The UKs European university

CHOOSING
A CAREER

Finding the right career for you

www.kent.ac.uk/ces
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 3

CONTENTS

Introduction 4
What is a career? 4
Where to start 5
Self-awareness 6
Your interests 6
Your values 7
Your personality 8
Your skills 10
Personal circumstances 12
Opportunity awareness 14
Using your degree 14
The graduate job market 14
What is a graduate job? 15
Postgraduate study 16
Self-employment 17
Time out 18
Career exploration 19
Researching careers 19
Networking 20
Work experience 20
Decision making and taking action 22
Action planning 23
Summary 24
Tips for successful career planning 24
Useful online resources 24
Careers Employability Award 25
4 www.kent.ac.uk/ces
INTRODUCTION
Reading this booklet will
not help you to make
an immediate career
decision! Choosing a
career is a process, not
an event: it takes time
and thought.
What this booklet aims to do is
to help you make a start in this
process by outlining the different
stages of making career choices,
the issues that students should think
about during this process and some
resources (online, in print and
through careers advisers) that will
help you to find out more about
yourself and about your options.
Look on this booklet as an
introduction and use the resources it
suggests to follow up and find out
more. After you have done this, you
may want some personal advice
and guidance based on your own
individual needs and interests.
Careers advisers are available at all
stages of your studies to provide
this: see page 22.
What is a career?
A career is more than just a job!
The word 'career' used to be
associated with paid employment in
a single occupation or job. Today,
we recognise that a career is made
up of many stages: it could include
further study, time out (including
for parenthood or other caring
responsibilities as well as gap
years), volunteering, part-time work
or self-employment. An individual is
likely to undergo many changes,
voluntary or otherwise, in their work,
work status and employer during the
course of their career.
20% of roles in this company
didnt exist when I joined, and
30% of this years graduate
recruits will move into roles
which didnt exist a year ago
(head of HR at a digital
communications agency)
The changing and uncertain nature
of careers means that you are not
choosing a job for life: your first job
role after university is just a step on
a path where you will have to be
prepared to take new directions
and decisions on a regular basis.
To manage these changes
positively, you need to be prepared
to keep learning throughout your life
and take an active role in building
your career. The following principles
of career planning, created by
Canadian career development
specialists, provide a useful guide
to help you understand the
implications of this changing world
of work:
1 Change is constant
We change constantly and so does
the world around us including the
working world. Most people now
encounter many jobs, in different
occupations, organisations and
industry sectors during their lifelong
career journey, so adaptability and
resilience are important skills to
master. Every change, good or bad,
brings new opportunities. Those
who are most aware of change, in
themselves and the world around
them, are able to make proactive
choices and benefit from change
rather than resist or complain about
it.
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 5

2 Learning is lifelong Where to start Decision making. Once you have

When change is constant, learning completed the above two steps, you
The following four-stage model is
needs to be ongoing. Learning does can bring them together to help
commonly used in career planning:
not end when you graduate: make decisions. It is likely, though,
opportunities to learn, formally or that you will need to find out more
Self-awareness. Understanding
informally, are everywhere! about the various opportunities to
yourself your interests, values,
make sure that they are the right
skills, aptitudes, ability, personality
3 Focus on the journey ones for you. While no one can
traits, goals, aspirations and what
Life is a journey. Identifying make your career decisions for you,
really motivates and drives you is
your goals and purpose gives drawing on other people's
the most vital part of making career
direction. However, dont get too professional knowledge, reputation
choices. Nobody else can tell you
fixed on a single destination: this and skills when planning your
what to do because nobody else
lack of flexibility can prevent you career can be invaluable. Getting
knows you as well as you do
from adapting to the changes, work experience, working with a
yourself! The following pages give
challenges and opportunities mentor or seeking one-to-one
suggestions for how you can
that are happening right now. careers advice are all ways that
increase your self-awareness and
can help you through the decision
gain a greater understanding of
4 Access your allies process.
your interests, values and other
You do not take your journey
things that are important to you.
through life alone. Friends, relatives, Taking action. This could include
teachers, neighbours and developing greater employability
Opportunity awareness. What
colleagues can all be willing and skills; taking additional learning or
career choices are available now,
helpful allies in helping you take the qualifications; finding potential
and may be available in the future,
next steps on this journey. See page employers; perfecting your CV,
in the industries and professions
20 for more about accessing these application and interview technique;
in which you are interested,
allies and using your networks. applying for internships,
experienced or qualified? It can
placements, graduate jobs or
also involve understanding in what
5 Follow your heart further study.
sectors or what geographical areas
Its important to work at something
there are skills shortages and/or
that makes you feel happy and The rest of this booklet will look at
how political, social and economic
productive. As things around you each of these stages in more detail.
developments may impact positively
change, knowing and believing in
or negatively on your career
yourself your values, interests and
opportunities.
dreams will help to hold you on
course. Your vision for the future
gives you the energy to go after
what you want. That vision may
change over time, but if you stay in
touch with yourself, youll be able to
see where you want to go.
6 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

SELF-AWARENESS

Your interests
Most people will say I want to do a
job that interests me. Your interests
have already influenced many of
your life choices to date: your
degree subject; choosing which
university to attend; work experience
you have undertaken; how you
spend your spare time; where you
have spent your holidays. They may
have been responsible for friends
you have made and helped you to
develop your skills. These interests
will probably have a similar influence
on your career.

For some people, an interest is so

important that it is the main
influence on their career choice. A
gifted athlete, for example, may be
able to use their interest and ability
to succeed in a sporting career.
Many more people will be content
to play their sport at a recreational
level, but will still take this interest
into account when selecting a
career or an employer. Some may
enter sports-related careers, in
leisure management, sports
administration or promotion, retailing
sports goods or teaching PE.
Others will seek out careers in
different fields that offer similar
opportunities for physical activity,
teamwork, competition or challenge.
Or they may simply choose between
employers on the basis of the
company sports facilities.
It is important to weigh these
interests against other factors
once you get to the opportunity
awareness stage. Many other
people are likely to share a passion
for areas such as sport, music,
fashion, politics, computer games
or television, making these careers
incredibly competitive to get into.
You need to find out what the work
really involves, develop skills that will
give you an edge when applying
and gain experience which is
often unpaid.
Interests in career planning,
though, go beyond the interest that
you have in your degree subject or
leisure activities. The word is also
used to refer to work-related
interests and ways of working.
The following sites provide
interactive exercises to help you
analyse your interests and relate
them to different careers:
32-question Interests Exercise
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing
/InterestsProfile.htm
What really motivates me
www.windmillsonline.co.uk/
interactive/section_1/
subsection_3/page1.html

Your values
What are your values?
Your values are those things in your
life that you consider to be important
and that give you motivation. In
relation to work, values are what
give purpose to a job in the eyes of
the individual who does it. The
effort, commitment and motivation
that a person brings to a job is
usually in direct proportion to the
values that they perceive in it.
Examples of work-related values
could include:
Independence: working
autonomously with no or little
supervision
Helping others: either individuals
or groups or both
Prestige: having respect and
high standing in others eyes
Job security: a strong likelihood
of staying in that job as long as
you wish to
Collaboration: working with
others
Helping Society: contributing to
the betterment of the world
Achievement: doing work where
you can see tangible results
Recognition: receiving credit for
achievements
Material benefits: salary,
bonuses, pension schemes and
other employee benefits
Relevance: a job where your
educational background (maybe
your degree subject itself), skills
and experience are important
Leadership: taking responsibility
for supervising/managing others
Creativity: using your initiative
and developing own ideas
Variety: doing different activities
Challenge: performing tasks that
are difficult
Risk-taking: taking actions and
decisions that involve potential
danger
Work-life balance: having
adequate time to pursue interests
outside work
Influence: having the ability to
affect people's opinions and
ideas
Advancement: having a clear
career path and promotion
structure
Think about how important each
value on this list is to you. Some
careers instantly call to mind a
particular set of values:
An Army officer, for example, is
likely to cite leadership, variety
and risk-taking as the main
attractions of this career, but
collaboration, job security,
recognition and prestige may
also be significant factors.
An aid worker in a developing
country will probably give helping
others as their chief priority,
perhaps along with
independence, collaboration, and
risk-taking while dismissing
values such as material benefits,
job security and advancement as
irrelevant to his or her career
choice.
www.kent.ac.uk/ces 7
But in many other cases, a single
career field can offer scope for
satisfying many different values. For
example:
A chartered accountant working
in a large private practice may
value his prestige, material
benefits and security .....
One who has left the same firm to
set up her own practice may
enjoy the independence and risk-
taking ...
While a third, who has taken a
post as in-house accountant with
a national charity may gain his
main satisfaction from knowing
that his work is helping society
But all of them may equally value
the variety, responsibility, people
contact and intellectual challenge
of their day-to-day work.
Your values are likely to play a key
role in your career choice and to be
the main factor in deciding on a
career, or a career path within a
particular field of employment.
Research into happiness and
values suggests that our happiness
is related to how we are able to
identify and utilise these values in
life.
Happiness at Work
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing
/career-satisfaction.htm
Analyse your Career Values
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing
/values.htm
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8 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

SELF-AWARENESS (CONT)

Your personality
Consider how well each of these characteristics describes you
Your interests and values are two of
on a scale of 1 (very closely) to 4 (not at all)
the factors that make you an
individual and will influence your Assertive Outgoing Sensitive to others
career choice. What other aspects Confident Imaginative Warm
of your personality need to be Reliable Energetic Decisive
considered? Methodical Competitive Independent
Consistent Cheerful Objective
Understanding your personality can Tactful Reserved Adaptable
help you think about how you prefer Organised Cautious Adventurous
to approach problems, plan your Resilient Relaxed Persistent
time and relate to people. You can
also get an insight into the working
environments that will best suit you
quality in financial jobs and crucial obtain our energy, take in
and the types of work that might be
for many medical occupations information, reach decisions and
most rewarding.
(imagine the brain surgeon who isn't deal with the outside world. These
careful!). Similarly, being reserved preferences lead to the definition of
Some characteristics are applicable
may be linked to powers of 16 different personality types each
to many careers. Resilience, for
concentration and attention to detail of which is characterised by
example, can be equally valuable to
which may be important in scientific preferred behaviour patterns. These
the police officer, the television
and computing fields. can influence many of the choices
producer, the investment banker or
that we make in life not least our
anybody whose daily journey to
Before relating your personal style to choice of career.
work involves the Northern Line!
careers, though, you need to make
Being sensitive to others is not just
sure that you understand what a There are many personality
for counsellors and social workers
particular career demands. If you questionnaires that can help you to
but can help anybody to get on with
are methodical, cautious and discover and understanding your
their colleagues.
reliable you could certainly do well personality type, how it affects your
as an accountant but at the same behaviour and interests and how it
These personal characteristics may
time, you need to be adaptable, relates to career choice, The best-
have a strong influence on your
persistent and confident to deal with known assessment tool is the Myers
choice of career. Anybody who feels
the range of clients you are likely to Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which
that terms like outgoing'' and
encounter. looks at your preferred ways of
assertive are the complete
interacting with others, taking in
opposite of their personality is
Although personality is a complex information, making decisions and
unlikely to be happy, for example, in
attribute, there is one aspect known working. It is based on four sets of
sales or arguing a case in a law
as personal preference that has preferences, relating to how you
court, but may find their niche in an
been studied thoroughly and which prefer to:
information or research focused
has proven relevance to the career direct your energy (Extraversion-
role.
decision making process. Introversion)
process information (Sensing-
You may think that certain personal
The theory of personal preference is INtuition)
styles, such as being reserved and
based on the idea that we seem to
cautious might be seen as negative,
be born with preferred ways to
but being cautious is a valuable

make decisions (Thinking-
Feeling)
organise your life (Judging-
Perceiving)
By completing the MBTI you end up
with one of sixteen four-letter codes
that summarises your personality
type. You can try a self-assessment
exercise based on the MBTI at
www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-
win/jtypes2.asp
If four-letter codes seem a bit dry
and boring, there are many
personality tests based on the
MBTI that use friendlier indicators
of your personality type, such as
Idealist, Wizard, Visionary,
Mastermind(www.bbc.co.uk/news/
magazine-18723950) or even
animals
(www.thespecialistworks.com/attitudi
nal-targeting/personar/personality-
types)
Once you have gained an insight
into your personality type, the
following sites may be helpful in
relating it to careers.
www.personalitypage.com
/careers.html
www.16personalities.com/
www.personalitytype.com
www.kent.ac.uk/ces 9
Other personality test sites that
may be of interest
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
Choosing/personalstyles.htm
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
psychotests.htm for personality
questionnaires
Keirsey Temperament Sorter:
http://keirsey.com This test
produces a four-part personality
type along the lines of Myers-
Briggs
Enneagram Test:
www.9types.com A personality
test that measures your
personality traits against 9 types.
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10 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

SELF-AWARENESS (CONT)
13:01 Page 30

Your skills your life including study, sports, The Rate Your Skills exercise on
societies, part-time work and page 11 lists 15 of the skills most
While your interests, values and
volunteering. often looked for by graduate
personality will affect the career
employers, defines what employers
choices that you make, your skills
Employers need graduates who can mean by these, and give you a
will be crucial in enabling you to
offer more than just their academic chance to rate your skills level.
make successful applications to
achievements: however good these
your chosen employers and to do
are, you will be competing with other For further information see the
your work effectively.
graduates who are just as good in Employability Skills section of our
terms of their academic results. website: www.kent.ac.uk/ces
The term skills as used here
Employers therefore look for a range /student/skills.html
relates to what are known as
of these skills in graduate
transferable skills rather than to
applicants, many of which are The Skills Map below sets out a
practical skills such as computing
common to a number of different range of employability skills in a
skills, languages or lab skills.
career areas. Demonstrating these way that shows their relationships
Transferable skills (which may also
skills in your CV and application to each other. You may wish to
be referred to as employability
form, using your various highlight any you feel you are good
skills or soft skills) are not specific
experiences as evidence, will help at and put a question mark against
to any one career area and can be
you to stand out as a candidate. any you feel you need to develop.
used and developed in all areas of
Does a pattern emerge?

Enthusiasm to make Self

things happen and Reliance
achieve goals Summarising
Accepting Report
Responsibility writing
Working on your
Learning Attention to own initiative to
detail improve the way Telephone
new skills Skills
things are done.
Creativity/
Numeracy lateral
thinking Writing Listening
Skills

managing your
Collecting Professionalism
learning/performance
data Communicating Presenting
Data Speaking
handling
Classifying/
synthesising Giving/
SKILLS MAP accepting
constructive
Co-operating criticism
Identifying/ Analysing
evaluating Problem Team-
solving working Presenting a
Organising & positive
Summarising Planning personal
data image
Investigating Leading
/Researching Being
IT Skills assertive
Time Decision
management making Negotiating
Prioritising
Responding Persuading
positively and &
flexibly to changing Motivating influendng
situations Action others
planning Setting Delegating
objectlves

Copyright of the University of Kent.

 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 11

Rate your skills!

The skills listed below are the ones most often looked for by graduate employers. To assess your own skills and
competences, rate each item 1-4, where: 1 = very good 2 = capable 3 = basic 4 = not skilled

Skill What this means in practical terms Rate

yourself

Written The ability to write clearly and concisely and convey information in a way that will convey
communication the meaning to different readers.

Verbal The ability to use the spoken word to express ideas in a way that is easily understood by
communication others who may be unfamiliar with the topic, in one-to-one conversation or to a larger
audience.

Problem solving Devising and then using an appropriate method/rule/technique or logic to solve a
problem.

Team working Cooperating with and supporting others in order to achieve a common goal.

Analytical ability Being able to pick out the key issues from a large amount of complex information.

Creative thinking Being original and inventive in order to solve problems, generate ideas or produce
novel designs.

Numeracy The ability to understand and interpret facts and ideas expressed in figures and
non-verbal data.

Leadership The ability to guide, direct, motivate and take responsibility for others.

Commercial Having an understanding and appreciation of the organisation and its market position
awareness Understanding how the organisation makes a profit or acquires funding.

Decision-making The ability to think clearly and logically under pressure. Considering all the issues
involved in a situation, and their potential impact, before deciding on the wisest course
of action to be taken.

Negotiating Agreeing a course of action that is both appropriate and beneficial to those involved.

Persuading Being able to challenge the attitudes and points of view of others in a logical non-
judgmental way that people can understand.

Self-motivation Being proactive and willing to take the initiative. Able to work independently without
constant supervision. Setting and achieving goals.

Time The ability to organise your work, prioritise what needs to be done when and meet
management deadlines.

Flexibility Able to carry out a variety of tasks, work in different situations and manage change in
your life and work.

Try to think of examples of times and situations where you have used the skills that you have rated most highly: these
can then be used in your CV or application forms. Look at the skills that you dont feel that you have at the moment: are
any of these likely to be important in a future career? How might you improve and strengthen them?
(see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsdevelop.htm for some ideas!)
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12 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

SELF-AWARENESS (CONT)

Personal circumstances Does the above apply to another Many major employers ask for a
part of the UK? We have links to high UCAS points score or a 2.1
As well as your interests, values,
some useful sites for other degree. Will your academic
personality and skills there may be
regions at www.kent.ac.uk/ background affect the career
external factors some beyond your
careers/sitesgen.htm areas or employers that you can
control that you need to take into
Do you have a disability that you consider? www.kent.ac.uk/
account when making career
feel may affect your choice of careers/cv/JobProblems.htm
choices:
career, or employers perception Are your financial circumstances
Do you have personal
of you? www.kent.ac.uk/ces/ important in making career
commitments that make it
student/targetedinformation.html? decisions?
essential for you to stay in Kent?
tab=students-with-disabilities Do you have family or caring
Or do you just have a strong
Are you an international student? responsibilities?
preference for staying in the
See www.kent.ac.uk/ces/ Do you need to take a partners
area? See our Working in
student/targetedinformation.html? career choices into account?
Kent pages
tab=international-students for Are you happy to study for further
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
advice on your options qualifications (maybe part-time
kentopps.htm
while you are working full-time) or
do you never want to take an
exam again?
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 13

Further resources
My Prospects Career Planner
www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_
planner_login.htm is a powerful
program to help you choose a
career by helping you to identify
your skills, motivations and interests.
Based on your answers to the
questions asked you will get a list of
occupations that are good matches
with your profile and an explanation
of the reasons why. You can then
find out more about these
occupations including job
descriptions, work conditions, entry
requirements (including the skills
required), salary, training and case
studies.

Target Careers Report

http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-
report A career planning tool which
aims to help you get started on your
job hunt. You'll work through some
simple, interactive questionnaires
that assess your career strengths,
personality and abilities and, based
on your responses, you'll get a list of
jobs that may suit you.
Careers Explorer
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/explorer.htm
is an easy to use program to
generate career ideas developed by
the University of Kent Careers and
Employability Service. By answering
job-related questions you can
compare your skills, interests and
values with those required in some
popular graduate jobs, which will
help you to see which might be
worth further investigation as a
future career.
None of these programs can tell you
your perfect job! They simply take
your responses and compare them
with ratings for a variety of jobs to
produce a list of possible matches.
Although there are no right or wrong
answers, if you do not answer the
questions honestly, the program
may produce job suggestions which
are not appropriate for you so do
think about your responses.
As you will see from the descriptions
above, these programs do not just
help you to analyse your skills,
interests and values but also show
you how these relate to graduate job
areas. This brings us on to the next
stage in career planning:
opportunity awareness.
14 www.kent.ac.uk/ces
OPPORTUNITY AWARENESS
Once you have looked at
all aspects of yourself
your interests, values,
personality, skills and
personal circumstance,
you can start to relate
these to careers and jobs.
The career programs
mentioned on the
previous page can help
you through this process.
Many students start the process of
choosing a career by first looking at
their opportunities: careers advisers
are often asked questions such as
What do graduates in my subject
go on to? or What job areas have
the most vacancies for graduates?
However, the answers may not
always be helpful to you when your
individual preferences and
circumstances are taken into
account:
What do graduates in my
subject go on to?
Careers advisers often give the not-
very-helpful answer All kinds of
things to this question because it
is true! Why are you beginning your
career planning from this point?
Is it because using your degree is
important to you? Did you choose
your degree with a particular career
in mind? Is your degree subject in
demand in the job market? Are you
uncertain what else you are good at
beyond studying?
Our What Can I Do with my
Degree? pages at
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
degreein.htm will give ideas for
careers where you may be able
to use your degree directly, or
where employers are particularly
interested in graduates in your
subject. You will also find
information about careers
entered by past Kent graduates
in your subject.
The Options with your Subject
pages at www.prospects.ac.uk/
options_with_your_subject.htm
also offer a range of ideas on
how to use your degree, with links
to profiles of jobs where your
degree may be relevant.
Be aware, though, that many
careers are open to graduates in
any subject and you can start a
career in different areas of
business, finance and the public
sector straight from university.
The graduate job market:
where are the jobs?
Starting your career planning by
asking where the most job
opportunities are is not helpful if
these do not reflect your interests,
values and personality. The chart
below summarises the vacancies
advertised on the CES vacancy
database during the 2013 2014
academic year by type of work.
As you can see from the chart, the
job areas with the most vacancies
are IT (13%), sales (11%),
marketing/advertising/PR (9%),
finance and the public sector (both
7%). Remember that many of these
will have been open to graduates in
any subject. However, 25% of the
advertised vacancies were in other
areas than those listed, including
law, charities, creative arts,
environment and publishing.
Advertised job vacancies are only
part of the picture: many jobs in
popular areas or smaller
organisations are never advertised
and are filled through word of mouth
or speculative approaches.
accountancy, banking and finance
business, consulting and
management
engineering and manufacturing
information technology
marketing, advertising and PR
public services and administration
recruitment and HR
sales
teaching and education
other areas
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 15

What is a graduate job? You may want to enter a Before making career decisions
traditional profession, such as based on your opportunities, it is
Most graduates will be aiming at a
teaching or law. important to research careers and
graduate job but what exactly is
You may want a job where you find out what they really involve.
it?
can make use of your degree Popular images of careers are often
subject directly, such as stereotyped and inaccurate: for
You may be thinking of a
economist, psychologist, example, accountants need good
graduate training scheme. Many
architect or research scientist. people skills and marketing
of the jobs above will fall into this
You may just want a job that demands strong numeracy skills.
category: they are typically
requires a degree for entry and The resources listed on page 19 will
offered by larger employers in
recognises the effort that you help you get behind the glossy or
business, finance, IT, law,
have put into achieving one over geeky images of different careers
technology, engineering and the
the last three or four years! This is and find out what they really involve.
public sector. Graduate training
a highly achievable ambition:
schemes are popular and
although the number of
competitive but are not the only
graduates has risen over the last
way to start your career: on
ten years, so has the demand for
average, only a quarter of
the skills and experience that they
graduates will join these schemes
can offer.
each year.

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16 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

OPPORTUNITY AWARENESS (CONT)

Postgraduate study
Around 20% of UK graduates go
into further study immediately after
their first degree. Many others will
do so at a later stage. These are
some of the most frequently-given
reasons for doing postgraduate
study:

For interest in the subject

This is essential for any
postgraduate academic study,
especially in humanities and social
sciences. Even if future employers
do not view your degree as
particularly relevant, they will
respect the enthusiasm and
determination that has carried you
through an additional year of study,
often with no funding, as well as the
skills you have gained through your
studies.
But remember that life as a Postgraduate study is a stage in
To help your career postgraduate can be quite different your career: it is not an alternative
For some careers, further academic from that of an undergraduate. to a career! Think about how a
or professional qualifications are postgraduate degree may fit into
essential or an advantage. The To put off making a career your longer-term career plans, look
resources on page 19 will help you decision at the careers entered by past
to find out whether this is the case This is probably the worst reason of graduates from the courses you are
for the career areas that interest you. all. It won't put off your career interested in and discuss your
decision all that long to have the options with a careers adviser.
Because your tutor best chance of getting into many
recommended it graduate jobs you need to start For more information on the pros
making applications a full year and cons of postgraduate study see
This can be flattering but it is your
before starting work. To avoid the our Postgraduate Study pages:
decision, not your tutor's, so look at
panic that comes to many www.kent.ac.uk/ces/postgrad-
all the issues involved carefully.
postgraduates when they complete study.html and the Prospects
their studies, have even higher website:
To keep on being a student
debts to pay off and still no idea www.prospects.ac.uk/links/PGStudy
For some students, the idea of
what they want to do, make sure you
leaving education is quite daunting.
use your postgraduate year to get
Postgraduate study is a way of
down to making career choices and
spending a further year doing
improving your employability skills
what they know and are good at.
and experience.
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 17

Self-employment as artists, and more than three- developed experience, skills and
quarters of those working as knowledge through working as an
The number of self-employed
musicians, were self-employed or employee: 55% of workers aged
people in the UK has grown rapidly
freelance. 50+ are self-employed compared
over the last five years: 4.5 million
with around 15% of under-35s.
people are now self-employed,
In areas such as the performing
making up almost 15% of the
arts, art and design, and media Skills required to be self-employed
working population
production self-employment is include networking, communication
usually a necessity, if not for the and commercial awareness. These
You may think that many years of
whole length of a career then at skills have to be combined with
experience are needed to become
least for some part of it, especially personal qualities such as
self-employed but a significant
in the early stages. persistence, motivation, resilience
number of new graduates also take
and commitment.
up this option. In 2013, 4.8% of
Self-employment is likely to appeal
graduating students who went into
to graduates whose values (see If starting your career on a self-
employment were working for
page 7) include independence, employed basis appeals to you,
themselves.
creativity and risk-taking; those there are many opportunities at Kent
whose values lean more towards to develop the skills and experience
Self-employed graduates are not
advancement, job security and that you will need. These include
just business people and
collaboration will probably be more Student Enterprise (competitions,
entrepreneurs: the sectors that
reluctant to take up this option. skills awards and Enterprise
these graduates were working in
However, many graduates feel more Champions); the Enterprise Hub,
included art and design, sports and
confident about working for which offers free advice and
fitness, media, journalism and IT.
themselves once they have mentoring to help you plan your
More than half of graduates working
business start-up and enterprise
modules run by Kent Business
School but open to all students as
wild modules. For full details of all
these schemes, see
www.kent.ac.uk/enterprise/students/i
ndex.html

For more information on self-

employment as an option for
graduates, see:

www.prospects.ac.uk/
self_employment.htm

www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/
findajob.html?tab=self-employment
18 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

OPPORTUNITY AWARENESS (CONT)

Time out
Taking a year out needs to be
carefully planned. It can be highly
beneficial if you use it to gain further
experience, improve your
confidence and skills and add to
your CV. This can be done through
temporary jobs, casual work, travel,
volunteering or a combination of all
these.

Without planning, though, you run

the risk of spending a year stuck in
an unchallenging job (or series of
jobs), gaining little in the way of
skills, experience or satisfaction. The
resources listed below will help you
to avoid this trap, but first ask
yourself a few questions:

Why do you want to take time

out?
To earn some money to pay off
your debts?
To travel?
To decide on a career?
To gain some relevant work
experience?
A bit of all the above?
What can you do?
Almost anything! But these are
some of the most popular options:
Join an organised project
Find your own job or internship
Travel independently, working as
you go
Follow a course to improve your
skills or develop an interest
What will future employers
think?
Most recruiters look favourably
upon people who have taken gap
years, if they are able to draw on
their experiences and show an
employer how they might make
them more effective in the role they
are applying for (Association of
Graduate Recruiters).
When looking for jobs I found it
very easy to handle the questions
on employers' application forms as I
had gained so many skills from my
gap year teaching English in China:
teamworking, initiative, problem-
solving and leadership to name just
a few.
A lot will depend on what you have
done during a gap year and how
you present it. If you have spent a
year backpacking around the world,
your applications should show how
you planned and organised the trip;
how you dealt with any problems
you met along the way, how you
funded it and what you learned from
the experience, rather than just
listing all the exotic countries you
visited.
Employers, though, are usually even
more impressed if you have gained
some rather more structured
experience, through paid work or
through volunteering, during a gap
year. For further information and
ideas about how you can do this,
see
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/alternatives.
htm and
www.prospects.ac.uk/gap_year.htm
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 19

CAREER EXPLORATION

Researching careers
Career research is a very important
part of your career planning. It will
help you to explore possible career
pathways, get behind the superficial
popular impression of a career and
identify any potential issues (eg
qualifications, experience, skills and
personal qualities) that you may
need to consider as you pursue
your goals. The earlier that you can
identify these issues the more
prepared you will be to tackle them
and improve your chances of
success.

The kinds of things that are useful to

know are:
What does the job really involve?
What skills and qualifications do
employers look for?
Do I need to do further study or
training?
How can I get some relevant work
experience?
Are job vacancies advertised,
and if so where?
You can get answers to most of
these questions through the job
profiles/job descriptions on the
Prospects and Target careers
websites, which between them
cover several hundred different
graduate jobs:
www.prospects.ac.uk/
types_of_jobs.htm
http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-
advice/job-descriptions
Our I Want to Work In web pages
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm
aim to give a brief overview of
around a hundred career areas,
from Accountancy to Youth and
Community Work, with general
advice and links to key employers,
professional bodies, recruitment
agencies and vacancy sources.
You can take the Researching a
Career assignment as part of the
Careers Employability Award on
Moodle www.kent.ac.uk/ces/
student/careersmoodle.html. This
will help you to structure your career
investigation and get an in-depth
insight into a career of interest to
you. You will also learn skills that will
enable you to research any career
area in future.
I particularly enjoyed researching
companies that do graduate
programmes as I didn't really
know the websites that I was
linked to were available to me. It
helped me to identify my own
strengths and weaknesses and
feel more confident about my
abilities.
It made me think outside the box
and research a career I had
previously no knowledge of.
When I started my course, I had
no idea what sort of job I'd want
when I graduated. This module
has been a very useful starting
point for identifying careers I
might potentially be interested in.
However, you can only learn so
much through online reading and
research: there is no substitute for
doing the job, or talking to people
who do the job.

CONTINUED OVERLEAF
20 www.kent.ac.uk/ces
CAREER EXPLORATION (CONT)
Networking
Talking to people, or networking,
can be a key tool in your career
research and decision-making.
Most people enjoy helping others,
and talking about their jobs.
Networking involves using your
contacts to meet people who can
give you information about the job in
which you are interested or refer you
to people they know who work in
that occupation.
You may feel that, at the moment,
you have no contacts who are likely
to be able to help you begin
networking. But just start to think
about all the people you do know
friends, relatives, lecturers, past and
present employers and all the
people they might know. Remember
the six degrees of separation
theory that any two individuals are
linked by an average of six
acquaintances.
As a Kent student, you also have
a network of alumni and friends
of the University! KEW- NET
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/
kew-net.html is an online
mentoring/networking tool for Kent
students and graduates to meet,
support one another and help each
other get ahead. Kent alumni could
help you by talking about their work
and their experiences, offering
advice on getting into certain
industries or even work experience.
Social media is another valuable
tool in creating and developing
networks. If you follow and interact
with professionals in your area of www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/creative
interest via LinkedIn, Twitter and jobhunt.html for more information
even Facebook you will be able to and advice on effective networking.
find out what is going on in this
area, demonstrate your interest and Work experience
motivation, showcase your skills and
Work experience can be anything
keep up to date with job
from a days work-shadowing to a
opportunities. Blogs are another
placement year. It can include
useful source of information and, if
volunteering, part-time work,
you set up your own blog, this is an
internships, holiday jobs and
excellent way to get yourself known
campus roles such as student
and show what you can do.
ambassador. Any work experience
can be valuable in helping you to
It goes without saying that career-
assess whether a role or a sector is
focused networking via social media
one you would want to work in as a
must be done professionally and in
long-term career and to narrow
a very different way from your day-
down your career options.
to-day interactions with your friends.
Our pages on using social media in
Finding out what is not right for you
jobhunting give further information
is just as valuable as discovering
and advice.
what is suitable; if it turns out that
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/findajob
the role is not a good fit for you, then
.html?tab=using-social-media
it's better to find out on a short
placement than after you have
See our Creative Careers Search
started a full-time job.
booklet and web page at

Work experience will help you to
become more realistic and informed
about future career choices. You
may also realise which sort of
activities you value, what working
environment is most comfortable for
you, how you work in teams and
how you respond to colleagues. Any
work experience even a part-time
casual job can help you to learn
about yourself and the world of
work.
It is a useful exercise to reflect on
any work experience that you have
had: what you learned and what
else you gained from it:
What skills did I use?
What motivated or demotivated
me about the work?
What did I find most/least
interesting?
Did the organisation and work fit
with my values?
Did I enjoy the work? If so, why?
If not, why not?
What was the culture of the
organisation like?
What makes the organisation
different from its competitors?
What did I learn about the
organisation as a whole, its
clients/customers and the role of
more senior staff?
What would I have done
differently if I had been in
charge?
Finding work experience
Our Work Experience web pages
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/work-
experience.html outline different
types of work experience and link
to many employers and work
experience job sites
www.kent.ac.uk/ces 21
Kent Experiences of Work.
Find out more about the different
ways in which you can develop
your work experience and
employability skills while
studying at Kent
www.kent.ac.uk/employability/
working/index.html
Work Experience Bursary. If you
need help to take up an unpaid
work experience opportunity you
can apply for a bursary of up to
100 from the Careers and
Employability Service to
contribute towards your
expenses. See www.kent.ac.uk/
ces/bursarykew.html for full
details, terms and conditions
22 www.kent.ac.uk/ces
DECISION MAKING
AND TAKING ACTION
The final stage in choosing
a career is to bring
everything that you have
learned about yourself
and your opportunities
together. There are many
opportunities open to
graduates and it can take
time to find your way
through them all and
begin your job search in
earnest.
This booklet, and the online
resources and career choice
computer programs referred to, are
good starting points, but its a good
idea to talk over these issues with a
qualified human being! For further
help with your decision making, you
can make an appointment to speak
to a careers adviser.
A careers adviser will not tell you
what career you should do this is
your decision! Some of the things
they can do include:
Listen to you and understand
what is important to you
Help you explore your options
and consider the pros and cons
Help you identify your skills and
interests
Offer advice on how to research
your options further including
careers, postgraduate study and
gap year options
Give tips on how to search and
apply for jobs and perform well at
interviews/assessment centres.
Careers guidance interviews are
totally confidential and are available
to Kent students at all stages of their
studies and for up to three years
after you graduate. For further
information, and details of how to
book an appointment, see
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/advice.html
The following online resources may
also be useful in bringing together
the self-assessment and career
research that you have already
done:
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
sk/decisionmaking.htm
www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-
advice/managing-your-
career/1215/making-decisions-
about-your-career/
Windmills Interactive
www.windmillsonline.co.uk/
interactive/index.html
Mind Tools. Online resources and
exercises to help you with career
choice and planning as well as
skills assessment and
development www.mindtools.com.
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 23

Action planning
Action planning is a process which
will help you to focus your ideas and
to decide what steps you need to
take to achieve particular goals that
you may have. It is a statement of
what you want to achieve over a
given period of time and can be
very effective in helping you to
develop and plan your career.
Breaking down your long term
aspirations into shorter realistic
goals makes the process less
daunting and will help you to
manage the process.

It involves:
Identifying your objectives
Setting SMART goals (Specific,
Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant and Time-Specific)
Identifying the steps needed to
achieve your goals
Prioritising your tasks effectively
Meeting deadlines
Having a contingency plan
Example action plan
Overall objective: To decide whether
publishing would be a good career
option for me
Steps I need to take:
Gain work experience in a
publishing company during
summer vacation (Specific,
Measurable and Relevant)
Research publishing companies
that offer summer internships
(Attainable) using the following
schedule (Time-Specific):
- January: use the links from the
CES I Want to Work In
Publishing pages to find links
to employers.
- February: draw up a list of
companies to research;
produce a CV targeted on
publishing.
- March onwards: make
applications for summer
internships
Review your progress regularly and
be prepared to switch to your
contingency plan if necessary. For
example, if you cannot find more
than a few companies offering
summer internships you may
broaden your goals to include
making speculative applications or
looking for work-shadowing
opportunities.
Further information on action
planning
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/findajob
.html?tab=action-planning
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/timelin
e.htm
24 www.kent.ac.uk/ces
SUMMARY
Tips for successful
career planning
Get to know yourself, your
interests, skills, values and
personality.
Remember that you are an
individual and that the choices
you make are your own.
Nobody else can choose a
career for you.
There is more to you than your
degree.
Take time over your choice your
career is worth it!
Talk to other people they can
often help you to see yourself
more clearly but make your own
decision.
Do your research. Useful online resources
Be flexible and open-minded.
This section brings together some
Dont be misled by preconceived
of the most useful resources
or stereotyped pictures of jobs:
referred to in this booklet:
these are rarely accurate.
Choosing a Career
Take advantage of the
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing
opportunities that University
/ChoosingCareer.htm
offers to gain experience and
I Want to Work In
develop your skills.
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
Use your networks.
workin.htm
Make use of all the Careers and
What Can I do with a Degree in
Employability Service resources:
? www.kent.ac.uk/
talks, workshops, careers events,
careers/degreein.htm
online resources and individual
My Prospects Career Planner
one-to-one careers guidance.
www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospect
Dont panic!
s_planner_login.htm
Target Careers Report
http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-
report
Windmills Interactive
www.windmillsonline.co.uk/interac
tive/index.html
 www.kent.ac.uk/ces 25

Careers Employability
Award
This is open to all students at Kent at
any stage of your studies. You gain
the award by completing quizzes
and assignments on Moodle, the
Universitys Virtual Learning
Environment. It will not only help you
to make the right career choices
and improve your career planning
and job-hunting skills: it can
transform your chances of getting a
graduate job. On completion of the
award, you will receive a certificate
and 60 Employability Points.

The Careers Employability Award

includes a Choosing a Career
module which takes you through a
series of exercises including:
Find out how your strengths relate

Before this I had only a vague idea of my career path and

to jobs

opportunities, now I am applying for summer internships and

Analyse your personality

know how to effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer

Analyse your values

and have a much more focused plan for my future.

Find out how your interests relate
to jobs

The module then helps you to relate
these to suitable graduate careers.
Other modules in the Careers
Employability Award that relate to
Choosing a Career made me think about work in a different
way. It helped me to see options other than 9-5 jobs and also
explore other career options that I can do with my degree. I
don't feel as limited now as I did before.

The researching and choosing a career assignments were

career choices include Live to Work

nothing short of fantastic.

or Work to Live? and Researching
Careers.

I actually broadened my horizons and found some alternative

careers that I might go for.
Find out more at
www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/
careersmoodle.html

Information in this booklet was current as at September 2014. Although

every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information,
the Careers and Employability Service cannot be held responsible for the
accuracy of the contents or for any errors or omissions.
26 www.kent.ac.uk/ces

NOTES
www.kent.ac.uk/ces 27
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The Careers and Employability Service

University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7ND
T: +44 (0)1227 823299 E: careerhelp@kent.ac.uk www.kent.ac.uk/ces