INTERVIEW SKILLS: Tips from the Top…


Ben Elliot,Careers Advice,Dragon's Den,Georgie Grieg,James Caan,Marco Pierre White,Quintessentially,The Evening Standard,Uncategorized,University of Cambridge — admin @ 10:11 am on April 24, 2013  

'I always look for people who can demonstrate appetite in one way or another' - James Caan, Entrepreneur and star of Dragon’s Den

“JOB INTERVIEW” – Two words which strike fear into the hearts of thousands of young jobseekers. What to wear? How to act? Let alone what to say. 91% of employers rank your attitude and personality above your degree and experience, so although you’ve already made a mark to secure the interview, now’s the time to really impress.

With competition fiercer than this stubborn wintry weather preparation isn’t just important, it’s vital. So, as we’re all for thawing out the frozen graduate employment rate, here are some top interview tips from WEXO and some of the people we’ve spoken to.

RESEARCH

1.) It’s a no-brainer but it’s worth repeating. There’s no easier way to show you want the job than to have done your homework. Firstly, have a clear understanding of the company’s work, structure and ethos. Keep in mind questions like “why do you want to work here?” Put your detective cap on and get investigating.

2.) Secondly, keep up-to-date with industry news. It’s an easy way to show you’re passionate about the profession. There are the usual industry magazines and trade association websites but social networks such as Twitter and Quora are useful secret weapons. They’re the simplest ways to follow tastemakers, opinion formers and industry gossip.

3.) Thirdly, think tangentially. How can you stand out? What makes you different?

'I want to find enthusiasm, individuality and a desire to succeed. Simple things like spelling in an application letter really matter. This gives me an indication of their ability to present themselves and their ideas, essential for anyone in any job' - Geordie Grieg, Former Editor of The Evening Standard

COMMUNICATE

1.) It’s good to run through obvious interview questions, the usual suspects include “why should we hire you?” or “what are you strengths and weaknesses.”

2.) 19% of employers are concerned about young people’s problem-solving abilities. As a result, scenario tasks come up time and time again. They give companies a chance to see how you think through problems. This could be before, during or after an interview or as part of an assessment day. If you are applying for a marketing role you might have to devise a low-cost marketing plan for a new product the company plans to release. If it’s an analyst role you might have a small project to test your number-crunching skills. Either way, most exercises take the form of: Receive scenario > identify issue > formulate idea/plan > present proposal.

3.) Whilst you can’t necessarily prepare for the tasks you can think about the kind of qualities and skills required for the job you’re applying for – they’ve probably spelt them out in the original job posting.

PRESENT

‘What particularly matters to me is the way someone presents themselves from head to toe – clean collar, clean cuffs, pressed trousers and polished shoes.’ – Marco Pierre White, Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur


'Ask questions... don’t be shy.' - Ben Elliott, Founder of Quintessentially

With 55% of employers saying there’s a weakness in school leaver’s self management, avoid turning up late. Whilst dress codes vary from office-to-office first impressions count and are hard to forget.

TURN THE TABLES

It’s a good idea to prepare some questions to ask. It’ll show that you’re inquisitive and it’s your chance to find out more about the company.

AND THE BEST CAREER ADVICE?

“Be yourself, because you will never be as good trying to be someone else. Keep working on your weaknesses.” – Rita Clifton, Chairman of Interbrand (quote compliments of The Sunday Times)


Louis – Business Development Intern at WEXO

WEXO GRADUATE DEBT RESEARCH


Ailsa Renton,Aviva,George Osborne,IMF,Louis Persent,Political Commentary,Reuters,Robin Kennedy,Uncategorized — admin @ 8:08 pm on January 30, 2013  

Placing graduate debt in to context

Following the weak UK GDP figures last week there has been a lot of talk about whether the UK needs to start following America’s lead and investing a bit more in its recovery. That might mean increasing borrowing and debt. This in turn has got us thinking about what levels of debt are acceptable? In a similar way, rising university tuition fees have turned the spotlight on to the financial implications of choosing a university education. By 2015 the average student will graduate with over £53,000 of debt. WEXO has gathered together debt statistics across the complete spectrum, from national economies and the companies they host to individual households and students, in an attempt to explore the issue.

The results are summarised in the graph below. Companies and economies are ranked by growth rate from lowest to highest, with debt statistics for UK graduates and households placed at the far right of the chart.



KEY FINDINGS:

* From 2011 to 2015 the average graduate debt is expected to rise from 88% of the average starting salary to 169%.

* The average student graduating in 2015 will owe an amount proportionally similar to Greece’s current public debt.

* The strongest performing companies all had low levels of debt. Apple has no debt.

* Similarly, high performing countries tend to have lower levels of public debt.

* National Grid, Vodafone, Cathay Pacific and Reuters are examples of companies who have grown despite high levels of debt.

* Similarly, the US economy has grown despite high levels of debt.

Graduate debt was calculated as gross debt of the average student as a percentage of average starting salary, figures from the Push Student Survey 2011 and the Association of Graduate Recruiters. 2015 starting salary has been extrapolated from existing data.

All company data is from the Financial Times/Thompson Reuters. Debt is expressed as a percentage of revenue. Government debt statistics are from the IMF and calculated using Gross Debt as a percentage of GDP.

Mortgage and household debt statistics are calculated using data from the Aviva Family Finances Report – August 2012. The average household debt and mortgage and reported as a percentage of average household income.



WEXO CEO, ROBIN KENNEDY’S OBSERVATIONS:

* Negative connotations of debt: Whether we call them ‘contributions’ like some other countries, or not, these tuition fee loans instil fear in young people who are not clear that some debt is ‘no win, no fee’. Debt should be treated with ultimate caution but never overlooked.

* Debt can be positive: As Louis’s analysis suggests, even over the 5 years since the recession first raised its ugly head, companies like Reuters and countries like the USA have grown (the former impressively, year on year) despite high levels of gearing. Run this analysis in a boom period and the most geared entities would be some of the best performers. Likewise some young people can hugely benefit from investing in their futures, as MBAs do. Likewise some young people can hugely benefit from investing in their futures, as MBAs do. (Some jobs can own you – debt is cheaper than equity?)

* Lessons for the UK: I subscribe to the emerging consensus (IMF) view that Osborne should take heed from America and consider investing properly in growth (especially in areas like Education and Employment) rather than obsessing with austerity. Otherwise we could still be looking at a lost generation.

* Market Imbalance: A tertiary education in the UK is becoming one of the most expensive in the world but Blair extravagantly sent too many (50%) young people to university and to correct this imbalance and aspirations, the price had to rise. In an international market, with some of the universities in the UK being the best, they have to be priced accordingly and sponsors are emerging.

* Opportunity Costs: University is the right choice for some young people, starting a business (or getting a job) a better one for others. Parental investment might not pay dividends but deciding whether to borrow from the government and ‘leverage up’ shouldn’t be, and hopefully won’t become, the determinant factor.

“The research itself is the second in a series of reports compliled by 2012 Graduates and WEXO interns, Ailsa Renton and Louis Persent, who are testimony to the value that can be added by paid interns. Both are on the STEP programme which allows companies to pay graduates a training allowance of £217-£295 a week exempt from PAYE and NICs. The previous report relating last week’s unemployment figures to our 65 Olympic placements can be read here.”


For more information, contact Ailsa Renton: +44 (0) 207 554 1454 / ailsa@wexo.co.uk

Bestivals: 4 of the best festivals to come….


alt-J,Anna Calvi,Azealia Banks,Beach House,Bestival,Cornbury Estate,End of the Road,Field Day,First Aid Kit,Hideout,Isle of Wight,Latitude,Lovebox,Mano de Dios,Midlake,Music,Music Industry,New Order,Platinum Rye Entertainment,Secret Garden Party,Standon Calling,Stevie Wonder,The Eleven,The Independent,the xx,Uncategorized,WEXO,Wilderness — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:59 pm on August 2, 2012  

Summer finally seems to be taking shape, Europe’s on holiday, the Olympics having kicked off and we sense finding a vocation has taken a back seat for some. And why not? Britain’s festival season is in full swing… And with this in mind, we’d like to congratulate Emma who won the latest WEXO Competition on Facebook for 2 tickets to Bestival. We look forward to seeing you there Emma. Lets hope the weather Gods are kinder this time and that Bestivalarians of 2012 don’t get a repeat of The Isle of Wight fest back in June, when the heavens opened, unleashing a month’s worth of rain in the space of 24 hours.

We asked 2 WEXO hires on the music sync team at Platinum Rye Entertainment (whose offices we share) what the 4 best festivals coming up are. With Latitude, Field Day, The Secret Garden Party and Hideout having already been, they suggested the following:

End of the Road (31st August – 2nd September, 2012)
The Independent described it as, “Simply one of the most magical, inspiring and intimate festivals of the summer” and we couldn’t agree more! Started in 2006, the organisers’ aim is to “organise an intimate festival with our favourite artists, and with a friendly and relaxed feel”. They only book artists they personally like, which makes the line-up on offer far more interesting than many other festivals. The favourite bands of ours on the line-up are Midlake, First Aid Kit, Anna Calvi, Beachhouse and Alt J.

Wilderness (10th – 12th August 2012)
Seven years in the making, Wilderness is the brainchild of the people behind Secret Garden Party and Lovebox. Set in the ancient parkland of the Cornbury Estate, it has something of the feel of a pint-sized Latitude, without the endless queues and hordes of teenagers. And finally, we can’t mention Wilderness without talking about the wood fired hot tubs. Enough said? We thought so.

Standon Calling (3rd – 5th August, 2012)
The independent music festival slash themed summer party, Standon Calling, returns to the grounds of a 16th Century Hertfordshire manor house and promises a unique chance to see some hotly tipped acts, in an intimate festival setting. This year is promising a different format to the weekend. Whatever is it, we know it’s going to be good. We also understand that it’s the only UK festival with a swimming pool!

Bestival (6th – 9th September, 2012)
With Glastonbury taking a sabbatical, the main event on everyone’s festival calendar is Bestival and with it’s eclectic line up including New Order, the xx, Azealia Banks and Stevie Wonder, we can’t say we’re surprised! The festival has since grown steadily year-on-year and it’s now reached its current capacity of 50,000! The double economic dip has seen some popular festivals struggle to draw in the crowds this season but Bestival’s A-class offering has succeeded in attracting it’s enthusiastic audience, as keen as ever to be a part of it. If you’re going to go to one festival this summer, make it this one. We’ll be there with Mano de Dios (who Robin manages) and we look forward to seeing Emma and anyone else who’s going on location.

Blog courtesy of Charlotte at The Eleven

WEXO introduces…The Bridge


Fastliners,Rushanara Ali,The Bridge,Tom Hickman,Uncategorized,WEXO — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 11:05 pm on February 8, 2012  

As often as the media writes about how hard the current generation of school and university leavers are finding it to build valuable and rewarding careers, employers complain just as much about something broken in our education system. They see a lack of preparedness for the work of world – the wrong skill sets and attitudes, low ‘employability’. Valid feedback perhaps but it is among the current crop of business owners that the concept of the ‘unpaid internship’ has developed, and the habit of rarely replying to online job applications become the norm.

Stressed employers, under-prepared young people, a barely hidden culture of exploitation that more than occasionally leads to a dysfunctional system that serves no-one. Yet at the same time two truths remain:

1. In these tough times business owners need “stars” and “A-players” more than ever.

2. There is an incredible pool of talent waiting to work with entrepreneurs and business owners. This new generation are more often than not talented, driven by values beyond money, fascinated by entrepreneurs and probably the most ambitious yet in terms of what they believe they can do. (7 of my colleagues at The Bridge remind me of this daily)

Just as Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green, saw for herself with the successful Fastlaners project in her constituency, great results can be achieved. The challenge is finding the win-win commercial model to provide something that lasts.

Which is what the team of entrepreneurs, business school faculty and leadership specialists behind The Bridge have come together to do. Our model is to build an eco-system of growing businesses, ambitious young people and The Bridge team. Everyone puts in, everyone takes out and no-one pollutes. Real paid work; the most personalised, modern training and development; young people delivering tangible commercial results. Our ‘Enterprise Community’ provides its population with ongoing support.

Our programmes strip away the theory and focus on what really counts:

* a high personalised learning experience – every Bridge associate has a performance coach throughout their 6 months with us
* the precise skills entrepreneurs need in their team members to help their business grow – taught by people who do this in their day job
* learn by doing – live business challenges replace bums on seats in the lecture theatre
* large doses of inspiration from people who have done incredible things
* micro class sizes, continual personalised assessment and feedback
* a focus on deepening an individual’s strength, confidence, and communication

And there is no better place to talk about this than here at WEXO with Robin and his team, who continue to do great things in this space.

Come along to our Open Wednesdays events to find out more…

Tom Hickman
Founder & Managing Director
www.bridge21c.com

My WEXO Experience: Travel PR at Wedge & Wildlife


My WEXO Experience,Newcastle University,PR & Advertising,Tourism & Travel,Travel,Wedge & Wildlife,WEXO — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 11:30 pm on January 10, 2012  

After graduating from Newcastle University in the summer, I was unsure of what route to go down. After a few months of job hunting, where unimaginative and mundane jobs appeared to be my only option and numerous rejections were coming my way, I was starting to lose motivation and feel very disheartened. Thankfully I came across Wexo and I was immediately attracted to the fact that the internships they offered were with small, unique and quirky companies. These are the type I aspire to but are often overlooked when huge graduate schemes are thrown at you. Wexo really tried to get at insight into my strengths and preferences in order to focus on what I would be most suited to, so that I would end up doing something I really enjoyed. Unlike many other recruitment companies they really care and focus on you, giving you a lot of time and thought.

Wexo found me a month long internship in travel PR working at a small, exciting and unconventional company called Wedge and Wildlife. As I was living in Oxfordshire at the time, I was able to work from home, allowing me to save money. I spent my time writing spiels for their website about a number of locations across Africa. I had around 30 locations to describe, consisting of beach, safari, wine land, battlefield and fly/drive trips. Not only did this allow me to dream about going to incredible five star lodges, but also improved my writing, vocabulary, research skills and allowed me to get an idea of what a job in travel PR would be like. It also improved my time management and organisational skills and gave me more experience at working to a deadline. Originally I had never considered working in travel PR; however the internship helped me realise that it is something to think seriously about. I could not have enjoyed the internship more and my time there would not have been possible without Wexo!

Chekkie

Raising your prospects : Interning in the charity sector


Charity & Voluntary,Chloe Musgrave,Internship,My WEXO Experience,Quintessentially,Quintessentially Foundation,Uncategorized — admin @ 4:14 pm on March 3, 2010  

Chloe Musgrave gives insider info on what it’s like as an intern for a charity organisation



AFTER a change of career heart, I decided I would like to try work in the charity sector. As a sign of the times though, I knew I needed to do a few months of work experience to become more ‘employable.’


I learnt about Quintessentially Foundation through WEXO. Quintessentially Foundation is the not-for-profit department of Quintessentially, the world’s luxury leading lifestyle group. Quintessentially Foundation has the benefit of being surrounded by sister companies, such as an events department and a design team, all who lend their expertise to the Foundation internally. This helps reduce costs, meaning there is more left in the budget to donate to charity.


From the first day, I enjoyed the challenges of working in the charity sector. It was exciting to think of new ways to raise funds and rewarding to donate such large sums to our charities. I was attracted to the variety between larger long term projects, and the smaller, more immediate fundraising ideas. I was given plenty of tasks to work on independently. Amongst others, the highlights have been the background research for a charity cycle ride, organising an online auction of luxury gifts for Valentines’ Day and a series of talks on philanthropic themes.


I feel I have learnt a great deal about the charity sector in a short while and I’ve been inspired by the worthwhile nature of the work. I am attracted to the great balance between organisation and creativity that the role has demanded of me and would recommend an internship at Quintessentially Foundation to anyone looking to start a career in fundraising, charity, or even in the events sector.

SEO? OMG! What is everyone tweeting about?


Careers Advice,CPC,Delicious,Digg,Facebook,Reddit,SEO,SMN,Twitter,Uncategorized,WEXO — admin @ 2:26 pm on February 24, 2010  

social media blog pic


AS a recent grad or if your graduation is on the horizon you will probably have gathered by now that companies are more and more obsessed with the online world, whether it’s SEO*, SMN*, or CPC* … it can all be a bit OMG*! The good thing is this is scaring everyone, even people who have been in industry for years. Online technology is moving at light year speed and companies are racing for their spot at the forefront.

There are some good reasons why everyone is loving online – you might think Twitter sounds a bit rubbish, but for companies that have had their advertising budget slashed with the recession, rather than opting for expensive ads in magazines, they can reach an online audience of consumers for free. If a business doesn’t have an online presence they are missing out while their competitors get ahead – does anyone still leave the house to do their Christmas shopping?

Savvy graduates will spot this as an opportunity to make their CV sparkle in a dim graduate job market. ‘But how?’ … I hear you cry. There are a number of things you can do to make yourself appear tuned in to online media. Here are a few tips

1) Facebook
Make sure your Facebook privacy settings are tight – this could be a school boy error! But it is a good idea to fill in the information section in a professional way and we are working on ways for you to opt in to share your WEXO profile with employers across the web.

2) Twitter
Create a Twitter account and follow people in the industry you are interested in. Even if you think it is a load of hype, I guarantee this will be worth it, if only for finding out about opportunities and getting up to the second news. We’ll happily be your first follower!

3) Blogging
This is the most important – Start your own blog. There is a section on your WEXO profile where you can link to a website, it’s a very good idea to link to a blog you have written. This not only shows you are competent with Blogging software, but it is also a chance to demonstrate (and practise) your writing skills and for your personality to come through. So it really doesn’t matter if what you choose to write about is unrelated to the industry you are looking to get into. We recommend giving it a try with either wordpress or blogspot.

4) Stick at it

Update your blog as often as possible. Most bloggers only keep it up for about 3 months so stick with it and you have a much better chance of getting a following.

5)Create a buzz
You can promote your blog using your twitter account and online news sites like Digg, Reddit and Delicious.

How far down the online and social media rabbit hole you go is up to you, there are entire professions emerging, but you have already made the first step with your Facebook profile (one in three Britons now has one).


Want to get some social media experience on your CV? Why not help us to spread the word about WEXO and we will give you a crash course on how to network. We can give you ideas on what to do and when, WHICH MEANS … you can then say you have some social media experience to put on your CV.


Click here to read more about how to get involved

*SEO – search engine optimisation
*CPC – cost per click
* SMN – social media networking
*OMG – oh my god!