Career Support at Leeds
The University has a Careers Centre , able to offer students advice on applying for jobs and gaining work experience, for example. It also provides a drop-in service for careers-related advice. Recruitment fairs, attended by some of the top employers in the region and country, are held each year, and provide an excellent opportunity for students to find out about graduate recruitment schemes across the country and even further afield! The School is also delighted to host its very own careers fair in which we invite a number of high profile employers and organisations across the earth and environment sector to meet our students in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
Currently there are two highly experienced senior consultants from the University’s Careers Centre who are available to provide advice to students in the School and also teach within our Career Development modules (see below). This is in addition to two very enthusiastic academic staff, who have the role of Employability Officers within the School.
For further information on the services offered by the Careers Centre to all Leeds students, visit the Careers Centre web pages.
Spend a Year in Industry
Each year a number of students take the opportunity to get high-quality relevant work experience as part of their degree. The types of placements that are offered vary enormously and there are always attractive opportunities for our BA and BSc students. As part of the Year in Industry scheme, the School also offers the opportunity for students to study towards a City and Guilds Licentiateship which is a nationally recognised qualification. The portfolio of companies and organisations that have taken our students in the past have included:
- the Meteorological Office
- the Environment Agency
- Yorkshire Water
- Environmental Compliance Officers in corporate companies such as British Sugar and Unilever
- Mineral exploitation companies such as HESS
- and a wide number of environmental consultancies (including names such as Mott Macdonald; Arup; and WSP).
Career Development Modules
The School has a deep commitment to enhancing student employability. This commitment has a history extending over 15 years, when the School initiated the use of the Careers Centre teaching directly into employability-specific modules. A typical career development module includes: recruitment assessment centre exercises, aptitude and psychometric tests, graduate CVs, covering letters and application forms, interview practice, and contact with real employers who will advise you on their expectations of graduate recruits. A major innovative feature of these modules is an integrated exercise where you complete a realistic on-line application form for a typical graduate position with a fictitious company called J2Co. Once you have submitted your application you then proceed with a mock interview process. Students find this exercise extremely valuable because they discover appropriate approaches to the application and interview process.
Bob Gilworth, the Director of the Careers Centre at the University of Leeds says the School is “One of the most pro-active Schools on Campus, with an impressive track record of organising innovative events that enhance the employability of students exponentially," (Spetember 2010).