Further study

Recruitment agencies

Recruitment agencies help organisations recruit staff for a fee (paid by the company) by providing their clients with quicker access to pre-screened and qualified candidates. Agencies often specialise in specific sectors, and if you have relevant experience they can be an extremely effective way of finding work. Research agencies in your field and select one or two to build a relationship with.

If you are working with an agency, it is important to remain actively involved in your own job search and continue to check employers’ websites and other sources for vacancies.

Jobs from internships and work experience

Work experience and internships can be a great way to secure a full-time offer. This is especially true for companies offering internship programmes exclusively for penultimate-year students: these are often used as a core recruitment tool, with a successful internship leading directly to a job offer for the following year. Research by High Fliers confirms that at major employers, nearly a third of positions are filled by graduates who had already worked for the company. Our experience suggests that in some specific sectors, such as banking, this proportion can rise to as high as threequarters of graduate positions.

All companies – large and small – may offer work experience or internships. In line with the advice for finding full-time positions, use companies’ own websites, our CareerConnect jobs board, and graduate recruitment sites. Speculative applications can also be highly effective, and sometimes firms will even create an opportunity when approached directly. Read our advice online about making speculative approaches.

Specific opportunities for Oxford students include: • The Oxford University Internship Programme, run by your Careers Service, which sources hundreds of internships in locations around the world exclusively open to Oxford students. • The Micro-Internship Programme, run by the

Careers Service, offering voluntary learning and development opportunities in the vacation periods. • The Oxford Hub offers a range of programmes to support both young people and the community –go to www.oxfordhub.org or email hello@oxfordhub. org.

For more ideas on how to find work experience and short-term engagements, turn to our advice on: • Gaining Experience and Developing Skills • Application Essentials • Networking. Consider your motivation • It might be to satisfy intellectual curiosity, to access a specific career or to change direction. Think about what you need to know to assess how effectively potential courses can deliver your goals. Talk it over with a careers adviser if you need to.

Talk to people • Recommendations from Oxford academics in your field. • People working in your sector of interest – find them on LinkedIn. • Get in touch with prospective tutors and supervisors.

Do your research • Academic literature and conference proceedings to find key research groups. • Destination statistics for each course. • University rankings. • Research Excellence Framework assessments of research departments www.ref.ac.uk.

Taught masters’, research masters’ or doctoral degrees? In the UK, Europe, North America or elsewhere? Narrowing down your options can be tricky.

Fees and funding

Costs vary but are likely to run to many thousands of pounds. • Self-funding is the reality for many graduate students: savings, family support or loans. • Postgraduate loans of £11k–£12k are available for masters’ degrees in the UK. Loans of £26k–£27k are available to residents in England for doctoral study at

UK universities. www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan. • Research Councils, www.ukri.org, fund some UK

PhDs by allocating funds to Doctoral Training

Centres or departments to distribute to eligible candidates. • Scholarships are listed on the graduate admission pages of university websites. Check eligibility and closing dates carefully. • Graduate assistantships, and other opportunities to teach or conduct research in your department or college, may provide additional income. In the

US, they are a common way to fund study. Discuss opportunities with departments. • Sponsorship or employer support is relatively rare but not unheard of in scientific and engineering disciplines (for example, Industrial CASE awards – via Research Councils – and Knowledge Transfer

Partnerships at ktp.innovateuk.org).

Careers adviser Abby Evans answers further study FAQs

Do I have to do a master’s degree before a PhD? Not always: it is possible to go straight on to a PhD programme from a first degree course. This is common in science and engineering in the UK. Some PhDs have a master’s year built in. However, in many continental European countries a master’s degree is required to begin a PhD. Even in the UK, most arts, humanities and social science students complete a master’s degree before embarking on their PhD.

Will I need a first class degree? Most courses ask for at least a 2:1 class degree or Studying abroad

Higher education is an international marketplace. You might be tempted by lower fees charged in certain countries, by the opportunity to improve your language skills or by a centre of academic excellence in your subject. Many universities in Europe offer courses taught in English. Application schedules vary, so research the differences carefully.

There are useful country-by-country overviews at www.prospects.ac.uk and on GoinGlobal via www. careers.ox.ac.uk.

The Careers Service publishes advice on study in the USA and abroad, all available online.

More information

www.careers.ox.ac.uk/further-study/

equivalent, and many graduates with 2:1s successfully apply for further study. However, a first class degree might increase your chances when applying for popular courses, and may help you secure funding.

How can the Careers Service help? In addition to extensive information on our further study webpages, we also offer seminars on a range of aspects of further study including Postgraduate Study in North America and in Europe, Writing Personal Statements. You are welcome to book an appointment with a careers adviser to discuss your options, strategies for choosing courses or securing funding, or to get feedback on your application materials.