By Puja Gurung, Msci Mathematics, Department of Mathematics
One of the reasons a lot of us attend university is to improve our career prospects. With the ambition to work alongside some of the best in various industries, it can get very competitive very quickly, especially when you are competing against some of the other top students around the world. But fear not, as you embark on your journey at King’s, alongside the excellent teaching the university also provides you with plenty of opportunities to help you grow as a person and make yourself stand out amongst the pool of other applicants.
The King’s Careers and Employability Service provides a sea of opportunities varying from internships that are exclusive to King’s students, with an option to intern locally or even abroad.
They also offer an online platform, ‘CareerConnect’, which sends you tailored alerts about events and job vacancies coming up from companies in the industry sector you are interested in.
Alongside assisting you in the search to find the perfect window to start your career, they also provide 1-to-1 sessions where they provide you guidance regarding your applications and career choices, as well as run mock interviews with you.
The Careers Service also organises careers fairs throughout the year. These fairs consist of over 50 different companies/firms all congregating at the Great Hall, ranging from the banking, finance & consulting sector to science & technology. This offers you a chance to explore and introduce yourself to different companies, encouraging you to acquaint yourself with the company representatives and make connections.
In addition, there is an abundance of student-led societies at King’s that offer a wide range of support for your development with careers talks from both academia and industry, career insight events with employers and many more. Just to name a few, there is the Investment Banking Society, the Women in Business and Finance Society, BAME in the City, KCL Economics and Finance Society. However, if you do not want to follow the traditional career path of students in the Natural Sciences, there are many other societies in a variety of industries that are open to everyone.
For those of you fascinated by innovation and want to further develop an entrepreneurial mindset, there is the Entrepreneurship Institute. The Entrepreneurship Institute exists to support King’s students to have careers as entrepreneurs, create innovative new businesses and social enterprises, as well as supporting students to be innovative within their chosen career path. For those of who may already have an innovative idea, the Institute runs the King’s20 accelerator programme which could potentially provide you with up to £30,000 to develop your idea into reality in 12 months!
Alongside all these fantastic opportunities, you can also partake in different roles within the university such as a student ambassador, a committee member or even a member of the student union. Through these roles you will be able to develop valuable skillsets which the employers love!
King’s provides you with lots of opportunities, all you need to do is not hold back!
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