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How I Boosted My Productivity Using The Pomodoro Technique

By Anna McConachie, English student blogger Faced with four large essays and a dissertation to write over the Christmas break, I was feeling overwhelmed. When a friend suggested I try the pomodoro technique, at first I was sceptical. But after too many days spent at my laptop, I decided to try it, and was happily …

Key Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Career

By Leonie Farrar, religion, philosophy and ethics student blogger Do you know what you want to do after university? At the start of my degree, I had no idea what future career I wanted. However, I took some time to think about the following key questions which helped me to narrow down my career options. …

My Journey to Securing an Optional Placement Year

By Daria Paterek, English student Despite being an English undergraduate, I discovered my love for marketing during my first year, when I managed a university society’s social media channels. This experience led me to gain work experience in marketing, which solidified that I wanted to pursue it as a career. After browsing work experience opportunities …

Spotlight On Publishing – What I Learnt

By Anna McConachie, English student blogger Publishing is a growing industry. Last year UK consumer book sales climbed 7% to £2.1bn according to a BBC News article. If you’re an English or humanities student like me, I’m sure you’ve considered it as a career. Here’s what I learnt from a recent publishing event hosted by …

Taking Part in Work Experience in the UK

By Yun-San, English Language and Literature international student What were your original career ideas when joining the university? When I started at the University of Nottingham I planned to further my studies and become an academic, but I have now decided to be more flexible with my career plan. I’d still like to complete a …

Turn Your Passion for Space Into a Career

By Cristina Vrînceanu, Postgraduate Research Student “ ‘Space’, it says, ‘is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.’ ” This is how Douglas Adams describes space, but …

Surviving Psychometric Tests

By Christian Jameson-Warren, Employability Education Projects Officer When I hear the word ‘test’, I immediately think ‘pass’ and ‘fail’. Actually, mostly ‘fail’. With some pressure to not even pass, to just ‘not fail’. To avoid failure. To avoid being not good enough. Might sound a little dramatic, but from my conversations with students I don’t …

Still Waiting for Your Career ‘Lightbulb Moment’?

By Jo Workman, Senior Careers Adviser Are you waiting for a flash of inspiration, or a ‘Eureka!’ moment when the perfect career idea appears in front of you?   You might be hoping that as you go through your course it will all become clear what you want to do. You’ll have your lightbulb moment and …

Six Good Reasons to Use eCareersGrad

By Cathy Sibley, Employability Education Projects Officer Do you have a job interview coming up? Or have you had a few interviews and thought you’d done ok, but they’ve not resulted in a job offer? If so, this new resource could be just what you need to elevate your job interviews from average to excellent. …

Career Planning: Preparing Yourself for the Highs, Lows, and Everything In Between

By Susie Ward, Counsellor from the University Counselling Service Navigating your emotions whilst exploring your career options and making applications can be tough. It’s normal to feel positive emotions, such as excitement and hope about future opportunities but often it’s easy to overlook the fact that sometimes negative feelings will surface too. Fear, anxiety, hopelessness, …