Common career queries

Firstly, and most importantly, you are not alone! The majority of students haven't had a professional career yet, so it's perfectly natural not to know where to start with your career planning.

That's where Student Futures can help you. There are so many activities and events that you can get involved in that will help you to explore possible careers, meet with professionals and listen to industry experts.

One really practical and useful way to start your career planning is by enrolling on our Cardiff Award, the university's employability award. The Cardiff Award will take you on a structured pathway designed to help you develop your employability skills and readiness for the world of work. It will also appear on your Higher Education Achievement Record for employers to see!

Again, this is extremely common amongst students! Whilst some students will come to Cardiff with a very clear future plan, the vast majority won't. And even those who have a concrete plan, evidence suggests that a high proportion of those students will change their mind whilst at university.

As outlined earlier in this Career Planning section, we suggest you start with the basics; better understand yourself, your values, strengths and motivations, research your options and create a career development plan.

While you're at university, it can feel like you don't have the time or energy to worry about anything else outside of your studies. You may also be juggling other commitments and responsibilities, for example a part-time job or being a carer. Working on your career development could include lots of different activities, for example enhancing your CV, booking a careers appointment, exploring career options or attending an employability skills workshop event. None of these are particularly time-consuming and in this new digital era, you can now undertake lots of these activities online in your own time.

We recommend taking small steps little and often and this can make it feel much less overwhelming.

If you do have additional responsibilities alongside your studies, you may be eligible to receive additional employability support from the Career Confident team in Student Futures.

As with all decisions in life, you can't really know if a decision has worked out well until you have a chance to reflect on it afterwards. We don't think it's possible to make a perfect decision; rather you should try to make a decision that's well informed by research and the resources available to you at the time.  Read our more detailed advice on making a career decision on this page.

1. Prepare - Rejection is a common part of job-hunting. It is important to prepare yourself for this and develop a strategy in order to cope with setbacks and refocus for your next application. You can read our advice on resilience with job-hunting
2. Ask for feedback - Many employers will provide feedback at the interview stage, though it is unlikely they will have the capacity to do this for unsuccessful applications or CVs. Any feedback you receive can highlight important areas for development. It could also boost your confidence, for example if an employer tells you that you gave an excellent interview but another candidate had more experience or was better qualified. Whilst this is still disappointing, there is nothing you could have done differently to affect the outcome!
3. Evaluate your applications - Remember with applications, quality over quantity is key! If you are submitting lots of applications and not getting anywhere, it is worth reviewing the quality of your applications. You're far better off spending more time tailoring high quality applications to a few jobs than firing off generic, low quality applications to hundreds of jobs. Read our advice on applications and interviews
4. Speak to a Careers Adviser - Book an appointment via your Student Futures Account to get expert feedback on your applications, interview technique and job-hunting strategies
5. Don't give up! - Perseverance pays off - keep going! You will find a job so try not to let rejection put you off submitting further applications. You never know which of your next applications could be successful, and as the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it!

Only about 12% of students go on to a graduate scheme! They are an important part of the graduate labour market but they're one of many different options available to you - and they're not for everyone. Most students will go on to graduate-level employment (jobs that you need a degree to do) but most of these jobs aren't graduate schemes. Read our advice on the graduate job market and the differences between graduate jobs and schemes.

Changing or leaving your course is a big decision. Read the Prospects advice on this to ensure you are making a well-informed decision and speak to a Careers Adviser to make sure you're definitely making the right call. If you are a current student, you can access further support about changing your studies on the student intranet.

You might have heard of the phrase 'comparison is the thief of joy' -  you will always feel inferior if you compare yourself to others and their success. Try to focus on your own achievements and effort. Even if you haven't secured a job or internship yet and others around you have, take pride in all the work you are putting in - it will pay off eventually! Finally remember that the success you see on social media is only the tip of the iceberg - you don't know the struggles, rejections or setbacks that those individuals might have experienced beforehand. The Squiggly Careers podcast has a useful episode on 'How to avoid the comparison trap'.