Anne Wilson, Head of Careers at Warwick, shares some of the ways the team has been bringing its services closer to you!

Each year the number of students accessing Careers & Skills services increases, so we're always looking at new ways to make our services more accessible. The ‘Careers & Skills Hub’ in the Oculus has been a huge success this year, providing support to 1,561 students via a central drop-in service during the autumn term.

Making space for support

Some departments are able to provide specific rooms for Careers & Skills activity, and to further increase our support across campus we've recently converted two rooms in the Faculties of Science and Social Sciences into dedicated spaces, or ‘Spokes’. They have created more visible space and convenient opportunities for those seeking careers support.

The rooms are perfect for one-to-one appointments, drop-ins and small group work, as well as Careers & Skills workshops. They also offer privacy and convenience, which we know students value highly. You can also book appointments with our advisers on days that work with your timetable, enabling us to offer a more flexible and responsive service. Appointments and other activities are all bookable through MyAdvantage.

The new spaces have gone down really well so far. Our Senior Careers Consultants supported over 800 students with careers guidance appointments in the autumn term, many of which were carried out in these Faculty spaces.

First year Philosophy student Toby Tremlett said, "As a philosophy student I’m normally found within a stone’s throw of the Social Sciences space. This means that rather than walking all the way to university house for a careers appointment, I've been able to leave seminars and walk straight into one. I've been in the room for a one-on-one and a group talk; both times I found it to be an ideal space. The windows make it seem more open than you would expect it to be, and the room is large enough for table discussions, whilst being not too big for a one-on-one."

What’s next?

We’re committed to ensuring that all students have access to our services, so we’ve also been working more closely with faculties on careers events and workshops. This has allowed us to provide guidance for even more students, particularly in the Faculty of Arts.

The Mathematics Institute has also provided a dedicated careers space for Maths students, which has helped us to build relationships with academics and raise the profile of Careers and Skills within the department. Discussions are currently taking place to explore the inclusion of Wellbeing appointments in this space.

Physics student Lucian Heeler said, “I met with a careers consultant in the careers room in maths and was pleasantly surprised to sit down next to a coffee table rather than a desk. It was relaxed and nice to chat away from the buzz of main campus, but mainly it was comforting to talk through my career ideas with someone more informed. At the very least, I came out with more perspective and ideas about how to find more information.”

“…rather than walking to University House for a careers appointment, I've been able to leave seminars and walk straight into one.”

Toby Tremlett, Philosophy