Careers adviser presentation, June 2016

1. Career Choices
and Job Search
for Finalists
Helen Gorman & Karen Field
Careers & Employability Advisers

2. In this session we will cover:
Career choice:
• Knowing yourself
• Knowing your
labour market
Job search:
• Identifying
vacancy sources
• Targeting your CV
and applications
How we can help

3. Career choice - where to start?
Understanding
who you are
Researching
options &
labour market
Making choices
and taking
action
Gaining
experience

4. Know what you can offer:
skills, interests, values, personality and strengths
Know what you are looking for:
types of activity, level of reward, part time or full time,
trying something out, graduate scheme, people you
want to work with …
Try a careers self assessment – Prospects Planner OR
Profiling for Success:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/interests/
Understanding who you are

5. Researching your options
Matching yourself to career options.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/interests
What can you do with your degree?
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/yourdegree
www.prospects.ac.uk
What other options are open to you?
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/researchingcareers

6. What do graduates do?
www.sussex.ad.uk/careers/whatourgraduatesdo
www.hecsu.ac.uk/current_projects_what_do_graduates_do.htm
Finding out about different job roles
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/LMIMaps
www.prospects.ac.uk/sectors.htm
Knowing your labour market

7. Where our graduates work
LinkedIn data: top 10

8. Making choices
Bring together your research to help you
define:
• what you are looking for
• what you have to offer employers
• what options are open to you
This will help you:
• create targeted CV and job applications
• make more focused job searches
You may want to talk this through with a Careers Advisor.
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/aboutus/advice

9. Job searching
Be organised:
• establish a routine
• tidy up your online presence
• keep records of what you’ve
applied for and when so you can
follow up
• keep copies of applications, you’ll
need them to prepare for interviews
• research organisations carefully, to help target your
applications and for interview preparation

10. Vacancy sources
Be focused - don’t just google
• CareerHub is a good starting point:
https://careerhub.sussex.ac.uk/
• For specialist vacancy sources, use the sector guides
on the Sussex Uni website: www.sussex.ac.uk/careers
• Graduate career websites and directories: Prospects,
Milkround, Targetjobs
• Newspapers – eg. Guardian (national), Argus (local)
• Agencies – see Sector guides for local Brighton agencies on
the Sussex Uni website: www.sussex.ac.uk/careers
• Want to go overseas?
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/international

11. Current vacancies on CareerHub
Communications Internship – Champollion
If you’re clued up on current affairs and passionate about politics, we have a
fantastic opportunity to intern with one of the UK’s most highly respected
communications agencies. Deadline: 14 June.
Graduate Programme 2016: Financial Advisory - Forensic – KPMG
KPMG is looking to appoint a number of Graduates under their Financial
Advisory - Forensic Graduate Programme 2016 in Reading. Deadline: 24 June.
General Engineering and Support Technicians MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) are currently looking to hire graduates to
work as Engineering and Support Technicians. Deadline: 27 June.
Language Assistant Apprentice
The British School of Brussels offers the opportunity to work in a large, vibrant
languages department alongside experienced colleagues from a wide range of
cultural backgrounds. Deadline: 13 June.

12. Creative job searching
Make speculative job applications:
• there are benefits in being
proactive
• identify employers you want to
work for
• network online and in person
• join LinkedIn to create a
professional online network

13. Targeting your CV and applications
• Who is your audience?
• What are they looking for?
Look at the job description and
person specification.
• Show that you have the skills
they are looking for - use the
STAR approach:
S Situation
T Task
A Action
R Result
• Use key words from the person
specification.
Use examples from all your experiences:
work, volunteering, societies, interests…

14. Careers and Employability Centre support:
• For 3 years after you graduate
• Short interview with a careers adviser:
Mon – Fri from 10 am ‘til 5pm, Weds ‘til 7pm
• Vacancies – part time, work experience,
internships, graduate jobs:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers
How we can help you