A.E.

KALSEKAR
DEGREE COLLEGE

NAME:- Sayed taha sadique

SUBJECT:- Foundation Course
STD:- SYBBI
ROLL NO:- 12
PROJECT TOPIC:- career
growth after graduation
GUIDED BY:- FARAH KHAN
INTRODUCTION:-
You can’t connect the dots
looking forward; you can only
connect them looking
backwards. So you have to
trust that the dots will
somehow connect in your
future. You have to trust in
something - your gut, destiny,
life, karma, whatever.

Steve Jobs
Many students don't have
much time to spend in career
planning during their degree
course. You may be too busy
working to earn money to pay
your way through university,
or perhaps you are a mature
student with a young family
that you need to support. You
may be too busy to regularly
visit the Careers Service.
These pages will allow you to
do much of this career
planning via the web.
Choosing a career involves 4
main stages:
 Self
Awaren
ess
 Opportu
nity
Awaren
ess
 Decisio
n
Making
 Taking Action
Sometimes these stages will overlap and
sometimes you have to return to a previous
stage Be aware the cycle is not always as
linear and consistent as it is presented here.

Self Awareness
The first stage of Career Choice is Self
Awareness. This involves looking at your
SKILLS, VALUES, INTERESTS and
PERSONALITY and analysing where your
strengths and weaknesses lie. This is
important both in choosing the right career
and also for success in applications and
interviews where you will find many
questions which test whether you have been
through this process.
You can start with looking at
your SKILLS here. You can now also look at
your INTERESTS, VALUES and PERSONA
L STYLES on the web.

Choosing a career involves 4 main

stages:
  Self
Awaren
ess
 Opportu
nity
Awaren
ess
 Decisio
n
Making
 Taking Action
Sometimes these stages will overlap and
sometimes you have to return to a previous
stage Be aware the cycle is not always as
linear and consistent as it is presented here.
Self Awareness :-
The first stage of Career Choice is Self
Awareness. This involves looking at your
SKILLS, VALUES, INTERESTS and
PERSONALITY and analysing where your
strengths and weaknesses lie. This is
important both in choosing the right career
and also for success in applications and
interviews where you will find many
questions which test whether you have been
through this process.
You can start with looking at
your SKILLS here. You can now also look at
your INTERESTS, VALUES and PERSONA
L STYLES on the web.
Opportunity Awareness
Once you have done some preliminary self
analysis, the next stage is to gather
information on the opportunities open
to you. There is a range of resources to
help you here:
There is a range of general careers
talks each term which are listed here
There may also be specific careers
education programmes for your degree
subject, usually during your second year of
study.
Information on what you can do with
your degree subjectMany jobs are open to
graduates of any degree subject, and it's
important not to only focus on the jobs
related to your degree, but if you are doing
a vocational degree, or simply want to find
out what previous Kent graduates in your
subject have gone on to do, the following
resources should help.
Making Decisions :-
The computer programs below allow you to
put in a number of factors on what you want
in a career (such as helping others,
promotion prospects) and will give
suggestions of possible careers which might
match these. Regard these as useful
suggestions rather than gospel truth, but
they should bring up some possibilities that
you haven't considered before.

Prospects Planner
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner is a
powerful program to help you choose a
graduate career. It allows you to answer
questions about your values and interests
and then to relate these to a database of
hundreds of occupations to get suggestions
on appropriate careers.

Alternatively Careers Explorer is a quick and

simple program which will also suggest
graduate careers
Talk to graduates already working in your
chosen career area. You can use the Kent
Alumni Careers Network to contact a
graduate directly. Work shadowing
(spending a day with) a person in the career
you are considering is the next best thing to
actually doing a job, to find out what it is
like. If you have done this, you will come
across as much better prepared at
interviews.Ostrich

Of course, the other important part in

making decisions is discussing it with other
people. Friends, family and tutors can all
play an important part here . The Duty
Careers Adviser is available every day
without an appointment for a short
discussion and can often help to inject
reality into your ideas for example, pointing
out that you may need to fund your way
through a postgraduate course to enter your
chosen career
TAKING ACTION :-

This is the final process of career planning.

It involves:

Finding out about the EMPLOYERS that offer

the types of jobs you are interested in.
Search our VACANCY DATABASE
Preparing APPLICATIONS and attending
INTERVIEWS
Perhaps taking APTITUDE TESTS and
attending SELECTION CENTRES

First look at the Timeline, which gives you

an idea of what you should be doing when
during your time at UKC in terms of Career
Planning.

Sometimes you may have to return to

previous stages in the process, for example,
if you are not able to get into your first
choice career.

AFTER GRADUATION WHAT’S

NEXT :-
If you’re a recent graduate, you
have lots of reasons to be
cheerful. For a start, you have
walked across stage, balancing a
board on your head while wearing
a trip-hazard, as ceremony
demands. Degree in hand, you’re
ready to embark on your post-
university life.

The employment market is finally

showing signs of renewed life.
While some areas (including the
public sector and local
government) are still struggling,
others, such as accountancy and
construction, are on the up. Office
for National Statistics data
currently puts unemployment at
7.4 per cent, its lowest rate since
2009.

You’re also part of a graduating

cohort with unique skills. “Recent
graduates are among the most
technologically savvy and digitally
connected classes in history,”
says Natalie Waterworth, co-
founder of talentedheads.com, a
career guidance website. She
explains that employers are
looking for IT-literate candidates
who can adapt quickly to the
changing work environment,
which gives you a distinct
advantage. “Being malleable is a
valuable skill that graduates
of 2014 possess.

The first step is to be prepared, mentally,

for the task ahead. “You’ll need patience
and a thick skin,” says Mike Hill, chief
executive officer of Graduate Prospects.
“Very few people get the first job they apply
for, or are interviewed for. The key thing is
to learn from those experiences.”

At the very beginning of the process, Hill

recommends getting a part-time job if at all
possible, “if only to take away the panic that
sees you applying for 10 jobs a week. It’ll
give you the chance to put together well
thought-through applications once a week
instead – that’s still 50 a year.” There are
other advantages, such as filling in any gaps
between graduation and interview that may
otherwise open up on your CV.
Focus is important, too. Fetters believes
that graduates who fire off applications in all
directions do themselves a disservice.

“By looking for work in fields and industries

in which you don’t have experience, you’re
more likely to get rejections. By narrowing
your search you can focus your energy on
the jobs you really want.”

Build your experience

Unfortunately knock-backs and rejection are

an inevitable part of the job seeking process
and while feeling disheartened is natural,
Minneci suggests a few ways to avoid the
negative feelings taking over.

These include finding a mentor and

developing your professional network, and
asking questions when things don’t go
according to plan. “If you’ve been
unsuccessful in an interview, don’t be afraid
to ask for feedback – it’s the best way to
learn and you can then put what you’re told
into practice.”

Another area to focus your energies on is

seeking relevant work experience and
internships, which remain – despite the
controversy around unpaid graduate labour
– great ways to develop workplace
knowledge, transferable skills and useful
contacts, especially if interview feedback
points to a lack of relevant experience.

Careers advisers are good sounding boards

when it comes to seeking full-time and work
experience positions or you could try online
resources such as milkround.com and
graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk.

Fetters emphasises the importance of your

existing connections. “Make the most of
your personal network,” he says. “Friends of
friends, and even parents of friends, may be
able to create important links between you
and potential employers.”
It’s all about getting a foot in the door. Even
if your conversations don’t lead to a
placement or a job, you’ll be learning what
you need to do to progress. “Don’t be
nervous about asking for help, as
persistence often pays off,” says Fetters.

We’ve probably all heard a few cautionary

tales around work experience, so proceed
carefully. “Take as much work experience
and as many internships as you can, but be
wary of those who are out to exploit people
in weak positions,” says Hill.

Weigh up the pros and cons of unpaid work

and be realistic, he advises – a few weeks of
work shadowing may be worthwhile, but six
months making sales calls for nothing is a
different matter. “If you do a proper job you
should be properly paid. You should go into
these things with your eyes open and don’t
forget to use social media to check an
organisation’s reputation.”
It can be a gruelling process, but the end
results are worth it, and not only as a
means to woo employers. “Work experience
and internships are a great way to help find
the right career,” says Minneci. “Finding out
what you’re passionate about is really
important and helps you decide what you
want to do.”

Ultimately, workplace experience will make

your CV stand out and shows that you can
apply yourself in a range of different roles
and fields. Plus, it’s a chance to develop
skills in teamwork, management and
leadership, all of which are important
attributes to display at interview. “It also
demonstrates to a future employer that
you’ve looked to build your strengths,” says
Minneci, “that you take your career
seriously and, of course, that you’re hard
working.”
Further study:-

If work isn’t the place for you just yet,

further study is another avenue you could
explore, whether for personal satisfaction or
career advancement – although it pays to
remember that the two aren’t mutually
exclusive. Postgraduate study opens the
door to deeper understanding of a subject
and a radically different study experience,
and there are professional advantages too,
according to Garnett.

“A postgraduate qualification helps to

differentiate students in the employment
market and can be a useful ‘badge’
throughout their career.”

If you’re heading further down the

education route with a view to boosting your
career prospects, it’s important to know
from the outset how you expect the course
to help you. This will help when you set out
the benefits to employers later on, says
Garnett.
“Most employers will want to see a well
thought-out plan. The course ought to be at
least broadly aligned with a small number of
career goals to make it easier to justify and
explain.”

You might also want to consider shorter

courses. Many universities offer massive
open online courses (Moocs), often free,
which may enhance your knowledge and
keep the grey cells ticking over. Languages
are another valuable tool that employers
value, or you could brush up your digital
skills – sites such as Codeacademy and
Skillshare offer cheap (or free) courses.
“Extra-curricular self-guided study like this
demonstrates to employers that you are
keen, willing to learn, and ambitious,” says
Waterworth, “and it only takes a few hours.”

Whether you’re investigating work, study or

even a travel break, the question of “what
next?” after graduation is an exciting one –
but it’s natural to be daunted by all that
freedom, too. While you’re pondering, a
little tender loving care isn’t a bad idea, Hill
suggests. “Look after yourself. Don’t get a
tattoo on your forehead just because you’re
unemployed. When you go to an interview,
you’ve got to make an impact when you
walk in, so stay well and keep fit.”

Beyond that, it’s worth bearing in mind that

life after graduation isn’t a sprint.

With perhaps 50 years of working life alone

ahead of you, this is a long-distance event.
Don’t be afraid to change track, or even
enter the odd cul-de-sac, says Hill; you
never know where the opportunities may
lie, or where they might lead you. “Life has
twists and turns you can never foresee.”

Build your experience

Unfortunately knock-backs and rejection are
an inevitable part of the job seeking process
and while feeling disheartened is natural,
Minneci suggests a few ways to avoid the
negative feelings taking over.

These include finding a mentor and

developing your professional network, and
asking questions when things don’t go
according to plan. “If you’ve been
unsuccessful in an interview, don’t be afraid
to ask for feedback – it’s the best way to
learn and you can then put what you’re told
into practice.”

Another area to focus your energies on is

seeking relevant work experience and
internships, which remain – despite the
controversy around unpaid graduate labour
– great ways to develop workplace
knowledge, transferable skills and useful
contacts, especially if interview feedback
points to a lack of relevant experience.