University is about more than just studying. It’s an opportunity to try new things, learn new skills and develop as person. Whether you’d like to become an Actuary or an Astronaut there are lots of opportunities for you boost your employability at the University of Kent.
Careers and Employability Service
Kent’s award-winning Careers and Employability Service support you throughout your studies and up to three years after you graduate. They can help you with everything from writing the perfect CV, finding summer internships and placements, through to running mock assessment centres and interviews. They also organise Kent’s annual Careers and Employability Festival, which sees hundreds of employers visit the campus to promote their graduate schemes, placement and internship opportunities and other work schemes. During the Festival, a wide range of free workshops, guest lectures, careers drop-in sessions and other activities take place, all aimed at boosting your employability.
Click here to learn more about Kent’s Careers and Employability Service.
Employability Points
Kent’s flagship Employability Points scheme rewards you with points throughout your studies for your participation in co-curricular activities (sports, societies and volunteering), employability events and work schemes (internships, placements, work experience, paid work). At the end of each year, you can cash-in your points to receive unique opportunities, experiences and prizes, such as bespoke internships with local and national companies and mentorship from an established person in your chosen career, among other things.
Click here to learn more about Kent’s Employability Points Scheme.
Job Shop
If you’re looking to earn some extra cash and develop your skills, the Job Shop (located in between Blackwells/Nero and the SU Shop) can help you find part time work, temporary jobs and work-study scheme roles in the local area. They also offer a range of other services and provide informal drop-in appointments between 1pm and 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Click here to learn more about Kent Union’s Job Shop
Hub for Innovation and Enterprise
The Make Your Mark programme, run by Kent’s Hub for Innovation and Enterprise, offers a range of co-curricular activities and support designed to help you increase your skills, abilities, experience and confidence, preparing you for employment or self-employment. They work closely with well-known companies such as Santander, Coca Cola Enterprise and IBM to provide unique opportunities for students.
Alongside the Make Your Mark programme, the Hub for Innovation and Enterprise, also support students in developing entrepreneurial skills and starting up their own businesses. If you have a business idea, the Hub’s specialist team can support you in making that idea a reality.
Click here to learn more about Kent’s Hub for Innovation and Enterprise
Sports, Societies and Volunteering
A fantastic way to develop your skills and build your CV is through participating in sports, societies and volunteering. Kent has hundreds of sports teams, societies and volunteering groups to get involved in – and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can set up your own society or sports team.
Over 6,000 students are members of sports teams, societies or volunteering groups at Kent, participating in everything from fundraising through to quidditch. In the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science (SMSAS), we have two societies; the Kent Maths Society and Invicta Actuarial Society – both free to join if you’re a SMSAS student!
You can discover the range of student groups online via the link below or by attending the annual Freshers (start of the autumn term) or Refreshers Fairs (start of the spring term).
Click here to learn more about sports, societies and volunteering at Kent
Student Reps
Another way to build your skills at university is by becoming a Student Rep. In the School, students can be elected as Student Reps for each stage of study for each programme area (…that’s a lot of Student Reps!). Student Reps play an important role in our School. The feedback our Student Reps have collected from students has shaped our modules, programme delivery and many other aspects of life in SMSAS.
Click here for more information about Student Reps
Student Ambassadors
In the School, we have a number of Student Ambassadors who are paid good wages to help us deliver Outreach activities (working with schools, running fun maths activities, supporting young people with GCSE and A Level maths revision etc) and Recruitment activities (hosting campus tours, giving presentations about student life at Kent, talking to prospective students and parents etc).
Each year we open recruitment for Student Ambassadors. If you are selected as an Ambassador and continue being an Ambassador each year of study, you can become a Senior Ambassador, receiving a higher hourly wage and more responsibilities.
This varied role looks great on your CV and offers a lot of flexibility.
Click here to email us to find out more about Student Ambassadors
SMSAS Employability Officer
In the School we have our own dedicated Employability Officer who provided specialist employability support for SMSAS students.
Year in Industry / Industrial Placement degrees
A fantastic way to boost your employability during your degree, whilst gaining paid industry experience, is by choosing to take a Year in Industry as part of your degree programme.
The School’s in-house Placements Team will support you in finding and applying for placements, through a specialist programme of workshops, mock assessment centres and interviews, mentoring, one-to-one meetings, and their annual Placements Fair and Bootcamp.
Click here to learn more about our Year in Industry programmes