Career Zone Podcast

What does the Career Zone offer?

Dawn Lees, Student Employability and Development Manager talks to recent graduate Scarlett about the variety of support on offer from the Career Zone. Scarlett shares what she engaged with during her time at university and how it has helped her in securing a graduate role and making career decisions. 

More information on the programmes mentioned in the podcast can be found in the links below: 

• Professional Pathways programme is a suite of sector specific training courses and paid 35 hour internships that will take place in June 2023.  
• Exeter Award is an extracurricular and co-curricular employability award open to all current undergraduates and taught postgraduates. Completing the Award will help you make the most of your professional experience. Exeter Leaders Award is an extracurricular and co-curricular award that recognises leadership roles you've undertaken during your time at the University of Exeter. It also provides a framework to help you develop as a leader.   
• Change Makers is an online training programme is delivered by the Cornwall School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in association with the Career Zone and has been designed specifically to help students develop their ideas for social and environmental change into viable ventures. 

• You can book onto skill sessions on Handshake 

In conversation with Louisa Street, Geography Alumni

We chat to Geography alumni Louisa Street.

Currently a published academic and professional youth worker working for YZUP tackling drug and alcohol awareness training in schools, she guides us through her pathway from her Geography degree to the world of work, the importance of volunteering and letting go of the career fears that we all may experience, whether at University or as a graduate.

Louisa currently runs her own business, Packshare, which champions sustainable packaging from mail order businesses using a circular economy model and returns to Higher Education for a PhD this summer to explore the relationship between young people’s digital environments, the content shared within, and the changes needed within legislation to keep everyone safe. She also runs her own podcast for Headstart.

Links discussed within the episode:

Headstart Online Resilience Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XwM8WPsFDXM2HWZtqlmFW

“Online Resilience and Wellbeing in Young People: Representing the Youth Voice” by Louisa Street & Andy Phippen: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MF71NNL/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

TEVI: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/esi/business/tevi/

PhDs: https://www.findaphd.com/

Adaptability Quotient

Being adaptable is essential to the success of a business as well as a person’s ability to cope with change.  In this episode, Rae explores exactly what your adaptability quotient is and how it can be useful for your career journey - in particular, how it can help you to deal with a fast-paced and ever-changing workplace. 

 

What are employers looking for? July 2022

In this week's podcast, Rae is joined by colleagues from the Career Zone who recently attended the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services Conference. The Career Zone staff share what they found out and their top tips for developing your employability and getting jobs.

You can view current jobs on Handshake 

 

 

In conversation with….students who have worked abroad

In this episode, our Employability and Placements Advisors, Becky and Gemma are joined by two students, Muriel and Phoebe, who spent a year working abroad as part of their degree.  Muriel is currently working abroad at University of Exeter in the Outbound Team, and Phoebe spent a year working abroad in Germany as a British Council and Foreign Language Assistant.  Here we gain an insight into their experiences of working abroad. 

 

The majority of Undergraduate courses at the University of Exeter have the option to add study or work abroad, or sometimes both.  If you have any questions regarding the global opportunities available, please contact our Outbound team at outbound@exeter.ac.uk or visit the Global Opportunities SharePoint site here

 

How a careers guidance appointment helped me

In this episode Employability and Career Consultant Sarah Blunt sits down with Mia, a final year Biological Sciences student, to find out about her experience of attending a careers guidance appointment with the Career Zone. Sarah also speaks to Employability and Career Consultant Fiona Hartley to find out what you can expect if you book an appointment yourself.  

Find out more on the Career Zone webpage.

Asking questions at interview - what they say about you/what not to ask

Jenny Clark from the Student Employability team working, with social science students at the University of Exeter explains why it is so important to ask relevant questions at the end of an interview, and provides some great suggestions for what you should and should not ask.

What is organisational culture?

In this episode, Rae explores what is meant by the phrase ‘organisational culture’ and why it is important. Rae shares her advice on how you can learn about a company’s organisational culture when applying for jobs.

 

For more information on how to utilise the Alumni tool on LinkedIn, book onto one of our LinkedIn Lab sessions

In conversation with...students who have studied abroad

In this episode focusing on Study Abroad, Gemma, an Employability and Placements Adviser in the Skills Team, talks to Callum (who studied at University of Plymouth but is currently working alongside the Global Opportunities team as a Graduate Business Partner), Harry and Izzy, each of whom completed a study abroad year.  Here we learn more about the experiences and opportunities that this year provided each of them. 

The majority of Undergraduate courses at the University of Exeter have the option to add study or work abroad, or sometimes both.  If you have any questions regarding the global opportunities available, please contact our Outbound team at outbound@exeter.ac.uk or visit the Global Opportunities SharePoint site here

Get ready to graduate! A look at the latest labour market information

We last looked at the labour market situation in January, so in this episode, we are going to look at what has changed in the labour market since then. 

To support your transition from university into employment or further study, we have created the Get Ready to Graduate programme. Whether you are exploring options, planning your next steps or actively applying for opportunities, we have something for everyone.  Click here for more information on Get Ready to Graduate | Career Zone | University of Exeter or Careers Forever - Exeter (careercentre.me), to help you whatever stage of career planning you are at.  If you’re still unsure, book a guidance appointment to start a conversation.