Career Planning

Clueless about careers?

Are you unsure about what you want to do?  You're not alone, many students graduate not knowing what they want to do.  The Careers and Employment Service is here to help you make your choices informed ones, so you can do what is best for you.  You don't need to leave it until your course finishes either, the earlier you start thinking and planning your next steps the better prepared you will be.

Think about what really matters to you

• What are your interests, ambitions, values, work preferences and motivations?
• To what extent do you want to use the knowledge and expertise gained through your degree subject?

Tools to help you decide

• Visit the Careers Centre, use the resources available, research your career options and the wide range of graduate jobs open to you.
• Speak with a Careers Adviser, either on duty or through a booked appointment.
• Use Prospects Planner, it can help you to generate job ideas and to match your skills and interests to specific roles.  You can assess your skills and analyse what you believe motivates and interests you in your life.
• Try the activities and exercises on Windmills Virtual Career Coach to help identify your ideal job and manage your career. A hardcopy is also available in the Careers Centre.  It provides a step-by-step guide to taking charge of your career with a skills check section to help you identify the skills you have.
• Book yourself onto the Myers Briggs Personality Indicator (MBTI) workshop, run as part of the Careers Workshop programme.  Find out when  sessions are taking place on the careers events page.  MBTI is a personality inventory which helps you to understand yourself and identify potential areas for growth.  A range of material is also available in the Careers Centre, ask a member of the information team at the Help Desk.
• Look at what graduates from your course have gone on to do after university.  This can be useful in your search to find a career which suits you and your skills.  Each year information from recent graduates is collected in the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey - see what do graduates do for an overview or call into the Careers Centre where more details can be found.
• Use your spare time wisely, use work experience not only to earn money but to help you decide what you like and dislike in a job.  To find student employment, including voluntary opportunities go to Student Jobs Online.  
• Find out about employers, what are they like, their culture etc by attending recruitment fairs and employer presentations.  Keep informed by using the RSS feed option on the events page or sign up for emails via the E-learning portal.