What do I do next? Finding careers advice in Bay Library

My name is Gareth Smith and I am a part-time Senior Service Advisor at the Bay Library. I’ve previously worked at the Miners’ Library and the LIC at Singleton Campus. I’m excited about working in a brand new library on a brand new campus and all the challenges and experiences that will arise as a result of that. I’m also looking forward to the great view that we will have (for our three annual days of sunshine).

I’ve chosen Careers to feature in this blog because it’s something that both new and returning students will need to familiarise themselves with in the Bay Library to make sure that they’re making the most of the library’s career services.

Though new students will likely not want to be thinking about future careers yet, second and third year students might want to consult the literature we hold on the topic in the library. It’s located directly in front of the study well in the central area and contains books such as The Graduate Jobs Formula: How to Land Your Dream Career, Put Your Mindset to Work and (bizarrely) What Color is Your Parachute?. As well as these, there is a wealth of bilingual information sheets offering advice and guidance on CV writing, completing job applications and looking for part-time work. You’ll also find lots of information and advice on the Careers and Employability Service web pages.

If you have a more complicated query or would like to discuss your career prospects, bookings with a career advisor can be made either online or at the Library Desk. (The link to booking an appointment can be found under the ‘Careers’ tab of your MyUni page, or follow this link: https://myuni.swan.ac.uk/careers/). It’s particularly helpful for you to state your specific reasons for wanting the appointment during the booking process, as this helps the advisor tailor the session to your needs and ensure it is valuable and relevant.

Appointments can be made either on the day you book or on the following day, between the hours of 09.00 and 16.00. The Career Advisor at the Bay Library, Gareth Hill, will be here for appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The sessions normally last half an hour and will be conducted in one of our interview rooms. These are located in the North Wing of the building and are signposted outside. Gareth will also be running drop-in sessions on Wednesdays between 14.00 and 16.00 for general queries with no appointment necessary.

How to impress an employer

Image by Spielbrick Films on Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

We recently ran a session as part of Swansea University’s Employability Week on using our business resources to do your homework on companies for speculative applications or interviews. This covered:

• Researching a specific company: depending on the size and location (public / private, SME / multinational) we looked at EBSCO Business Source Complete, FAME, Mintel Oxygen and Proquest Business Collection for reliable company or industry information. Find out the company’s market position, their competitors, their strengths and weaknesses etc.
• Researching a particular industry or market in order to demonstrate commercial awareness. Mintel Oxygen covers certain areas (e-commerce; food; leisure; technology; drink) or EBSCO Business Source Complete also has Industry Profiles and market research reports.
• Making speculative applications: using FAME to generate a list of possible companies in a certain industry in your choice of area.

The workbook we used in the session can be accessed here (Word Document) – it will take you through using the various databases mentioned above. Contact the Business library team for more information: buslib@swansea.ac.uk