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Careers information for students

Careers > Careers information for students

Innovative careers support

Careers information for students

You may already have your career path planned out or you might not have no idea what you want to do in the future. Either way, that’s perfectly fine and we can help and support you to explore all the opportunities and possibilities for your next steps when you progress from college.

St John Rigby College, will ensure that every student is exposed to a variety of opportunities to enable them to build a toolkit of employability skills for their future roles in society.

Not sure what to do?

Understand which of your skills match up with particular careers: Skillsometer – Careermap

To find out more about a specific industry or careers including working hours and pay: Careerometer – Careermap

Log into Unifrog and check out the following:

  • Interests profile
  • Personality profile
  • Work environments profile
  • Careers library
  • Subjects library
  • Know How library
 

The benefits of an apprenticeship are that progression continues in education by gaining a qualification whilst earning a salary and developing more skills.

There are different levels of apprenticeships ranging from level 2 up to level 7.  If you complete a level 3 qualification at college (A levels or BTEC level 3), there are many higher (level 4 and 5) or degree level apprenticeships available. 

These are often competitive, so looking for opportunities to develop employability skills, such as voluntary work or work experience is a must.

To support students who are considering an Apprenticeship, we have introduced the Apprenticeship Club which runs sessions from the end of Year 12, right through to Easter of Year 13.  This will help student to understand how to source vacancies, prepare for interviews and assessments centres, take part in mock interviews and hear from visiting speakers.

Things to consider –

  • The level of apprenticeship (look for progression).
  • Not all industries offer apprenticeships.
  • The recruitment process is often competitive, take up time and will likely include recruitment days.
  • It is still recommended that students submit a university application, or defer entry for a year, as this will be a back-up if not successful in securing an apprenticeship.
  • With an apprenticeship you will earn a salary and get their degree for free, although it may take a few more years to complete.
  • Utilise Social Media to widen your networks – set up a LinkedIn profile and look at Facebooks Jobs pages.
  • Vacancies are also advertised directly on larger Company websites so it’s worth checking out the Careers pages of companies you are interested in work for.
If you are interested in an apprenticeship, sign up here:
 

For further information about Apprenticeships check out this links:

Higher Education

University can be a really positive option for many students and there are so many courses and routes to choose from – it can get a bit overwhelming.  We will support you during Tutorial to explore your different options and St John Rigby College has a dedicated Careers Fair so you can meet representatives from universities too. Each student will have access to Unifrog which has a wealth of information and resources, and they will also register on UCAS.com around Easter time of Year 12.  There are some physical university prospectuses in the College Library, but all the information is on university websites too.  The following links will support your research and decision making:

For students who are unsure which subject they would like to take, there are a number of quizzes which may offer some inspiration:

Employment & Employability Skills

Whether you are looking for a full-time job after college or a part-time job whilst studying, it is important to ensure that your CV is up-to-date and professional looking. You can email our careers advisors at careers@sjr.ac.uk for a CV template or email your CV for feedback. You can also get help with covering letters, job applications, job searching, interviews and labour market information. The following websites will help with job searches. Many will have an email alert system. If you want help searching for a job in a specific industry, email or book an appointment with your careers advisor.

Employers will be looking for employability skills; you will learn skills on your chosen programme of study and may have the opportunity visit industries during your time at SJR. However, to improve your employability you would benefit from looking at doing Voluntary Work and/or Work Experience.  The following websites could help you to find these:

LMI (Labour Market Information)

LMI is statistics which show key information about industries such as employment trends, salaries etc, which could help you to make good decisions about how you move forward with your ideas.  There are some links below to websites which incorporate this information into job profiles, and others which is more raw statistics:

Gap Year

Some students decide to take a year out between College and University to travel, develop skills, do some volunteering or earn some money to support them through university.  This can be a great opportunity for adventure and a chance to spread your wings.  There can be significant costs involved in some projects so do your homework.  In some cases, you can defer your place at University so you know you have something to come back to – but you must check before you start making plans.  Below are some websites that could give you some inspiration:

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Level 2 entry requirements

If you’re not quite ready to start on a Level 3 Technical course (T Levels) or a Vocational Level 3 course (BTEC) but want to begin on the path to your chosen career, the Transition Programme could be for you.  

Transition Programmes are tailored to prepare students to move onto Technical or Vocational Level 3 study. They will give you the opportunity to improve your English and Maths, your work readiness skills and introduce you to the technical skills and concepts that you will need for future study and employment. 

As part of the Transition Programme you will study a BTEC Level 2 Award in your chosen subject area as well as the BTEC Level 2 Extended Award in Work Skills. You will also have the opportunity to resit GCSE English and/or Maths if you have not yet achieved a grade 4. 

Entry criteria for Transition Programmes is four grade 3s including grade 3s in English Language and Maths GCSE.

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