Careers Service launches first-ever Expansive Futures series for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences students
The past teaching term saw a Careers Service first – a month-long multi-disciplinary career development series, Expansive Futures: Careers in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. When we sat down to design the series, we knew it’s going to be a good one, but the end result exceeded even our most optimistic expectations!
- 14 different panels were arranged, covering topics from film and TV to marketing, from public sector to heritage, from charity to law.
- 48 panellists, including alumni and representatives from local businesses, volunteered their time to share their insights.
- Over 650 of you engaged with the events, many joining us for more than one event.
We were delighted to get some really positive feedback, so read on to find out what some of our lovely students had to say:
Lucy, BA English
Like many other humanities students at Bristol, I have felt the looming pressure to pick a career path which comes with the final year of university. Speaking to other English students, it is common to feel both overwhelmed and underwhelmed when it comes to considering relevant job opportunities in the field. It is hard to know where to look when you are told that your degree is relevant for most jobs, but no one specific career.
It was a relief, therefore, to see a variety of careers that would be highlighted in the Expansive Futures series. I attended the talks on marketing, film and TV, and publishing and journalism, as I am currently considering many different lines of work.
If I were to summarise these talks in one word, it would be ‘comforting.’ Hearing the perspectives of graduates who have found a path through the elusive worlds of professional and creative writing has given me a lot of hope for my future. Their emphasis on ‘squiggly careers,’ in particular, helped me to reframe my view of life as a ‘ladder’ towards success (something which had felt really intimidating), and to start taking steps towards a career in professional writing.
Sofia, BA English
I was attracted to the ‘Getting into Law with a non-law degree’ talk because, as an English undergrad, I wanted to learn more about the paths I could take with my degree. I also wanted to learn more about the law sector, as it’s one with considerable range and variation.
I came away from the talk with a better understanding of the difference between Corporate and Human Rights/Social Justice law. I learnt about the different qualification routes open to me, as well how to share the skills I’ve picked up in my degree on a job application.
After attending the talk, I plan to also go to the insight days and the law fair organised by the University Careers Service. I will also follow the speaker’s advice and ‘reverse engineer’ people’s LinkedIn profiles, to understand their different career routes and gain inspiration from them. I will also make use of the resources available on mycareer, which should make understanding my skills and building job applications simpler.
Charlie, BA Classical Studies
Looking at career events, it is easy to become disheartened at the lack of humanities or arts-based support. This is where the Expansive Future series by Bristol Careers Service has been valuable.
The carefully catered events in this series are attractive points, I can find events that I would never think would be easily accessible to me, such as ‘Heritage, museums, art galleries’ and ‘Writing, publishing and journalism’ that are focused on students who do arts, humanities and social sciences.
Through my attendance, I have taken away information that I am actively using in my career considerations. This has included: applying to jobs I would not consider myself fully qualified for, asking for interview questions before the interview and the confidence to not pursue a master’s straight after my undergraduate. Some of this advice may seem obvious however, hearing it come from professionals in the humanities helps to put it into perspective.
If I was to describe Expansive Futures in one word it would be: ‘insightful’. Not only is the information you gain from just going enough to inspire change but, engaging critically with the advice and using it to enhance your journey, may be life changing.
The Expansive Futures series will be back next academic year, so we look forward to welcoming you to some of the exciting events!