Careers and Employability Service

Careers Frequently Asked Questions

University FAQs

We have some resources online that you may not know about:

Do you know of any remote working opportuntities?

Below links that you might find useful when searching for remote working opportunities:

  • TargetConnect - login as a student/graduate to search for jobs filtering by location 'remote'.
  • Prospects have created a page specifically around the impact of Covid-19 on graduates searching for work experience and jobs.
  • Linkedin article around remote working and how to use LinkedIn to find remote roles.
  • Reed (and other recruitment firms) have dedicated work from home/remote working pages.
  • Employment 4 Students have a dedicated page for online freelance jobs for students.
  • There are several blog posts (largely aimed at stay at home parents) that list remote working roles.
  • Upwork is an international website with many UK jobs listed. As the work is being done online, clients can take jobs from anywhere in the world.
  • People per hour has a wide range of jobs on offer, with a good selection in creative arts, and employers’ pay rates seem reasonable. Freelancers can also sell their services for either an hourly rate or a fixed price for the entire project.

I have heard LinkedIn is a good place to look for jobs - how do I get on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a great place to look for opportunities and the links below will help you find advice on how to improve your profile or create one:

My CV is not up to date - what should I do?

  • Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to update your CV or LinkedIn profile, but if you have some time to spare now, use it to create a standout CV or profile!
  • Reflect on your recent experiences, such as a part-time job, a previous internship or placement, a voluntary role, an insight day you attended or involvement with a society, and start adding these.
  • https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/cvs.html - Our tips on style, format, and content
  • https://moodle.kent.ac.uk/2020/course/view.php?id=359§ion=7 – Review our ‘CV and Cover Letter’ talk on our CES Moodle page under ‘Videos & Audio Recordings’
  • Visit careers.kent.ac.uk – Book a 15-minute Quick Advice appointment, to have your CV reviewed by an Adviser.

How can I boost the skills on my CV?

There are many things you can get involved in at Kent - find out more

Study Plus courses (part of the Kent Extra range of activities available to University of Kent students) provides a range of short-term courses and workshops which can enhance your graduate employability skills alongside your main subject specialism.

I am in my final year and I don't know what to do?

We have Careers Advisers for each subject area who are here to help you decide the best course of action. They will offer you advice but cannot make the decision for you.
They can help you think about postgraduate study here or elsewhere and much more. More details of what to expect can be found here.
Book an appointment with a Careers Adviser careers.kent.ac.uk.

Everyone talks about Commercial Awareness - what is it?

Commercial awareness is having a good understanding of an organisation / company (how it works, how it makes a profit, it's clients, objectives, services, products) and the industry in which it sits (as well as understanding how current news can impact the sector). You should have an overview of what’s going on in the sector - are there legal or regulatory changes on the way, or does the economic situation have a larger-than-usual impact?
Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/general/commercial-awareness.html and https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-career-advice/commercial-awareness/an-overview/
Below, are a few links for building commercial awareness:

Finance and Business
www.prospects.ac.uk  - information on a range of job sectors, with useful links to further resources and information
www.berr.gov.uk  – The Department of Business Innovation and Skills provides a wide range of industry reports.
www.ft.com/home/uk  - allows you to search within News, Markets, Industries and Companies. News drawn from the FT archives or global news resources.
www.reuters.com  – Read the latest news stories from around the world. Sections dedicated to business, technology, international news etc.
www.bbc.co.uk  - The BBC provides business news
The World of Business podcast - Insights into the business world from Radio 4’s in Business programme.
Business Daily podcast - BBC World Service’s daily podcast on the world of money and work from across the globe.
Today programme on BBC R4 - the most influential news programme in the UK and sets the day’s political agenda each morning. If you want to quickly build awareness of current affairs in politics, business, and society, then listen to this.

Actuarial Science
https://www.actuarialcareers.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-develop-commercial-awareness/ - overview of commercial awareness in this sector
https://www.theactuary.com/ - news
STEM Women are holding virtual careers fairs every Wednesday

Legal
https://www.legalcheek.com/ - market news
https://www.legalweekjobs.com/ - jobs and news
https://www.thelawyer.com/news/ - UK and international news
https://www.youtube.com/user/LawCareersNet - insights from recruiters, lawyers and the LCN team

Politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics
https://www.economist.com/
https://www.politicshome.com/
https://www.huffpost.com/US and world news

Psychology
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb - group of renowned psychologists, academics, psychiatrists and writers to contribute their thoughts and ideas
https://www.bps.org.uk/ - The British Psychological Society
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/psychology/ - latest research news
https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Psychology
https://www.newscientist.com/article-topic/psychology/ - weekly science and technology magazine

I am interested in Volunteering, how do I find out more?

The following are a list of places that you can look for volunteering opportunities:

Coronavirus support

Specific Organisations

  • Age UK: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/neighbourly-volunteering/
  • The Prince’s Trust: Prince's Trust Online Mentors
  • Zooniverse - take part in real cutting-edge research in fields across the sciences, humanities, and more
  • Project Implicit - non-profit organisation and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition
  • Be My Eyes - a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.
  • Translators without Borders - depends on volunteers to translate millions of words, but also to help us run the organization.
  • Librivox - volunteers read and record chapters of books in the public domain (books no longer under copyright), and make them available for free.
  • Missing Maps - Missing Maps is an open, collaborative project in which you can help to map areas where humanitarian organisations are trying to meet the needs of vulnerable people.
  • Smithsonian Transcription Center - Become a Smithsonian Digital Volunteer and help make historical documents and biodiversity data more accessible.
  • UN Volunteering - The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. Online volunteering allows organizations and volunteers to team up to address sustainable development challenges – anywhere in the world.
  • ZSL- Instant Wild - empowers you to take part in vital conservation work, bringing you LIVE images and videos from amazing locations all around the world. By identifying the animals in each image, you are contributing to conservation and making a positive impact on the future for wildlife.
  • Child.org Indoor Corps - volunteer from your sofa and help tackle the coronavirus crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Student Volunteering

More information can be found here.

Can I still complete the Careers Award?

The Kent Careers Award is still open and it can be done online. The award enables you to think about your career and what type of opportunities are open to you, and allows you to recognise your skills and experience, identify career options and ways to market yourself effectively to employers.
There are 6 activities to complete and you can get 60 EP points if you complete it.
Find out more.

I have an online assessment centre or video interview soon - how can I prepare?

Well done, there are two ways we can help. You can use one of our online facilities, the first provided by Graduates First. Graduates First provides a psychometric test practice facility for University of Kent students and recent graduates. There are also practice video interviews and sample assessment centre exercises. Students, please register using your Kent email address.
If you have graduated from Kent within the last three years and no longer have your Kent email address, please email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and request to be added to the system as a graduate user.
There are sample assessment centre exercises including assessor information so that students can see how activities are typically marked. There are now 12 different practice video interviews on Graduates First (previously there was only one):

  • Competency based
  • Strength based
  • Accounting
  • Banking
  • Construction
  • Consulting
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • HR
  • Marketing
  • Retail
  • Technology
The second is provided by ShortlistMe, more information can be found here.

You could also book a practice interview appointment which takes place online or over the phone. Please email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk.

I need to practice psychometic tests - can you help?

You can use our online facility provided by Graduates First. Graduates First provides a psychometric test practice facility for University of Kent students and recent graduates. There are also practice video interviews and sample assessment centre exercises. Students, please register using your Kent email address.
If you have graduated from Kent within the last three years and no longer have your Kent email address, please email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and request to be added to the system as a graduate user.
The following are available:

  • Verbal reasoning tests x 7
  • Numerical reasoning tests x 7
  • Logical reasoning tests x 8
  • Work personality questionnaire x 1
  • Question identifier tool (student answers some questions on the role they have an interview for and it identifies the kind of questions they may be asked)
  • Situational judgement tests x 2
  • Game based tests x 3
  • Watson Glaser test x 1
  • CAPP tests x 3

I am worried my internship/placement will be cancelled?

It is understandable to be worried, so don’t be afraid to contact your employer to ask for clarification of the situation. Try to be patient if they don’t respond immediately and even if the response isn’t what you were hoping for, try to keep communication polite and professional. If you’re able to be flexible with the timings of your internship or job start date, and perhaps even the nature of the work, this may increase the chances of your job or internship going ahead.
It is also important to keep in contact with your academic school. There is also some guidance from the University on placements here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/student/coronavirus/working-at-the-university.

I have heard about virtual internships - what are they?

Virtual internships are flexible, online opportunities, giving you the opportunity to undertake remote experience. Many virtual internships exist in the fields of IT, sales, journalism, marketing, and software development.

Some employers will give you project work/tasks to complete over a period of time, and you may have regular catch-ups and support from the employer during your virtual internship.

Depending on the sector and nature of the role, you may not be able to undertake all the elements of a real internship, due to client / patient confidentiality. For example, handling client casefiles for a law firm. However, you are still able to experience some of the work of a trainee and the function of the business.
https://www.indeed.co.uk/Internship-Remote-Working-jobs - Indeed advertises remote internships

InsideSherpa – Virtual Experiences

InsideSherpa host company-backed free open-access virtual internships. Their programs allow students to build career skills, gain experience and increase their understanding of different careers. Opportunities include those in Law, Design, Tech, Investment Management, Banking and more!
Companies include: Linklaters, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Accenture, Citi, White & Case, KPMG
Sign-up for free here: Insidesherpa.com

Rate my Placement: Work Ready Virtual Experience

RateMyPlacement.co.uk has teamed up with Inside Sherpa and Development Beyond Learning (DBL), to launch a FREE work ready virtual experience consisting of three modules. Each one allows you to build specific skills that translate into the workplace - wellbeing and resilience under lockdown, virtual first impressions and remote networking.
https://www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/blog/work-ready-virtual-experience-free/

My internship/placement has been cancelled what shall I do?

Please get in touch and we can help. Some employers are still advertising, you can search our jobs board by logging in here. We also have this useful page which gives you a list of places to look for opportunities: https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/findajob.html.
You can always book an appointment if you want further help and advice.

My internship/placement starts in September, how should I add to my CV in the mean time?

MOOC courses: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to enrol. Visit here: https://www.mooc.org/ 

Subjects covered:

  • Architecture, Art & Culture
  • Biology & Life Sciences, Business & Management
  • Chemistry, Communication, Computer Science
  • Data Analysis & Statistics, Design
  • Economics & Finance, Education & Teacher Training, Electronics, Energy & Earth Sciences
  • Engineering, Environmental Studies, Ethics, Food & Nutrition
  • Health & Safety, History, Humanities
  • Language, Law, Literature
  • Math, Medicine, Music
  • Philanthropy, Philosophy & Ethics, Physics, Science, Social Sciences

Other online course sites

Learn to Code

Microsoft 
 Learn a language
  • Duolingo - This service takes a game-like approach to learning and offers apps for iOS, Windows Phone and Android.
  • Open Culture - can help you learn a language like English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, or Mandarin. There are a total of 48 language options listed.
  • Livemocha - gives you access to free lessons for 35 languages, but also offers a vibrant community of native language speakers from 190 countries you can connect with to practice.
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

I am worried about the recruitment market, is there a way I could delay going into it?

You could add a 'Year-in' option to your degree, the deadline of these has been moved until the end of May 2020. You could take a "Year in Computing", a "Year in Journalism" or a "Year in Data Analytics". This web site contains links to each so you can find out if you are eligible.
There are lots of questions around this so please get in touch if you need to careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and ask for James or Nikki.

Can I still apply for postgraduate study?

In theory you should be able to but will need to check with individual providers. There is no central body for postgraduate study, so it is best to contact individual institutions. If you want an appointment to discuss further study, please get in touch or book online.

Are there any jobs out there?

Don't lose hope! We are still receiving jobs to our online platform which you can browse by logging in here. We also have this useful page which gives you a list of places to look for roles: https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/findajob.html.
You can always book an appointment if you want further help and advice.

What support is there for me after I graduate?

We support graduates for up to three years after graduation with the same services as for current graduates. Please view this web page for more details.

Careers and Employability Service - © University of Kent

The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7ND, T: +44 (0)1227 764000 ext. 3299

Last Updated: 03/05/2022