The University of Kent Careers & Employability Service Careers with a School of English Postgraduate Degree

1. The University of KentCareers & Employability Service Careers with a School of English Postgraduate Degree You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

2. What can I do with a degree in English? • What graduates in English did after leaving Kent • Jobs related to your subject • Employers and vacancy sources www.kent.ac.uk/careers/English.htm

4. Postgraduate Study • 23% of English grads do PG study after graduation • MA taught – 1 year Sept to June – lectures, June to Sept – dissertation. • Research MA 1 to 2 years – often part-time • PhD – 3 years. Must do an MA first. • PGCE (teacher training) 1 year: about 6% of grads • See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm

5. Postgraduate study • Not much funding available for MA. Fees are about £5,000. At Kent get £1,000 graduate school scholarship reduction • Many students work for a year to fund it or do it part-time whilst working • Consider vocational MA – journalism, publishing, business, HR etc. • Normally apply middle of final year. No UCAS can apply to as many course as you wish to – 3 or 4 is normal

6. Study Abroad • Many postgraduate courses are now taught in English, especially in the Netherlands and Scandinavia • No course fees in Sweden and about £1,000 in Germany and Denmark • See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm#PGAbroad

8. Get actively involved in university life … Graduate Application Form Questions • Describe a challenging situation which required your persuasive skills and your ability to organise other people in order to reach a successful resolution. • Describe how your personal planning and organisation resulted in a successful achievement of a personal or group task. • Describe a situation where you had to work effectively as a member of a team. What were the team’s aims? How was the team selected? What was your role?

10. VACANCIES • University of Kent Vacancy Database www.kent.ac.uk/ces/vacancies.html Work Experience - see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/vacwork.htm and the vacancy database • OTHER TALKS www.kent.ac.uk/careers/casevents.htm

11. Applications and Interviews • English CV – must be targeted at the job! www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/English-cv.htm • Media CV www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/mediacv.htm • Covering Letters • Practice Interviews – journalism, teaching, marketing, HR, postgrad study etc.www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm • Application, interview and selection centre videos www.kent.ac.uk/careers/IntVid.htm

12. Skills gained with an English Degree: sell these in your applications! • ability to write well in a variety of styles. • to convey meaning precisely. • to summarise, argue and debate. • to plan, organise and meet tight deadlines. • to research, select, analyse, organise and present information. • to think clearly and logically and solve problems. • To gather, assess, interpret and critically evaluate. • EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION!“Would you say their are any skill shortages in the UK for actuary'sie their enough out their, is their a shortfall of any kind of actuary?” In an email from an HR manager to me!

13. Location of the Careers Service Open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday including vacations

14. School of EnglishCareers Employability Award on Moodle + 40 employability points http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Moodle/English.htm

15. Moodle Careers Employability Award www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm#subject

16. The amount of time put into this is astounding! I actually spoke to friends from other universities who said they wished they had something like this. I enjoyed the depth of the module. It went far beyond some general tips on how to write a good CV and prepare for an interview. Rather it went in to detail about the whole process of graduate job search from the beginning to the end. It was very instructive . The module is very, very useful! I really love how it makes you to think about your personality and helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Comments from students who have completed the award It really blew my mind with some ideas I’ve never known before, such as portfolio working and working from home. I never thought about obtaining happiness from my work before. It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot. I found the module to be highly thought-provoking as it really encouraged me to consider how my degree will benefit my future and what I can be doing now to improve my graduate employment prospects. You get a really nice certificate! Without realising, you have finished the course and have already put together a very good CV and covering letter. It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to applications and interviews and has also made me think about skills that I didn't think I had before. It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an interview without doing it! Before the course I had only a vague idea of my career path and opportunities. Now I am applying for summer internships and know how to effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer and have a much more focused plan for my future. I recently had a very successful interview largely because I put the advice on the module into practice.

17. BRUCE WOODCOCK • A Duty Careers Adviser is available for short (15 minute) consultations: MORNINGS (10.30 am - 12.30 pm) and AFTERNOONS (2 to 4 pm). Don’t need to book an appointment just ask at reception in the Careers Service (Keynes College Driveway) • If you need longer ring our reception on 01227 823299 to make an appointment for interview with me. • Email: bw@kent.ac.uk

18. Other Points • Check you campus emails regularly as I will send you emails most Mondays! • Apply early in your final year if you want a graduate training scheme with a “big” company, advertising, marketing, HR or primary teaching. • Applications and interviews www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

19. The University of KentCareers & Employability Service You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm