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The respondent to this survey is Celina who is from a White Irish background.
| What qualifications did you hold prior to starting university? | 9 GCSEs (6As 3A*s)
4 A levels (3As, C) |
| What was the name of your course? | Chemistry & Mathematics - BSc/CheMat |
| While at university have you worked part-time? | Yes |
| While at university have you performed any voluntary work? | No |
| While at university have you undertake any work experience? | Yes |
| Please give details of your experience? | Worked in a shop during holidays and some term times. Did some work experience on a computer helpdesk |
| How useful did you find this work experience when it came to find a job after graduating? | The shop work was of limited use. It gave me some good customer care experience but little practical IT experience. The computer helpdesk was good experience and demonstrated a real commitment to the area I wanted to work in. |
| What is your status? | In full or part time employment |
| What is your job title? | Project Manager |
| What responsibilities do you hold? | Team leader for a team of Project managers responsible for line management and direction of the team as well as managing a portfolio of projects in our Support Services Department. |
| What do you enjoy the most about this job? | Managing my team and building their careers. Managing my own time effectively. The sector our company is involved in (Educational IT) |
| What do you enjoy the least? | The workload can be quite demanding at times. |
| What was involved in the recruitment process for this job? | A first interview and aptitude tests followed by a graduate assessment centre with more interviews, tests and team exercises. |
| Do you feel you have a career plan? | Yes |
| If so, how does your current situation fit into this plan? | I've progressed very fast over the past few years and have a plan to keep doing so aiming to become a senior manager within the department |
| When did you start thinking about what you wanted to do after graduation? Thinking back did you leave enough time for this? | At the start of my last year at uni. I should've started thinking about it before this and done some better work experience during the summer holidays. |
| Did you experience any difficulties when it came to finding work after graduation? If yes, please describe some of the problems you faced? | Yes. My degree was not in IT and I'd decided that was the area I wanted to work in. I had excellent exam results but no practical IT experience or qualifications. If I'd thought about it earlier I could've done something to address this. |
| What do you wish you had known before you started applying for jobs? | That experience in the area is more important than exam results to most companies. |
| What advice would you give to someone applying for jobs now? | Think about the job you want to do and make sure you can demonstrate your commitment to doing it, either by doing relevant courses, gaining qualifications or getting experience. |
| Would you have done anything differently while at university to prepare for your career? Please give details. | Chosen a relevant degree! |
| How do you feel your degree has prepared you for today's labour market? | Its value was fairly limited as I changed direction and am doing a job unrelated to my degree. Some of the assignments we had to do helped with presentations and teamwork. |
| What impact did your course have on your career aspirations? | Undecided still |
| Did you make use of the careers service at university? | Yes |
| If yes, please describe how you used the careers service. | Used the computers to match my areas of interest and skills to specific jobs. Looked at prospective employers. Helped create and fine tune my CV |
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