Write for Careers

• Intro
• Who can write for us?
• Before writing
  • Audiences, themes and topics
  • Guidelines
  • Types of posts we accept and posts which aren’t suitable for our blog
  • Successful articles
• Content submission and the review process
• Repost and sharing policy

Intro

The Careers Blog, managed by the Careers Team at the University of Reading, was created to support the Careers team’s mission, vision and values.

We aim to:

• inform Reading students of their career options and professional development opportunities
• support them in understanding how they can gain relevant experience
• prepare them to succeed in the competitive graduate labour market.

Everything we write is designed to help students boost their career prospects. The world of work can be daunting and often feel too big to navigate, so we want our students to feel prepared and this is where you come in to support our mission. Whether you want to inform students about your business and new opportunities, or you have something exceptional to share that might help them achieve their career goals or even useful and relevant knowledge on niche and specialist sectors, we are happy to invite you to write for our blog.

We are proud to confirm that we have already welcomed a range of guest bloggers to our platform. From international career experts to students and employers in a range of sectors, they all play a part in sharing invaluable career insights with our student community.

There are plenty of ways to offer opportunities to our students with support from our Employer Engagement Team.

 Who can write for us?

If you belong to one of the following categories, then we are happy to welcome you to become a guest blogger:

• University of Reading students and alumni, ambassadors, recent graduates
• employers/recruiters
• qualified careers advisers
• content writers specialising in Careers advice
• professional courses/conversion course representatives.

Before writing

Before starting your article, please review and consider the following. We’ve also included some successful articles for inspiration.

Audiences, themes and topics

The articles on the Careers Blog are written to meet the needs of three different audiences, who are at different stages of their career journey. Before writing the post, please choose a group and focus on one or more of the following topics relevant to them.

Part one students

For them, developing their career is not a priority so they need our understanding, patience and encouragement. In our communications, we direct them towards activities designed to grow their experience and gain skills for the world of work.

Themes and topics for first-year undergraduate students:

• work shadowing, volunteering, soft skills – what they are and how to gain experience
• how to identify career options and aspirations, such as how to make the most of attending insight days
• early preparation advice (top things to include in a CV which will help them land a job at your company, meeting and shadowing a mentor)
• why internships are good for students
• what to do when you don’t have work experience
• skills needed to work in a certain sector/industry.

Part two students

We encourage them to start thinking about what they want to do in the future. We focus on motivating them to take action and to be excited about their future.

Themes and topics for part-two undergraduate students:

• identifying career options
• enhancing your experience (extra-curricular activities which boost their career prospects)
• application preparation
• doing internships/placements (what employers think of students who do an internship)
• vacation work, making contacts and networking
• doing a conversion course, making the most of your degree, gaining qualifications.

Finalist undergraduate students:

They are under a lot of stress in their final year of study. When communicating to them we are optimistic, supportive, encouraging and reassuring. Students in their final year might often feel that they have run out of time to get their careers sorted. We know this isn’t the case and want to relieve that pressure through the messages we convey.

Themes and topics for finalists:

• career planning
• gaining work experience and skills
• combining academic work and professional work/ how to balance a job and academic work
• job hunting techniques
• CV/ cover Letter writing for different industries/job sectors/roles,
• tips and tricks for different interview styles, assessment centres and so on
• assessment centre preparation
• qualifications to enhance your degree
• advice for those unsure of what to do in the future.

Postgraduate Students

These students may have more experience in the world of work or could have continued studying without having a break. When communicating with them, you should consider their potential prior experience, as well as the added level of stress they may have with dissertations or a thesis. Many post-graduate and mature students may also already be working alongside their courses and so messages should be supportive and avoid being patronising. 

Themes and topics for postgraduate students:

• industry-specific careers advice and insights
• CV/ cover letter writing for higher-level jobs
• combining academic work and professional work/ how to balance a job and academic work
• advice and info on fellowships, research jobs and PhDs.

We are also interested in themes that can apply to students at any stage of their study, particularly around the area of dealing effectively with transition management; this could include effective decision making, how to narrow options down, positive/growth mindset, avoiding procrastination and resilience.

Guidelines

We want our students to gain valuable insight into the world of work, and we are on hand to help them prepare for the future. We try to achieve this by only sharing information, which is up-to-date, clear, relevant and truthful.

That’s why:

• Every post should be written in a clear and concise manner, using a friendly tone of voice, considering a specific audience (as listed above).
• Students are not familiar with professional jargon so try to write in a language they understand. If you must use jargon, please include a short description of what the term means.
• Titles such as ‘How to …’, ‘ XX ways to…’, ‘Top X things to…’ tend to work best. Please think of a short, catchy title that best summarises your article.
• Please include a line or two about the author of the post, including a brief presentation of their background and the company they work for (if applicable).
• Please provide only one link to your company’s website, preferably in the information about the author.
• Use lists and bullet points where possible as they make the content easier on the eyes. Please refrain from adding punctuation to the end of your bullet points.
• Insert numbers, stats and quotes to back up your statements whenever you feel it is necessary.
• Share at least one high-quality, royalty and license-free photo to be included in the post and decide on a caption for it. The photo should not contain any text, as it will be used as the featured image. Ideally the photo should be 1200px by 630px. If you are having trouble sourcing a photo, please do not worry – simply get in touch.
• We welcome the sharing of copyright-free video content. Please provide either a Youtube URL or an MP4 file of the video you wish to be included.
• Aim to have a post length of around 600 words and no more than 1000 Content must be split into short, easily readable sections.

Types of posts we accept and posts which aren’t suitable for our blog

Acceptable posts include:

• interviews with students, company founders, HR professionals, Careers Advisers
• ‘How to…’ articles written in an approachable voice, conveying practical advice, actionable tips, useful know-how
• competition shout-outs
• step-by-step guides meant to help students achieve career objectives
• articles from past and present students sharing their experiences, written in the first person
• employer profiles which contain a brief presentation of the company and of the working environment and its employees, and a career development guide for the students who might want to work there
• articles on the themes and topics mentioned here

Posts which aren’t suitable:

•  articles used specifically for marketing purposes.
• plagiarized or copyrighted content
• posts unrelated to Careers
• posts promoting the services offered by our Careers Centre

Successful articles

To help you write meaningful content that appeals to our readers, we have picked a few successful articles for you to be inspired.

One of our most successful articles was about how to pass the Civil Service Situational Judgement Tests, written by one of our Careers Consultants: https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/careers/situational-judgement-tests-civil-service/

Here are other articles which generated exposure and interest:

http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/careers/how-to-solve-psychometric-tests/

http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/careers/legal-work-experience-with-the-national-trust/

http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/careers/who-to-put-down-as-references-when-youve-just-graduated/

http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/careers/mental-health-support-for-new-graduates-by-lynda-guttenberg/

Content submission and the review process

Before writing an article, please make sure you have read the information in the guide, then simply get in touch to check your theme and idea with us.

You can express your interest by completing the contact form on this page. Alternatively, you can contact us at careers@reading.ac.uk,

Please include the following information in your message:

• ‘Writing for Careers’ in the subject line
• tell us who you are, which company you represent
• your intended audience from the list above
• what your article will be about.

We’ll then review your theme to make sure it’s suitable for our students. Once your theme has been approved, you will be notified by our Digital Communications Team. We then ask you to write and submit the content, via email, within two weeks. Once submitted, we take the liberty of reviewing your article and suggesting changes. Before publishing the post, we will send you a reviewed version for approval.

Your post will then be scheduled and made available to students.

Repost and sharing policy

Our policy is simple: share away. We care about our blog and so where possible, blog content will appear on our social networks and within the newsletters, we send to students. In some instances, we may also put it up on our online student portal.

We strongly encourage you to share content from the Careers Blog, and if you do, please give us a mention: @UniRdg_Careers on Twitter,  @UoRCareers on Facebook and University of Reading Careers on LinkedIn.

Thank you for taking the time to read our guidelines, we hope everything is clear, but if you do have any questions, please email us: careers@reading.ac.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Blogging!