Career Zone Podcast

Planned Happenstance: Turning Chance into Career Opportunity

Ever wondered if ‘luck’ is something you can prepare for and use to your advantage? In this week’s episode, Dave Gyll-Murray, an Employability and Placements Adviser, explores Krumboltz’s Theory of Planned Happenstance – a mindset that encourages you to be open to unexpected opportunities and turn them into meaningful career steps. Dave shares five key skills to help you make the most of the unplanned, including curiosity, flexibility and risk-taking.

Reflect: Know yourself

Understanding who you are is an incredibly important first step in thinking about what you want to do after you graduate. In this episode Dawn Lees, Student Employability and Development Manager, explores how you can reflect on what interests you, what your strengths, skills, preferences, values and motivations are and how this can help you with your career planning.

Useful Links:

• Attend one of our workshops, including Exploring and researching career decisions and Discover your strengths to find a job that suits you. Book via Handshake.
• Profiling for Success
• Skills Audit, as part of Create Your Future.

• Motivations questionnaire in Handshake.

• Exeter Award and Exeter Leaders Award

• How to research an employer
• Help with developing your skills. 

• Consider how to identify your skills with Sarah Blunt, Employability and Careers Consultant, by watching this short video: https://youtu.be/NvqKFQ--f54

Listen to our other podcast episodes on:

• Reflection: Why is it important for employability: https://pod.fo/e/2d5359 
• Should you do something you're passionate about or something you're good at: https://pod.fo/e/2d534a
• How to choose a career: https://pod.fo/e/2d53c4

Getting Focused: Using your decision-making skills to choose a career

Once you have done your research, you’ll need to start making informed and realistic decisions to narrow down your options. In this episode, Dawn Lees, Student Employability and Development Manager, explores how you can use what you have discovered about yourself and learnt about the job market to decide which jobs or sector interests you most.

Useful Links:

• Placements section 
• Jobs section 
• Employability programmes 
• Professional and personal development sessions 
• Professional Pathways

Explore your options

Exploring your options involves expanding your knowledge of the range of occupations, sectors and organisations that may be of interest to you. In this episode, Dawn Lees, Student Employability and Development Manager, discusses how you can explore the opportunities available to you, whether that's applying for graduate roles or further study.

Useful Links:

• Getting the most from LinkedIn  
• Networking for career conversations 
• Exploring options with a degree in… 
• Researching employers 
• Careers fair resources 
• Sector pages 
• Self-employment: Student Startups | Student Startups | University of Exeter
• Choosing Postgraduate Study 
• Lib Guide: About this Research Guide - Researching companies and organisations for your job search​ - LibGuides at University of Exeter

Taking Action

If you have reflected on your values, motivations and skills, have explored your options and have then decided what it is that you want to do, it is now time to take action. In this episode, Dawn Lees, Student Employability and Development Manager shares how you can actively seek the graduate level role or further study opportunity that you have decided is right for you so that you can transition into the workplace.

 

Useful Links

• CVs cover letters and applications 
• Interviews 
• Assessment Centres 
• Psychometric testing 
• Using AI 
• Disclosing a disability session
• EDI support pages
• Creating career confidence programme
• Podcast Accessing the Hidden jobs market – 2021 (Listen here: https://pod.fo/e/2d5396) 

 

Thinking of a career in the Civil Service?

In this episode, Kate Foster, Employability and Careers Consultant, is joined by Maddy and Stephen to discuss the Civil Service Fast Stream. With 17 specialist schemes across the country, it’s designed to fast-track you into management roles and give you the skills to shape national policy and services

Maddy and Stephen share how they see the Fast Stream champions inclusivity and social mobility, with the Social Mobility Network. Maddie and Stephen share details on the recruitment process* and share their tips on how you can best prepare to succeed.

 

*The group exercise at the assessment centre has now been replaced by a personal development conversation.

Useful links:

• Understanding Assessment Centres skill session.
• University webpage on National Government and Civil Service Fast Stream
• Careers in Public Policy and Government Week, 13-17 October 2025
• Civil Service Fast Stream website

Upcoming events with the Fast Stream Social Mobility Network

• Mentoring Programme
• National Outreach Events - Fast Stream Social Mobility Network
• Virtual Event Week, which include workshops for each part of the assessment centre:
  • Introduction to the Fast Stream | 22 September 14:00-15:00
  • Choosing the Right Fast Stream Scheme | 23 September 14:00-15:00
  • Online Test Workshop | 24 September 14:00-15:00
  • Fast Stream Assessment Centre and Final Selection Board | 26 September 14:00-15:00

The advantages of working for small medium enterprise (SME): In conversation with Chloé Bayliss of Cornish Lithium

In this week’s podcast, Sunny Lalli and Nicky Hutchinson, Employability and Career Consultants, are joined by Chloé Bayliss of Cornish Lithium.

In this episode Chloé as then Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator and now Senior ESG Coordinator at Cornish Lithium, discusses some of the work roles at Cornish Lithium and the experience of working in a small medium enterprise (SME). In this conversation Chloé draws on her own experience to differentiate the experience of working in a small medium enterprise with working at larger enterprises.

Cornish Lithium is a private British mineral exploration company focussed on the sustainable extraction of lithium and other battery metals in the historically significant mining district of Cornwall, UK. These metals can be utilised to the global goal of decarbonisation through clean growth and a transition to a green economy. Thus, supporting UN sustainability goals of affordable and clean energy (goal seven), and climate action (goal thirteen). 

Useful Links:

• Listen to Transitioning from study into a first role: In conversation with Chloe Bayliss, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator at Cornish Lithium PLC - https://pod.fo/e/237162
• University of Exeter Career Zone sector page on energy and natural resources (renewables): https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/research/sector/energyandnaturalresources/

• University of Exeter Career Zone sector page Earth Resources:https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/research/sector/earthresources/ 

• Cornish Lithium: https://cornishlithium.com/

• Green Futures Solutions blog article on sustainability and mining: https://greenfuturessolutions.com/news/sustainability-and-the-need-for-mining/

• Gov UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)  Action Plan: 2022-2025: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63d418638fa8f5188ae8f77b/beis-sme-action-plan-2022-to-2025.pdf

• UN sustainable development goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

8 Surprising Sources of Career Inspiration

In this episode, Nicky Hutchinson, Employability and Career Consultant shares top tips and ideas for inspiration to help you to think of your next steps.

 

Useful links:

• Explore options with your degree by visiting the What can I do with my degree? webpages.
• Explore different sector and occupations 
• Help with researching  career options  
• Help with researching sectors and employers 
• Attend one of our guidance sessions including ‘Get started with thinking about careers’, ‘Research your career options and ideas’ and ‘Discover your strengths to find a job that suits you’. Book via Handshake

What are you going to do when you graduate?

At some point as a student, you’ve probably been asked ‘what are you going to do when you graduate?’. It can be a daunting question and it’s ok not to know. In this episode, Nicky Hutchinson, Employability and Careers Consultant, shares tips and advice on how to answer this question and explores what you can do to be a proactive explorer, developing your self-awareness and skills.

Useful Links:

• Green Consultants
• Attending skills sessions such as Problem Solving, Networking Skills, Presentation Skills. These also count towards the Exeter Award, our employability achievement award.
• Volunteering with the Students’ Guild or Students’ Union.
• Future 17
• Grand Challenges

Considering a PHD: Is it right for you?

In this week’s episode, Rachel Coombes, Employability and Career Consultant speaks with Jasmine Thomas-Campbell, a current PhD student, about her journey to studying for a PhD. Jasmine shares what led her to pursue a PhD, how she found and applied for the right opportunity and why transferable skills really matter.

Useful Links:

• Choosing postgraduate study webpage (exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/pgstudy/)
• Help with applying for Postgraduate Study (exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/research/helpwith/helpwithapplyingforpostgraduatestudy/)
• Book onto skills sessions via Handshake including: Personal Resilience; Time and Stress Management and Networking Skills. 
• Find a PHD website (https://www.findaphd.com/)