Consultations With A Career Development Consultant

Consultations are FREE to registered UCT students and can be booked on MyCareer. Common issues that students discuss include:

• Exploring career options and ideas
• Discussing changing degrees or courses
• Exploring options after graduation
• Finding out about jobs and sectors
• Applications and interview advice
• Looking for vacation, part time or graduate work
• Applying for bursaries, scholarships or postgraduate study
• CV and cover letter reviews (before seeing a career development consultant, make sure that you have used our resources and improved your CV according to what is suggested)

Get the most out of your visit to a career development consultant by preparing questions to ask them ahead of time. Here are a few common queries:

• How can I use my subject?

  Are you wanting to use the knowledge content of your subject (e.g. if you study History, doing something historically related) or the methods of work and skills gained from your subject (e.g. using the research and writing skills you have gained through studying History)?

  Here are some suggestions:

  • Use the section Options With My Degree to see particular ideas and links that are subject related.
  • Find out what people who have studied what you are studying do for a living. Visit our Graduate Gallery, and watch out for the networking and careers talks organised by the careers service that feature graduates talking about  what they do.
  • Many companies visit career expos on campus and you can visit their stalls and find out what work they offer and what their organisation offers.
  • Learn more about different skills that most organisations are wanting.

• I don’t know what to do when I graduate

  This can certainly make you feel insecure.

  Remember there are various outcomes to degrees: some are clearly vocationally based, like medicine, or chartered accounting and others are broad- based, providing a general education, with no single obvious career outcome. The latter is not a weakness, by the way, just a difference. Interestingly, many graduates can (and do) work in an area that bears no resemblance to the subject matter of their degree. But be careful, some professions have specific requirements.

  The point is, many don’t, and what employers require is for employees to display a broad range of skills and attributes: interpersonal skills, self-awareness, problem-solving, flexibility and teamwork to name just a few. None of these are unique to a particular subject or degree, but can be acquired through a range of study areas, as well as part time or voluntary work and extramural involvement.

  Other parts of this website that will help you:

  • Look at identifying skills.
  • Explore options with my degree
  • Keep in touch with the various employer and career education networking events on campus. Look at what is happening on MyCareer.
  • Discuss your situation by seeing a career development consultant

• What if I don’t like the career options directly related to my degree?

  There is no rule that says you have to follow the obvious outcomes of your degree. Remember that employers look for skills, and you may already have skills that can open up alternative options.

  Think about your options by:

  • Looking at what you are good at and what you enjoy
  • Keeping in touch with employers that visit campus and with career education events, Make sure your MyCareer profile is up to date
  • Interview people in jobs that fascinate you. This is called informational interviewing.
  • Look at the skills employers look for.

• What if I am not enjoying my subjects or my degree?

  Start by asking yourself why you chose this course in the first place. Did you have limited access to information about your options? Did you not get into your first choice and are landed with a second choice you put down just for the sake of it? Or were you heavily influenced by your peers, a sibling, parent or teacher?

  Some students even take on a course because with it they could get a bursary, and without this funding they would not be able to study. Also look carefully at whether it is your whole degree that you are unhappy with, or just one or two courses, or even a part of a course. Sometimes that can put things into perspective, and help you to identify your unhappiness. If you look back and identify that you took your degree for the wrong reasons, imagine that you were back at the beginning. Using the knowledge and experience gained, what would you study if you could choose all over again? Look thoroughly at your options, and make sure you research the course content.

  Some practical steps you can take:

  • See a Career Development Consultant to chat through your options and get ideas.
  • Consult a curriculum advisor in your faculty to find out the possibilities of changing streams or majors .
  • If you are looking to change to a degree in another faculty, consult a curriculum advisor in that faculty to see if you would get credits for courses you have already passed. Read this resource.
  • Ask other students in courses you want to move to if you can have a look at their textbooks or course outlines.
  • If you are a bursary holder, rather be honest about being unhappy and discuss options available to you, than keeping quiet, failing, and losing your bursary anyway.
  • Realise that if you are down, unmotivated and unhappy, it is very difficult to perform – you may need support from the UCT Student Wellness Service. 
  • Use the section, Options With My Degree and look at the resource that is linked to your subjects.