Student FAQs

We have some resources online that you may not know about:

Find us on social media:

FAQ list

  • Careers Hub - login as a student/graduate to search for jobs filtering by location 'remote'.
  • Prospects have created a page specifically around the impact of Covid-19 on graduates searching for work experience and jobs.
  • Linkedin article around remote working and how to use LinkedIn to find remote roles.
  • Reed (and other recruitment firms) have dedicated work from home/remote working pages.
  • Employment 4 Students have a dedicated page for online freelance jobs for students.
  • There are several blog posts (largely aimed at stay at home parents) that list remote working roles.
  • Upwork is an international website with many UK jobs listed. As the work is being done online, clients can take jobs from anywhere in the world.
  • People per hour has a wide range of jobs on offer, with a good selection in creative arts, and employers’ pay rates seem reasonable. Freelancers can also sell their services for either an hourly rate or a fixed price for the entire project.

LinkedIn is a great place to look for opportunities and the links below will help you find advice on how to improve your profile or create one:

  • Review our LinkedIn workshop, if you are just getting started with creating your profile.
  • Visit careers.kent.ac.uk – Book a 15-minute Quick Advice appointment, to have your LinkedIn profile reviewed.

  • Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to update your CV or LinkedIn profile, but if you have some time to spare now, use it to create a standout CV or profile!
  • Reflect on your recent experiences, such as a part-time job, a previous internship or placement, a voluntary role, an insight day you attended or involvement with a society, and start adding these.
  • Our tips on CV style, format, and content
  • Review our ‘CV and Cover Letter’ talk on our CES Moodle page under ‘Videos & Audio Recordings’
  • Upload your CV for feedback online via CareerSet
  • Visit careers.kent.ac.uk – Book a 15-minute Quick Advice appointment, to have your CV reviewed by an Adviser.

There are many things you can get involved in at Kent - find out more

Study Plus courses (part of the Kent Extra range of activities available to University of Kent students) provides a range of short-term courses and workshops which can enhance your graduate employability skills alongside your main subject specialism.

We have Careers Advisers for each subject area who are here to help you decide the best course of action. They will offer you advice but cannot make the decision for you.

They can help you think about postgraduate study here or elsewhere and much more. More details of what to expect can be found on our Student Guides site.

Book an appointment with a Careers Adviser careers.kent.ac.uk.

Commercial awareness is having a good understanding of an organisation / company (how it works, how it makes a profit, it's clients, objectives, services, products) and the industry in which it sits (as well as understanding how current news can impact the sector). You should have an overview of what’s going on in the sector - are there legal or regulatory changes on the way, or does the economic situation have a larger-than-usual impact?

Read more at: www.skillsyouneed.com/general/commercial-awareness.html and www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-career-advice/commercial-awareness/an-overview/

www.prospects.ac.uk  - information on a range of job sectors, with useful links to further resources and information

www.berr.gov.uk  – The Department of Business Innovation and Skills provides a wide range of industry reports.

www.ft.com/home/uk  - allows you to search within News, Markets, Industries and Companies. News drawn from the FT archives or global news resources.

www.reuters.com – Read the latest news stories from around the world. Sections dedicated to business, technology, international news etc.

www.bbc.co.uk - business news

The World of Business podcast - Insights into the business world from Radio 4’s in Business programme.

Business Daily podcast - BBC World Service’s daily podcast on the world of money and work from across the globe.

Today programme on BBC R4 - the most influential news programme in the UK and sets the day’s political agenda each morning. If you want to quickly build awareness of current affairs in politics, business, and society - listen to this.

www.actuarialcareers.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-develop-commercial-awareness/ - overview of commercial awareness in this sector

www.theactuary.com/ - news
STEM Women are holding virtual careers fairs every Wednesday

www.legalcheek.com/ - market news

www.legalweekjobs.com/ - jobs and news

www.thelawyer.com/news/ - UK and international news

www.youtube.com/user/LawCareersNet - insights from recruiters, lawyers and the LCN team

www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics

www.economist.com/

www.politicshome.com/

www.huffpost.com/US and world news

www.psychologytoday.com/gb - group of renowned psychologists, academics, psychiatrists and writers to contribute their thoughts and ideas

www.bps.org.uk/ - The British Psychological Society

www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/psychology/ - latest research news

www.independent.co.uk/topic/Psychology

www.newscientist.com/article-topic/psychology/ - weekly science and technology magazine  

The Kent Careers Award is still open and it can be done online. The award enables you to think about your career and what type of opportunities are open to you, and allows you to recognise your skills and experience, identify career options and ways to market yourself effectively to employers.

There are 6 activities to complete and you can get 20 EP points if you complete it.

Find out more about the Careers Award.

Well done, there are two ways we can help.

You can use one of our online facilities, the first provided by Graduates First. Graduates First provides a psychometric test practice facility for Kent students and recent graduates. There are also practice video interviews and sample assessment centre exercises. 

Students register using your Kent email address. If you graduated from Kent within the last three years and no longer have your Kent email address, email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and request to be added to the system as a graduate user.

There are sample assessment centre exercises including assessor information so you can see how activities are typically marked. There are 12 different practice video interviews on Graduates First:

  • Competency based
  • Strength based
  • Accounting
  • Banking
  • Construction
  • Consulting
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • HR
  • Marketing
  • Retail
  • Technology

The second is provided by ShortlistMe.

You could also book a practice interview which takes place online or over the phone. Email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk

You can use our online facility provided by Graduates First. Graduates First provides a psychometric test practice facility for University of Kent students and recent graduates. There are also practice video interviews and sample assessment centre exercises. Students, please register using your Kent email address.

If you have graduated from Kent within the last three years and no longer have your Kent email address, please email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and request to be added to the system as a graduate user.
The following are available:

  • Verbal reasoning tests x 7
  • Numerical reasoning tests x 7
  • Logical reasoning tests x 8
  • Work personality questionnaire x 1
  • Question identifier tool (student answers some questions on the role they have an interview for and it identifies the kind of questions they may be asked)
  • Situational judgement tests x 2
  • Game based tests x 3
  • Watson Glaser test x 1
  • CAPP tests x 3

It is understandable to be worried, so don’t be afraid to contact your employer to ask for clarification of the situation. Try to be patient if they don’t respond immediately and even if the response isn’t what you were hoping for, try to keep communication polite and professional. If you’re able to be flexible with the timings of your internship or job start date, and perhaps even the nature of the work, this may increase the chances of your job or internship going ahead.

Virtual internships are flexible, online opportunities to undertake remote experience. Many virtual internships exist in the fields of IT, sales, journalism, marketing and software development.

Some employers give you project work/tasks to complete over a period of time, and you may have regular catch-ups and support from the employer during your virtual internship.

Depending on the role, you may not be able to undertake all the elements of a real internship. However, you are still able to experience some of the work of a trainee and the function of the business.

Indeed advertises remote internships.

InsideSherpa hosts company-backed free open-access virtual internships. Their programs allow students to build career skills, gain experience and increase their understanding of different careers. 

Rate my Placement has teamed up with Inside Sherpa and Development Beyond Learning (DBL), to launch a FREE work ready virtual experience consisting of three modules.

Please get in touch and we can help. Some employers are still advertising, you can search our jobs board by logging in here. We also have this useful page which gives you a list of places to look for opportunities.

You can always book an appointment if you want further help and advice.

MOOC courses: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to enrol. Visit here: www.mooc.org/ 

Other online course sites

Learn to Code

Microsoft 

Learn a language

You could add a 'Year-in' option to your degree. You could take a "Year in Computing", a "Year in Journalism", "Year in a Language", Year in TV and Online Broadcasting", "Year in Management" or a "Year in Data Analytics". The Kent Extra website contains links to each so you can find out if you are eligible.

There are lots of questions around this so please get in touch if you need to careerhelp@kent.ac.uk and ask for James.

In theory you should be able to but will need to check with individual providers. There is no central body for postgraduate study, so it is best to contact individual institutions. If you want an appointment to discuss further study, please get in touch or book online.

Don't lose hope! We are still receiving jobs to our online platform which you can browse by logging in here. We also have this useful page which gives you a list of places to find a job.

You can always book an appointment if you want further help and advice.

We support graduates for up to three years after graduation with the same services as for current graduates. 

Please view the alumni webpage for more details.

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