Connexions Trafford

Skills North West 2012

Skills North West is a two day event taking place on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th February 2012 at EventCity at The Trafford Centre in Manchester.

There will be employers, training providers, sector skills councils, universities, charities/voluntary sector organisations and careers and business advisers providing a range of opportunities.

Representatives from the following industries will be there

• Manufacturing, engineering, construction, science, automotive industries and telecommunications
  
• Hospitality and catering, travel, leisure & tourism and retail
  
• Transport & logistics and financial services
  
• Hair & beauty, performing arts and music
  
• Public sector, IT and business, legal & financial and voluntary sectors
  
• Environmental industries, land & waste management and utilities, horticulture and animal welfare
  
• Health & social care, sport & fitness
  
• Armed and emergency services
  
• Education and training
  
• Information, advice and guidance

To find out more visit the Skills North West website.

The Skills North West website have flyers, posters and information sheets here.

What Do Graduates Do? 2011

The latest edition of What Do Graduates Do? 2011 tells you what graduates are doing six months after graduation.

Read What do Graduates do? 2011(7MB pdf)

An over view of the report is

Graduate employment is at 69.7%, with a record number of graduates (100,265 or 63.4%) finding graduate level employment and unemployment has gone down from 8.9% to 8.5%. There were signs of growth in business and financial services as more graduates found jobs as business and financial professionals and associate professionals but the cuts in public spending are beginning to have an impact of the initial destinations of graduates with drops in the number of clerical staff in local government positions. Whilst the private sector has managed to buffer the loss in employment opportunities within the public sector in 2010, it remains to be seen as to whether this will continue for the 2010/11 cohort of graduates.

Tomorrow's Engineers

Tomorrow's Engineers is a website which promotes engineering to young people in schools and colleges.

On this website you can find out how engineering is a key part of industry, fashion, tv, media, housing, health and science.

The Tomorrow's Engineers site have created a poster which shows different areas of engineering that can be found in everyday life. They have more resources here

Learning and working in the motor industry

Automotive Solutions specialise in assisting young people with training programmes and career development opportunities in all areas of the motor vehicle industry and associated trades.

Their new state of the art facility in Trafford Park provides vocational education & Apprenticeship programmes for 14-19 years olds. Find out more about the centre here.

Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships to NVQ 2 and 3 are available across Greater manchester. Find out more here.

GMPower allows 14-16 year olds the chance to mix work-based experience with the curriculum. Successful completion of the course will result in a Level 1 in Vehicle Maintenance (QCF). Find out more here

Green Schools Revolution

This year, The Co-operative is challenging young people to become green pioneers as part of their biggest ever community education programme - Green Schools Revolution.

The Co-operative is introducing Green Schools Revolution as part of their businesses' ongoing commitment to combating climate change and inspiring young people.

They want to inspire and activate young people from the age of five to 16, as well as their local communities, to come together and make their schools, homes and communities more sustainable.

The scheme is free for schools - find out all about the Green Schools Revloution here.

Next Steps

The Government's Next Steps website has over 750 job profiles - showing you what the job involves and how to get into your chosen field.

Search for a job profile here.

STEMNET's Leading Lights

STEMNET creates opportunities to inspire young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Leading Lights showcases 19 STEM Ambassadors from all over the UK who are using science, technology, engineering and maths to push the boundaries of what is possible and to make the world a better and more exciting place to live.

Environmental Jobs

Real Cool Futures is a website created by the eden project which helps you find out about different careers which have a positive impact on the environment.

You can look at real people doing real jobs.

There is a wide range of jobs which have a positive impact on our environment. You can find out about ethical fashion designers, engineers, community wardens, farmers and many more.

You can search case studies by interests, personal qualities or by qualification level.

There is also a random job generator if you need some inspiration.

Young Correspondents: Master Classes @ IWMN

If you are thinking about a career in journalism the Imperial War Museum North is worth a visit this August.

They are holding Young Correspondents master classes in August. The FREE two-day workshops are aimed at young people aged 13-19 and are on these dates

Thursday 11 and Friday 12 August
Thursday 18 and Friday 19 August
Thursday 25 and Friday 26 August

Inspired by their new exhibition, War Correspondent: reporting under fire since 1914, these special Master Classes are delivered in partnership with the BBC.

It is a unique opportunity to develop your journalism skills, spend time in the new BBC Learning Studio at MediaCityUK and engage with the Museum’s themes and Collections.

The two-day workshops, in association with BBC 21st Century Classroom, will include a special tour at the Museum, as well as an opportunity to meet veterans and to tell the story of someone whose life has been shaped by war.

The workshops are free but you will need to booka place - email learningnorth@iwm.org.uk

A Level Choices

20 leading UK universities have issued guidance which acknowledges officially for the first time that they favour students who study traditional A level subjects.

The guide compiled by the Russell Group, which is a lobbying group for Oxford, Cambridge and 18 other leading universities, confirms that top universities favour traditional subjects over newer ones such as business studies or photography.

There is an overwhelming preference for science and maths subjects – even for seemingly unrelated degrees.

The majority of the 61 degree courses in the handbook state that maths and/or science A levels would be either a requirement to win a place, or "useful".

Critical thinking and general studies are recommended to be extra subjects, on top of three or more A levels.

Science and maths A levels are recommended for degrees in archaeology, anthropology and geography among others, and law degrees do not require law A level.

History may be useful instead, the guidebook states. For history degrees, some universities do not require history, but believe English is useful.

You can view the report here.