Planning your career throughout your degree studies ensures that you can make applications for graduate jobs or postgraduate courses in your final year and get your career under way. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to planning your future career, the ten questions below will help:

1. Do you have any ideas at all about careers which interest you, however vague these are? If so, make a note of these ideas and explore them further.

2. Do you wish to use the knowledge you have gained or will gain from your degree in your future career? If so, are there certain modules of your degree which you have enjoyed more than others? Try to explore job areas which could relate to these subjects.

3. Have you completed any work experience at all (even if this is unrelated to your degree subject)? Think about what you liked about this work experience and about skills which you enjoyed using.

4. Are there any jobs you have done that you didn’t enjoy? If so, why was this? Which aspects of the job(s) did you dislike?

5. Were there any career ideas you had when you were at school or college? If so, is it worth revisiting or reviewing these ideas?

6. Think about the feedback you have received from others (for example from tutors or from friends or family) about skills you excel in. Are there particular skills which you are naturally strong in?

7. Do you have any interests outside of university which are unrelated to your studies? For example, do you have any creative interests or do you do any voluntary work? It may be worth exploring career options which relate to these interests.

8. Are you willing to undertake further study if this is required by the type of career you want to go into?

9. What kind of environment would you like to work in? For example, do you see yourself working in an office, in a laboratory or outdoors?

10. Are there any other special circumstances which may affect the type of job you can go into? For example, are you only able to work certain hours or in a certain location?