Josh Francis

Some local employers receive up to 250 applications for one vacancy, as students in Lincoln are struggling to find a job to keep them going through university.

Jessica Shield from the University of Lincoln’s Job Shop explains the service is swamped with students trying to find jobs and each vacancy is filled fast.

“We have about twenty new jobs a week on the website, but the [total] number of jobs displayed doesn’t increase because they go so quickly.

“One vacancy can be advertised one day but be gone the next because the sheer number of applicants.”

“Jobs with local small companies and in industries like catering or bar work are easier to get because you could start work in a few days,” Shield added.

Sam Kelham is one of the students to get a job: “When I had my interview, they told me that around 250 people applied for the job and just 15 people got hired.”

Kelham works at the University of Lincoln’s Engine Shed.

Peter Johanesen, a 19-year-old Computer Games student, says he has been looking out for signs in shop windows to find jobs.

But he points out “Usually there’s no reply. When I do [get a reply], they say it’s about the lack of experience.”

Jessica Shield from the Job Shop explained that it could be the students’ fault when they are unsuccessful with a job application.

“As well as positive feedback, we also get a lot of negative feedback from employers.

“It’s mostly about being applications being poor, mainly blank emails being sent with a CV and not explaining the purpose, or being too familiar and using kisses and smiley faces,” Shield said.

The University of Lincoln is dealing with a 20% increase in student numbers and accommodation in the city is tight too.

Presently, the university owns only the Student Village accommodation, situated on the Brayford Campus for first year students.

Junxion, Pavilions, Brayford Quay, Hayes Wharf and other student blocks are owned by private companies and the university pre–books a select number per year.

If these accommodations are fully booked, students can also look for student houses run by private landlords across Lincoln.

Dozens of teenage card-swapping game enthusiasts met at the Friends Meeting House on Park Street this weekend to indulge their hobby.

The tournament is hosted weekly by Comic Culture and put on usually at the Healthy Hub and Beaumont Fee, but the provisional location this weekend was due to the Alternative Christmas Market.

Strategy card games like Yu-gi-Oh! are receiving a sudden boost in popularity in Lincoln because of the continued franchise is touching another generation.

The Yu-gi-Oh! game asks the players to take turns to attack each other with 40-card decks, taking out 4,000 life points.

Another game the teens play is Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering, challenging players to summon monsters to defend life points through spell cards.

The car-swapping club itself is split two ways, one side plays Yu-gi-Oh! while the other plays Magic: The Gathering.

Daniel (16) started playing Yu-gi-Oh! back in 2000 and finds the game “fun” and interesting how he has to “think things through.”

When playing Yu-gi-Oh!, Jack (15) found he had no plan for winning, “I don’t really have an overall strategy; it varies from game to game”

In comparison with other tournaments up and down the country, a dedicated club member Ashley (16) describes Lincoln’s club as “quite small compared with Sheffield and other European tournaments.

“One was held at the NEC in Birmingham, where players came from all over Europe and translators explained moves to people who spoke different languages.”

The club itself has both old and young players, Ashely said: “There’s a mix of experience and we try to teach the younger players.

“There were more people but with the university students leaving, there’s no real structure and it’s not as competitive.”

The club’s next meeting is next Saturday at 10.30am at the Healthy Hub, and entry costs £1.50.