www.careers.lon.ac.uk THE CAREERS SERVICE GUIDE London 2014 19

Job-hunting

KICKSTARTYOUR CAREER

Plan your next step.

S ome people have always knownwhat they want to do with theirlife. Others have absolutely noidea what’s going to happen

after university. Most of us fallsomewhere in the middle.

Finding a career that suits you is aprocess that involves thinking aboutyour abilities and interests, and takingthe time to research your career ideas.

Many people worry that they’llmake the wrong career decision andthat one false start will doom themforever. If this sounds familiar, bear inmind that no decision is final. It’s rarefor people to be in their first graduatejob for more than a couple of years(without leaving or changing their role)and it’s possible to change careers onceyou have some proven skills andexperience.

What else can I do? Formal training programmes aren’t theonly way to get on the career ladder: infact, they account for less than 15 percent of graduate jobs. Here are somealternative options to kick-start yourcareer.• Temping can be a good stop-gap,

allowing you to pay off some debts,try out some different industries andbuild up your CV. If you do the jobwell, something more permanent andmore senior may be up for grabs.

• Entry-level positions may not bebilled as ‘graduate jobs’ but theyusually need graduates to do them.You can often move up very quicklythrough the ranks if you demonstrateyour potential early on.

• Alternative working styles –particularly if the nine-to-five isn’treally your style – include setting upyour own business, freelancing,joining a franchise or a co-operative,contract working, jugglingsimultaneous assignments or taking a

well-paid ‘day’ job to fund anentirely different career goal. Somecareers, such as acting and TVproduction, require this kind offlexibility during ‘rest periods’ tokeep the bills paid.

Breaking the jobless cycleYou need experience to get a job, butyou can’t get a job without experience.Sound familiar? If you’recaught in this vicious(un)employment cycle,consider boosting your skillsthrough a paid vacationplacement or relevant volunteeringwork. You could also opt for aworking holiday, combining workexperience with broadening yourhorizons. Your Careers Service willhave details about these schemes.

In short, there’s no such thing as a‘typical’ graduate career. Working life iswhat you choose to make it, so ifconventional methods aren’t gettingyou anywhere, take a different route –or choose another direction entirely.

There’s no such thing as a ‘typical’graduate career. Working life is what you

choose to make it.

www.careers.lon.ac.uk

Job-hunting

20 THE CAREERS SERVICE GUIDE London 2014

Discuss your options witha careers consultant

Visit the Careers Serviceinformation room to findout about different jobs

Use career choicewebsites and scanjob adverts to seewhat’s out there

Talk to people you knowabout what they do

Attend alumni careersevents put on by yourCareers Service

Contact your alumni office

Join your collegealumni group onwww.linkedin.comand browse profilesor post a query on thediscussion group

Become a societycommittee member

2–3 days of job shadowing Go on courses and attendevents about getting intocertain careers to getinsight

Participate in businessgames run by university ora company to see whereyour skills are

Undertake volunteering

Take on positions ofresponsibility, such asmentoring or being acourse representative

Enter universitycompetitions

For all the UoL collegeson our survey,percentages from DLHE11/12 are:

Work 65.42%Work & study 3.37%Study 18.19%Unemployed 7.89%Unavailable 1.94%Other 3.18%

Gain workexperience and

job insights

Get a range of

experiencesLook at

what othergraduates do

Reflect onyour talentsand interests

Starting outon your

career path

The City Course, run by The Careers Group, provided a grandperspective into financial and legal careers through presentations, networkingsessions and insightful group activities hosted by recent graduates,recruitment teams and senior staff. This fantastic opportunity influencedand broadened my industry awareness in just five days by exposing me tomany finance sectors. What I valued most was the first-hand experiencegained in the workshops, where I formulated my own opinion of financecareers instead of solely relying on magazines and company brochures.The most poignant aspect of the course was witnessing the calibre of mypeers, which drove me to step up my game in my ultimate year.

Punit Ghumra, Queen Mary alumnus

www.careers.lon.ac.uk

Job-hunting

THE CAREERS SERVICE GUIDE London 2014 21

Sarah Webster,Employment and

ProgressionWorker

David Wood,Deputy Director,

Regeneration andEconomic

Analysis Unit

Naresh Bhojwani,Graduate Trainee,

InvestmentBanking

Technology

RamlaAwaais,

Scientist

Find the right career for youResources to help you Work out what might suit you: www.careers.lon.ac.uk/sortit.Find out about different types of jobs:

targetjobs.co.uk www.prospects.ac.uk www.careerplayer.com icould.comWhat Do London Graduates Do? wlgd.thecareersgroup.co.ukCareers Group courses College careers events

Do anything, be anyoneThere is no such thing as a typical University of Londonstudent so it follows that there is no such thing as a typicalUniversity of London graduate career. However, looking atwhat previous students have gone on to do can be a good wayof starting to think about what type of job or study might suityou. Find out more about working in the City, not-for-profit,science, technology and creative industries on pages 42 and 43.

Anti-socialbehaviour co-ordinator

Mediator Landlord

Horse rider

ExplainerAbstracting andindexing officer

Gardener

Herpetologist

Rugby player

Phonerecycler

The most unusualgraduate careers Storyteller

Phlebotomist

Celebritybooker