Talk to a Careers Adviser
All Bristol students and staff can request an 'Advice' 15-minute appointment with a careers adviser. Requests should be made in person on the day of the desired appointment; telephone bookings may be possible only in circumstances where you are unable to walk-in to the Careers Service.
In addition, a limited number and type of appointments can be booked online:
- Postgraduate researchers can book 20 minute appointments to see Dr Samantha Cathro, the Careers Adviser with specialist responsibility for supporting PGRs.
- Practice Interviews: one-to-one (employer-led or careers adviser-led) (30 minute duration including feedback).
- Practice Telephone Interviews: one-to-one (employer-led) (30 minute duration including feedback).
We also deliver Practice Interviews: three-to-one, which may be employer or careers adviser led, which are events (rather than appointments) lasting 2 hours in which three students are interviewed in turn and each student has the opportunity to observe the other two students being interviewed.
Please note: in order to improve our delivery of careers information, advice and guidance services, and because at peak times the demand to talk to an adviser can be greater than the number of available appointments, the Careers Service operates a triage system for 'Advice' 15-minute appointments.
How to book an appointment?
What are my responsibilities?
When are appointments available?
What should I do before requesting an appointment?
How to... guides
What if you are unable to walk-in to the Careers Service?
How to book an appointment?
- Walk-in to the Careers Service and explain to Welcome Desk staff that you would like to talk to an adviser and the reason(s) why
- Welcome Desk staff will ask you questions about the reason(s) for your request in order to refer you to the most appropriate services and resources which may include:
- a demonstration of content available from the Careers Service website
- a referral to an Information Specialist at the Resources Help Desk if you need help locating or using resources
- a recommendation that you sign-up to attend an event
- and/or a referral to an appointment with a Careers Adviser
- Where appropriate, you will be offered a 15-minute appointment with a careers adviser available almost immediately or for a defined 15-minute time-slot later that same day. If no further appointments are available, you will be asked to try again on another day.
- Please note:
- Requests should be made in person on the day of the desired appointment; telephone bookings may be possible only in circumstances where you are unable to walk-in to the Careers Service.
- The more prepared you are before you talk to an adviser, the more efficient use you can make of the appointment time.
- A very limited number of appointments can be booked a day or more in advance on a case-by-case judgement of Welcome Desk staff, depending, for example, on the availability of careers advisers and whether or not you will be in the precinct for lectures, seminars and/or tutorials.
What if you are unable to walk-in to the Careers Service?
What are my responsibilities?
- Once an appointment has been booked you will receive an automated email confirming the time and date of the appointment.
- Please turn up five minutes before your allocated time. If you arrive up to five minutes late then your appointment will be shorter.
- If you arrive more than five minutes late then the careers adviser will be seeing the next student waiting and you will have missed your time slot.
- Careers advisers try to stick to the appointment times although there will be occasions when the appointments run a little late as the adviser has needed to spend longer assisting someone with a complex enquiry.
- If you are unable to attend an appointment, please ring the Welcome Desk on 0117 92 88221.
Please note: you must cancel your appointment booking if you can no longer attend. If you fail to attend any 2 bookings within a 30 day period you will be unable to make further bookings for 30 days. Appointments are often in high demand so you are likley to be denying another student or graduate the chance to talk to a careers adviser if you fail to cancel your appointment.
When are appointments available?
- Appointments are held within the Careers Service - how to find us
- In term time: appointments are generally available from 10:00-15:45 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 13:00-15:45 on Wednesdays
- Please note: During weeks 1 to 8 of the autumn term, Monday 8 October to Thursday 29 November 2012 inclusive, the Careers Service will remain open until 19:00 with appointments with a careers adviser available until 18:30
- In vacations: appointments are generally available from 14:00-15:45, Monday to Friday
- Please note: changes to opening hours are displayed separately
- If you are offered an appointment you will be asked to choose a 15-minute time slot from those remaining on that day
- In term-time and vacations, the last appointment is always at 15:45, assuming no one else is waiting
Please note: demand to talk to a Careers Adviser is greatest in weeks one to eight of the Autumn Term, from early October to mid/late November, in part because of the 'graduate scheme recruitment cycle'. We rota as many Careers Advisers as possible during this period to offer the maximum number of appoinments.
What should I do before requesting an appointment?
The more prepared you are before you talk to an adviser, the more efficient use you can make of the appointment time available. Many basic questions can be answered by reading content available from the Careers Service web site. For example, you may be wondering how to...
- write a covering letter and CV
- prepare for an interview
- prepare for a graduate aptitude test
- find part-time work
- sign-up for an event
- find information about occupations, further study and funding, employers, and international work and study
The How to... guides below summarise key resources for answering frequently asked questions.
However, the following examples, amongst many others, are some topics often raised with a careers adviser:
- I want feedback on my covering letter and/or CV [please print off a hardcopy]
- I have an interview coming up and would like to ask some specific questions about the process
- I haven't got a clue what I want to do
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of a post-grad course?
- I want to change my course. What should I do?
Please note: we do not offer proof-reading services for CVs or application forms; nor do we offer a careers-matching service - we cannot make decisions for you, although we can help you in the decision-making process.
How to... guides
The following How to... guides, as PDF files, provide summaries of key advice and resources available from the Careers Service:
- How to... decide what you want to do (PDF, 295 KB)
- How to... find funding for further study (PDF, 328 KB)
- How to... find work experience and internships (PDF, 372 KB)
- How to... find and gain a job (PDF, 309 KB)
- How to... find a job locally (PDF, 375 KB)
- How to... find international work and study (PDF, 302 KB)
- How to... draft CVs and covering letters (PDF, 320 KB)
- How to... prepare for interviews (PDF, 390 KB)
- How to... prepare for assessment centres and aptitude tests (PDF, 402 KB)
- How to... make the most of social media (PDF, 226 KB)
See also the following useful pages on the Careers Service website:
- How to... research employers
- How to... stay informed
What if you are unable to walk-in to the Careers Service?
- We can accept telephone appointment booking requests in certain circumstances only, such as where Bristol students/graduates are not within the precinct for lectures, seminars and/or tutorials. For example, you may be:
- studying at Langford
- travelling from outside Bristol
- on industrial or medical placements
- caring for relatives
- studying part-time and working full-time
- revising for exams at home
- working long hours in laboratories
- Telephone the Welcome Desk during opening hours on 0117 92 88221 although priority will be given to walk-in users and we cannot guarantee an appointment will be available on the day.
- Please note: we do not accept appointment booking requests via email
- As an alternative to talking to an adviser, students, staff and recent registered Bristol graduates unable to visit the Careers Service can explore the Advice & guidance and Resources web folders