WHAT TO DO AFTER UNIVERSITY
Employability and Economics
This talk will cover the following
•
What can you do with an economics degree?
•
What do you want to do? Employment or further study?
•
How you can improve your profile to get the right job, eg work experience,
internships, University initiatives
•
Placements - what are they and how to get one
•
Advice on how to write a good application/CV
•
How does the job application process work and how can you win this game?
•
Come and see us
John Peirson (Employability Officer), Keynes CG.07, Thursday 2-5pm, jdp1@kent.ac.uk
Sylvain Barde (Placement Officer), Keynes B1.12, Thursday 3-5pm, sb636@kent.ac.uk
How To Decide What To Do With The
Rest Of Your Life
• Probably is not the rest of your life, people
change track and jobs many times
• However, it is something you have to think
about now
• Do not embark on further study just to
postpone your decision
• Make a list of your skills and things you would
like to do in a job, eg interacting with people,
data analysis, making money,.....
• Think about what jobs would involve your
skills and wish list
• List of job types and skills at (I recommend the
first)
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm
• Prospects website www.prospects.ac.uk
Including
– Options with an Economics degree
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/EconomDeg
– Occupational profiles for 600 career areas
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Occupations
Recent Economics Graduates Jobs
• Finance Financial Services Authority, HSBC, JP Morgan,
NHS Trust, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Schroeders, various Stock Brokers, Trainee
Auditors, Standard & Poors
• Business BMW, Debenhams, Homebase, House of
Fraser, Mothercare
• Other Channel 4, Kent Tourism Alliance, PR
Companies, Church social worker, .................
What You Can Do Now?
• Think about what you want to do after your degree. The
next two and a half years rush past and the serious
student has to think about the future NOW
• Consider internships and work experience in the field
you wish to work in. This is vital for getting jobs in highly
competitive sectors like finance and advertising
• There are a number of University run initiatives
What Does An Economics Degree Do For
You?
You are and going to develop a fantastic skills set• Numeracy
• Data handling
• IT skills
• Problem solving
• Oral communication skills - presentations
• Oral communication skills - presentations
• Writing skills
• Economics is a way of understanding the world
• Great skills for getting many different jobs
• You are lucky to have chosen Economics
• Be aware of the skills you are developing
How To Improve Your Profile
• Work experience of some sort
• Use the internet, eg finance internship London
(think where you will live)
• Use company websites, have to know them first
• www.efinancialcareers.co.uk
• Look at Careers and Employability Services
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/vacwork.htm
• Firms look at A levels
• They often have minimum scores in UCAS
points and need GCSEs, eg Maths and English
• However, be realistic. No point in wasting
effort
If it applies to you,
Look at Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
(SEO) London superior educational support and career
access to young people from under-represented and
under-served backgrounds to help maximise their
opportunities for university and career success. See
http://www.seo-london.com/
Some deadlines on this may have passed
Student Recruiters
• A number of organisations recruit good students
for internships, jobs, etc
• They then try to place these students with firms
• Beware that getting onto the organisations’
books does not guarantee an internship or job
• Additionally, avoid any firms that charge for such
services
University Help and Advice
• The University’s Careers and Employability Service has a
large website, friendly staff and a building just by the entrance
to Keynes. See http://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/
• Kent Union run a volunteering scheme that
allows students to record and attain awards for a large
number of volunteering activities. See
http://www.kentunion.co.uk/volunteering/
Job Market Forum
• This is a School of Economics run Moodle module which you can
register for, see the right hand button on the School of Economics
home page https://www.kent.ac.uk/economics/index.html
• Keyword to register with is Networking
• The Job market forum is for past and present Economics students who
are in the job market. It is a forum for student discussion about jobs in
general and employment advice
• If wish to receive a reference from a member of the School, we
require you to upload your CV onto this site. In the first instance, you
should be asking your personal tutor/academic adviser for a reference
MyFolio
• MyFolio is the University of Kent’s student owned
e-portfolio and Personal Development site
• It is a personal develop planning (PDP) tool
• It is designed to help you set and achieve personal and
employment related goals
• Most usefully, it records your achievements
• It is at https://myfolio.kent.ac.uk/myfolio/
Employability Points Scheme
• This University of Kent scheme provides students with the
means to demonstrate activity across a range of activities.
• The scheme has links with a number of external firms and
organisations. Students can get work experience with a
number of participating companies through obtaining points
• More details at http://www.kent.ac.uk/employabilitypoints/
or contact employabilitypoints@kent.ac.uk
University of Kent Careers
Employability Award
The University of Kent Careers Employability Award helps students
to identify and plan
• Possible future careers
• Potential employers
• The student’s employment skills
• Present these skills in CVs and job applications
The award takes about 12 hours, is free, undertaken online using
Moodle and further details can be found at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm
Placements
• I am the Placement Officer for the School of
Economics.
• I am responsible for:
– Helping interested 2nd years find a good placement
– Supporting students while they are away on placement
– Assessing their placement report when they return
• Placements are probably the second best thing you
can do to improve your employability
– The first best thing is of course getting a top degree!!
Placements
• What is a placement? How is it different from an
internship?
– A placement is longer (1-year vs. 1-3 months)
– A placement is part of an assessed University program
(degrees “with year in industry”)
• Additional benefits
– You are given more responsibilities – you learn more!
– You get paid a good wage while on placement
– You stand a good chance of being offered a job afterwards
Placements
• Costs / problems with getting a placement
• They are much harder to get in the first place
– Getting a placement is as hard as getting a graduate job
– The recruitment methods are the same (this can be a +)
– Placements are getting very competitive
• They can disrupt your academic experience
– You spend much of your second year looking for a job
– You have to re-adapt to academic life when you come back
Timeline for placements
• End of 1st year: Meeting for interested students
– Placement information explained in more detail
– Put on a mailing list
– Talk by current/past placement students
• During the 2nd year
– Students make their applications throughout
– I provide a series of placement sessions on CVs,
competency tests, cover letters, etc.
– These are followed by one-to-one drop-in clinics
Timeline for placements
• While on placement (between 2nd and 3rd year)
– Obviously, carry out the tasks given
– Work on your portfolio of evidence on a regular basis
– I will be in regular contact to offer support and advice
• On your return
– You submit your assessment (portfolio of activities and
reflective report)
– This is worth 10% of your overall degree
What to do in 1st year if you’re interested
• Gather information on possible placements
(especially the GES)
• Work on your CV and practice cover letters
• Come to the meeting at the end of the year
– This is so you can be added to the mailing list
• You do not need to change to the “year in industry”
program at this stage
– If you are not “with year in industry”, the switch is done in
your 2nd year, once you have a placement.
What to do in 1st year if you’re interested
• If you are interested by a placement, what is the
single most important thing you can do at stage 1?
• Focus on your studies and get TOP grades!
• Just because you get told “the first year doesn’t
count” doesn’t mean “the first year doesn’t matter”
– Your first year transcript is the only thing you will have to
go with when applying for placements in 2nd year.
– What are the odds on securing a placement at UBS or
Goldman Sachs if you get less than 60%?
The Process of Applying
• It varies a lot between different firms and types of work experience and jobs
(obviously latter are more intensive)
• Some mix of
– Online/paper application
– CV + cover letter
– Online tasks
– Competency questions
– Interview
– Group tasks (wear a watch!)
– It is hard work making applications and the application process is tough
Competency Tests
• You may need to know about numeracy and other
competency tests. Come to see us and/or look at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm
SOME DOs & DON’Ts
• Quality of application is important. This
takes hours and days of time. Take it
seriously
• Research your application
• Clamp down on the security of Facebook
and other social network stuff
CURRICULUM VITAE
• Even if the application is online, the following rules still apply
• List of education, work and other experiences related to
getting you a job or placement
• You are trying to match your skill set and experience to those
that are required for the job
• Make a list of the job requirements and make sure your CV
match these. Use your brain, job description or look at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm
or www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Occupations
• So have to alter CV to fit the work experience you are
looking for
• Have a basic CV but make it fit the skills etc. required for
the different work experience
• CVs are just the beginning of the application process
• CVs are often used as a filter to get the number of
applicants down to a reasonable number
• CVs have to be easy to read. Use bullet points (one-liners)
• They are an advert for you. They are often read in
less than 30 seconds
• Think clearly about the design and order of
presentation
• No more than two sides (backed or unbacked?)
• Some like one side. But a CV must be clear and bring
out the message that you have the skills they want
• Personal Profile - You can put a short personal statement at the
beginning summarising the type of person you are and matching
the requirements of the internship/job. They sometimes look
awful
• Do not have complicated boxes or tables, do not repeat yourself a
lot, eg putting your school next to each educational qualification
• Position the really good things so they catch the eye. Not every
word of your CV will be read closely. So good things go first or last
in a clearly labelled section.
• You have to put exam results down. If they are not good, think
about whether a job is for you.
What Is In A CV?
• Contact Details
• Personal Profile
• Education: University, A levels (or equivalent) and GCSEs (or
equivalent) but not in full detail, but make it clear what
overall grades you got and that you have maths and English
language
• Experience
• Skills
• Other achievements, eg Duke of Edinburgh Silver
COVER LETTER
• Be clear whether a covering letter or letter of application
• A covering letter is a short introduction of yourself
• Written in clear English – no mistakes. Short sentences
• Make sure that it matches the requirements of the job
• You can make no more than 3 short points
• Try to have a name you are writing to
• Show that you know the firm
• Do not go over the top
COVER LETTER
• Start with you and what you are studying?
• What you are applying for
• Show knowledge of firm/gov department etc
and link yourself to the job/firm/department
• End with something like looking forward to
hearing from you
CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR PROFILE?
• Difficult as pressure of academic work
• May need to apply for internships and work experience.
Especially in the financial sector. Be realistic
• Apply to smaller firms for experience
• Will you be paid for internships? No
• If you do not get a good summer internship, paid summer
employment of any kind (specially if it involves long hours) looks
good and is much better than nothing
How We Can Help You
• We will help you, but most of the effort will come from
you
• What do you want? Talks from the Careers Service
(about what)?
• Help with thinking about what you want to do
• Looking at CVs and applications
• Advice about the job application process, eg numeracy
tests, interviews etc.
• If you have any questions or want some advice get in
contact with me John Peirson, email jdp1@kent.ac.uk
• Talk to your Academic Adviser. More specific advice
from us or the Careers and Employability Service
• If you have any year in industry questions please see
our Placement Officer, Sylvain Barde, email
sb636@kent.ac.uk