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Make sure that early in the academic year, you actually schedule time to research and explore your future options; to attend careers & departmental events; to identify your skills & values; to understand the key skills required for careers that interest you; and to take the time to build a CV that demonstrates you have those skills. 

Thinking about ‘what next’ does not mean that you have to make decisions now, but it does mean that if you do not have much experience or knowledge of graduate work, you need to start exploring & building experience now.   It is much easier to first make contact with an interesting organisation by writing to say: ‘I am a MA student at QM and really interested in exploring a career in XXXXXXX, I wondered if there would be an opportunity for me to work-shadow one of your colleagues for a few days’, rather than ‘I am a Masters graduate from QM, do you have any jobs’. 

If you have limited work experience, don’t spend time worrying if any new work experience opportunity is definitely ‘relevant’… if it interests you, just try it… most of us learn best through experiences and it is very difficult to choose a career if you have not had experience of working in different contexts.  If you are thinking of a PhD, take any opportunity to talk to academics specialising in areas of interest, use departmental contacts to speak to current PhD students and check application deadlines.

If you are already in the fortunate position of knowing what you want to do next, start now to build the strongest possible application.  How is your CV - does it ideally position you for roles that you want? Can you write a persuasive, targeted covering letter? How are your interview skills?  Do you need to practice psychometric testing?  Do you know where to look for the opportunities you really want?  Do you know when the roles are likely to be advertised?  Do you have, or can you make contacts at interesting organisations, that will give you insights into their recruitment process?  As you read this, many UK based employers will already be accepting applications for graduate roles to start work in Autumn 2018.

Whether you are someone starting their Masters not knowing where they want to be in a year’s time or whether you have a plan and simply want support to achieve your goal, the Queen Mary Careers & Enterprise team are here to help you all year round.    Tel: 020 7882 8533

Be reassured - over the next 12 months, you don’t need to choose what you want to do with the rest of your life... the goal is simply to identify and position yourself to achieve, the right next step for you... whatever that might be. 

Although Caroline Lisser is the Careers Consultant for the School of History, you can see any of our team of Careers Consultants or Application Advisors to fit around your schedule.    

Wishing you a fulfilling and successful postgraduate experience here at QM from all in the Careers & Enterprise team.