Step 1 – Explore your options

Careers advice for life

Booking to speak with one of our professional careers advisers will give you “time out” to discuss your future options, to consider your interests, values, and challenges and to weigh up the implications of any career decisions. Our Faculty Employability Advisers are professionally qualified and trained to enable you to help yourself, to take ownership of your career planning.

Step 1

Take time to explore and weigh up your options

Whether you have many years’ experience, have changed jobs several times or are early in your career, your unique experience and study has equipped you with skills and has opened up opportunities with a variety of employers and occupations. Take time to reflect on your experience and connections, to develop a good picture of your options, which you can investigate. There are a range of opportunities to consider:

■ Further learning: Postgraduate, professional training, a Masters or a short skills course? ■ Full or part-time work, internal secondment, management or graduate level roles, graduate schemes, a sidewards move, or a total change in direction? ■ Starting your own business or going freelance? ■ Pausing to take time out, to add to your experience or to consider volunteering?

Be realistic about the context

It is important to understand how the labour market is changing constantly and how it might impact on decisions you make. The National Higher Education Careers Service Prospects www.prospects.ac.uk has some helpful insights and regular labour market updates and helpful tips on job hunting and staying positive. The BBC www.bbc.co.uk has regular employment updates and People Management www.peoplemanagement.co.uk has a regular blog. Have a look at LMI for All, on www.lmiforall.org.uk/explore_lmi or the official labour market statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics on www.nomisweb.co.uk