Career Management Skills Finding the Fit

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Career Management Skills Finding the Fit

• What can I do with my degree in...?
• Your name

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Finding the Fit - Aims

• Explore the vast array of challenging and
  rewarding pathways to which your degree can lead
• Investigate Jobs, employers, working abroad,
  charity work and post grad options using the web
• Find out the best sources of information to help
  you plan your career

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Finding the Fit - Session Outline

• Starting Points
• online material
• your ideas
• Real people real lives - exercise
• BREAK
• Navigating the information - exercise
• Assignment details and conclusions

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Showing CMS online

• Go to Research Resources
• Access Occupational Information section
• Select Using your degree/HND
• Use Career planning quick index drop down menu
• Show Sign post sheets and Occupational
  Information - relevant to degree

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What Can I Do with my Degree?

• In pairs, brainstorm
• What do you want from your Career?
• (e.g. Challenges, pay, travel???)
• In small groups, brainstorm
• What jobs can you do with a degree in..?

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What students look for in their first job

• 72 Enjoy my job
• 70 like people I work with
• 64 enough money
• 63 training
• 57 be challenged
• 35 work for a respected company
• 16 overseas travel
• 15 excellent salary Grad Facts 1998

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Typical Jobs with .

• Research (HE, HRI, Botanical Gardens)
• Consultant (ADAS, SAC media)
• Production (Vitacress, Hazlewoods VHB)
• Product Management (Tescos)
• Garden Centres (Notcutts, Country Gdns)
• Botanical gardener (Kew, Eden)
• Design (Garden/Landscape/Interior)
• Amenity Management (Service Team)
• Community Countryside (Groundwork)

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Where can you go with your degree?

• Alan Horgan 78
• Contract Manager for Aventis
• David May 88
• Horticultural Technology Development Manager
  for Tescos
• John Martin 89
• General Manager Golf Club
• Linda Howard 97
• Network Design Manager for Thames Water

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Real People - Real Lives

• Consider University of Reading destinations and
  the national statistics
• What are the main types of work?
• What proportion go on to higher degrees
• Are there any significant differences between the
  2 sets of data?
• Prepare to discuss your ideas
• 5-10 minutes only

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Learning Points

• Stop gap jobs can become dead end jobs
• Avoid the pitfalls by planning and taking action
  now
• Post grad qualifications are useful for some but
  not for all- how about you?
• Transfer your skills into a wider arena?

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And more good news...

• 40 of all grad jobs open to all grads
• 89 into grad jobs after 18 months
• Average starting salary 17,786 (May 2001)
• Having a degree boosts life time earnings by
  80,000
• Degree holders less likely to be unemployed in
  their working life

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Using Careers Information

• You have 20 minutes to prepare a 5 minute
  presentation
• Use the briefing sheets to assist you
• Analyse the resources
• Decide who will feedback
• Write down the key points

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Exploring the possibilities

• AGCAS Booklet
• Breadth depth case studies
• Occupational Profile (from Prospects)
• one job analysed at a time (are many more!)
• all you ever wanted to know!
• Careers in Horticulture booklet
• Diverse case studies of real people
• readable and easy to scan

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Employers Jobs

• Potential Employers in Ag Horticulture
• - 200 / use for speculative contacts
• Countryside Jobs Service
• - leading weekly
• Environment Post
• - handy for interview research
• Others
• - Nature / New Scientist / ILAM ...

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Postgraduate Possibilities

• Directly related post grad options
• Crop Protection / Pest Management
• Bio-diversity/ habitat conservation / ecology
• Plant Biotechnology
• Others - PGCE / Law / QS / IT / Marketing
• For more jobs / higher pay / satisfaction
• Against debt / hard work
• Research Councils - BBSRC NERC need gt 2.1
• Studentships 8,000 pa approx

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Time Out Ideas

• Opportunities
• Conservation / Care / Catering / Tourism
• Teaching / Internship / travel etc..
• Plan ahead, apply in advance
• Cons - Lost earnings, illness, danger, drift
• Pros - Once in a life time experience / more
  employable / new skills / confidence etc. self
  reliance / wider perspectives / fun

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Assignment

• 700 word (approx.) JOB STUDY
• Choose a career of interest
• Investigate it thoroughly
• Identify relevant employers
• How well do you suit this job?
• Use up to a 1000 words (if departments policy)
• Use the Finding the Fit on line resources
• http//www.rdg.ac.uk/Careers/cms/