At beyondoxbridge we are always keen to showcase other student enterprises, especially those which help with careers. We invited Career Interview Coaching to write a short article on their work...

Career Interview Coaching (CIC) is part of OxFizz, a pioneering social enterprise, recently established by three Oxford graduates. CIC provides a practice interview service for the 40,000 students in Oxford to help them excel in forthcoming job and internship applications.

The job market is extremely competitive, especially in the current climate where many companies have been forced to streamline and cut back on graduate recruitment in anticipation of uncertain economic conditions. Times are tough and securing your graduate job could be even tougher:

• Bain & Co. receives about 100 applications per vacancy for entry-level positions
• Last year Goldman Sachs received an average of 55 applications for each graduate vacancy
• Clifford Chance typically receives around 40 applications for each training contract

Unfortunately having an Oxbridge degree and a good CV doesn’t guarantee you a job offer; it comes down to the interview for you to really make your mark. This is where Career Interview Coaching can help. CIC offers a huge variety of interview types which aim to cater for all different sorts of people. Whether you’ve already had plenty of interview experience of whether you’ve had none at all, whether you want to work in a city profession or for an NGO in Africa, Career Interview Coaching can do something for you. CIC Interviewers are all highly trained in interviewing and, if you elect to have an industry-specific interview, you can be sure that your interviewer will have considerable experience in your chosen sector. Sectors offered include Banking and Finance, Civil Service, Management Consultancy, Environment, Accountancy, Law, Education, Charity, Medicine and Healthcare, Advertising and Marketing, and Postgraduate Study. Interviewers come from a variety of backgrounds and work for companies such as Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, Merrill Lynch, Unilever and Norton Rose.

Career Interview Coaching is supported by the Oxford University Careers Service and the Said Business School and currently runs interviews at both of these sites. The support of these organizations means they are able to keep their costs down, making their service t least £150 cheaper than their nearest competitor. Interviews start at only £25 and at present 90% of this fee goes to charity. This is because they work according to parent company OxFizz’s model of philanthropy. This model utilizes the time and talents of skilled professionals to provide a service for a fee. The profits from this fee are then passed on to a charity of the professional’s choice. Using this principle OxFizz and CIC find the demand for services and then brings the providers and customers together to generate money for charity. So in booking an interview with CIC you’re not just significantly increasing your chance of success at interview, you’re also helping to raise money for a worthy cause. In the past money has been donated to charities including Oxfordshire RSPCA, Oxford University Amnesty, Muslim Youth Helpline, Helen & Douglas House, Down's Syndrome Oxford and Jacari. In addition to their interview service CIC also invite a number of prominent speakers to Oxford each year to speak at their free seminars which focus on interview technique and gaining employment in various job sectors.

For more information or to book your interview, go online to www.careerinterview.co.uk or e-mail info@careerinterview.co.uk. You can also find them on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28289759596&ref=ts