One of the key advantages of going to university is increasing your employability. However, landing a good job takes much more than just your degree. It is a combination of months of planning, research and other strategic choices which ultimately create a strong application. King’s Careers & Employability centre has provided me with much needed support and guidance through this lengthy and confusing process. Read on to find out more!
I study Mathematics & Statistics, and want to pursue a career in Marketing/Branding in the future – so as you can imagine, a conventional CV wasn’t going to do much for me. Thankfully, I got in touch with the Careers centre at King’s super early in my degree. Firstly, they helped me identify which stage of my career journey I was at. I had three choices:
- Discover (an exploratory stage)
- Focus (developing skills and experience)
- Action (applying for jobs)
I was definitely at the Discover stage at the time, so I was provided with information packets about various career paths within Marketing and other related areas such as PR. These contained information about the industry, various jobs within it and online resources I could check out. The Careers team also helped me identify transferable skills from my Mathematics degree, and helped me think about how to choose relevant modules. During this time, I also went to Career and Insight fairs where I could speak to employers and attend talks to see whether the profession sparked my interest.
Over the next two years, I worked on gathering as much work experience in Marketing as I could through Internships. The career centre helped with this in two ways. Firstly, by helping me identify new opportunities through the weekly newsletter and King’s Internships portal. All kinds of roles were advertised on here, including part time and short term internships which helped me gain experience, even during term time. Secondly, by providing detailed feedback on my CV through the one-to-one CV consultation sessions. In a very saturated job market it is extremely important to stand out from the crowd, therefore an eye-catching CV is a must.
During the summer after my second year, I also scored a 4 week full-time paid internship through King’s Internships. This was a great experience and very beneficial for my CV. Another important resource offered by the Career’s centre is their blog – it provides the perfect balance of real world issues/situations and is written in an informal, easy to understand tone. Therefore, while being extremely informative, it is not overwhelming or disheartening.
My experience of the King’s Careers & Employability centre has been excellent so far, and I could not recommend it more!
Read more…
Curious about a Year’s Professional Placement?
Read about the international opportunities that Zeena has had through King’s
Leave a Reply