Careers

If you know that you definitely want to enter employment but don't know what you want to do, a useful starting point would be to search for occupations based on subjects, qualification levels and interests. Go to Connexions Direct:

 

http://www.connexions-direct.com/

 

At this website you can also find out the opening times of your nearest Connexions centre (see "Local Services" section), the nearest Connexions centre to the school is located in Bromley where you can meet with a careers adviser without an appointment, check website for opening times.

 

Investors in Careers

For more than twelve years Newstead Wood has held the Investors in Careers Quality Award, which recognises the fact that the school delivers excellent advice and guidance to individual pupils and effective careers education to groups of students as they progress through the school.  The involvement of parents in the careers work of the school is especially valued.

Now it is time for the award to be reassessed and we hope that re-accreditation will take place by the end of the Spring Term.  Assessors will visit school, look at the opportunities on offer and talk to staff and students.  Assessment will follow the criteria set out in the Investors in Careers website:  www.investorincareers.org.uk.

www.careersbox.co.uk - is the free national careers film library with interviews and videos.

 

 

Web Sites useful for help with Careers, Higher Education and Gap Year
You may find the following sites useful. Some of them are also gateways to a wide range of other careers-related sites
General Careers Sites

  • ·         www.thebigtrip.co.uk – from Shell livewire – a site to help you consider setting up your own business, together with a self-discovery tour (see The Big Trip section of the site) which helps young people to assess what they have to offer and includes a career planner.
  • ·         www.yourcreativefuture.org - insight into creative + design type careers from advertisingto the visual arts.
  • ·         www.fasttomato.com - has been introduced to you at school, but you can access it from home too.
  • ·         www.connexions-direct.com – masses of careers-based information and personal advice.  
  • ·         www.newscientistjobs.com - provides an important gateway to science careers sources.         
  • .            www.nctj.com - journalism careers and courses – see Careers Advice.
  • ·         www.lawsociety.org.uk -  see under ‘Special interest group’ Junior Lawyers which is a site for those thinking of becoming lawyers, students, trainees and solicitors in their first 5 years of practice.
  • ·         www.prospects.ac.uk  - guide to graduate careers and postgraduate studies and aimed at undergraduate students.
  • ·         www.nhscareers.nhs.uk - for information about all careers in the National Health Service.
  • ·         www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk – a new site containing case studies, career planning, videos, and much more about NHS careers    

 

Other

  • ·         www.shell-livewire.org - site of the organisation which helps 16-30 year olds start and develop their own business and gives advice
  • .            www.bromleyebp.org.uk -  the London Borough of Bromley Education Business Partnership website.           
  • ·         www.ema.direct.gov.uk - details of and application for the means-tested £30 per week Education Maintenance Allowances paid to students to help them study in Years 12 & 13.
  • ·         www.mychoicelondon.co.uk – the new prospectus of all London courses for students 14 – 19, plus additional careers advice. This will be updated annually.

Higher Education Sites

  • ·          www.ucas.com - a must for anyone thinking of HE in Britain. Links to all HE institutions and much more. All applications to universities and colleges in the U.K. must go through UCAS Apply
  • ·          www.yougo.co.uk - UCAS supported website giving you all the essential info about life at uni. Registration necessary.
  • ·          www.whatuni.com – very subjective reviews of and comments on university courses.
  • ·          www.admissionsforum.net – a web-based discussion forum for applicants to medicine, dentistry and other health-care professions in the UK.
  • ·          www.unistats.com - Another UCAS site enabling comparison between subjects and institutions, and including feedback from students about the quality of their HE experience, plus destination information of students who have graduated.
  • ·          www.studentuk.com - another must. Covers all aspects of student life and what to expect as an undergraduate.
  • ·          www.braintrack.com - allows you to reach university web sites in 194 countries.
  • ·          www.fulbright.co.uk – the essential site if you are interested in studying at university in the U.S.A.
  • ·          www.hotcourses.com - university course information and finance.
  • ·          www. Coursediscover.co.uk - questionnaire to help with HE choices.
  • ·          www.nusonline.co.uk - is theNational Union of Students’ website and contains much useful information on student life, finances, welfare, etc. Another must.
  • ·          www. Direct.gov.uk/studentfinance - Essential for parents and students wanting details of HE finance and student support arrangements including Student Loan details.
  • ·          www. guardian.co.uk/education - go to University Guide for the newspaper’s own university profiles, and league tables.

Gap Year

  • ·         www.lattitude.org.uk - Lattitude Global Volunteering is the new name for Gap Activity Projects which has organised useful gap year projects for many years.
  • ·         www.coolworks.com - 75,000 paid and voluntary opportunities in National Parks, ski resorts and ocean and golf resorts in the US.
  • ·         www.gap-year.com - Gap year jobsite.
  • ·         www.yini.org.uk – The Year in Industry provides paid and degree-relevant work placements for gap-year students. It is especially helpful with jobs in Engineering/Science.

Evaluation
It will be worth looking critically at the information on the sites you come across e.g.

  • ·          Who has produced the site? – Site ‘ownership’ may affect the validity of the information – what is the information being displayed for?
  • ·          How relevant is the information? Careers information from US based sites may be of limited use. The nationality of a site may not be immediately apparent
  • ·          How recent is the information? Especially for career pages you should look to see when the site was last updated.

A. Fitzgerald (updated December 2010)   © Newstead Wood School