Start Planning for Your Future with UCL’s Masters Careers Essentials Course

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Written by Nicole Estwick, Careers Consultant at UCL Careers

The new academic year may not be underway just yet, but for incoming postgraduate students, planning your year ahead as well as planning for your future after UCL can start now with UCL Careers’ Masters Careers Essentials Course.

This short, optional online course is open to all incoming postgraduate students and aims to provide you with a useful set of starting points for thinking about your future career direction and successfully applying for what you want to do.

So why should you sign up? Here’s five excellent reasons to complete the Masters Careers Essentials course:

1. Get an early understanding of the graduate job market and know when to apply

As many postgraduate students begin their studies in the autumn, this is the time many employers open their application processes to graduates who will be finishing their degree the following year. The same also goes for PhD applications which generally open around this time too.

Accessing the Masters Careers Essentials course ahead of your first term will help to ensure you are ahead of key dates and don’t miss deadlines for opportunities you may wish to pursue. This will be particularly important this year as the graduate job market adapts to the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Seeking the valuable advice of UCL Careers staff on the course will give you an advantage when you begin looking for roles during and after you have finished your course.

2. Know your options and progress your career thinking

Some of you may have taken up further study with a particular career in mind, whilst others may still be assessing what they can do next on completion of their Masters.

The Masters Careers Essentials online course can also help you in identifying and researching the options available to you with video content and online resources outlining effective strategies you can use to evaluate the different pathways you can take, helping you to make positive steps forward in your career planning.

3. Get application ready

For those seeking opportunities during their studies as well as after, Masters Careers Essentials also provides practical tips and advice to get you ready to make applications as soon as you join us.

The course includes sections on writing effective applications and delivering successful interviews and presentations with detailed examples of good and bad techniques in each area that you can apply to applications you will be preparing during the year.

4. International student? Get advice on working in the UK and abroad

At UCL, we welcome students from all around the globe to study with us and we know that some international students will be exploring the possibility of staying to work in the UK after their Masters degree, while others will be looking forward to working or starting a PhD in their home or a third country.

In the Masters Careers Essentials course, we provide guidance on both of these areas as well as sharing key resources for working abroad ensuring you are equipped with the best tools for your international job search.

5. Find out about the support available to you at UCL ahead of the new academic year

Finally, the Masters Careers Essentials course allows you to get familiar with UCL Careers and the service we provide ahead of the new academic year.

Your first few weeks will no doubt be busy so why not get a head start on understanding what careers support is available to you so you can maximise your chances of success from day one of your degree.

Register for the Masters Careers Essentials course

If you have any technical problems with signing up to the course, please contact extend@ucl.ac.uk for technical assistance.