University of Kent Careers and Employability Service
STATEMENT OF SERVICE
About us
The Careers and Employability Service is part of the network of student guidance and welfare services that come under the Student Services Division at the University of Kent http://www.kent.ac.uk/studentservices
Our role is:
- To provide an education, information, advice and guidance service covering careers, employment and further study;
- To support students in enhancing their employability and developing transferable skills;
- To work alongside Faculties, Schools and University student support services to deliver careers and employability education to defined groups of students and to integrate careers education, information, advice and guidance into University strategies;
- To liaise with external stakeholders, such as employers, training providers and other external organisations, and to facilitate contacts between students and these organisations;
- To gather information on the destinations of graduates and to provide statistical data to HESA and internal departments.
What we offer:
Services for current Kent students:
We offer, free-of-charge, all of the following services to full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Kent and the Associate Colleges:
- Careers Information: provided through our website www.kent.ac.uk/ces and through a range of print and multimedia resources in the Careers and Employability Service building;
- Careers guidance interviews - individual, in-depth discussions with a careers adviser to help with career choice, planning and decision-making;
- Quick-query interviews with a careers or employability adviser. These are available on a drop-in basis and cover preliminary advice and information, help with CVs and applications and answers to basic careers queries;
- Advice by phone or email: this is only available to current students if it is not possible for them to visit the Careers and Employability Service in person;
- Careers Education Programmes for a number of academic subject areas;
- Careers and employability talks and workshops, including employer presentations;
- Annual Careers and Recruitment Fair
- Booklets, leaflets and information sheets, written by University of Kent careers advisers, introducing a variety of topics.
- Regular news updates through our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed;
- A vacancy database of jobs for final-year students and recent graduates plus year in industry placements and career-related internships, vacation work and courses offered by employers;
- Employer directories, such as PROSPECTS, TARGET and the Times 100, outlining major recruiters of graduates;
- Advice on making applications and on interview technique;
- Examples of psychometric tests used by employers when selecting graduates;
- Introductory information on working overseas, including graduate directories for other countries;
- Links with employers, both national and local, and with Kent alumni;
- DVDs, books and CD-ROMs available for reference in the Careers Information Room;
- Information on the career areas and courses of study entered by previous graduates in your subject;
- Advice and information on postgraduate study and research in the UK and, to a more limited extent, overseas, through directories, prospectuses and online resources;
- Advice, information and support tailored to the needs of special-interest groups of students, such as mature students and international students;
Services for Kent graduates
The services above are equally available to alumni of the University of Kent within three years of their graduation (longer upon request and at the discretion of CES staff). We ask graduates to complete a registration form to ensure their entitlement to use our services after graduation.
In addition, advice is available to these graduates by phone or email if they are no longer able to visit the CES in person.
Services for graduates of other universities
Graduates of other UK universities shall normally be allowed to use the following advice and information resources of the CES for up to three years after graduation, in person only:
- Careers Information resources, both web-based and hard copy
- Quick-query interviews
- Careers guidance interviews – during vacations only
These services are not available to graduates of the other universities based in Canterbury and Medway, who are expected to use their own institutions.
Students and graduates can expect from us:
- Careers education, information, advice and guidance delivered by qualified, competent and committed practitioners;
- Clear, comprehensive and accurate information about our services delivered through a variety of media: in person, in print and online;
- Confidentiality in all your dealings with us;
- A quality service which complies with the AGCAS/AGR/NUS Code of Conduct etc
- An range of up-to-date information resources, relevant to the needs of our users, provided in the Careers Information Rooms at Canterbury and Medway, at the Associate Colleges and via the Careers and Employability Service website www.kent.ac.uk/ces;
- A commitment to equality of opportunity regardless of age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or any other factor. The University’s equality and diversity policy underpins all aspects of our services;
- At least 24 hours notification should we delay or cancel any careers appointment or any talk, presentation or other event. The reason for any cancellation will be explained to you.
- An impartial service free from any commercial or other outside influences;
- A feedback mechanism and complaints procedure
Full details of all the above are set out in our Code of Practice.
What we expect from students and graduates:
The Careers and Employability Service expects you to:
- Play an active part in careers guidance interviews by preparing for the interview in advance; providing your adviser with a CV or completed introduction form and following up the interview by taking any appropriate action suggested by your adviser;
- Book in advance for careers guidance interviews, presentations and other events where requested and to notify us if you are unable to attend, giving reasonable notice in both cases;
- Arrive punctually for interviews, presentations and any other appointments;
- To treat CES staff, employers and other clients with respect and consideration and to use the Careers Information Room in a responsible manner, so as not to disturb other users;
- Use the IT facilities offered in the Careers Information Room for careers and employability purposes only and in accordance with the regulations for the use of IT facilities at the University http://www.kent.ac.uk/is/regulations/it/ITregulations.pdf
- Provide feedback on our services when requested and in particular to complete the Destination of Leavers of Higher Education questionnaire which you will receive after your graduation. In addition, please feel free to raise any issues or concerns via our feedback form www.kent.ac.uk/careers/feedback/feedback.html or the suggestions box in the Careers Information Room
Services for University of Kent staff
The CES cooperates with academic Faculties and Schools, and with other professional services departments, throughout the University. This cooperation informs our own services, assists other departments and contributes to the University’s Employability Strategy. http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/plan/studentexperience/employability/
- What do your graduates do? We carry out surveys of recent graduates and can provide you with statistics on their employment or further study
- Employability provision for students. We can help to provide skills and training activities to enhance your students’ employability
- Support during subject review and assessment (i.e. Periodic Review, Institutional Audit etc)
These are just a few of our services: our web page for Kent staff at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/infoforstaff.htm outlines the full range of our services
University staff can expect from us:
- An impartial service open, and offering equal treatment, to all Faculties and Schools for the provision of careers advice and employability activities and events;
- Support for, and advice on, incorporating careers and employability education into your programmes of study;
- Assistance with validation and quality review activities;
- Provision of information and statistics based on the annual DLHE survey
What we expect from University staff:
- To support the aims and activities of the CES as set out above;
- To encourage students to make use of the CES and to promote employability activities within your School;
- To assist us in the collection of information on the destinations of graudates for the annual DLHE survey;
- To familiarise themselves with the range of services that the CES can offer staff and students through our web pages at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/infoforstaff.htm;
- To respond promptly to requests from students and employers seeking references for employment or postgraduate study
Services for employers
We can help you to recruit students and graduates in the following ways:
- Advertising vacancies for graduate jobs, internships, year-in-industry placements and vacation work;
- Providing facilities for you to make presentations to students or to hold interviews;
- Participation in the annual Careers and Recruitment Fair;
- If you are based in Kent or Medway we can include you in our database of local employers;
These services are free of charge, with the exception of the Careers and Recruitment Fair and some presentation facilities (such as those booked through Kent Hospitality or where refreshments are provided.
Employers can expect from us:
- An impartial service open, and offering equal treatment to, all legally-recognised organisations that request us to advertise vacancies or to facilitate access to students and graduates through careers and employability activities and events;
- To respond promptly to vacancies received and enter them on the live database as soon as possible after receipt and checking;
- Advice and information on our services and facilities, on our website at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/employers.htm and by phone or email;
- Referral to other University staff and departments (such as placement officers) where appropriate;
- Assistance with making presentations or holding selection interviews at the University, by arranging rooms and advertising the event to students;
- Encouragement to students to sign up in advance for presentations and interviews and to prepare thoroughly before making an application or attending interview
What we expect from employers:
- To familiarise themselves with our Vacancy Handling Policy www.kent.ac.uk/careers/vacs/vacancyhandling.htm before submitting any vacancies, and to follow the guidelines set out therein;
- To submit vacancies via our online vacancy handling portal http://employer.kent.prospects.ac.uk
- To provide adequate notice of presentations and other campus visits and of any changes to, or cancellation of, these visits;
- Compliance with all current UK employment legislation, in particular that relating to equal opportunities and the minimum wage rate, and with the AGR/AGCAS/NUS Code of Practice for graduate recruitment;
The Head of the Careers and Employability Service is responsible for ensuring staff adhere to this Statement of Service and our Code of Practice, as well as ensuring that the statement is updated on an annual basis.
This statement of service is also available on the Careers and Employability Service website at http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/docs/statementofservice.htm
This statement is reviewed annually and was last reviewed in March 2012.
© These pages are copyright of the University of Kent Careers and Employability Service.
The information and advice given in these pages is primarily for
the benefit of University of Kent students and graduates.
You are most welcome to link to these pages but should not use content in other ways without our permission.
Page maintained by Bruce Woodcock
Please email
me if you wish to make any suggestions which would improve our services.
