Careers Service
- Information For Employers
What Our Students Say
Abigail Pukaniak
Abigail studied English and Drama at St Mary's from 2007 - 2010.
"I had a mock interview with Careers for MA in Publishing before my interview with Oxford Brookes. I would just like to say a big thank you for helping me prepare and it has resulted in me being offered a place on the course. Again thank you."
Vando Terra
Vando is a recent graduate of Management Studies and Tourism at St Mary’s.
Vando started using St Mary’s careers services mainly at the beginning of his third year. During that time he booked several appointments with one of the careers advisers and used the library to carry out research regarding jobs possibilities, careers in management and tourism, graduate schemes and further education.
Vando said that his careers adviser helped him build his CV and talked over career prospects, life after university, different types of jobs available through recruitment agencies and graduate schemes with him (among many other careers issues).
He said that from his very first appointment he found the careers service very useful. When he first visited Vando did not have a proper CV or, he felt, job or career prospects. He did not know what he wanted to do in the future or which jobs he wanted to apply for after university.
The careers service helped him significantly because he was shown where and how to look for a job andhe was helped to understand what employers required for certain positions. After several meetings with a careers adviser, he was able to understand his strengths and weaknesses and how to make the most of his work experience. He states that his adviser was always very supportive.
Vando is still seeking for a job at the moment and continues to use the careers service via ‘Gradclub’. However, at this stage of his life he feels very confident that he will find a graduate job soon. He recommends that all students seek help from the careers service as soon they start university – the earlier you go,the easier it will be to find a good job and enhance your career prospects.
Vando feels that the careers service staff at St Mary’s are very professional and highly skilled. The careers advisers do their best to help and guide you through job hunting during and after university. However, the effort and enthusiasm has to come from the student or recent graduate seeking the job.
Cherelle Francis
Cherelle Francis graduated from St Mary’s after studying Psychology. As a student, she used the careers service on several occasions: for CV help; for reassurance after one semester when she received grades which did not reflect her true capabilities; to obtain postgraduate study information and for help with finding postgraduate funding.
She found the staff to be friendly and helpful, even when certain information was not available. She expressed gratitude to a member of staff who carried out searches online in order to find the appropriate information. Cherelle believes this highlights the interest that the team have in helping students progress into the future.
Cherelle enjoyed using the careers service and her only concern was that many students are still unaware of certain services available for them through Careers - the result being that many miss out. She thinks all students should be continuously encouraged to use the service.
Overall, Cherelle felt that the service provided was excellent and would recommend eveyone use Careers. She said it helped her find the next steps she needed to take in order to reach her career aspiration of becoming an Educational Psychologist.
Clare Lovell
Clare Lovell studied Education in Context at St Mary’s. She used the careers service throughout her time at university for advice regarding all aspects of her future career and frequently as a sounding board for new ideas she had about her future.
Clare says, "The service is useful as it really does get you thinking of different ways to research careers and so on". Clare recommends that all SMUC students take advantage of the good service offered in Careers.
Madeleine Neave
Madeleine Neave graduated from St Mary’s after studying a Secondary PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages, and chose to study here because the team is caring, encouraging and professional; she was well supported throughout her studies.
Madeleine used the careers service to improve her CV and have practice interview sessions with a careers adviser. Also she thought the careers library provided great resources such as information on how to structure your personal statement.
Bikki Despotovic
Bikki studied a PGCE Secondary in Mathematics at St Mary’s. As English is Bikki’s second language she turned to the careers service for help.
A careers adviser helped her to overcome her difficulties by reading and checking everything she had prepared and by guiding her through her application step by step. After finalising her application and personal statement, she decided to use the careers service for a practice interview and afterwards felt very well prepared.
From using the service Bikki found that the staff really care about helping students and showing them how to make the most of themselves. She also found that using the Careers Service was an invaluable experience and wants to encourage other students to use it by expressing that the service is able to teach you, train you, coach you, motivate you, encourage you and inspire you.
