1. Careers with an English Degree Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service bw@kent.ac.uk You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

2. Destinations of some 2014 BA English graduates Phase 8``Public Relations Intern Anise CateringEvents Manager Macmillan Science & EducationManuscript Assistant Eve WhiteEditorial Assistant VCG KestrelProofreader Lloyds BankGraduate banking scheme Chaucer InsuranceInsurance graduate trainee Williams & GriffinsHR Assistant The greater Cambridge LEPMarketing & Events Assistant Elevating SuccessMarketing & Social Media Intern FTD DigitalSEO manager Extra DigitalDigital Marketing Executive DigitalBeansDigital Content & Outreach Executive Stratos Web MarketingJunior Copy Writer & Content Creator Steel LondonCopywriter John Lewis PartnershipRetail Manager Reed ExhibitionsSales Executive Bauer MediaFreelance Journalist Highbury UniversityNational Council for the Training of Journalism (NCTJ) University of LawGraduate Diploma in Law Canterbury Christ Church UniversityPGCE Teacher Training West Hertfordshire Schools PartnershipSchools Direct Secondary English Forest SchoolTeaching Assistant University of KentMA Dickens & Victorian Culture Plus lots of shop assistants, waitresses and bar workers! See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/fdrbases/destinations.htm for full detailswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/fdrbases/destinations.htm

4. 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?

5. Build your CV The more you enjoy university life, the more you’ll get out of it. Employers like you to have what they call “customer-facing experience”. You’ll get loads of that if you take a part-time job or work as a student volunteer. It’s a terrific help if you can understand how businesses work, show you can get things done and apply simple common sense. It was my work experience that gave me all these things, not my academic course. Kate, marketing officer with a PR agency Join three university societies and become actively involved in at least one. Alan Richardson, Graduate Recruitment, Royal Bank of Scotland Group

6. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skills-Kent.htm

7. One third of graduate jobs accept any degree subject. BECAUSE: Learn new skills quickly Analyse & solve problems Communicate well Open to new ideas, adaptable and flexible “Managers of change” Marketing and Sales Retailing Social Work Personnel Civil Service Accountancy Banking Computing

8. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/English.htm

9. Media Jobs Many Kent graduates enter the media. Get relevant experience and practical skills - Inquire, campus TV, UoK Drama etc. Talk to or workshadow journalists and other media professionals. Develop a portfolio www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/portfolios.htm www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/portfolios.htm Need NCTJ Diploma for most journalism jobs Be pushy, patient and persistent! See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesmedia.htmwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesmedia.htm

10. Teaching 1 year postgraduate course (PGCE) or Schools Direct Many students go to Christ Church £5,000 bursary with 1 st, 4,000 with 2:1, 3,000 for primary Need at least 2 weeks experience in a state school – get this in June www.kent.ac.uk/careers/siteach.htm

11. Digital Marketing Rapidly growing: using e-mail, websites, social media and texts to promote products, services and events to a targeted audience. Social media marketing: building up an online presence by attracting internet followers. Search engine optimisation: increasing the number of visitors to a website. Online copywriting: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, web pages Need an interest in and aptitude for computing Digital Career Finder Quiz: tells you which role would suit you www.bubble-jobs.co.uk/career_portal/digital-careers-finder/career-finder-quiz www.bubble-jobs.co.uk/career_portal/digital-careers-finder/career-finder-quiz www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/digital-marketing.htm

12. Accountancy Take any degree subject provided you have done careful research Need good A Level grades: about BBB minimum Need good maths – about GCSE grade A minimum Lots of jobs: PWC alone take 1,000 graduates a year 3 years demanding study for professional exams: 12 hours per week in evenings and at weekends BUT paid £25,000 salary whilst doing this On qualification £40,000 +++ www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/accountancy.htm

14. CHOOSING A CAREER CHOOSING A CAREER www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm and booklet available from Careers Service. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm Prospects Planner - powerful career choice program. www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplannerwww.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner Target Jobs Career Planner https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report I Want to work in ….. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm

15. Apply early “Students in their first or second year at university need to ask themselves what job they want to do. It’s important that they do not wait until their final year to think about finding a job, especially in the current market”. Sarah Shillingford, Graduate Recruitment Partner, Deloitte

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

17. Application Process The smaller company process is much simpler and you can apply much later (often after final exams) but salaries are usually lower and they offer less training and less chance to specialise.

18. Skills gained on an English Degree 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's ie their enough out their, is their a shortfall of any kind of actuary?” In an email from an HR manager to me!

19. VACANCIES University of Kent Vacancy Database www.kent.ac.uk/ces/vacancies.html Work Experience www.kent.ac.uk/careers/vacwork.htm www.kent.ac.uk/careers/vacwork.htm and the vacancy database Placements www.kent.ac.uk/careers/placements.htm www.kent.ac.uk/careers/placements.htm Other careers events on campus www.kent.ac.uk/careers/casevents.htm

20. Postgraduate Study 23% of English grads do PG study after graduation MA taught: 1 year Sept to June – lectures, June to Sept – dissertation. PhD – 3 years. Must do an MA first. PGCE (teacher training) 1 year: about 6% of grads £9,000 bursary with 1 st, £4,000 with 2:1 See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htmwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm

21. Postgraduate study Fees are about £5,000. At Kent get £1,000 graduate school scholarship reduction New postgraduate loan scheme for up to £10,000 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 courses as you wish to – 3 or 4 is normal

22. New Postgraduate Loans New postgraduate loan scheme for English -domiciled students and EU students studying in English institutions from 2016. Offers students up to £10,000 to help with costs of a masters degree. Students are eligible for the loans if under the age of 30 and studying for a full-time masters, or part-time at 50% intensity or above. There are no subject restrictions. Like undergraduate loans, graduates will only pay them back if they earn over a certain amount - probably the same as undergraduate loans (£21,000), and repay at a rate of 9% of income above this sum. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm#Funding

23. 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#PGAbroadwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm#PGAbroad

24. www.kent.ac.uk/careerswww.kent.ac.uk/careers Telephone: 01227 823299 Email: careerhelp@kent.ac.uk Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9 to 5 including vacations Drop-in times (no appointment needed: 15 minutes): 10.30 to 12.30 and 2 to 4 pm Help given for up to 3 years after graduation Weekly careers emails every Monday afternooncareerhelp@kent.ac.uk

25. Careers Employability Award on Moodle Half the unemployment rate for students completing the award www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm DP2650 Email bw@kent.ac.uk if you have problems enrollingbw@kent.ac.uk

26. Moodle Careers Employability Award 14 Quizzes: need 75% to pass but allowed unlimited attempts Complete 3 of the following seven assignments Employability skills quiz Employability skills quiz: drag & drop How to develop the skills employers want? Test your spelling and grammar! What makes you happy at work? How commercially aware are you? Special interests topic lesson Interview preparation Practice interview What are the most common interview questions? Aptitude tests and assessment centres CV quiz CVs and covering letters: drag & drop quiz Career planning drag and drop quiz Analyse your skills and learn how to make top quality applications Do you want to live to work or work to live? Researching careers Choosing a career Submit a CV Social media Action planning www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

27. Bruce Woodcock An adviser is on duty for 15 minute consultations in the Careers and Employability Service any weekday morning 10.30-12.30 or afternoon from 2 pm to 4 pm. You don't need an appointment - just ask at Careers Reception to see them. Check you campus emails regularly as I send you emails most Mondays. These can also be found at www.kent.ac.uk/ces/files/newsletters.html www.kent.ac.uk/ces/files/newsletters.html Apply early in your final year if you want a graduate training scheme with a “big” company, advertising, marketing, HR or primary teaching. If you don’t know what you want to do, can book an interview with me at Careers reception (Keynes Driveway)

28. Careers with an English Degree Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service bw@kent.ac.uk You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm