School of Economics 2nd October 2012

Careers and Employability for Stage 2 students- What can I do with my degree?- How can I make myself more employable

Jenny Keaveney

Careers Adviser

Careers & Employability Service

What this talk will cover

What can you do with an Economics degree?

How to make yourself more employable

Summer internships Other experience How the Careers & Employability

Service can help you

What can I do with my Economics degree?

What do you want to do? Become an economist? Work in business or finance? Work in the public sector? Work abroad? Do something else?

Some well-known Economics graduates

Jobs where an Economics degree is particularly useful

Accountant Actuary Civil Service (inc. Government Economic

Service)

Economist Investment analyst Journalist Market researcher

www.prospects.ac.uk/links/occupations

Some of the jobs obtained by 2011 Economics graduates from Kent University

Trainee Chartered Accountant Tax Adviser Business & Communication Analyst

(Apple) Pensions Administrator – Consulting firm Investment Support Associate Insurance Broker – Terrorism & Political

Violence (Willis) Trainee Merchandiser - Retail Petroleum Economist Arbitrage Operations Manager

BUT ….

There is more to you than your degree!

What is Employability?

‘A set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy’

(CBI, March 2009)

What employability skills are graduate recruiters looking for?

Communication

Report writing

Team working

Leadership

Planning and organisation

Project management

Enterprise

Problem Solving

Reflection

Adaptability

Energy

Drive and resilience

Integrity

Reliability

Enthusiasm/passion

Self awareness

Confidence

Contextual/cultural awareness

Capacity to develop

NumeracyPositive attitude

Business and customer awareness

IT skills

Developing these skills

• How the Careers and Employability Service can help you

• Get involved and get rewarded with Employability Points

• Other ways to develop employability skills

Moodle Careers Employability Award

• Assessed by a range of quizzes and assignments

• “The most time-effective way to increase your chances of getting a graduate level job”

• Takes about 12 hours to complete

• On completion you will get a University of Kent Careers Employability Award to add to your CV

• Get 40 Kent Employability points for successful completion of the module.

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

Employability Points

Over 200 rewards offered last year from 86

sponsor companies

Internships, work experience, training

experiences, project placements, vouchers

Get involved – Get rewarded!

Summer Internships

• Career related work experience

• Offered by many employers

• Often used to talent-spot future graduate recruits

• Opportunities in economics, finance, business etc

• This is the time to apply! Priority is often given to second-year students for internships

• D eadlines may be early

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Which employers offer summer internships?

• Economics Bank of England closing date 12 November Frontier Economics – open now! Deadline 11 Jan 2013 Institute of Economic Affairs – open now! Deadline May 2013 Government Economic Service – opens January 2013 Institute for Fiscal Studies – deadline February 2013

• Finance Major accountancy firms Investment banks Retail banks Insurance companies

• Other areas Energy companies, manufacturing companies, transport

companies, think-tanks

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Bank of England

• This scheme is for first degree students in their penultimate year. Our undergraduate internships pay £65 per day, and run for between six and eight weeks. You'll focus on an individual research project - working closely with economists and analysts to collect and analyse data. Graduate offers are often made to outstanding performers at the end of the internship

• “The work was interesting, relevant and enjoyably challenging. The working environment and atmosphere were fantastic and rather unique because there was a semi-academic feeling but in a professional context. I was lucky enough to experience lots of other fascinating things which were not directly related to my work, such as a pre-MPC meeting”

• www.bankofenglandgraduates.co.uk

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Frontier Economics

• Short term Internships: in London and Madrid for Summer 2013 and in Cologne any time in 2013

• I have been working on a strategy project for a retailer examining the effects of the credit crunch on consumers and a research project for a mobile phone company on the market for swiping your phone in shops to make payments

• www.frontier-economics.com/recruitment/positions-at-frontier/intern/

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Looking for a placement?

Don’t miss this!• The Government Economic Service (GES) will begin

accepting applications for the GES centrally-run sandwich student placement scheme for 2013-14 on Monday 15th October at 9.00 am

• For a list of participating Departments and job descriptions see www.civilservice.gov.uk/ges.

• The latest closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 19th October, but the scheme will close before the latest closing date when 200 applications have been received

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Making Applications

• Prepare, prepare, prepare

• Make yourself stand out

• Research the company

• Sell yourself – highlight your skills

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

• Get help and advice from careers and employability advisers

• Beat the deadlines!

The Careers and Employability Service – how we can help you

• Careers Talks and Workshops

• Careers Resources Room

• Comprehensive Web Pages

• Vacancy Database http://kent.prospects.ac.uk

• Alumni Careers Network

• Annual Careers and Employability Fair

• Drop In - Quick Query

• Careers Guidance Interviews

Open 9-5, Monday - Friday

Speak to a careers or employability adviser:

• Quick queries: drop in and speak to an adviser 10.30am -12.30pm and 2pm-4pm Monday to Friday.

• You can also book a longer careers guidance appointment over the phone or pop in.

Stay up-to-date with what is happening

• www.kent.ac.uk/ces

• www.kent.ac.uk/employability

• Employability Newsletter

• Facebook – University of Kent Student Employability

• Follow us on Twitter at @unikentemploy

Action Points

• Note deadlines!

• Perfect your application technique

• Develop your skills: take advantage of the various initiatives offered at Kent www.kent.ac.uk/employability

• Make use of the Careers and Employability Service. www.kent.ac.uk/ces

Careers & Employability Service

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www.kent.ac.uk/ces

01227 823299