Student blogs

So the first order of business is to let you all know the great feat of Kingston University Mountaineering Club (KUMC) this month, for collectively climbing Mount Everest. Before you ask how we got to visit the Himalayas, we climbed the height of Everest at White Spider Climbing Centre in Tolworth. At a final count of 11,220 metres, the target was exceeded by an extra 2,372 metres; roughly Everest and a quarter! This could be attributable to the amount of competition; everyone wanted to push themselves to the limit, after all it was for a good cause. By the end of the day we had raised over £600 for Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance. Our next challenge is to beat the Surrey Stags climbing team at Varsity; this is where us Kingston Cougars compete against the Surrey Stags in 27 different sports.

Although every semester I promise myself to get all my work done early I'm getting snowed under with it yet again. I've been working on my time management skills, but still haven't mastered them. Although extracurricular activities are good it's all a balancing act and some people are not so skilled at gymnastics!

This weekend is our first taste KU open day. This is a post application open day for those who have applied to study at Kingston University. It is designed to help potential students gain a better understanding of what it is like to be a student here at Kingston. I hope to see a lot of you guys there.

Anyone got any questions about anything?

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well.

So Valentine's Day has come and gone and I enjoyed it with a few girlfriends. We went to a restaurant for dinner and it was a lovely evening out.

What did you guys get up to? I hope you had fun whatever you were doing :)

I have been very busy this month. You may be surprised to find out my new love isn't actually a person, it's more of books. As you can tell by the pictures my only love at the moment is pharmacy, or to be more precise pharmacy lecture notes.

We are at the beginning of week 4 in semester 2 and we have had a total of 30 lectures as of Friday 15th Feb. Yeah! 30 lectures in 3 weeks! It's a lot. And that is why my books are my new love. I really want to try and stay on top of things and not let anything fly over my head. 

So that is my February resolution; stay organised, stay focused, and don't fall behind. The temptation of going out and having fun is still there, I must admit I do sneak out of study mode and have a few cheeky drinks.

February is actually an amazing month. We had a health week last week at Kingston University and it was great. I took full advantage of it. There were workout classes, cheap healthy food in the canteen, back and neck massages and even stress workshops; I loved it! In my opinion it should be health week every week. I am even considering joining a sports club; I'm thinking maybe badminton or tennis. I'll definitely keep you guys up to date and let you know what I decide.

But for now, stay blessed people and speak to you soon. 

The growing competitive nature of today's world makes it very difficult to get a proper full time job, or on a graduate scheme. Finding a job can be a real nightmare and one has to struggle a lot. This is due to increasing numbers of applications for vacancies.

What can you do?

You can increase your chances of getting a job by doing extra-curricular activities. However, the best way of increasing employability is work experience. The article below shows the importance of work experience.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-372126/Employers-prefer-work-experience-good-grades.html

The best work experience is gained during internships or placements. Unfortunately these placements are as difficult to get as the job itself. It is due to the similar stages of selection, which are very difficult.

Kingston University students are very lucky as we have a Careers and Employability department which helps us during our endeavours. The very friendly team help us in each and every aspect of the selection stages. They send us emails about firms which are currently hiring and tell us what they are looking for. They help us with our CVs and covering letters. These two are very important to any applications and have to be perfect to ensure progression to the next stage. They even organise drop in sessions in the library where they help us draft these two important pieces of documentation.

I was applying to HP and the deadline was very near. I emailed a member of the department and hoped that they could help me despite the tight deadline; I was surprised and pleased when I got a reply with instructions attached.
I eventually managed to get through to the next stage, the telephone interview, but unfortunately failed in that one.
Even though I failed, I still continue to look for placements; the Careers and Employability department encouraged me to try harder. The team gives us materials such as sample psychometric tests and case studies, which prepare us for further stages of the selection process.

The department also organises events which are very informative about issues such as assessment days, job opportunities for international students and other seminars. There are also various networking sessions with employers which are invaluable as we get to know a lot about what it is that they are really looking for.

I got in touch with some employers and this was really helpful. They gave me tips and advice about what to do during the assessment days and what they look for in the CV.

We also get some insight about how life in that organisation might be. When you interact with these employers you do get to know more about the business ethics and other important things which can't be found online.

In a nutshell Kingston University really does as much as it can to help us, but at the end of the day we are the ones who have to make the effort and actually succeed in getting a placement or internship.