Home | Student Support | Virtual Career LibraryQuick Links: Careers Library • Career Planning • University • CV and Interview
What is a Virtual Careers Library?
It is an online resource to help you find information on courses and careers that can be accessed from home or in College. In a nutshell, it is a collection of websites that signpost to the highest quality careers materials and resources found on the internet.
It also contains all the contacts you need to speak to professionals whether you are starting a career, changing career, or just studying for fun.
In addition to this resource we have a small career resource in the Learning Resource Centre in the Austen building.
Job/Career Planning and Searching
Career planning is a process which is designed to help you make the right career decision for you.
To make the right decision, you need a few vital ingredients:
Knowing yourself or self-awareness – Knowing what you're good at and what you enjoy is probably the most important thing in this process. Think about skills you have acquired through your studies, work experience and outside interests such as sports or being part of clubs and societies. Personal Development Planning can help you evaluate what you have built up so far and also to identify gaps you might need to plug.
Knowing what's available or occupational awareness – It's almost impossible to know about all the jobs available. You could start by looking at jobs related to your subject in our Virtual Library. You could also discuss your options with a Careers Adviser who can help you narrow things down and suggest how to research your options further.
Making the match – Once you have explored your skills and know what jobs are out there, it's time to compare. Not everyone is lucky enough to find the perfect job. For most of us it's a case of best fit but this also means that there is probably more than one job we'd be happy doing. At this stage, practical considerations can play an important part and might help you to decide: Do I have the right qualifications and grades? Is this career available where I want or need to live?
STEP 1 – Knowing yourself
An online activity made up of a series of questions about your skills and activities. These results are used to generate a list of job ideas for you to consider.
Open a Skills Account (https://www.gov.uk/)
This is a great resource to explore your options and skills. It contains a career matching programme that analyses your answers to a series of questions and gives you ideas for the future and links to information. It is free and easy to use.
STEP 2 – What is Available
Once you have some ideas you need to look for courses and careers that match your needs and wants. Here are a few of the best free tools available online.
Career Information
This is a database full of careers you can search through, with links to other sites with more specific information. If you are interested in finding out which course you need to study at City College and what job it can lead to this is a good place to start
Next Step Database (https://www.gov.uk/)
Learn Direct
A National resource that can be used to find courses UK wide
www.learndirect.co.uk and 0800 100 900
Hot Courses
A searchable database of courses all over the UK
www.hotcourses.com
Next Step Adult Career Service
A free advice service that can help you with CV building and career choice
Available in College on Wednesday mornings 9.00-11.15 in the Podium
Labour Market Information – Opportunity Awareness
A great place to find out more about your area of interest is to check out the Sector Skills Council. These are the agencies that monitor the work climate and have information on the labour market. There is one for every sector; you can find your sector through the portal at
Sector Skills (www.sscalliance.org)
University
At every university there will be trained careers advisers who will be able to advise you about all the different degrees, certificates and diploma qualifications you will be able to take.
There are also lots of really good websites such as www.opendays.com which provides information about open days and contact details for over 400 universities and colleges in the UK.
UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) offer information on all aspects of the applications process for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges. Visit their website at www.ucas.ac.uk.
National Bureau for Students with Disabilities have a great website that offer loads of practical advice on where and what to study, and is found at Skill.
You will find useful information in the student finance section of the Directgov website. This includes information on applying for grants and advice for disabled students.
Other useful HE resources:
Online tool, designed specifically for HE, which can help you to explore what careers are suitable for you.
Prospects
For specific help on:
Applying to University from City College
Writing a Personal Statement
Contact Sarah Birbeck on sarah.birbeck@southampton-city.ac.uk to book a slot to discuss university applications and personal statements
CV and Interview
For help with interview techniques and CV’s you can book an appointment for drop in to the Podium to see;
Next Step (over 19’s) available on Wednesday mornings 9-11.15 in the Podium
Connexions (Youth Support) Personal Advisers available in the Podium everyday
You could also use an online CV planner and help.
