… by Fionnuala / from London / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG)
With so many options open to you after studying a Maths degree, thinking about what career you might go into can be a very daunting experience. The ‘What are you going to do after uni?’ question has always been floating around, however, until I hit Honours years, I never felt under any pressure to have an answer. I had always thought about the options available to me and had spoken to countless people at careers fairs etc but still didn’t feel content with where I was at with regards to my career.
I knew I needed to speak to someone who could help guide me in the right direction and make me really think about what it was that I wanted to find from a career. Matt Vickers, our school’s career consultant, was an excellent help. We set up a 1:1 meeting to discuss all things careers. My biggest fear was going into the meeting having absolutely no clue what I wanted to do. I was very overwhelmed by the multitude of jobs accessible to me and could never seem to decide what was important to me when choosing a career.
Matt was extremely patient as I explained my personal situation regarding careers. He understood exactly how I was feeling and reassured me that I was not the only student in a position like this. We spoke a lot about my personal strengths, things I enjoyed, things I would like to experience in the future and things I could already rule out now. We discussed how different careers could contribute to these aspirations in different ways but also how starting in one career when you graduate does not determine where you may end up in the future.
Matt not only gave me lots of great advice during our meeting, but also sent me off with numerous resources to read and use in my own time. The combination of our talk and these resources really helped me make a first step towards understanding what I wanted from a career and what I wanted to learn more about before making any decisions. We met again once I had a better idea of the things I might be interested in and discussed how I could further enhance my knowledge and understanding of these roles.
The ideal way to know if a career is for you is to actually try it out! There are so many companies out there who offer work experience or internships and although these can often be very competitive to obtain, messaging or setting up a call with somebody who works in the job or industry you are interested in can also be extremely useful. The university also runs tonnes of weekly careers events which you can participate in, also allowing you to network with a wide range of professionals.
I decided to apply for some summer internship programmes and I am now extremely excited to be doing an internship with KPMG this summer in the Audit team, at their London office. I cannot wait to experience life inside one of the Big Four finance companies and learn about the industry. To anyone else who is feeling stuck when thinking about their future after uni, I would definitely recommend using the Careers Service and all the resources they have available to you! It is such a great source of help and support during your time at university (and after) which I wish I had utilized sooner!