W2D-004 Career guide-0.txt
Career decisions: Working out the next step

Making decisions about your future career can be daunting, but if you do nothing to plan your future, you can be sure that nothing will happen. Few graduates arrive at a satisfying career by chance so read this section to get some advice on how to make sound career decisions.

It's your choice

Making a career decision is something that you must do for yourself Ð but it's almost always easier if you enlist the help of friends, family and careers advisers.

The first step is to realise that YOU have a decision to make and that only YOU can move things along. For instance, talking to a friend or careers adviser will help you to recognise things that you do well, your strengths and weaknesses and to identify other skills such as team work that employers will be looking for when they recruit.

Ask yourself questions such as: • what are my achievements? • what do my achievements say about me as a person? • what are my strengths and weaknesses? • what sort of job will I find interesting and rewarding?

While these questions are not paramount in your day to day activities they are quite critical in the process of making the transition from university to employment. You can do it! It is worth the effort to identify your skills and interests, your values and what motivates you. When it comes to selecting jobs and filling in application forms you will spend less time scratching your head in search of an elusive answer and more time providing evidence that you fit the employer's criteria. You are also likely to be more content with your choice than someone who wanders along waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike them on the way to a lecture. Career choice tends to occur not as a sudden revelation but as a result of a process which you start and you manage.

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else."

Dr LJ Peter, Canadian educator

Making your decision Ð overcoming obstacles

bold> Getting to know yourself Ð on computer

Technology can prove useful here. You need to identify attitudes, personality traits and skills that might help you choose suitable job areas. For example you might know that some of the following are important for you: a) a job working with people Ð advising, guiding them or caring for their physical and/or emotional health. b) a job where you want to see the end product of your endeavours such as project management, management consultancy etc. c) a job where you need to motivate, manage and develop other staff and colleagues. d) a job which is fast moving and change-orientated.

Prospect Planner is a powerful interactive computer package which can help you analyse all these factors in a rational logical manner. It allows you to build up profiles of the skills you want to use in work; your personal values in relation to work and will, if you ask it, provide lists of jobs that match the profiles you construct.

However, a word of caution Ð the programme is great but be prepared to get a long list of jobs. Some may seem at the least mildly entertaining, others somewhat strange, but remember the computer applies logic based on the information you input. Thinking about why it suggests you should become a member of the clergy, an accountant or even a careers adviser can be useful because it will enable you to identify the pattern and skill of matching yourself to jobs. If you can make this connection you are well on the way to making informed and successful career decisions. Finally, Prospect Planner lets you store and/or print off the work you do. Do speak to a careers adviser if you are unsure about any part of your printout. Prospects Planner is available in the Careers Service.

Getting to know yourself Ð on paper

If you prefer a less dynamic approach, Queen's Careers Service has several good books to guide you through this process. For example, No idea about a career? by Chris Phillips or What colour is your parachute? by R. Nelson Bolles may be most appropriate for your needs. Do try both approaches to find out which tool Ð computer or paper Ð best suits you.

Graduate employment

In recent years graduate employment has changed and the signs are that change will continue. Driven by technology and competition, organisations tend to be leaner and flatter in structure with a focus on results. The small business sector continues to expand with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship. So whilst the traditional areas of graduate employment may have changed, there is still significant demand for graduates, particularly those who can present an effective combination of academic achievement, work experience and personal and employability skills.

Skills employers look for

Remember that employers want to recruit the best graduate for the job. To enable them to distinguish between applicants they ask that graduates offer a profile of skills relevant to work and progression within it. The current buzz word for this profile is 'employability skills' Ð ie skills which are work related and central to job success.

Broadly these skills can be views under four main headings:

Specialist

It helps to be an expert at something, eg marketing, tax accounting, family law, aerospace engineering, marine biology, organisational psychology.

Generalist

It helps to have general business skills and knowledge, eg finance/basic accounting, written communication, problem solving, use of IT.

Connected

It helps to be a team player, eg management skills, meetings skills, negotiation skills, networking skills, presentation skills.

Self-reliant

It helps to be able to work alone as well as with others, eg confidence, self-awareness, action planning, political awareness.

Developing your employability skills

These skills are essentially work-related, central to job success and you should consider ways of developing them. Here are some examples of how to develop them: 1. Register for the Skills to Succeed programme which has been developed and is delivered by staff from the Careers Service. The programme lasts for two hours per week over one semester and will help you to: • identify the skills developed through study and part-time work • develop knowledge in relation to employer expectations of graduates • demonstrate employability skills • increase your awareness of the range of graduate opportunities available to you • acquire increased confidence and competence at handling selection methods used by graduate recruiters.

Successful completion of this course will lead to the award of a University Certificate in Career Management and Employability Skills.

2. A level 2 undergraduate module in career management and employability skills is available to second year students during first and second semesters. This provides a sound basis for if you are considering taking a year out on placement or if you want to build employability skills into your degree. Find out more about the Skills to Succeed programme and the module in Career Management and Employability from Queen's Careers Service.

3. Consider building the learning for Work module into your degree. This is available to Level 2 and 3 students as a free-standing module. It provides undergraduates with an opportunity to develop the skills and competences they will need in their future careers through project work. Find out more from the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), 75 University www.qub.ac.uk/celt/module.

4. Get involved with a student society of Student Consultative Committee (SCC). Remember Ð you will need to be active in these groups in order to develop skills. Turning up to a meeting isn't enough.

5. Make the most of casual or part-time jobs. You will often get more responsibility if you ask for it or demonstrate that you can cope with it. Go on in-house training courses if available Ð a customer care or telesales course might give you an edge over others at interview.

The Students'Jobshop@Queen's can help you find part-time work Ð www.qub.ac.uk/jobshop.

6. You can develop your skills through social activities related to your personal interests, eg coaching or captaining sports teams, fund raising for a charity, doing voluntary youth or community work.

7. Use vacations constructively Ð get a casual job, or better still and undergraduate vacation placement (read Work Experience Bulletin regularly) or travel. Look for and make the most of opportunities available Ð employers are not impressed with the 'I didn't know about that' approach. Section 4, Work experience may give you some ideas, as will the Queen's Guide to Work Experience, available from the Work Placement Centre, 8 Malone Road.

8. Take a year out Ð an invaluable way of developing the skills that employers seek. The Careers Service advertises semester and year out placements throughout the year.

9. Be aware that through studying for your degree you can develop, for example, time management, team work and presentation skills.

Remember developing work-related and interpersonal skills and enjoying your time at university are not mutually exclusive. Just think about what you can do on a day to day basis and relate it to the bigger picture Ð easy when you think about it!

To summarise

There are several resources available to help you to make career decisions. It will help if you:

1. Begin to plan your future early.

This sounds as boring as watching paint dry but it doesn't have to be. Many things you do at university will help you to make decisions. The trick is to be able to see these activities for what they are and for what they can say about you to an employer (a moment's thought might get you an interview for a job).

2. Don't expect a career to just happen.

Few people can truthfully say that their career decisions have been due completely to chance. YOU are the lead player in this process and YOU need to make decisions.

3. Spend as much time thinking about yourself and what you want from a career as you do in looking for jobs.

Remember that the employers will be matching individuals, not degree transcripts, to jobs.

4. Are not afraid of getting it wrong.

It is difficult with limited work experience to choose a career. Remember that your first employer and job are unlikely to be your last. As work patterns become more flexible and change to meet market pressures, the likelihood of a job and employer for life becomes less usual. You will probably find that any job, even if you decide that it isn't going to be a career will develop skills that can be transferred to other employment situations.
5. Always have a back-up plan
Further sources of help

Look in the bibliography file in the Careers Service for the full range of books available on career choice and decision making. No idea about a career? by Chris Phillips and What colour is your parachute? by R. Nelson Bolles provide useful starting points.

Work experience

Work experience is an essential part of your university experience. It adds value to your degree and greatly improves your employment prospects.

What counts as work experience?

The term 'work experience' is used as an umbrella phrase to cover a wide range of experiences. It could be: • formal work experience Ð as in a sandwich placement within your degree • informal Ð as in summer work, a vacation course, work shadowing or a part-time job • related to extra-curricular activities Ð for example, the student who works on the student newspaper is gaining real insight into journalism. Similarly, participating in the Tutoring in Schools Scheme or being a leader with a youth organisation will be considered relevant experience for entry to postgraduate teacher training.

In an ideal world the best kind of work experience is that which is directly relevant to your future career plans, for instance: • the history student who wants to pursue a career in museum work and spends a vacation working in the Public Records Office • the engineering student who works one summer with a local engineering company and the second summer doing an IAESTE engineering placement overseas.

Obviously it helps if you have focused on your future plans because then you can try to shape your work experience. You will find that to get into certain careers an element of work experience will be essential Ð social work and clinical psychology are good examples.

However, not every student will be able to set up this 'ideal' kind of experience, so don't underrate that part-time job in the supermarket, the bar work, or the temporary clerical job. They all count towards giving you an external perspective and help you develop skills for the workplace.
