What can our specialist careers service offer MSc students?

CareersPlus, Warwick Business School’s specialist in-house careers service, supports all WBS Masters students and works with offer holders, students and alumni. To help you understand how to get the most from CareersPlus, Careers Manager Alison Collins provides an overview of what the team can help with (and what they can’t!).

What we can help with
Our team of expert Career Coaches, sector-specialist Employer Relations Managers, and Online Resources Managers can help you to plan and execute your job search.  The support we offer includes:

Helping you decide what you want to do
Through conversations with your Career Coach, attending career decision making workshops and hearing from alumni and industry experts at our sector insight events, you will be able to build a thorough understanding of where your skills and interests lie, and to identify the jobs and companies that interest you.  Our events are designed to help you learn more about different jobs and industries, to understand what your career path might look like long-term and to gain insight into the pros and cons of different roles.  You can then explore this knowledge in more in-depth career coaching discussions to arrive at a decision.

Building your professional network
The WBS alumni network is extensive, with graduates working in a wide range of companies and industries all around the world, and during your course you will also have the opportunity to speak with recruiters from many top companies.  To help you make the most of these opportunities to expand your network, CareersPlus provides training on how to network effectively both online and offline, how to build a professional-looking LinkedIn profile and how to manage these relationships long-term to help you secure your target job.

Developing the skills recruiters look for
To complement the skills and knowledge you’ll gain through your course, CareersPlus offers training on a range of skills that recruiters tell us they look for, including networking, effective team working and developing commercial awareness.  You can also take part in job-specific training provided by industry specialists in areas such as asset management, M&A and consulting case interviews.  We also work with faculty to design and deliver modules such as Business in Practice and Leading through Influencing, to help you understand the practical realities of managing a business and working with a cross-functional team.

Making high-quality applications
To help you ensure your CV, cover letters and application forms stand out, we provide a comprehensive set of online resources including access to V Mock CV checking software.  Your career coach can also offer in-depth analysis and advice on how to tailor your CV to specific jobs.

Preparing for interviews and assessment centres
CareersPlus provides comprehensive support for interview and assessment centre preparation.  This includes interview skills workshops from careers specialists and recruiters, one-to-one mock interviews with questions tailored to the job you have applied for, and online resources to enable to you practise video interviews and review your answers.  We also run sector-specific mock assessment centres to help you practice your group discussion skills and get feedback from your assessors.

What we can’t do
Although we can help you every step of the way, we can’t do it for you. This means that the choice about what career you should pursue needs to be made by you, although we will offer you support and guidance to reach a decision.  Similarly, we can help you analyse your previous experience and identify the skills you want to showcase for each application, but your CV and application documents must be in your own words.

All of our MSc students can get access to our bespoke CareersPlus support, including one-to-one sessions, workshops, CV advice, and much more.