June - Thinking about your future

Practical tips for career planning
Use your personal development plan (PDP) process to help you map out your potential career. While the nature of PDP will differ depending on where you are studying, at its heart this process helps you analyse your goals and plan your future, so it overlaps greatly with the career planning process.

Keep your CV up to date.
A professionally presented CV will always be required when you apply for a post, and it is time-consuming to produce this from scratch. Also, it is easy to forget the fine detail that you will need to include in it. While the advice given in is to tailor your CV for every position you apply for, you will find this process easier nif you have a generic version to hand that includes all relevant details. Drafting a CV will put you in a better position to view yourself as a potential employer would, which may help you plan activities to enhance your profile.

Make an appointment to speak to a careers adviser at your Careers Service.
Even though you may have only vague ideas about future options, the adviser will be experienced at helping you to create a shortlist toconsider, and will be able to point you in the direction of tools, such as personality tests, that can help in this process.

Carry out a web search to find out more about suitable occupations.
This requires no commitment on your part and may help you rule out options that do not fit with your goals and aspirations. You may wish to start with the Graduate Prospects site (www.prospects.ac.uk) and move on to specific employers’ bodies or professional bodies, and from there to individual employers.