It is never too soon to start thinking about the career options open to you after completing your degree. At University you have access to information and professional staff who can help you. You also have more time to explore, experiment and research your options. If you don’t know what you want to do after your degree, then making the most of opportunities at university to try out different activities, take on responsibilities and build up work experience may help you to identify your strengths and interests and help you to develop some ideas.

Whatever stage you’re at in your career planning, don’t forget that for most employers your degree is a starting point – they will also expect you to possess a range of transferable skills and work related experience.

The online Employability Tutorial (VLE) will help you to begin thinking about your options and plan how to develop your skills and experience during your time at York: http://vle.york.ac.uk. You can use the Personal Employability Plan in the Tutorial to record your skills, activities and achievements and share it with your supervisor.

The Careers timeline will also help you to think about what you could be doing to develop your employability skills at each stage of your degree:

www.york.ac.uk/careers/timeline

Careers information and advice

Lots of information is available on the Careers website www.york.ac.uk/careers so please use this first as you may find an answer to your query. There is also a range of online learning tutorials on the VLE, including the Employability Tutorial and a CV Guide https://vle.york.ac.uk.

If you do need to talk to someone, you can book a 1-1 careers appointment online at www.york.ac.uk/careers/gateway. There are 4 different types of appointment:

• Careers Information: for help in finding careers information resources

• Careers Advice: For all kinds of career related queries, for example career choice, decision making, building up skills and experience, the recruitment and interview process, changing or leaving course, postgraduate study

• CV/Application feedback: For feedback on CVs, application forms, covering letters and applications for further study

• Practice interview: An opportunity to practice general and competency based interview questions and receive feedback on performance

Other careers resources

We have a range of books, journals and DVDs on a wide range of career related topics at the Careers centre (open Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm) and a range of take-away information, including career guides and employer directories.

Careers events

Students at any stage in their degree can attend careers events – details can be found at www.york.ac.uk/careers/events. These include:

• 3 autumn recruitment fairs: Technology; Management & Finance; Law
• ‘Professional Connect’ sector networking events
• Employer presentations
• Workshops covering applications, interviews, career planning and further study
• York Award courses
• Enterprise events

Mathematics graduates have a wide range of career options open to them, some directly related to their degree, such as banking and finance, teaching, IT, research, statistics, operational research and engineering. However, other career options are possible, as many graduate recruiters offer opportunities that are available to graduates from any degree discipline. This can include areas such as management, media, law, marketing, social work and management consultancy. In these jobs personal qualities and transferable skills are the most significant factors, rather than the specific subject studied at degree level.

The Institute of Mathematics & its Applications (IMA) has an excellent careers website www.mathscareers.org.uk

You can also see graduate profiles and destination information for York graduates at:

• http://maths.york.ac.uk/www/AdmitCareers 
• www.york.ac.uk/careers/profiles

The Careers website can help you to start researching a broad range of career ideas and options:

• www.york.ac.uk/careers/ideas
• www.york.ac.uk/careers/options

The Prospects graduate careers website is another good starting poin

• www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

Part-time work

Many students choose to take on a part-time job whilst studying. Some job vacancies in York are advertised on the Careers Gateway www.york.ac.uk/careers/gateway (select Opportunities) but the Careers information sheet Finding part-time and temporary work in the UK includes lots of resources for finding jobs in York and elsewhere www.york.ac.uk/careers/infosheets

Work Experience and Internships

Many organisations offer summer vacation internships. These are often targeted at 2^nd/penultimate year students and are typically available in areas such as finance, IT, law, communications, business and management. Some of these have very early deadlines (Nov-Dec), particularly in the finance sector. Opportunities are advertised on the Careers website www.york.ac.uk/careers/gateway (search opportunities).

Some organisations, typically in banking and finance, also offer shorter Insight events aimed at 1^st years. These are designed to provide an introduction to the organisation, sector, job opportunities and to offer information and advice about recruitment. They are also advertised on the Careers website.

It can be harder to find advertised internships in some types of work (eg media, environment, voluntary sector) but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. It means that you will need to research and contact relevant organisations yourself in order to request experience. Use opportunities to network with professionals and organisations at careers events such as Professional Connect. Some alumni have offered to be contacts for current students – check them out here www.york.ac.uk/careers/profiles.

Student Internship Bureau (SIB)

The Student Internship Bureau (SIB), based at Careers, offers high quality, paid, project based internships with organisations in the local area. The majority of internships take place during the Summer vacation and last from 4 to 12 weeks. Occasionally there are some part-time internships during term time. Projects cover a variety of different areas of work and have included finance, environmental, market research, IT, business and research. Vacancies are advertised on the Careers website www.york.ac.uk/careers/gateway but you can find out more information and read about previous projects here www.york.ac.uk/careers/sib.

Work experience in schools

If you are thinking about teaching as a career you will need to gain some experience of working in a school. The best way to do this at York is through the University’s York Students in Schools (YSIS) programme www.york.ac.uk/careers/ysis where you can work for ½ day a week as an assistant in a local school. You need to apply in the term before you want your placement to start as it can take time to match you up with a school and obtain criminal record disclosure. YSIS runs several induction sessions each term with information about the programme – check the YSIS web pages for details.

Volunteering

Volunteer projects can be extremely enjoyable, offer you a chance to develop skills that are useful for future employment, and often give you the chance to undertake activities that you might not be able to obtain through paid work.

The Community and Volunteering Unit (CAVU) at Careers offers information about group based volunteering projects and information about other opportunities with local organisations. Projects can be very flexible in terms of the amount of time you are expected to commit and cover a wide range of interests. The CAVU web pages advertise both group based and individual volunteering opportunities, plus advice on how to find other opportunities www.york.ac.uk/careers/volunteering.

YUSU also has a range of volunteering opportunities www.yusu.org/activities/volunteering.

If you don’t see projects that interest you look at the national volunteering database Do-It for more ideas www.do-it.org.uk

The York Award and skills training

The York Award is an employability certificate of the University. To obtain the York Award students have to plan and pursue an active programme of personal and skills development, such as extra-curricular activities, gaining paid and voluntary work experience and undertaking additional skills training. They then need to demonstrate through application and interview that they have an appreciation of how these activities have helped to prepare them for the future.

York Award courses cover a range of skills, including project management, leadership, team building, presentation skills and British sign language. You don’t have to be registered for the York Award to do them but if you do complete a course you can use the points towards a York Award application in your final year. Find out more at the York Award web pages www.york.ac.uk/careers/yorkaward.

Further Study

A degree from York is an ideal platform from which to apply for further study. If you are considering further study in an area related to maths you could talk to your supervisor about your plans and look out for talks on further study in the department.

Finding job vacancies

Many graduate recruitment schemes in the public and private sectors open for applications in the summer of the year before graduation and deadlines can be as early as November of your final year. During this period many employers come onto campus to tell students about career opportunities at their organisations by attending recruitment fairs and making presentations. These events are listed atwww.york.ac.uk/careers/events

More information about finding graduate job opportunities is available at www.york.ac.uk/careers/work. You should also make sure you’re signed up to the Moodle ‘Jobs and Careers’ forum to receive regular updates and vacancies.

If you are seeking opportunities in a specialist field then you may also need to research sector specific recruitment sites and recruitment agencies. The following resources can help you to research information:

Prospects www.prospects.ac.uk/sectors.htm

Considering... information sheets www.york.ac.uk/careers/infosheets

Making applications

Careers run workshops on topics such as CVs, application forms, interviews and assessment centres. Some of these are led by employers.

There is a range of information sheets and online resources to help you put together an effective CV or application form and to prepare for interviews and other assessments, see www.york.ac.uk/careers/applications. There are also additional resources at the Careers centre.

Careers also offers 1-1 support in the form of feedback on CVs and applications and support to prepare for interviews and assessment centres. We can also assist with applications for further study. Appointments can be booked online at www.york.ac.uk/careers/gateway

• CV/Application appointment: For feedback on CVs, application forms, covering letters and applications for further study
• Careers Advice appointment: For all kinds of career related queries, but can include feedback and advice on applications and CVs
• Practice interview: An opportunity to practice general and competency based interview questions and receive feedback on performance