Your Options

Know what you want to do?

• Get advice on preparing CVs, applications and for interview.
• Attend workshops on CVs and Interviews.
• Speak to a Careers Adviser about your plans.
• View our database of graduate and work experience vacancies.
• Find out about gaining relevant work experience via the Placement Basement.

Not sure about what you want to do?

Don't panic! There are lots of people in the same boat as you and you still have time to make plans for the future but you should start now as waiting until after you've graduated is often too late!

Things that you can do now to help you decide what you want to do in the future:

• Chat things over with a Careers Adviser.
• Consider the Career Planning or Internship Module as one of your options at level 2.
• Visit the prospects website for help with career planning and decision making, particularly Prospects Planer which helps you to match your skills and interests to future careers.
• Create a TARGETjobs Careers Report - online self assessment tool which looks at personal potential for graduate jobs. Users can make an action plan to build on their skills and strengths.
• Build you MyPDP portfolio - an excellent way of assessing what you've achieved so far and making plans for the future.
• Visit the the JobShop / Placement Base to carry out your own careers research.
• Use the IT resources and take away careers informationat in the JobShop / Placement Base.

Graduate Employment

Final year is the ideal time to apply for jobs. Be aware of the main vacancy sources which include:

• JobShop
• Prospects

and a range of employer directories, paper take away copies of these directories are available within the Careers Service.

You will notice looking through these directories and listings that many closing dates fall during the winter months. With many, especially for the business, marketing and law areas being in late October/November. However many companies recruit an advertise their vacancies throughout the year.

Further Study

Are you considering further study? Remember postgraduate study is obviously not an end itself but is a means to an end! You should consider:

• Graduate destinations available after the postgrad.
• Closing dates (often December/January)
• Funding (check out the funding resources available at the JobShop / Placement Base). For UK students look at local authority funding for postgraduate diplomas and research councils for masters.
• Entry requirements - A 2.1 is required for most masters and above courses.
• Competition for places and therefore additional experience / qualifications you may require.
• Geography - most UK postgrad places seek applications in the 9-12 months preceeding the course starting, but for those interested in study abroad i.e. the US, the time frame is longer. Usually 1-2 years in order to arrange suitable places and funding.
• Level of postgrad
  • postgraduate certificates / diplomas (often vocational in nature e.g. PGDE)
  • masters taught (often called MA, MSc, MPhil, MLitt)
  • masters research (MRes)
  • PhD

Time Out and Gap Years

For those of you considering a gap year it is important to consider what happens afterwards. It may be possible to arrange deferred entry for a postgraduate study or graduate job. That would require applying for both of the above in your final year. Graduate employers do value well structured meaningful gap years which clearly demonstrate the development of transferable skills. There are a range of resources in the careers service with regard to gap years including directories of travel abroad, employers for most parts of the planet and the world wide volunteering database. A good starting point to exploring resources and issues is also the relevant pages of the prospects site.

Enterprise and Self Employment

One in ten graduates pursue self employment at some stage in their working lives - it could be you! There are a number of resources available to students at Dundee University to help them consider the key issues around self employment either immediately upon graduation or at some later point. The main organisations that you might find of value are as follows

The Careers Service also has useful information in the careers information and runs seminars.

• Enterprise Gym
• Business Gateway
• Princes Youth Business Trust (PSYBT)

Work Abroad

Many students are interested in the idea of working abroad. However most graduate employers prefer students to gain their initial experience in their home country and then trade on that experience in the international job market. However an increasing number of employers are offering new graduates work placements and postings overseas especially in the finance sector. The Careers Service has some resources in this area, but a really useful starting point is the Prospects website.