Current Students

First of all – it’s absolutely OK if you aren’t sure what you want to do when you graduate! There is a great article on TargetJobs that has loads of information and advice about your options after graduation if you don’t know what career you want to go into: I have a degree, now what?

A good place to start is the Prospects Planner tool - you can answer questions about your skills, values and motivations to get a suggested list of roles that could be worth exploring further.

For some ideas of the types of career that you can go into with your degree subject, our ‘What can I do with my degree?’ guides may also give you inspiration:

• Acting
• Animal Conservation Science
• Art and Design (Generic) 
• Biology
• Biomedical Science
• Business (Generic)
• Conservation Biology
• Counselling and Psychotherapy (MA or PgD)
• Creative Writing
• Criminology
• Dance
• Diagnostic Radiography
• Education Studies
• English Literature
• Film and Television
• Fine Art
• Forensic and Investigative Science
• Forestry (Generic)
• Games Design
• Geography
• Graphic Design
• Healthcare Science
• Illustration
• Law
• Marine and Freshwater Conservation
• Media Arts (Generic)
• Microbiology
• Midwifery
• Musical Theatre
• Nursing
• Occupational Therapy
• Outdoor Studies (Generic)
• Performing Arts
• Performing Arts (Generic)
• Photography
• Physiotherapy
• Primary Education (with QTS)
• Policing
• Project Management
• Psychology
• Security, Intelligence and Investigative Practice
• Social Work
• Sport (Generic)
• Teaching and Learning
• Wildlife Media
• Working with Children and Families
• Youth and Community Work
• Zoology

 Please note: more guides coming soon!

If you can’t find your subject above, you may be able to find it on the Prospects website where they have guides for more subjects.

Completing the Career Ahead award will help you to identify your current skills, help you think about where you are going and how you will get there, as well as provide you with practical skills such as creating a CV, completing applications and interview skills. You can also gain official recognition for your extracurricular achievements and the skills you develop while at University.

You can complete a Skills Audit and a Career Action Plan, either as part of the Career Ahead award or individually to help you focus on your career planning.

Remember that we are here to help! We can offer information, advice and guidance to help you identify a career direction; we can assist with career planning, and can help with practical things such as job search skills and interview preparation.

It’s great that you have some ideas about what you want to do when you graduate. Here are a few things you can do to help you focus on where you want to go. 

The careers service have developed a host of guides for different subject areas – find out what you can do with a degree in:

For some ideas of the types of career that you can go into with your degree subject, our ‘What can I do with my degree?’ guides may also give you inspiration:

• Acting
• Animal Conservation Science
• Art and Design (Generic) 
• Biology
• Biomedical Science
• Business (Generic)
• Conservation Biology
• Counselling and Psychotherapy (MA or PgD)
• Creative Writing
• Criminology
• Dance
• Diagnostic Radiography
• Education Studies
• English Literature
• Film and Television
• Fine Art
• Forensic and Investigative Science
• Forestry (Generic)
• Games Design
• Geography
• Graphic Design
• Healthcare Science
• Illustration
• Law
• Marine and Freshwater Conservation
• Media Arts (Generic)
• Microbiology
• Midwifery
• Musical Theatre
• Nursing
• Occupational Therapy
• Outdoor Studies (Generic)
• Performing Arts
• Performing Arts (Generic)
• Photography
• Physiotherapy
• Primary Education (with QTS)
• Policing
• Project Management
• Psychology
• Security, Intelligence and Investigative Practice
• Social Work
• Sport (Generic)
• Teaching and Learning
• Wildlife Media
• Working with Children and Families
• Youth and Community Work
• Zoology

 Please note: more guides coming soon!

If you can’t find your subject above, you may be able to find it on the Prospects website where they have guides for more subjects.

If you know what sector you would like to work in, TargetJobs and Prospects give a useful overview of the various careers in each sector.

You can answer questions about your skills, values and motivations on the Prospects Planner tool to get a suggested list of roles that could be worth exploring further.

Carry out a Skills Audit to help you identify what skills you currently have, and what skills you may need to work on for your graduate career. The skills on here are all generic graduate skills that will be useful in just about any graduate job. There is also the option to add additional specific skills that you have or that you need to work on.

Once you have a better idea of what career you would like to go into, you can complete a Career Action Plan using SMART Goals to help you get ready for your graduate job.

You could also complete the Career Ahead award to gain official recognition for your extracurricular achievements and the skills you have developed.

Remember that we are here to help. We can offer information, advice and guidance to help you identify a career direction; we can assist with career planning, and can help with practical things such as job search skills and interview preparation.

Knowing where you want to go in life is fantastic, now you need to plan how you are going to get there. You will need to think about what skills you will need in your chosen career, where the jobs are and how to find them.

Check the job profile for your chosen career on Prospects to find out more about the skills, knowledge and experience you will need to succeed in your career.

Complete a Skills Audit to see what skills you already have and what skills you are going to develop while at university for your chosen career.

Creating a Career Action Plan can help you plan how you will succeed – set yourself SMART Goals!

Sign up for the Career Ahead award to gain official recognition for your extracurricular achievements and the skills you have developed.

Remember! The careers service is for everyone – we can help you with your job search, applying for jobs, preparing for interviews and more.

We have created a short powerpoint for all final year students packed with useful information and things to do before you leave UoC: Leaver Slides 2020 (PDF)

You can also find the '10 things you MUST do before leaving UoC' here: https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/careers/10-things/  

Remember! The careers service is for everyone – we can help you with your job search, applying for jobs, preparing for interviews and more. And we support you for up to three years after you graduate!