Career Presentations
We educate, enthuse and inspire your STEM students
Gradcracker regularly visits universities to advise students about how to become successful job hunters.
We broaden their horizons by introducing them to the many industry sectors which require their skills.
We teach them how to become better applicants by providing them with research and organisational techniques and tools.
We give them unique insights into how employers think by drawing on our experience of talking to hundreds of STEM employers on a daily basis.
We inspire and enthuse students by opening their eyes to the vast number of employers who use Gradcracker to recruit from STEM disciplines.
The talks are usually presented by one of two senior Gradcracker people – our Marketing Director, Jessica Luck or Account Director, Sophie Hare-Scott
To find out more about the Presentations we can provide please contact Jessica by email or on 01347 823822.
To read about some recent presentations click the links below.
Birmingham City - How to become a successful job hunter.
Birmingham City University
Jessica was invited by David Bond, Careers Consultant at Birmingham City University, to spend a day on campus to help his STEM students become successful job hunters.
Jessica spent a full day at the university, speaking in ten timetabled lectures for a huge range of degree disciplines, including Built Environment, IT, Computing, Mechanical, and Automotive.
Getting Gradcracker involved in timetabled lectures is a great way to ensure high student engagement, and therefore a greater number of students securing work placements and graduate opportunities.
The presentations lasted around 15 minutes, and each one was attended by a minimum of 40 students from all levels of study.
She was assisted throughout the day by the various lecturers, each of whom introduced every talk with a strong message of support for Gradcracker. This was something the students took real notice of - they all listened intently as Jessica took them on a tour of the Gradcracker Student Dashboard, and its many features.
Jessica then demonstrated how our Employer Hubs work, and showed them the simple process of applying for an opportunity.
She also touched on the Gradcracker Follow feature and its corresponding certificates, explaining that Employers attach great importance to applicants who are shown to have taken a genuine interest in their company.
Alongside the presentations, Jessica handed out 350 copies of the famous, free Gradcracker Toolkit to students, our 220-page booklet containing invaluable careers advice and STEM sector information.
Both David and Jessica were thrilled with the day’s success. David said in a later email that it was ‘really beneficial for the students’ and that he’d love for her to return and hold more presentations in the future.
We sent Birmingham City University's careers team a Gradcracker ‘Timba the Tiger’ cuddly toy, to thank them for the university’s cooperation.
The careers team at Birmingham was rather taken by Timba.
Lincoln - Let employers see the ‘real’ you.
University of Lincoln
Jessica, our Marketing Director, was invited by Bruce Hargrave, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, to talk to his Computer Science first years about the importance of thinking about careers from the beginning of their university course.
Bruce has been a fan of Gradcracker since we met at a student showcase event last year and we were keen to help him and his students.
Jessica was welcomed by a full house of over a 150 hugely attentive students in Lincoln’s brand new Isaac Newton lecture theatre.
In a one hour presentation, Jessica spoke to them about the importance our employers attach to work experience and showed them how to search effectively for work placements on Gradcracker. She also taught them how to increase their employment chances by firstly identifying their individual key competences and then by highlighting them to employers. She emphasised that employers focus very much on finding well-rounded people as evidenced by their extra curricular activities.
Her talk ended with an informal Q and A session and was rewarded with a sustained round of applause from the students. Bruce told Jessica afterwards that the presentation was “Bang on – perfect” and added that he “wants more talks – every year!”.
Westminster - It’s you they want to employ.
University of Westminster
Hanna Gnanaseharam, Work Placement Officer in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Westminster, invited Gradcracker’s Sophie Hare-Scott to talk at their “Why do a Placement’ workshop. (Sophie had spoken at a previous workshop at the university a year earlier and her talk was deemed to have been such “a roaring success” that she was invited again.)
Last time, the classroom Sophie was given for her talk was so well-attended that it was standing room only. This time, she was given a 200-seater lecture hall – soon she’ll be insisting on ‘stadium gigs only.’
During her one hour talk, Sophie took the students through a BMW placement opportunity and taught them how to find and use key phrases within the job and person specification to highlight their suitability for the role. Employers attach great importance to applications that are clearly tailored and targeted and the techniques Sophie showed the students will stand them in good stead when they apply for positions in the future.
After the by now customary robust round of applause from the packed audience, Sophie was asked by the University’s Games Society to arrange for them to have a free Society Hub on Gradcracker – a service we provide to all university STEM societies.
Hanna later emailed Sophie to thank her and to say “It was such a great workshop and the students were really engaged!”
Swansea - Don’t let the computer say ‘no’.
Swansea University
Gradcracker’s Marketing Director, Jessica, was invited by placement tutors at Swansea University to speak to their second year ‘Year in Industry’ students about how to be successful in online placement and job applications.
Jessica was greeted by a 280-strong audience in Swansea’s sparkling new lecture theatre.
During her one-hour talk, Jessica introduced the subject of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) and how employers use them to provide a first filter of the many applications they receive. (Gradcracker has built ATSs for many employers so we know our subject!)
These systems can be quite sophisticated and can see answers to so called ‘killer questions’, which, as the term brutally indicates, will ‘kill’ an application if the answer is wrong.
‘Killer Questions” might determine if a candidate is studying the preferred discipline or has achieved the required grade. Less obviously, they might be about relevant work experience or modules covered in a degree course.
Some questions might only lead to an ‘amber’ warning flag being raised rather than an outright ‘red’ flag.
Often a student will have no idea they have triggered a ‘flag’ and will confidently await an invitation to interview.
Jessica’s key message to the students was that they should read the person specification carefully and, if necessary, filter themselves out of the process before embarking on an application that can only end in disappointment.
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Judith Burton,
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