We here at Careers are feeling very inspired by the wildlife of campus.  In a light-hearted move, we’d like to suggest a novel way to focus your career planning. Have a read through each of the descriptions below and then see what comes next for you.

   

Goose

 

You count yourself as one of the leaders of tomorrow in whatever field you decide deserves to have you! You probably arrived at university with a string of academic and professional qualifications under your belt, which you’ve been adding to ever since. LinkedIn, the Business Insider and Forbes are nothing new to you. You’re heavily involved in student societies, representation or volunteering and have had relevant work experience for your projected career already.

Sound familiar? We at Careers would suggest you take a look at these opportunities:

• Student Internship Bureau – vacancies for term-time and vacation
• Graduate schemes – where to look for vacancies
• Activity Centre Assessment Day – a chance to practice some recruitment exercises
• Alumni Mentoring Scheme – be mentored by York alumni
• Enterprise internships – launch your own business
• The CV Guide on the VLE – sharpen-up that CV
• York Award – prepare to apply.

 Moorhen

 

You know already that you have ideas of what you want a job to hold for you and what you don’t want to work in, but this hasn’t settled down into a firm career plan yet! You have interests in industries which don’t follow the typical graduate scheme structure, and you aren’t sure how to go about “getting in” with companies that interest you. You’ve probably been heavily involved with student societies, representation or volunteering and have an idea of what skills you bring to the table. You may or may not have a part-time job at the moment, or have found work experience that relates to your interests.

Sound familiar? We at Careers would recommend that you look at the following resources:

• Job sectors – research possible areas of work
• World Links – international vacancy sources
• Volunteering – lots of opportunities to volunteer
• Postgraduate study – some careers require a further qualification
• Student Internship Bureau – internships for term-time and vacation
• Professional Connect – network with York alumni in Spring and Summer terms
• Alumni Mentoring Scheme – be mentored by York alumni
• Profiling for Success tests and exercises – a chance to practise
• Employability Tutorial – plan your career
• The CV Guide on the VLE – sharpen-up that CV
• York Award – prepare to apply.

Mallard

 

You’re really not sure how the last three years went by so fast! You’ve got to your last year now, and the real world is looming on the horizon. With the pressure of your academic studies, you haven’t dedicated much time to thinking about what comes next since you first picked what degree you wanted to do. You may or may not have been involved with student societies, or have had a job by now. You might not have thought about where your skills lie and what you would be really good at in a career.

We at Careers would recommend that you spend some time looking at:

• Get Ideas – generate some career options
• Research Ideas – find out more about those ideas
• Get Advice – appointments and support
• Employability Tutorial – plan your career
• The CV Guide on the VLE – draft a CV
• Profiling for Success tests and exercises – find out more about your options
• York Award – hone your skills through our programme of courses.

Don’t forget, you can always drop in to speak to our Careers staff, or book an appointment!

Careers blog written by: Vikki Touzel, Graduate Intern, Careers.