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Career Ahead

Career Ahead is the University of Cumbria's Employability Award. It is designed to help you recognise and develop your employability skills, providing you with a greater opportunity to get the job you want when you graduate.

Want to jump straight in? Download the Career Ahead Quick Start Guide for Students.

  • What is Career Ahead?

    Your Career Ahead journey will enable you to undertake various activities to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, and will involve:

    Career Ahead is accessed via My Career Enriched, your career hub, and can be found under 'Pathways'. Pathways will track your progress as you attend workshops, careers events and appointments, as well as your engagement with other activities. Each activity you complete will provide you with points to reach the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of the award. You need 150 points for Bronze, 300 for Silver and 500 for Gold. 

    Here’s how it works:

     

    Career Ahead is flexible to fit around your studies, you can take as little or as long as you need to complete the award, providing you are a current UoC student. It is completely free and you have ongoing support from your Careers and Employability Adviser. Best of all, you get to stand out from the crowd and impress potential employers when you graduate!

  • What activities can I do?

    Career Ahead gives you a choice of activities to complete - you choose how you want to gather points to reach each level. 

    You can choose from the following activities to be awarded the points shown: 

    Careers activity

    Points awarded

    Workshop attendance*

    Career Ahead workshops will run either as part of your course (ask your tutor) or you can choose from a range of workshops available throughout the year on My Career Enriched - search for 'Career Ahead Workshops'.

    If we don’t have the workshop you are looking for, or there are no spaces available, contact careerahead@cumbria.ac.uk and request a workshop, we will do our best to accommodate. A list of available workshops can be found on My Career Enriched here.

     100

    Linked-In Learning module*

    You can claim points for Career Ahead by completing a LinkedIn Learning online training course. Find out more about LiL HERE. 

    We have recommended a range of short digital capability courses which will help you to develop your IT skills, support your studies and give you additional skills for your future career. However, there are many courses to choose from, all count towards your Career Ahead award. Each short course comes with a Certificate of Completion, which looks great when added to your academic achievements in your CV.

    You will need to upload your certificate within Pathways on My Career Enriched to receive your points for Career Ahead. 

    50

    Upload a CV or Application for feedback

    Upload a CV and cover letter or an application and supporting statement to the Career Ahead pathway on My Career Enriched, and you will be provided with feedback and allocated your points.

    50

    Upload evidence of 100 hours of work experience OR 500-word reflection.

    Any activities you do outside of your course during your time at university can count towards Career Ahead. Activities such as volunteering, a part-time job, membership of clubs/societies and internships all count - view a full list of activities here.

    Complete an activity sheet to record your hours and upload it to the Career Ahead pathway on My Career Enriched to get your points.

    If for some reason, you are not able to volunteer or work during your time at university due to other commitments/reasons, you can complete a 500-word skills reflection instead.

    100

    Attend a careers appointment

    Book and attend a careers appointment through My Career Enriched to discuss any careers-related information, advice or guidance. This can be face to face, by phone or by Skype. Once you have attended and participated, you will be allocated your points.

    50

    Attend a mock interview

    Book and attend a mock interview through My Career Enriched. We can provide a tailored mock interview for you to practice, receive tips and strategies to be successful at job interviews. This can be face to face, by phone or by Skype. Once you have attended and participated, you will be allocated your points.

    50

    Attend a careers event

    You may attend a careers event as part of your course, or a general UoC careers event. Providing we have proof of participation and attendance you will receive points towards your Career Ahead award. 

    50

    *Please note that although you can attend as many workshops as you like, a maximum of 3 workshops and 3 Linked-In learning modules count towards Career Ahead. All other careers activities are counted only once.

  • How do I get started?

    Career Ahead is accessed via My Career Enriched UoC’s careers hub. You need to be a current student to complete the award and you will need to activate your account, by completing your profile. Career Ahead is in the Pathways section.

    Pathways will track your progress as you attend workshops, events and appointments and engage with other careers and employability activities. Each activity will provide you with points to reach the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of the award.

    Get started now by going to My Career Enriched, click on Pathways and start the 'Career Ahead' award!

    Screenshot of My Career Enriched student dashboard 

    If you have any problem accessing Career Ahead or My Career Enriched, please contact careers@cumbria.ac.uk.

  • Information for academic staff

    Academic staff can download a Powerpoint presentation which can be used to introduce the Career Ahead award to students. It can be edited to suit the session, and includes supporting notes. 

    Download: Career Ahead Slide Pack

    You can also download the Quick Guide for Students which directs students to quickly sign up to Career Ahead.

    Download: Career Ahead Quick Start Guide for Students

Keep up to date with all the news about the Career Ahead award by following us on Twitter @UoCCareers

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