Learning outcomes for the week

In the first week of the course, the emphasis was on understanding SMEs, and in this second week, you’ll be focusing on interacting with them. By the end of this week you should be able to:

• Research SMEs effectively, exploring their culture, values and needs both online and in person
• Apply for a job within the SME market, communicating your skills and experiences and crafting speculative applications
• Describe the opportunities for personal development that SMEs might offer
• Use a networking approach to gather information and build connections within the SME community.

The first part of this week is all about identifying SMEs in North Yorkshire that might be of interest to you. Here’s another opening question. Answering this will help us to understand your perspective, and might also help you to consider your priorities when looking at different employers in the area. For example, if you want to be near your family home, this might impact on which part of North Yorkshire you focus on geographically. Don’t worry – if North Yorkshire isn’t a particular target for you, there will be plenty of advice this week to help you investigate SMEs in your preferred location.