Careers provides a complete service for existing and former students of the University. We also offer support to those who may be considering courses here. There are many things to consider when choosing what course to take and where you want to study. You may also be weighing-up the benefits of going into higher education. Questions you have might include:

• What skills or qualities would I develop through degree study - and how would they help my career?
• What is the point of doing a degree when I could go straight into a job and work my way up?
• How do I choose my subject...and what are sandwich courses, joint and combined honours courses?
• What is the difference between doing a degree in, say, English at one university and doing a course with the same name at another institution?
• What sorts of things are important in choosing where to apply?
  • Facilities?
  • Location?
  • People?
  • Scale?
  • Teaching style?
  • Costs?
• How can I make my application impress the admissions staff?

To find out more make enquiries with admissions staff and academics from individual departments: they are usually willing to discuss their courses and requirements. Also use your Connexions* Careers Specialists for advice about choosing courses and making applications. Some websites you might find useful are listed below - bear in mind that your career decisions start before going to university. This is true even if you choose to take a non-vocational subject in order to give you more time to think about your long-term plans.

The Careers Service at the University offers friendly and confidential support from the start of your course right through until after you graduate. Workshops and employer events are organised throughout the year. We also provide students with a variety of paper based and online careers resources enabling you to develop your career management skills and find the information you need. Typical areas where we support students at Chichester are:

• Career planning and decision-making (especially for those who are unsure abut what they want to do)
• Evaluating individual preferences, skills and motivations and turning these into potential careers
• Researching career ideas
• CVs and job applications
• Preparing for interviews
• Psychometric testing
• Graduate job hunting
• Progressing into postgraduate study
• Gaining relevant skills or experience
• Developing career management skills

As well as providing individual guidance and information about careers we also offer a 'Jobshop' vacancy service to help you find temporary and part-time work while you study, and Volunteers@chi enables students to gain valuable experience in a wide range of fields. Please use these links or the links on the Careers homepage to find out more.

Useful links for those considering higher education:

UCAS is the main starting point for information about all aspects of higher education and the simplest, fastest way to locate universities, colleges and particular courses: www.ucas.com.

The interactive map from Wolverhampton is useful to see what higher education institutions are available in particular geographical regions: www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/ukinfo/uk.map.html.

Connexions - find your local service for careers advice: www.connexions-direct.com. (*Please note these services are funded to work with young people but in some instances may provide support for adults).

The government site promoting and providing information on higher education: www.aimhigher.ac.uk

Quality Assurance Agency - oversees standards in higher education. They have introduced a useful section related to student choices: www.qaa.ac.uk/students/default.asp.

Research Assessment Exercise - the last round was in 2001. Follow the results link for information via subject or institution: www.hero.ac.uk/rae/index.htm.

Overseas Students

The UCAS site has a specific section for international students: www.ucas.com/studyuk/index.html

UKCISA provide some excellent information and handouts for international students applying to UK courses: www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/index.php

The British Council: www.britishcouncil.org/new

Also - see our page for International Students.