Presentation by Claire Ward, Careers Adviser, October 2013

1. Careers for Social Scientists –
explore your options
Claire Ward
Careers & Employability Adviser

2. Session will cover:
• Where are you now in your career thinking?
• How to move forward
• Researching options
• Where to look for jobs
• A timetable for action!

3. Where are you now?
Understanding
who you are
Researching
options
Making choices
and taking
action
Gaining
experience

4. Understanding who you are
• Interests
• Values
• Personality
• Skills gained through degree
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/

6. Where else have you developed transferable
skills and experience?
• Volunteering
• Vacation schemes
• Work experience
• Part time work Project V
• Clubs and societies
• Student rep/ambassador roles
• Placements
• Year abroad

7. Researching job roles
• Prospects
• CEC Sector guides

8. Researching the labour market
www.prospects.ac.uk/sectors.htm
www.targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors
What Do Graduates Do?
2012

9. Where do graduates work?
Public sector
Commercial/
private sector
Voluntary sector
Self Employment
Small & Medium sized
companies (SMEs)
Large
graduate
recruiters
Freelance/‘entrepreneurs’
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/researchingcareers

10. Taking action: looking for vacancies
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs: sign up for email alerts
Graduate career websites and directories – Prospects,
Milkround, Targetjobs
Specialist career websites
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/researchingcareers
Employer’s own website – look carefully for ‘careers’
Online networks
Creative job hunting

11. Finalist Timetable
Semester 1 Semester 2
• Talk through your plans (or lack
of!) with an Adviser
• Deadlines for many graduate
schemes fall early. See:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs/graduateschemes
• Research employers through
events and Careers Fair 2013
• Start researching and applying for
postgraduate courses
• ‘Make it Happen’
• Interviews and assessment
centres for graduate
schemes.
• Other graduate vacancies
and internships advertised
now.
• Deadlines for some
research council funding
for postgraduate study.

12. Careers and Employability Centre support
• Briefing sessions daily
• Employer events
• Short interview with a careers adviser:
Mon – Fri from 10 am ‘til 5pm and Wed ‘til 7pm
• Vacancies – part time, work
experience, internships, graduate jobs
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers

13. Sponsored by: