Hi! My name is Kei and I am a second-year international student studying BA Architecture at The Manchester School of Architecture. As a second-year student, our focus shifts from solely academics to exploring internships and seeking career opportunities. Looking for career opportunities as a student is a completely different challenge than academic success. It feels overwhelming but the university offers an extensive website dedicated to career support and advice to help exploring career options and opportunities to gain skills and knowledge to prepare us for the future. 

Using Careers Service

This website provides career support and advice at any stage as a university student studying in Manchester. Listed below is a general summary of each page in Career Service to help navigate the website.  

Which Career?

This page is designed to assist you in all stages, from being a prospective student to a postgraduate student. It tells you about career options, occupations, sectors and industries in various industries.  

Finding jobs and experience 

This page is suitable for university students looking for opportunities to gain experience or looking for a position to start their career. To get started, this page teaches you job search strategies to help identify opportunities as well as common vocabulary used in the UK job market. It contains sub-pages of ways you can start your career such as part-time jobs, internships, getting a mentor, and connecting with alumni.  

Applications and interviews

This page is an excellent resource for establishing a strong professional profile and increasing your visibility in the job market. It advises you on writing CVs and applications, preparing for interviews, psychometric tests and assessment centres with step-by-step instructions and tools. 

Further study and funding

If you are a prospective postgraduate student this page teaches you about further study options, and how to choose, apply and fund your course. 

Support 

This page provides extra guidance to support your journey with access to appointments and events at your own flexible time.  

Events

You can find out the range of events from career fairs and webinars to CV workshops and practice interviews. These events are only bookable as a University of Manchester student and graduate.  

International  

As an international student in the UK, the job market and experience in the UK might appear unfamiliar. This page exclusively guides you on understanding the job market and performing well during interviews and assessments. It comes with links to resources that make you an outstanding applicant within or outside the UK.  

CareerConnect  

CareerConnect is a careers portal exclusively accessible to University of Manchester students and graduates. It is your personal online guidance website tailored for your career journey.  This is an added advantage for booking appointments, receiving recommended career events, accessing internship and bursary listings through The University of Manchester, and finding job vacancies tailored to your profile. Applying through CareerConnect helps manage applications on behalf of the recruiter, so it closes off the competition from external applicants and increases your chances of your application being considered. 

Conclusion 

University life is full of opportunities, and one of the most valuable yet often underutilized resources available to students is the university careers service. The University of Manchester’s career service is undoubtedly a valuable resource for guiding us throughout our university journey. By taking advantage of career counselling, job listings, interview prep, and networking opportunities, you can gain a competitive edge in the job market. 

Written by Kei, a current BA Architecture Student

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