Y3 Intro Week

Beginning your final year can feel like a mixture of feelings – this is your reminder that it is not too late to try new things, join societies, take part in activities, and attend events. It is also okay if you are entering your final year with no clear plan or ideas for life after you graduate – this year is all about planning. Your plan might include definite career plans, giving yourself time to continue exploring and reflecting on yourself and your potential career paths, or a bit of both of these things.

Intro week is all about reminding yourself of the support and services you can access, and where you can find opportunities to develop your employability.

The checklists, questions and activities below will help you practice your planning skills.

Checklist:

• Log into Career Connect and update your profile 

• Familiarise yourself with the Sheffield Graduate Attributes 

• Complete the mySkills assessment

• Attend the Intro Week Events at the Student's Union 

• Explore the Societies and decide if you want to join any 

• Look at the Give It A Go events and decide which ones you might want to attend 

• Explore part-time jobs/volunteering opportunities 

• Find out where you can ask questions about your employability and future career

• Answer the reflective questions 

• Use the activities, guides, and question prompts below to explore and reflect on your employability

PLAN: 

These questions will support you in your reflection this week. Working through these questions and the activities listed will help you reflect on your degree experience so far and what you want the next stage of your experience to be. If you have specific questions about your employability, finding work experience, academic options, placements or Year Abroad, then use the web pages listed to help you find these answers. 

• Reflective Questions 

  • Reflect on your time at University so far

    • What did you enjoy the most?

    • What has been hardest?

    • Do you know who to reach out to if you have problems/questions?

    • Have you reached out to someone?

    • How useful was this? Would you change anything?

    • What skills do you think you have developed?

    • Have you tried something new?

    • Have you joined any societies?

    • Do you have any goals for next year?

    • If you are feeling stuck, do you know how to find help?

  • Understand your Goals for next academic year

    • What kind of work experiences would I like to get?

    • Which transferable skills would be most useful for me to develop?

    • Which academic skills would be most useful for me to develop?

    • Where there any societies I could join?

    • Is there something new I would like to try?

  • Questions to ask yourself about Placement Years and Year Abroad

    • What is appealing about doing a Placement Year? Can you see how it might benefit you?

    • Would a Year Abroad be interesting or add to my university experience as a whole?

    • What kind of industries can you apply for? Which might be most interesting for you?

    • Do you know where you can find advice on Placements or Year Abroad?

• Activities to help your Reflection:

  • Decision-Making Activity

Use this activity to help you make choices that are the best for you. You can use this when you are thinking about future choices, Placement Year, Year Abroad, joining a society etc. 

• • Identifying My Skills

Reflecting on your own skills in Intro Week can help you see which skills you might want to develop this year. You can use this activity alongside the mySkills assessment on Career Connect to have a more detailed overview of your strengths and areas of development.

• • Reflective Statement

Writing a reflective statement in Intro Week can help you find your priorities and goals for the upcoming year. This might include continuing to explore support, asking questions, making choices, or trying new things.  

• • How to reflect - Gibbs Reflective Cycle

There are lots of systems of reflection, and you can choose whichever one makes the most sense to you. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a popular and clear system to start with. You can also find other ways of reflection on this 301 Academic Skills Centre web page. 

• Useful Web pages: 

  • Careers and Employability Service

The Careers and Employability Service has lots of information covering the basics of employability development and the job application process and sharing information about specific topics and support. 

• • Career Connect

Find events, vacancies, your mySkills profile, your 'my development experiences', and information about your employability development. 

• • The Student Union Website 

The SU has lots of resources and information covering a wide range of topics. This includes academic support, money advice, housing support, and work and employability. Exploring what kind of support the SU can offer can be helpful for any future challenges you might face.  You can also find events, societies, and activities happening throughout the year. 

• • School of English Hub

This site gives you information about your course, assessments, modules, wellbeing advice, and useful contact details in the School.

• • Arts and Humanities Employability Hub 

This hub has a wide range of information, resources, and advice about your employability as an Arts and Humanities student. This covers where to find job adverts, support, and a dedicated page for students in the School of English. 

• • 301 Academic Skills Centre

This service is a really useful resource for developing your academic skills through workshops, 1-2-1 sessions, and online resources. Your academic skills are transferable outside academia and can be a great way to develop your employability.