Information School News

We are pleased to announce the results of a recent project on international student employability, funded by JISC and led by members of the Information School and the Careers Service, including Dr. Xin Zhao, Dr. Andrew Cox, Ms Yiyun Ling, Dr Yuzhen Zhu, and Ms Yingzi Shen. This report offers insights from Chinese employers and alumni regarding international student employability. It also provides practical recommendations for enhancing the employability of international Chinese students in the UK. The report has been distributed to members of the University of Sheffield International Employability Working Group. In June 2023, the Information School successfully organised a follow-up career event to share these findings and support students. If you are not part of the working group, you can access the full report here . The PIE news has also featured the project on their website . We encourage students and staff members responsible for enhancing student employability skills to leverage ...

A seminar series on post-PhD career development and opportunities outside of academia was successfully held on Wednesday 6th June. This event was co-organised by Yuhua Wang, a PhD student from Information School, and Youcao Ren, a PhD student from the Landscape Department. The PGR Forum of the Faculty of Social Science funded this event. This event has also received generous help and support from iSchool Society and Campus Capital, with Marc Bonne, president of the Society, chairing the seminars and Itzelle Medina Perea helping during the sessions. Initiated by Yuhua and Youcao from as early as 2017, this event was designed to offer a variety of information on and insights into the job world outside academia, to help PhD students and graduates make more informed career decisions. Opened by Dr Darcey Gillie, an experienced careers adviser from The Researcher Development Team of the University, the event welcomed PhD students from a variety of departments including the Information Scho...

PhD student Shuyang Li recently won a Student Employee of the Year Award at the University's SEOTY awards 2018. This is a national award, coordinated by the National Association of Student Employment Services (NASES). The award recognises and promotes students who successfully undertake a part-time job alongside their studies and who make an exceptional contribution to their employing organisation. Shuyang was nominated by the Student Jobshop, part of the Careers Service, as she worked part time as a student ambassador and recently as a part-time researcher at the Careers Service. Shuyang Li receiving her award from Wyn Morgan, Vice-President for Education. "To me, this award means recognition for the work that I have conducted and trust from my employing organisation", says Shuyang. "As an international student, I also feel more confident at the working environment." Find out more about the awards here. See the full results listing here.

My name is Wasim Ahmed and I am a PhD student at the iSchool , where I also obtained my MSc in 2013. I recently completed a work placement at Manchester United within the analytics department on a social media research project. The collaboration was made possible due to a University of Sheffield scheme known as the Postgraduate Researcher Experience programme . I have been a life-long fan of the club, so I was really happy to have had this opportunity. I found the placement to be very beneficial for a number of reasons. This is because after spending a number of years working in an academic context, I had not fully considered the intelligence that could be extracted from social media platforms for commercial uses. My academic research, as a result of the internship, has improved and I will now consider potential uses of a research project, as well as the academic insight that can be gained. As a research student you will develop a number of skills that can be applied in a...

Despite the impressive range of fascinating keynotes and innovative sessions on offer, this Day 1 session instantly appealed to me on first reading the CILIP 2017 programme. Having attended this session I certainly was not disappointed. Delivered by CILIP development officers Juanita Foster Jones and Jo Cornish, and with input from CILIP Assistant Director of Workforce Development Mandy Powell, the session was engaging, informative and practical, with a range of career stage appropriate advice for all participants. My only regret would be that I hadn’t attended this session at a slightly earlier point in my library course. Nevertheless, there was a wealth of advice available on a diverse range of topics and CPD opportunities, as well as several genuine and sincere offers of future help and support post-conference. The session consisted of three main group activities which involved: a brief SWOT analysis of personal skills and skills gaps  an overview of the CILIP PKSB and...

Information School students have the opportunity to take part in the University’s eMentoring scheme which partners students with professionals working in their target field. Through engaging in the scheme and talking with mentors, students gain insights into particular job roles, gain valuable advice about the recruitment process and develop important industry knowledge. Students have two opportunities to register for the scheme, and are matched to a professional volunteer mentor in a relevant job role. All students who applied for the scheme in 2016-17 were successfully matched with a mentor. The student and their mentor meet virtually for 7-10 weeks to discuss technical and professional topics, share experiences of job search and recruitment and discuss applications and CVs. Students who have taken part in the scheme report that they feel better informed about their career options in their field, have improved confidence and feel better equipped to apply for jobs and attend interv...

There are currently job opportunities at technology company 中天博日, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Further information can be found on the following link: http://sou.zhaopin.com/ jobs/searchresult.ashx?jl=765& kw=中天博日&sm=0&p=1

Interested in a flexible work placement during term time or vacation period?  Bursaries of £1000 available!  The Postgraduate Advantage  Scheme is still accepting applications and  w e would particularly like to see more applications from Information School students.  Successful applicants will receive a bursary from the University to undertake an internship of 100 hours, which  can take place at any time before the end of July 2016. You can fit the hours around your studies.  To take part in the scheme, you first need to find an internship. You can either source and secure your own in an area that interests you (help on the PAS website is given), or apply for one which we have already found via myVacancies.  Roles which are still available include: Data Scientist (particularly keen to attract students from the Information School) Marketing Intern Project Coordinator Conversions Analyst Or...

18th April 2016, 13:00 - 15:00 - Room 205, Information School Applying for jobs? •    What are employees looking for in your CV? •    How do you deal with complicated online application forms? This will be an interactive session run by careers advisor, Sarah Kettlewell that will help iSchool students to improve their CVs and provide advice on how to get the most out of online job applications. This session is particularly recommended for Information School Masters students. For further details and to book a place click the eventbrite link here

The Postgraduate Advantage  scheme provides internship bursaries for taught postgraduate students in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The internships can fit around your studies and support will be provided to you through the scheme. Successful applicants will receive a £1000 bursary from the University to undertake a 100 hour internship through this scheme. This can be used as payment for undertaking the Internship, travel or living expenses.  This is an opportunity for you to: -        apply skills you are gaining within your degree to the workplace -        further enhance your CV -        gain an insight into a particular career or industry -        build your network of professional contacts   You have the opportunity to approach an organisation of your choice or apply for one of the roles which we have al...

Dr Jonathan Foster  of the Information School recently visited India to speak at several universities in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi and to meet prospective Information School students to discuss the department's range of courses. The following article on course opportunities at the Information School was written by Dr Foster and appeared in the August issue of India's Careers360 magazine:

MSc Data Science students at the Information School took part in an industry day on Tuesday 9 December 2014, giving them insight into what it's like to work in the data science profession. The day was organised by Programme Coordinator Professor Paul Clough and Deputy Coordinator Dr Gianluca Demartini and was held at the Sheffield Methods Institute at the University of Sheffield. Ian Radmore, Big Data Specialist at IBM UK (automotive sector and big data); Ben Hollis, Intelligence Analyst in Specialist Crime Services at South Yorkshire Police; and John Curtis, Head of Information and Knowledge Management at Sheffield City Council all presented on the day and discussed their roles and experience as data science professionals.  Students took the opportunity to ask the speakers questions and to network with them during the event. The Information School would like to thank the presenters for taking part in the event.  Following the success of the day, there are plans to ru...

Laura Williams, graduate of our MA Librarianship programme, has won the SLA Europe Early Career Conference Awards 2013 .  Laura, along with three other winners, will attend the SLA Conference & INFO-EXPO in San Diego in June. Laura is currently working in the media library at ITV as a Media Logistics Co-ordinator responsible for delivering programme content on tape across the organisation for broadcast.

Over the last month we’ve had an exciting selection of lunch time Careers events for students in the ISchool. These included a visit from IBM with the opportunity for students to have a one-to-one with IBM staff, including former iSchool student James Ansell, and an Accenture Interview and Assessment Centre Workshop run by ISchool alumnus, now Accenture employee, Dr Claire-Marie Hanford. We’re looking forward to more events after the Easter break, including a workshop on enterprise and making ideas happen, and sessions on information careers in the health and media sectors.  

Two iSchool students have successfully obtained paid work placements with the Sheffield City Council Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities team . The students will be working one day a week from now until July to support the evaluation of a Community learning trust pilot scheme, one of only 15 in the UK.  The students will be working with the Data Manager to collect and analyse data from adult learners in Sheffield to evaluate the value of community learning, and contribute to defining the "Social Return on Investment" of community learning in Sheffield.

CILIP's Career Development Group (CDG) Annual New Professionals Conference 2010 entitled "Proving your worth in challenging times" is taking place in Sheffield, on the 5th July, in collaboration with the Department.

According to the Independent newspaper, it's because "this is not a degree for the old fashioned but for future managers. A new dawn of librarian has arrived...are you in? ... These days the degree is really broad and is a cross between computer science and management." The Independent A-Z of Degrees August 2009 As you will see, their objective overview of Library and IM degrees around the country places the University of Sheffield firmly at the front.

“Forget stuffy types in sensible shoes and musty old buildings…today's information professional is also likely to be immersed in the virtual world of search engines, tags and all manner of web-based tools, working in a variety of settings.” So you want to study ... A master's in Librarianship guardian.co.uk, Saturday 24 January 2009 MA Librarianship student and AHRC scholar Katie Fraser features in an article in the Guardian on librarianship as a career. Katie was amongst other students and staff from the University of Sheffield, the University of Loughborough and the University of Aberystwyth who offered advice and their eperiences to people wanting to enter the profession. Katie commented on what the course covers, funding opportunities and job prospects. “It's a field that's changing quite a lot, with new technologies having a big impact and libraries starting to get more involved in providing services like online portals.”

MSc in Health Informatics student James Duncan is one of several students interviewed in the Independant, for an article about the benefits of distance learning master's programmes. "Distance learning is helping workers' careers – and their pockets, too" In the article, James explains how the programme directly helped him in his career in healthcare consultancy communications.

Jesus Lau , PhD graduate of the Department, is the president-elect of the Mexican Library Association and has joined the Governing Board of IFLA. Jesus graduated from the Department of Information Studies in 1988. His thesis was entitled "A study of selected social factors influencing information development in low, middle, and highly developed countries : an assessment for the period 1960-1977."