Careers Advisory Service
CREATING IDEAS- WHAT TO DO NEXT?
This information sheet outlines some of the factors that can influence career choice and suggests the action that you can take to help you generate ideas about the ‘next step’.
THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF
A career is likely to be satisfying if it enables you to use your preferred skills and personal qualities. You will also probably want the work to be both interesting and worthwhile. An excellent starting point in the process of creating ideas is, therefore, to focus on what you have to offer and what you want out of a job. This isn’t necessarily a very complex task but it does require some time and effort.
Thinking about the different parts of your life - work, university and extra-curricular activities – what have you enjoyed or disliked? What have you learnt about yourself? The value of reflecting on what you have gained from your life to date in terms of skills, qualities, preferences and motivation cannot be underestimated. Not only will this help you decide on your priorities in relation to career choice but also it makes it so much easier to market yourself to employers or admissions tutors. In addition, making decisions about your career is likely to be an on-going process throughout your working life so developing your ability to assess yourself and identify what you want is a skill you will use again and again.
Your interests
Your leisure and other interests outside your degree studies may give you an indication of the type of career that might attract you. You may, for example, have a very real interest in conservation and the environment. Could you therefore investigate careers that might enable you to use this interest in some way, for example, environmental management or working for a conservation charity?
Sometimes your interests might be rather vague and you will need to focus on how they might be related to a particular career, for example, ‘an interest in overseas development’ could mean a variety of things. Do you want to use specific skills and knowledge on technical projects, for example water treatment, or contribute to government policy making or be responsible for fundraising with a charity such as Oxfam?
Your skills
Think about the skills that you have developed at work, through academic study and leisure interests. You may have enjoyed and been good at organising and motivating the committee of a student society or do well when asked to make presentations. Are there particular skills that you want to use in a job? Try to be realistic about what you are good at and also think carefully about what you enjoy doing. You may, for example, have very strong mathematical or computing skills. Think about the place these skills might have in a career. Is it important to you that they form a central part of your day-to-day work or would you be content if they were peripheral or only needed at a lower level?
Your personality
Understanding your personality can help you think about how you prefer to approach problems, plan your time and relate to people. You can also learn about your preferred working environment and the types of work that might be most rewarding. The Careers Service offers the opportunity to complete two personality questionnaires, the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the 16PF, that can give you some insight into your personality. Please discuss these options with a Careers Adviser.
Your qualifications
Do you want a job where you will be using the subject matter from your degree course? If so, which aspects of the course particular interest you? Has a project or dissertation given you an insight into the possible application of your subject knowledge that could interest an employer?
What motivates you?
Although your motivations may change over time, think about what is important to you now. For some people, a high status and significant salary will be key factors when they are choosing your career. Other people may place great importance on having a good balance between their work and home life. You may want to ‘make a difference’ in your job – what does this phrase mean to you? Is
it about having a commercial impact, making a scientific discovery or helping a child to learn?
Other factors
There may be things that you need to take into account when choosing a career. Do you want to be based in a particular geographical location? Would you want to undertake any further study, either before entering the career or as part of your new job? Could you afford to do it right now? You may have to take a partner’s plans into account or consider issues such as the availability of work permits.
PRIORITISING
You may now have a long list of factors that could determine your choice of career to a greater or lesser extent. Take some time to consider your priorities. How flexible can you be over certain factors? Consider the short and longer term. For example, could a high salary for a period of time (but in a job which is, to you, not particularly stimulating) enable you to have the money to turn your real interest into a small and far less lucrative business in the longer term? Alternatively, is using a particular interest in a job the factor that overrides everything else at the moment?
At this stage, you might find it helpful to use Prospects Planner, an online guidance program, available at You are presented with a list of job activities, work values and skills asked to select those that you would like to use in a career. The program then provides you with a list of occupations that most closely match your requirements.The AGCAS Special Interest Series booklet Your Degree... What Next?lists details, by degree discipline, of some options after graduation. Your Masters What Next? and Your PhDWhat Next? are also usefulguides to the key issues involved in career choice.
FINDING OUT ABOUT JOBS AND COURSES
The next step is to look at the options open to you. There is likely to be a very wide range of careers that you can enter with your qualifications. Find out what graduates in your degree discipline have gone on to do. Details on ImperialCollege destinations can be found on the Careers Service web site whileWhat Do Graduates Do, available in theCareers Service Information Room,provides a UK overview, by subject, of graduate destinations. If you are studying for a Master’s degree or PhD ask at the Careers Service for information on the destinations of these graduates. Look at the reference files on Options with your subject.
The Occupational files in the Careers Service provide a range of information on the content of different jobs. These include copies of ‘Occupational Profiles’ which provide an overview on the entry requirements, training and career development for 400 careers.The AGCASsector briefings, such as City Markets, give an overview of the range of occupations in different industries. These can be useful if you have an idea of the industry in which you would like to work but don’t know much about the types of job. These resources are also available at The websites of professional bodies, reference books and professional journals can add further detail to your research into occupations and their demands. Attend Careers Service events and presentations and talk to people who do the jobs or who have completed the courses in which you are interested. The Careers Service, academic staff or the Alumni Office may be able to help with contacts.
MAKING YOUR CHOICE
Have you now got enough information to make a reasonably informed choice about the next step? It is difficult to be absolutely 100% certain that any career is the right one for you before you start work but are there any major gaps in your knowledge? You may feel that some more experience might be helpful and therefore should look into finding relevant work experience or vacation work to help confirm your choice. You might have a number of ideas that you want to take forward – that’s fine. A Careers Adviser can help you reflect on whether you are thinking along the right track and help you decide on the appropriate course of action.
ANY GAPS?
Your research into careers might identify the need for additional skills or experience. If you are interested in investment banking, for example, undertaking an internship can give you the edge over other candidates. Writing for the campus media and undertaking some vac work with a paper or magazine could make a positive difference to your application for a journalism course. If you want to use your degree discipline in a job, are there any modules which might be more relevant than others? Do you need to develop your skills in particular areas or acquire some new expertise?
HELP FROM THE CAREERS SERVICE
We are happy to help at any stage of the process of career choice – you don’t have to know what you want to do before arranging to see a Careers Adviser.
Updated 10/07