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The University of Kent is committed to enhancing the employability of all our students, to enable them to flourish in a competitive, fast-moving, knowledge-based economy.Graduates who have developed transferable skills and valuable experience are better prepared to start their careers and are more attractive to potential employers.
Building on Kent's success as the region's leading institution for student employability, we offer many opportunities to gain worthwhile experience and develop the specific skills and aptitudes that employers value.
Find out more about the careers-focussed courses, guidance and opportunities we offer on our Employability and skills page.
Many of our programmes offer the possibility of a year in industry, normally taken after your second year of study. You earn a salary and gain practical experience that can be put to good use in your final year of study. This allows you to see directly how theories you are learning can work in practice, gives you hands-on experience of the working environment and helps you forge your own links in your chosen field of work. It also provides commercial awareness, an invaluable asset for many employers.
The majority of our degrees offer the opportunity to spend a term or year studying or working abroad. Going abroad as part of a Kent degree is an amazing opportunity. The fact that you've spent time abroad can be a distinct advantage when looking for a job as you are likely to have developed many skills and attributes that will enhance your employability.
The majority of our degrees offer the opportunity to spend a term or year studying or working abroad. Going abroad as part of a Kent degree is an amazing opportunity. The fact that you've spent time abroad can be a distinct advantage when looking for a job as you are likely to have developed many skills and attributes that will enhance your employability.
Our Student Advice and Information Service have the latest information on working in the UK after you complete your studies. For more information see:
Employers seek out graduates who have developed transferable skills and capabilities. Whether you help to run a student society, work as a student ambassador or representative, or volunteer in the local community, at Kent you can gain valuable experience and earn credits towards your degree.
Working or volunteering can help you to develop your subject skills: working in the Kent Law Clinic, which provides free legal advice; or acting as a consultant with the Kent IT Clinic, which provides IT services for enterprises in the local area; or by providing expertise at the clinics within the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, you will enhance your employability skills as well as your academic knowledge.
The University also runs the innovative Employability Points scheme. Students are rewarded for participating in extracurricular activities (eg volunteering, work placements, mentoring, society/club membership, course representative) which develop their employability skills. Nearly 2,000 students and 86 companies are engaged with the scheme and it has been nationally recognised by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) as an example of best practice within business-university collaboration.
Kent Union have an Employability and Volunteering Toolkit which helps to build your CV, and provides you with a transcript of all the skills gained and training received across your time studying and volunteering. You can use this to help shape job applications and your CV.of all the skills gained and training received across your time studying and volunteering. You can use this to help shape job applications and your CV.
You can contact the Careers and Employability Service at any point in your studies. During Welcome Week, you receive a Career Planning Guide about the support available at Kent to help plan your future career. The Service not only provides information on career options, but can also help you to develop your transferable skills, gain relevant work experience and put you in touch with Kent graduates through our Alumni Careers Network, to give you firsthand insight into graduate careers and jobs.
The Service also offers practical advice on targeted job-seeking skills including writing a CV and covering letter, interview techniques and aptitude tests. All students are offered the opportunity to develop these skills, and to earn a Careers Employability Award, through the University's Moodle virtual learning environment.
Building on our students' growing enterprise culture and activities, Kent can help you to develop enterprise skills and business ideas. If you are interested in starting up your own business, Kent Business School runs several enterprise modules that you may be able to take, regardless of your degree subject. In addition, Kent Enterprise Hub offers help and advice if you are thinking about starting your own company or becoming self-employed.