Making the most of your

First Year
The Careers and Employability
Centrefor First Years
There are many things you can do from your first few weeks in
university that can improve your employability after you graduate.
Do not wait till your final year to come and visit us, the Careers and
Employability Centre can help you to develop your career from the
beginning of your first year.
We can help you to:
Develop your skills.
Find work experience and part time jobs.
Meet with employers and careers experts through our events
and careers advice sessions.
If you are not sure what kind of work you want to do yet, our
advisors are on hand to help you find opportunities that match with
your interests and develop your strengths.
Things you could do this year:
Find a part time job to get
valuable work experience.
Develop skills and abilities
through a hobby or
volunteering.
Find a first year internship or
insight day.
Meet with our advisors and
attend events that interest you.

I would urge everyone
to use the careers
service as much as
possible and as soon
as possible.
Sussex
Undergraduate
Work Experience
Internships
Many organisations offer internships and insight days for first
years. These are most common in finance, banking, and law. A
large number of these run in the spring term, so if you want to go
on them the best time to apply is the first term. You can talk to us
for help applying
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/gettingexperience/firstyears
The Sussex Junior Research Associates bursary is a good way
to get research experience over the summer, it is a paid bursary
open to students who are seriously considering postgraduate study
www.sussex.ac.uk/doctoralschool/juniorresearch
Work experience
Smaller firms may be able to offer work experience on an informal
basis.
Our website has advice about the best way to approach
companies speculatively to find work experience
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs/creativejobsearch
Paid part time work
If you want to work during term time, we suggest you start by
searching our jobs database:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs/search
We recommend that fulltime undergraduates do not work more
than 15 hours per week, and postgraduates do not work more than
20 hours a week so that you have time to focus on your studies.


Work on campus
Working on campus is a highly desirable option for many students,
and we attempt to advertise jobs that are relevant to students on
our jobs database.
The Students Union hires students to work part time in its bars, IT
centre, shop, box office, promotions, and letting agency. More
information about working at the Students Union is at
www.bit.ly/ussu-work
The university hires second and third year students to work as
Residential Advisers and Student Mentors. Recruitment will begin
at the end of the academic year
www.sussex.ac.uk/residentialservices/studentsupport
www.sussex.ac.uk/studentlifecentre/academic/mentors

International students
If you are an international student and want to get paid work you
should get a National Insurance Number for tax reasons. This is
not the same as any travel or health insurance you may have. It is
free to get, and issued by the government.
More information about National Insurance numbers are on our
site www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/jobs/tax
To apply for a National Insurance Number call 0845 6000 643
More information about working as an international student is on
our website:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/aboutus/internationalstudents




Developing your skills
Skills from your course
Getting a good degree is important. We can help you improve your
study skills, for example essay-writing, reading strategies, time
management, etc. Tips and advice can be found at the S3 website
www.sussex.ac.uk/s3. Any opportunity in your course to gain
additional experience will help you in the future too.
Your course is a valuable source of skills and experience for your
future career. You can use Skillclouds to see how what you have
done on your course relates to skills employers want.
You can find this on www.sussex.ac.uk/skillclouds
Skills on campus
You can find many useful opportunities to develop skills on
campus.
the Students UnionYou can join a society or club to get
organisational experience. The Union also needs volunteers
to help keep it running.
if you are interested in media, or marketing, you could
volunteer to help with the Students Unions media projects,
for instance The Badger, The Pulse, URF, or UniTV.
you can get involved by working as a Student
Representative for your year and subject
Skills Hub brings together training and skills development
support offered through different groups in the university
www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub
ENACTUS is a group that runs social and commercial
projects to help the local community and develop students
into socially responsible leaders.

free short courses are on offer to Sussex students from IT
Services and other departments.
the Universities Royal Naval Unit has a ship assigned to
Brighton and Sussex Universities and offers opportunities for
students www.sussex-urnu.co.uk
The Careers and Employability Centre events can help you
gain skills, we run regular events for presentation skills,
commercial awareness and networking.
StartUp Sussex is an annual programme to help people
develop entrepreneurship skills run by the Sussex Innovatiion
Centre and the Careers and Employability Centre, there is an
opportunity to get funding and support to get a business
started.
Learning to Lead is our leadership training course. It helps
you to develop your own leadership skills, and present your
skills to employers
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/learningtolead
Skills in the community
Brighton has a large number of museums, galleries, charities, and
social groups that need help from volunteers. Getting involved can
be a good way to gain skills and make useful contacts.
The Students Union Volunteering Services team can help to
organise volunteer opportunities
www.sussexstudent.com/volunteering
Community Base www.communitybase.org and ESCIS
www.escis.org.uk list voluntary opportunities in Brighton.
Present yourself effectively
Having a record of what you have done can be very helpful when
you apply for jobs. SussexPlus is a way to record your skills,
experience, and qualifications in an attractive webfolio that you can
use like an online CV sussex.ac.uk/careers/sussexplus
Career Advice and Events
Meet graduate employers
Employers come to campus and make presentations every week
during term time. You can find out what they look for in new
recruits and this can help you plan your development. The Autumn
Careers Fair and Spring Make it happen! events are large events
where you can meet with employers
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/events

Understand yourself better
Know yourself better and engage in some realistic self appraisal by
using some of our psychometric assessments
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/careerchoices/interests. If you are
unsure of what direction you want to head in, these short exercises
are a good way to get started!

Learn about employment sectors
Prepare yourself for your future by exploring sectors that interest
you www.guides.careers.sussex.ac.uk. These web pages have
links to help you get relevant experience related to your interests
and to your degree subject.

Talk to an adviser
Careers advisers are available for discussions, CV feedback, to
help you prepare for interviews and many other things!
As a first year, you might want to talk to us about ways to get the
most out of your university experience in terms of skills and work
experience.
Further Resources
For more information about Part Time Work look in our
Looking for Part Time Work Booklet.
International students can find information about working in
the UK and tax requirements on our website
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/aboutus/internationalstudents
If you are interested in a particular employment sector you
can find more information on our Sector Guides
www.guides.careers.sussex.ac.uk
You can keep up to date with us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/SussexCareers and on Twitter
@sussxunicareers