An Introduction to Unit 4 Marketing Yourself 2017-18

Unit 4 CATs Write a Personal Statement for a UCAS application OR for a specific job (include a plan) Mock interview Plan, deliver and review a group or individual presentation Reflective response

Purpose of Unit 4 Relevant for securing future HE or job places Promoting yourself is not easy – lets practice how to do it Improve your confidence – how many are confident in all situations? Develop practical lifelong skills

Purpose of session Help students to prepare for successful applications and interviews How? Provide advice and tools on ‘how to...’ Why? Ability to promote yourself is vital to success

HE stats 718,480 Number of applicants (2015) 532,300 Number who got places (2015) Competition – Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, Law, Teaching, Physiotherapy, Social Work... What about those that didn't get places?

How to ensure your success Academic grades? – not enough on there own Relevant Work experience Extra curricular activities - skills Well written personal statement A good interview performance and presentation skills

Skills and abilities with examples Personal Statement Market yourself Reasons for choosing course Understanding of course/ subject Areas of academic interest/ strength Career aspirations Employment, work experience, voluntary work Skills and abilities with examples Extra-curricular DofE/ NCS Other interests

Use the Personal statement guide at UCAS.com

Don’t plagiarise. Not all examples are good! Use the Studential website to view example personal statements

Personal Statement – do’s Make it relevant and concise – one statement fits all course choices Make sure you have plenty of experiences to write about and provide examples Consider style as well as content - structure and SPG Always be honest and truthful, BUT positive too

Personal Statement – don’ts Repeat, waffle and be vague Mention individual institutions by name Leave it till the last minute! Copy others work - UCAS Similarity Detection Service

Interviews Will determine whether you get the place or job or not Some courses interview all candidates, others interview a selection How can you make yourself memorable?

Interviews: the WOW factor Preparation – research the course, institution or company Provide evidence with specific examples Confident – interviews are a performance! Enthusiastic Professional Non-verbal communication Ask questions

Presentations Keep it simple and relevant Stick to the time allocated Plan, prepare and practice Use presentation aids – PowerPoint, pictures, video clips Remember to reflect on performance to improve

Use the PM web page as a research tool

Points to remember Use the templates and other guidance in the Unit 4 booklet to help you, and online PM resources/web links Remember to include a plan of your personal statement Stick to the word counts requested Include a copy of your presentation slides/handouts Don’t copy and paste info from the web – plagiarism

Open Days 2017 Wednesday 21 June Thursday 22 June Saturday 16 September Saturday 21 October Wednesday 8 November Friday 1 December 9.30am – 3.00pm http://www.hud.ac.uk/open-days/