About the University of Kent
Careers and Employability Service Web Site
The University of Kent Careers Web Site comprises about one thousand web pages. It is designed to be fun and informal with many cartoons and animations and much interactive content. It is the most visited site in the university, with over 40 percent of total university visitors visiting the careers pages. All content is provided by experienced university careers advisers.
Eleven of the top twenty five most visited university web pages are careers pages including our employability skills pages, example CVs and aptitude tests and in total they get over 21 million page views a year (see table). Many pages have high Google rankings even though we don’t publicise the site outside the university in any way.
The site gets well over three million international visitors a year including a third of a million from India, one of our main target markets. This is more than the rest of the university sites combined see table).
These visitors raise the university’s profile and improve the university’s search engine rankings, and the pages attract many students to consider studying here, especially in subjects such as law and forensic science.
The amount of visitors also improves the university’s rankings in the 4icu.org University Web Ranking and other rankings. In 2011 Kent is ranked 22nd in the UK. For the first time Kent also appears in the top 100 European Universities listing – ranked 93rd.
We support all graduates of the university for up to three years after graduation, sending them a weekly vacancy list with job hunting tips every Monday and the web site is a crucial part of this support for Kent graduates, especially if they live abroad. The pages are a valuable resource for alumni and staff of the university, especially in the present tough times.
Academic and Careers Service Comments
- Not a day goes by when we don’t use your website with our students. We consider your Careers website by far and away the best provided by any University in the UK and we sing its praises to anyone who we think will benefit from using it. Careers Advisers at large 6th Form college.
- I am the Head of Careers for an FE college, and I have been using your careers site for many years. It is undoubtedly the best HE careers site in the UK, and I often refer my students to it.
- The University of Kent Careers Advisory Service has a superb web page listing biotechnology links. (Oxford Brookes University)
- I would like to present this website as an employability skills resource for secondary Workplace Readiness teachers in Arkansas at our Career Guidance Conference”
- I seek permission to utilize questions from your Computer Programming Aptitude Test. The questions are excellent. Professor of Computer Science, USA
- We are helping medical students in the United Arab Emirates and your teamworking skills exercise would be a perfect tool in helping them learn about who they are and how to contribute to a cooperative group. Shriners Hospital for Children, Texas
- I was wondering if I could use your Assessment of Leadership Styles Questions in a Workshop for students? Assistant Professor, Galveston, USA
- May I congratulate you and your colleagues on the quality of the information on your website. It is really comprehensive. (Trinity College Careers)
- I'm a teacher from Russia. I'd like to use the content of page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm with a view to make a PowerPoint presentation.
- Have just discovered your excellent lists of resources. I am one of the advisors working at Hadlow College, and I would very much like to make this information available to our students.
- May I congratulate you and your colleagues on the quality of the information on your website. It is really comprehensive.
- I have found the U of Kent careers website extraordinarily useful in my search. The breadth of coverage, with careers fairs, job descriptions, psychometric tests etc. is nothing short of excellent.
- I’m running and Employability Skills workshop for young people .... I came across the University of Kent’s careers advice web page, which I thought it was fantastic. Mentoring coordinator for Camden Education Business Partnership.
- Could I make a copy of your employability skills chart for my Strategies for Thinking and Learning class at South University in Virginia Beach, VA?
- I am quite a fan of your resources and wanted to make use of the example case study on Hitech PLC …... we raised over £1,000 for the Friends of The Citizens Foundation. The proceeds will be spent on reconstructing schools damaged by the floods in Pakistan.
- Your website about assessment centres – which is excellent by the way! Would it be possible to get permission to use this example as a group work case study? (Liverpool John Moores University Careers Service)
- I am currently working with young people of low self esteem and am endeavouring to assist them in gaining employment by helping them with CV writing etc. I have found your web site so helpful and would like to use them with my students.
Adult education tutor working in deprived areas of south Wales - I am writing to request permission to reprint your Skills Map in a handout for a presentation I will be doing for a church convention. We are a local county government in North Carolina in the U.S.
- May I add how informative and well planned your website is. I would imagine it plays no small part in helping Kent students find a job.
- Your website really is a great resource for students.
- Many thanks for the magnificent website with numerical tests.
- I really liked the web page because it provides a great overview of CVs, which books on the subject take many more pages to communicate.
- Your Archaeology Careers web page has really helped out in pointing me in the right direction and I really needed to take a second to thank you.
- Your work is so clear and so useful. You have saved me hours of thought and prep. (GCSE teacher preparing new unit)
- Your website is fantastic in terms of the wealth of information held within it and I am always referring to it! I tell students to look at it too. (Careers adviser from a UK University).
- Your Careers website is brilliant!! I have directed my student teachers to peruse your site to reinforce the information I give to them. What usually can be very dry, you have made interesting, humourous and relevant to boot!! It is an easy site to explore for both long and short time exploration. (University of Melbourne)
- I am impressed with your skills pages. I recently was asked to teach a course in employability skills and a colleague pointed me to your CV pages. Now I have found your diagram on skills. I shall certainly be pointing my groups to the url. I feel your undergraduates are being well served. (College Lecturer).
- I have been helping someone to prepare a CV. Your website's advice has been fantastic. I had to contact you to congratulate whoever devised and wrote it. I have prepared lots of CVs in my time, but have never come across such a helpful site.
- It is a very wonderful and informative site for young people looking at what kinds of career paths environmental science can lead them down. (Professor, University of Maine, USA)
- I was thrilled when I stumbled upon your excellent career advice pages. (English teacher, French Business School)
- How to assess your group work skills has tremendous knowledge about constructs and items. (National University of Malaysia)
- I have emailed you before to show appreciation for your excellent website. We use it and recommend it frequently and I still believe that your content is second to none. (University of Chester)
- Visiting your website I could clearly note your expertise upon career development, students’ employability and the UK employment market. (European University of Cyprus)
- Your website .... is fantastic and always comes up in Google searches on graduate/HE related topics. (careers adviser)
- Your Skills map is an excellent tool for better understanding what skills students should developed during higher education and what they need for labor market. (Careers Director - University of Belgrade)
- I was thinking about directing students to web based examples and research (on employability) and have discovered your excellent resources.
- I have been using your careers page as a resource for my upper sixth students and it has been great so far, however it has been surpassed by the results given in the 'What career best suits you' quiz. I am a careers adviser in a post 16 setting and the quiz recommended careers adviser and post 16 teacher! Great Work!
- Just seen your employability skills page and it looks great. Could have permission to adapt it for my year 11 students as a self assessment and what they need to work on kind of tool. I'm head of PSHE in a large comp.
Employer Comments
- I was recently at a networking dinner with law students and city lawyers in London. I was very impressed to hear that they were very familiar with the Kent Careers Service website, citing things like psychometric tests and sample interview questions as invaluable sources as part of their job hunting process.
- We would really like to use your HiTech group exercise for a recruitment process we are currently planning at Comic Relief.
- We at New Grad Life loved the article "How to perform well in a telephone interview" - a great read indeed!
- Women's Own magazine which recommended out teaching practice interview to its readers interested in teaching (May 2010)
- Your site is bloody brilliant!!! Not the most beautiful I’ve ever seen (I’m a lecturer and web designer)... BUT content is king and this is the best resource I have found to date!
- Your excellent tips on good and bad CVs
- Kent University's careers site is a fantastic resource. I went to Warwick and still ended up using Kent's service. (Scientist at DSTL)
- I love the page you have written on CV's, some excellent content and very well formed. It is great to see a college careers advice service be so progressive and engaging.
- "It is a very simple and elegant presentation of key facets of influencing skills, and I would be grateful for your permission to adapt it for use in my programme." (Dell)
- I thought I’d send you some feedback on the Careers Explorer as it gave me some interesting results. I don’t know how this career database is put together, but it is obviously spot on. Well done! When I was at school, college, and university, every time I did a career questionnaire it said I should become an accountant! (Director - medical communications company)
- There is a host of fantastic information on your web site (Recruitment consultancy)
- I wanted to provide some positive feedback for your web page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tefl.htm. I work at an after school program and your resources are fantastic.
- Your pages on lateral thinking are superb. (The People Newspaper)
Student and Graduate Comments
- It is one of the best and most comprehensive career websites I have ever seen.
- Thank you for the brilliant advice and tips on covering letters and CVs. (2008 graduate)
- I can honestly say that this is the best online careers resource I have found. I had struggled to find good quality information pertaining to both career prospects and self-assessment until I came across your web site. Your site is filled with a myriad of content-rich and immensely pertinent careers information which is so valuable for job seekers in the current socio-economic climate. Many thanks for delivering this wonderful resource.
- Your online tests are amazing practice.
- Just stumbled across your careers website. I am so impressed that I felt compelled to let you know! The website provides excellent resources, is easy to use and written in a great tone. Recent graduate (not from Kent University).
- Your site is extremely helpful, well organized, simple and the innovative tools like the Job competencies database are highly valuable. (Canadian graduate)
- A million thanks for the fantastic interview tips. Initially the site did not attract me because there were not many graphics or attractive colours but I have never visited any website like yours. All the questions I faced in my interview were exactly the same or similar to those from your web site and the examples were so simple and clear. . This helped me outperform all the candidates at interview. Thank you so much again.
- Your skills map is brilliant! Love it.
- I came across the interview questions page and was tremendously impressed!
- I was rewriting my CV, looked over the internet for examples and advice, I found your page, and I must say it's simply amazing! so much helpful information in one place, I am really amazed! Wanted to thank you for your great work.
- The information available is superb. Keep up the good work
- I just wanted to say that your interview preparation sections and employability skills sections are amazingly useful.
- Your verbal tests online - they were all fantastic.
- Your careers website is great. I am a Durham University Alumni and have found the aptitude test area of the site one of the best I have ever come across.
- I came across your site and want to congratulate you. It is the best of its type that I have seen and I have recommended it to many people - the various tips are invaluable.
- Just wanted to write to express my thanks for the excellent content of your web-site. As you will know already for sure, it is a terrific source of information for young and older job seekers alike. So far I have found the CV profile and Action words to be especially helpful, and have used them in reformatting my CV. Yesterday I posted my CV on Monster, and within an hour or two had a job agency complement me on it. Thank you for your part in this! (Mature graduate)
- I am writing to tell you that i think you have a brilliant careers site and i am finding it extremely useful.
- I'm a student at the University of Leeds and I came across your website. I just wanted to say I think its amazing! I've used it so much, it's really helpful for career options and the interview section is great. Thank you!
- The University careers service has been phenomenal during my degree and I consult the website often. (Kent Law graduate)
- I've been trying to find websites that will help both of my daughters with interview techniques. This one is fab!!!!
- I just wanted to say that I think your online career resources are brilliant! I particularly wanted to thank you for the time and effort you have put into the "Happiness at work" page, which I thought was informative, really well presented and entertaining to read. I think it's probably the most overlooked function of a careers service to tell people what will actually lead to fulfilment and satisfaction when choosing a job, despite it probably being the most important part! I just thought I'd say I thank you, because its certainly helped me focus on what's really important when choosing a career. There aren't many web pages as clear, informative and entertaining about choosing a career (and believe me, I've read a lot of them this summer!). And certainly not many careers services that go the extra mile to research and publish this kind of information to help people focus on what's important when choosing a career.
- I actually live in California and stumbled upon your website. I have been to many different career websites. Yours is by far the most comprehensive, detailed, and helpful one I've come across. The site is well-researched, well-organized, informative, and easy to use. Even though some of the info is, for obvious reasons, geared toward the UK, I find the general info about career paths is still very valuable. It really seems you've thought of everything! I especially like the "What career would suit me?" tool. Career centers in the US would do well to follow your example.
- I have been using your website to prepare myself for a PGCE interview. I find it brilliant!
- I have found your preparation and links regarding psychometric testing and your advice on dealing with competency based applications and interviews (the C-A-R approach) to be absolutely invaluable.
- I have found this service incredibly useful. Its the best careers advice I've found to date- its easy to use, interesting, detailed, and interactive.
- I am currently attending interviews/assessment days for City law firms. Your on-line service really is outstanding and has helped me a great deal with preparation. Thank you very much!
- I find the Kent Uni careers website brilliant. I've used the careers services from The Uni of Nottingham and The Uni of Sheffield upon graduation from both those institutions but your careers website and the information is much, much more relevant and shows a deeper understanding of the position and needs of graduates. Thanks a million.
- One of the best websites for jobseekers I've come across. Lots of great tips and advice. Thank you!
- Thank you for providing the tests, they were excellent preparation.
- I've just spent hours navigating through your website. I feel obliged to send you a message of thanks for having such a wealth of information and tips on there, not to mention hundreds of useful links. Yours is the first university careers resource that I have found to be this useful and informative. I know that these things are often overlooked or not given the funding/importance they ought to, so I wanted to emphasize the value of the website and hope you continue to maintain it. It really helps people like me, and future graduates.
- I just thought I'd write to let you know how helpful and insightful your website is. I am so extremely impressed by everything on it, it's so very informative and useful. Thanks keep up the great work maintaining it!
- I would just like to thank you for your clear and concise webpage for Careers advice and layout of your C.V. I don't realize that I use various skills in my day-to-day work so it is handy to have hints on what to include.
- Your website is full of great information.
- I wanted to provide some positive feedback for your web page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tefl.htm. I work at an after school program and your resources are fantastic.
- I've found that whenever I've googled anything career related - writing CVs, covering letters, job applications etc, Kent Uni careers page is always on the first page of Google - very weird. you must have a spectacular careers department?
- I just wanted to send you a quick note to say how much I appreciate the information on the Kent uni careers website. I'm currently applying for jobs and making use of the cover letter and speculative cover letter sections of the site. I can tell that a lot of thought and care has gone into the content there. Thanks. (Kent student)
- The Teamwork graphic so clearly represents the qualities required for an effective team.
- I would like to congratulate you for the work that you have done on the career website. I am a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Manchester. I got great help and understanding for my covering letters and CV. Your work is well expanded, structured as well as precise. I would like to thank you.
- The University of Kent's web site has been a tremendous source of information - kudos to the creators. (Canadian student)
- I have just come across your webpages as I was browsing for helpful information for mature job seekers. It is an extremely good site and I congratulate you on its composition. It is very useful, thoughtful, well considered and well put together.
- Thanks for the excellent job on CVs and Career Development.
- Your Bioscience page is highly informative and I have personally used the University of Kent web pages to help improve my CV and personal statements a number of times.
Comments about the Careers and Employability Service
- The University careers service has been phenomenal during my degree and I consult the website often.
- Just wanted to thank you so much for all the advice you gave me for my interview.
- I remember your brilliant advice while I was a student at Kent and I still relish your e-mail newsletters.
- Since I've left Kent I've missed the very helpful careers team.
- Thank you for the good work you have done for me, and the great work you have done for all the students in UKC. Without you, I wouldn’t have the courage to apply for medical sales and be recognised. I have now started my first step on my career and it truly means a lot to me!
- Thank you taking the time out to see me and for all your advice, it really helped to secure my dream job
- The Careers Advisers are really helpful and you should be able to have a pretty good idea of your prospects once you finish your degree.
- I have always been so insecure about my future, but the university has helped me through this, with classes on future careers.
- Careers Service is first class.
- You're brilliant! thank you for taking the time to provide such thorough information. I really appreciate it as I was beginning to give up my search.
- I have been receiving the weekly vacancy emails which have been a great help.
- I have come to see you a couple of times during my degree and you have been a great help
- I just wanted to thank you for all the help you gave me. I have had the time of my life here and the opportunities have been life changing, and if it was not for the careers service provided at Kent none of it would have ever been possible. So as a very grateful ex-UKC student, a very BIG Thank you!
- I would like to say how invaluable I find your newsletters and the services that the career office offer us.
- I just wanted to let you know that after an interview I was offered an internship!! I want to thank you for all your help, you have really been amazing and I don't think I would have got to this position without your advice.
- The careers advisory service is brilliant.
- I have been receiving your emails for a while now and I find them incredibly useful.
- I think that the careers service you provide is fantastic and far exceeds what other universities provide.
- Although I went on to another Uni to study for a FT masters, I found myself continually scouring the CAS website for interview/assessment centre info. Incidently i asked to be re-enlisted on to the vacancy list and through which I secured a graduate placement with an IT consultancy. So I hope the service you guys provide is helping everyone in the same way you have aided me.
- I have found your newsletter very informative and useful while seeking for a job. As a result I was invited for an interview and got offered a place at Swansea University.
- I found talking to you incredibly useful and your guidance invaluable. At first I wanted to be a teacher and after applying for my PGCE realised that actually I didn't care and was going into the work for the wrong reasons; I used many tools with in the careers centre and finally (on your advice) emailed several people in jobs which interested me, I had long meetings with them and finally came to a decision as to what I wanted to do. I am now in full time work as a Community Fundraiser; not only to do I love my job, but I am so pleased that I was able to take the time to find out what my ideal job was and that I was supported through this process. Thank you for all the time and support you gave me in that very confusing year.
- You were incredibly helpful last year in a careers interview and also in answering my questions via email.
- The Careers Advice Service was terrific; I used their drop-in service and went for a separate chat. Also the online facilities linked with the Careers Advice Service are excellent. (Kent student)
- Thanks to your help and the Careers team on reviewing my CV and placing the guidance steps on the website I have managed to get a position at Thomson Reuters. They stated that the CV was one of the best formatted they had seen in a long time. I thought seen as you provided the template and the assistance you should receive the compliment as well!
- I recently came into your office as I wanted some advice on the assessment centre, so I wanted to say thank you as you were really helpful!
- This is a very good venture. I am pleased of the way in which you advertised it. I feel a sense of reassurance concerning my job prospects. Thank you. (Regarding vacancy emails and support after graduation)
- Tweets
- Look at @kentunicas for lots of useful CV, application & job search advice & info www.kent.ac.uk/careers
- @kentunicas great stuff thanks!
- Look at @kentunicas for loads of useful CV, application and job search advice and info
11 of top 25 pages most visited pages on the University Web Site were careers pages in February 2011 (Source: SitesStat)
| Page Rank | Page | Number of Visitors 10-02-2011 until 16-02-2011 |
Percentage of total visitors to University Site |
| 3 | careers.cv.cvexamples | 42,643 | 3.04% |
| 7 | careers.psychotests | 23,626 | 1.69% |
| 8 | careers.cv | 21,860 | 1.56% |
| 11 | careers.tests.mathstest | 18,090 | 1.29% |
| 13 | careers.cv.goodbadcv | 15,442 | 1.10% |
| 14 | careers.cv.coveringletters | 13,682 | 0.98% |
| 17 | careers.cv.cvprofiles | 9,819 | 0.70% |
| 18 | careers.compet.skillquest | 8,687 | 0.62% |
| 19 | careers.interviews.ivquest | 8,531 | 0.61% |
| 21 | careers.tests.mathstest2 | 8,443 | 0.60% |
| 24 | careers.tests.verbaltest | 7,354 | 0.52% |
No. of visitors by country to Careers Web Site 17th Jan - 16th Feb 2011
Source: Google Analytics.
| 1. United Kingdom 501,280 2. United States 45,968 3. India 29,361 4. Canada 13,167 5. Australia 12,687 6. Ireland 10,487 7. Germany 9,756 8. Philippines 8,146 9. South Africa 6,957 10. France 6,697 11. Spain 4,999 12. Pakistan 4,730 13. United Arab Emirates 4,598 14. Malaysia 4,403 15. Singapore 4,235 16. Netherlands 4,143 17. (not set) 4,120 |
18. New Zealand 4,077 19. Hong Kong 3,908 20. Russia 3,780 21. Italy 3,589 22. Nigeria 3,529 23. Poland 3,103 24. Kenya 2,732 25. Saudi Arabia 2,728 26. Egypt 2,721 27. Belgium 2,709 28. Romania 2,678 29. Sweden 2,519 30. Switzerland 2,493 31. Greece 2,470 32. Ukraine 2,102 33. Indonesia 2,032 34. Thailand 1,882 |
35. Finland 1,856 36. Turkey 1,742 37. Ghana 1,721 38. China 1,690 39. Sri Lanka 1,457 40. Uganda 1,385 41. Bulgaria 1,353 42. Portugal 1,331 43. Mexico 1,330 44. Serbia 1,308 45. Jordan 1,264 46. Denmark 1,256 47. Czech Republic 1,245 48. Bangladesh 1,235 49. Austria 1,206 50. Japan 1,152 |