What Career? Making a Career Decision Making a Career Decision can seem daunting. You want to pick the ‘right’ career for you, however sometimes it is difficult to know what this is.
What are the options? The kind of career decision you make is likely to depend on your own circumstances but also on the kinds of work you are interested in. Some common pathways for graduates include:
Graduate jobs – Graduate jobs require post holders to have a degree. Sometimes this degree needs to be in a specific subject, like science or engineering. However up to 75% of graduate jobs are open to graduates of any discipline. This gives you a lot of options!
Graduate Training Schemes – Graduate training schemes are offered by many large companies. They are typically open to graduates between 2 and 5 years after graduation. These training schemes tend to involve a structured training and experience programme which may involve moving around different departments in a company and can include periods of work in different parts of the country or in different countries.
Internships – Getting into a ‘graduate job’ can be very competitive. Only a minority of students enter graduate jobs straight after University. Many take an internship or another form of work experience before entering graduate work. Internships vary in duration, but are often between six months and one year long. They may be paid or unpaid.
Vocational pathways – some careers (including teaching, nursing and social work) require specific qualifications that you can take after your first degree.