Introduction:

This site has been created to provide specific employability support for students in the School of English. Studying for an English degree is a fantastic opportunity to gain a wide range of skills and experiences that can be transferred into a wide range of jobs/careers.

Although having all these choices for future careers can feel like a good thing, it can also feel a bit intimidating if you have no idea what you want to do. This site is your one-stop shop for all things employability development. It will support you through your employability journey and give you clear guidance on how to feel confident in how your degree makes you valuable to a future employee. 

If you are visiting this site and are midway through your degree, do not fear! You can start, pause, or develop an employability journey no matter what stage you are at in your degree. All you need to do is follow what your year focus is, and go back and fill in any gaps you think you might need to. 

There are also pages to support students who might have some extra considerations when they are thinking about their employability. International, Mature, and Neurodivergent/Disabled students can access dedicated pages to help them answer some of the specific questions they might have. 

How is this site tailored for School of English Students:

• Acknowledges that graduating can feel daunting if you aren't sure what you want to do - English degrees give you a lot of transferable skills, but this can feel complicated if you don't know which role/industry/career you will transfer them to.

• Offers you support in exploring, reflecting, and identifying the range of skills you are gaining from your English degree - helping you feel confident in the value of your English degree.

• Finding support can feel overwhelming - this site acts as a central place to help you know where you can find answers, offers suggestions on what you should be thinking about, and gives you access to activities to help you with your employability development.

• Addresses the challenges that students studying English Degrees might be facing (see graphic below)

How to use the site:

You can use this site in whatever way feels best for you. There is a structure to help you through your employability journey, but if this doesn't feel useful, please feel free to use the pages, activities, and guides as needed. 

If you would like to follow the site's structure, the best place to start is the 'My Employability Journey' page. This will help you get the most out of the activities and support on this site. 

Undergraduate students can navigate to your current year page. You can always look at the previous year's pages to fill in any gaps you might want help with, but each Year's Page will give you an appropriate focus and priorities for the year. Year Page has:

• A check-list for Semester One and Semester Two

• Pages for each reflection point throughout the year (Intro Week, Winter Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break)

Work your way through the checklists, navigate through the reflection point pages, and find guides, activities, information, and resources. 

Postgraduate students, once you have looked through the 'My Employability Journey' page, you can navigate to the PGT page.  This page is set out for a full-time student's timeline, breaking the year down with checklists, guides, activities, information, and resources. If you are a part-time student, this structure still applies - you can either work through the journey twice over the two years or you can spread the journey out over the two years. 

If you only want to access the activities and guides, then the 'Activities and Guides' page has all of the links to these. 

You can also use the dedicated pages for International, Mature, and Neurodivergent/Disabled students whenever you need them. They include signposting to specific services and extra activities and guides that will provide extra support in your employability journey.