2.11 Employability
Employability Support from the Career Zone
Some of you will have a clear idea of where your degree will take you when you graduate, and some of you will still be thinking about your options. The Career Zone team are available to support you from when you first begin your course until beyond graduation. We have a great track record in helping students secure the best graduate positions and were voted into the Top 5 on Student Crowd for University Careers Services, as verified by students’ reviews.
All of our information and events are categorised into the phases ‘Decide’, ‘Plan’, and ‘Compete’ to help you to get the right information at the right time to suit your career planning. Further information can be found on the Career Zone webpages.
Tailored support in your First Year:
Create your Future is a short personal and professional development programme that runs for first year undergraduates in Camborne School of Mines. It will give you time to explore your options, make decisions and plan how to develop your skills during your time at University. You will be able to see the three sessions for this programme in your personal timetable in iExeter under the module code CSM1905.
For first year undergraduates studying Geography, Environmental Science or Marine Science related degrees you will have a credit bearing placement module in your first year. This module will teach you how to approach employers and secure work experience. You’ll also have sessions which explore your career options. Look out for the GEO1414, GEO1416 or GEO1422 modules in your timetable over the Autumn and Spring terms.
Placements in your second and third years
All Camborne School of Mines students have the option to do a placement in the summer between your second and third years. Geography, Environmental Science and Marine Science students have the option to do a ‘with professional placement’ year, this pathway allows you to spend your third year on a self-organised work placement with an organisation relevant to your degree. You will then return to study your final year as a fourth year.
Undertaking a summer or year-long placement allows you to develop your career ideas, build practical and professional skills, add relevant experience to your CV and gain commercial awareness, for these reasons they’re extremely valued by employers. If you are from a Geography, Environmental Science or Marine Science course and would like to add a year in industry, you can do this during your first or second year by speaking to Geoff Main, Programme Director for Professional Placements (G.Main@exeter.ac.uk).
Extra-Curricular Activities
Throughout your time at University you’ll have the opportunity to take advantage of a number of extra-curricular activities which will help you build your professional network, build your confidence and career readiness.
The Career Mentor Scheme is a popular employability scheme which matches experienced professionals with a student mentee. Mentors and mentees meet once a month for one to one career advice and guidance as well as sector insights over a six-month period.
Ask an Alum is a fuss-free way to connect with University of Exeter alumni to ask careers questions. By filling in our quick and easy application form, you can be introduced to alumni working in your field of interest…whatever that may be at the time of applying!
The whole purpose of Ask An Alum is that your interaction with alumni will be a fact-gathering exercise via a short email exchange. There is no long-term commitment, and you can apply to the scheme as many times as you like, meaning it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a definite idea of what path you want your career to take. We have alumni volunteers from a huge range of sectors, giving you lots of options to explore.
The Exeter Award is an extra and co-curricular employability achievement award for current undergraduate and taught postgraduate students. It is for both Exeter and Penryn students and is delivered in partnership with the Students’ Guild in Exeter and the Students’ Union in Penryn.
Completing the Award will help you make the most of your professional experience. You’ll receive training in valuable professional skills, develop vital workplace experience and learn how to optimise your CVs and application forms.
The data we collect on graduate outcomes shows that students who complete the Exeter Award are more likely to be in a graduate level job six months after graduating.
Green Consultants is an award winning programme designed to provide you with additional skills and experience required to work in the highly competitive environmental consultancy and sustainability sector. The interactive programme comprises of 3 key elements:
· Training - online interactive technical and employability training, teaching you the skills you need for sustainability consulting
· On Campus Project - You will work in a small group to apply your learning to a live project contributing to the University's net zero goal
· Optional internship - The opportunity to apply your skills and experience in a relevant paid internship with an external organisation.
Build your experience
The Career Zone can help you to secure work and commercial experience through a variety of ways:
· Supporting you to find a part-time job by checking over your CV and by advertising roles on our jobs board (accessed via Handshake).
See our online Part-Time Jobs Guide for support or pick up a copy from the Career Zone.
· Advertising paid internships on our jobs board and providing funding through our Access to Internships programme.
· Supporting you through 1 to 1 appointments where you can talk to us about finding placements, internships or other jobs.
· Organising Global Leaders Experiences where you can travel to a European city and develop your inter-cultural skills. During a GLE week you will be immersed in the local environment, presented with real-world challenges and work closely with a diverse range of other students and professionals.
· The Professional Pathways programme is a suite of sector specific training courses and paid internships that will provide you with a firm grounding in a particular sector, such as Marketing, Charity and Development or International Trade.
You don’t need to do all of these activities to build your skills and experience but one or two over the time you’re at University is an achievable goal. If you’re ever unsure about the direction you want to go in or the steps you could be taking whilst at University, please come and speak to us in the Career Zone, we will be happy to help.
Tailored Widening Participation support
We provide careers support and employability programmes for students who have backgrounds or circumstances which create additional challenges to studying, such as mature students, students with disabilities or low social mobility. You can see an overview of these here. On our Career Zone webpages we have published useful information on how we support different student groups which you can view before you arrive.
Tailored international student support
If you’re coming to study at Penryn from outside of the UK, you can benefit from our specialist support for international students. We have lots of information published on our website about our workshop series and specific programmes such as India Career Ready and China Career Ready. We have published some frequently asked questions on this webpage which you can also view before you arrive.
Useful resources to check out:
The Career Zone has partnered with Handshake which connects you, the university and employers together. When you first activate your profile, you’ll be encouraged to add the sectors and locations you’re interested in working in as well as add your most up to date CV. Handshake will help you discover relevant employers, events, jobs and other opportunities. Once your CV is uploaded you can also apply for jobs quickly and easily. You will be able to activate your Handshake account once you have enrolled on your degree programme.
MyCareerZone Digital is our online resource designed to inform you about career opportunities and develop your employability. If you’re a student or graduate of the University of Exeter, you can use My Career Zone to access sector reports, work through our e-learning programmes, practise your interview technique using the interview simulation tool, use CV and cover letter builders and much more! You will be able to log in to this resource once you have enrolled on your degree programme.
Summary
The Career Zone team are here to help you every step of your university journey, from introduction talks in your first few weeks through to support finding a job after graduation. If you’d like to familiarise yourself with our team you can find out more about us on this page. We have some fantastic “Help with…” pages which will give you an overview of the different topics we can help with.
Please do pop in and see us during your first term at university, we’d be happy to have a chat about where you are in your career planning and ideas for how you can progress over your first year.
You’ll find the Career Zone on the ground floor of the Exchange Building, which is very central on the Penryn Campus. You can also call us on 01392 724493 or email us on careers@exeter.ac.uk. We have a live chat function on our website too which is staffed from 10am – 3pm over the summer and 9am – 5pm once term starts in September.