CAREER PLANNING FOR YOUR SECOND YEAR Onwards and upwards – and then? Jenny Keaveney Careers and Employability Service 11th June 2013 www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm WHAT THIS TALK WILL COVER • • • • Why start planning now? Choosing a career Gaining experience Finding out more WHY START PLANNING NOW? • Choosing the right career takes time and thought • As you progress into Stage 2, your academic workload will increase! • Many popular graduate recruiters have early deadlines for graduate jobs and undergraduate internships • Internships will be more important than ever in 2015 graduate recruitment - in a recent survey, 30% of vacancies with major graduate recruiters last year were expected to be filled by undergraduates who had had previous work experience with these organisations, such as internships, placements or vacation schemes WHY START PLANNING NOW? “Students in their first or second year at university need to ask themselves what job they want to do. It’s important that they do not wait until their final year to think about finding a job, especially in the current market”. Sarah Shillingford, Graduate Recruitment Partner, Deloitte Just some of the options open to graduates in any subject • • • • • • • • • • • • Advertising Armed Forces Arts administration Broadcasting Computing/IT Finance Guidance/Counselling Heritage Work Information Management Journalism Law Management Consultancy • • • • • • • • • • Personnel Police Public Sector Management Public Relations Publishing Purchasing Retail Sales & Marketing Social Work Teaching English as a Foreign Language • Teaching in Schools • Transport and Tourism So where do you start? Think about yourself – – – – – – your your your your your your subject skills interests strengths and weaknesses personal circumstances likes and dislikes Help with self-assessment and career choice • Employability Skills leaflet • Employability Skills section of our website www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsmenu.htm • Choosing a Career booklet and web pages www.kent.ac.uk/ces/which-career.html • Prospects Planner careers guidance program – “What jobs would suit me?” www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner GAINING EXPERIENCE • You can’t learn everything about careers and employers from books and websites • Work experience can help you gain an insight and decide whether a particular career area is right for you • If it is, the experience will be especially valuable for your future CV … • … but no experience is ever a waste of time • You are already building up experience! GAINING EXPERIENCE • • • • • Vacation experience and internships Part-time work during term-time Volunteering Work-shadowing Extra-curricular activities SOME GRADUATE EMPLOYERS OFFERING SUMMER INTERNSHIPS • • • • • • SEO London John Lewis Credit Suisse IAESTE Wellcome Trust HSBC 31 15 16 14 04 13 Jan Nov Dec Dec Mar Jan (these were the closing dates for summer 2013 internships) SOME MORE GRADUATE EMPLOYERS OFFERING SUMMER INTERNSHIPS • • • • • • Chartered accountancy firms Retailers Software companies Government departments Law firms Holiday camps/summer schools • Small businesses www.step.org.uk See “Employers offering internships” at www.kent.ac.uk/ces/work-experience.html NOT ALL WORK EXPERIENCE IS ADVERTISED … You may need to make the first approach, especially for jobs in the media, advertising, public relations, stockbrokers and other popular career areas. See our booklet, “The Creative Career Search” for help with this NOT ALL EXPERIENCE IS WORK … It also includes courses and events such as: • Operational Research Careers Day (Nov) www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Conferences/CareersOpenDay.aspx • Shell “Gourami” Business Challenge http://bit.ly/LtZEdx • “Careers In” events (London University) – include Arts Administration, International Development, Media, Medicine http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/Page114.asp • Target Chances events – law, finance, IT, etc http://target-events.co.uk • Business games, competitions etc www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm#NEWSLETTERS/ NOT ALL EXPERIENCE IS WORK - some of it can be fun! And any other activities you get involved in: • Sports • Societies • Kent Union “Join three societies and become actively involved in at least one” Alan Richardson, Graduate Recruitment, Royal Bank of Scotland Group “WORK EXPERIENCE” ALSO INCLUDES • Volunteering – – – – teaching social care media development • Work shadowing • And all those part-time or casual jobs you do just to bring in some money WHY? “The more you enjoy university life, the more you’ll get out of it. Employers like you to have what they call “customer-facing experience”. You’ll get loads of that if you take a part-time job or work as a student volunteer. It’s a terrific help if you can understand how businesses work, show you can get things done and apply simple common sense. It was my work experience that gave me all these things, not my academic course” Kate, marketing officer with a PR agency WHY? “If you’ve spent time at university finding out what you enjoy and what you are good at (or the opposite!) it will help you to develop an idea of what you’re aiming for when you leave. Even if the picture of your ideal job is still hazy, you’ll know enough to avoid drifting into one that’s completely wrong for you” (Association of Graduate Recruiters) OTHER WAYS TO HELP YOUR CAREER • The Careers Employability Award • Employability Points Scheme Careers Employability Award • This will greatly improve your career planning and jobhunting skills, giving you strategies to make appropriate career choices and will increase your chances of getting a graduate job • Takes about 12 hours to complete – all done on-line via Moodle • Assessed by quizzes and assignments with feedback provided online • www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm THE CAREERS EMPLOYABILITY AWARD How it works: • Register at http://moodle.kent.ac.uk/moodle by Friday 14th June • Complete the quizzes, three assignments (including submission of a CV for critique) and a feedback form • On completion you will receive a University of Kent Careers Employability Award certificate • Available off-campus: you can start on the award as soon as you register but it cannot be carried over until next term so you will need to complete by the end of June EMPLOYABILITY POINTS • The Employability Points scheme rewards students at the University of Kent for active engagement in extracurricular activities such as: – – – – – Active involvement in societies Completion of a World language module Tour Guide for prospective students Course, School or Faculty rep Attending CES events and skills training sessions www.kent.ac.uk/employabilitypoints WHAT NOW? 1) Think about yourself, what you want from a career and which careers might offer this, using: – – Prospects Planner www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner Choosing a Career booklet or website www.kent.ac.uk/careersChoosing/ChoosingCareer.htm WHAT NOW? 2) Research careers and employers - who offers the jobs you are looking for? - what are they looking for? - how and when do they recruit? - what relevant work experience can you get with them? How to get to the top of the pile in a very competitive market place? Do your homework. Research, Research, Research. (Carl Gilleard, Association of Graduate Recruiters) WHAT NOW? 3) Start to plan ahead for next term - deadlines for vac work/internships - getting involved in activities - part-time work - starting to note your skills and interests USEFUL INFORMATION SOURCES • Careers and Employability Service website www.kent.ac.uk/ces – including: – Timeline: when to do what: www.kent.ac.uk/careers/timeline.htm – Work Experience – www.kent.ac.uk/ces/work-experience.html – Employability skills – what do employers want? www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsmenu.htm – I Want to Work In – brief introductions to 100 different career areas www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm USEFUL INFORMATION RESOURCES • Careers and Employability Service booklets on Choosing a Career; the Creative Career Search; Applications and Interviews • Prospects.ac.uk -sections on special interests (including Working Abroad) and detailed descriptions of a wide range of jobs • TARGET Jobs advice by sector on specific industries; Employer Insights into individual companies plus graduate jobs, placements and internships across every major sector http://targetjobs.co.uk/ The Careers and Employability Service … • • • • • .. is open throughout the vacation Careers Resources Room Careers Advisers – book an appointment or just drop in Networked PCs and IT resources Opening times: – 10.30 – 5.00 Monday – 9.00 – 5.00 Tuesday-Friday • or email us: – [email protected] • or phone 01227 823480/1