Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service

An interview with Amy Carpenter, Head of Careers, Employability and Enterprise

Hi Amy, tell us a bit about yourself

Hi Kate, I joined the University of Suffolk in August to lead the Careers, Employability and Enterprise team, and the wider strategic goals of ensuring employability and enterprise is embedded throughout the University journey. I worked in retail management and graduate recruitment prior to entering Higher Education in 2015, and even did my degree here at the University, back when it was known as UCS. I’m a fully qualified Careers Practitioner with a PGDip in Career Coaching, and spent the last two years at the University of Essex supporting students plan for their future. Although, thanks to Covid, most of that was spent teaching via Zoom in my spare bedroom! Aside from work, you’ll probably find me at the beach, baking, with my cat or badly attempting some kind of extreme sport (my husband’s currently trying to teach me to skateboard). It’s amazing to be back at Suffolk, and I’m particularly looking forward to working with our fantastic alumni!

Tell us about the new Careers, Employability and Enterprise service

We know that people do not stay in one job or organisation for life, and the average graduate remains in their first, graduate job for just 1-2 years. We also know that careers are no longer linear, and the journeys we will all take over our lives will be full of twists and turns. As a result, we want to make sure that we have a Service in place that reflects the future of work, and provides the right support to prepare all students to be able to navigate the variety of different paths and options they may take as a University of Suffolk graduate. To do this, we’ve brought together the Careers and Enterprise support to establish the new Careers, Employability and Enterprise team. This will mean that we can provide a rounded package of support, and ensure students are not only ready to apply for their next role, but can explore freelance and portfolio careers, business start-up, further study, and all combinations! We want to prepare people for a future where finding a job in an organisation is not their only option…

How can your team support our graduates?

We are currently able to support graduates for three years after graduating from their most recent course, so please be assured that we are still here for you, even though you’re no longer a student potentially no longer living near campus. You can continue to access the full service, including 1:1 appointments with an Adviser via Microsoft Teams, attendance at our online and campus events, and access to our online platform, FutureMe. You can also continue to access FutureMe past the three years after graduating. And don’t forget, that we’re not here just to talk about jobs – we can help you explore postgraduate study, becoming a freelancer, and making your business start-up idea a reality/expanding your current business. If you know what you want to do, but aren’t sure how to get there, have absolutely no idea, or are somewhere in between, it doesn’t matter, please reach out to us so we can help you set and achieve your goals.

How can our graduates get involved?

For those of you who would like to support students and recent graduates with their future plans, we’d also love to hear from you! We know that hearing from other alumni is an essential part of the student journey, to provide advice and insights on their path to the current day, and to inspire current students to explore their options before the end of their degree. If you’d like to support current students, please get in touch. There are so many options, including guest talks, offering work experience (and there’s lots of ways to do this, beyond internships and placements), and attending large scale careers events. We also love to share case studies and stories in our classes to support teaching, so you could get involved with something as simple as sharing your story. We’d also be particularly keen to hear from graduates that have successfully started a business or established themselves as a freelancer — it doesn’t matter if it is your full-time job, or a side hustle alongside other things; we want to build a community of support for students who want to make a job rather than taking a job, and would love to see alumni at the heart of that.

What’s the best way to get in touch?

If you’re a graduate who would like careers support, please email the team on careers@uos.ac.uk so you can book a 1:1 appointment.

If you are a graduate who would like to give back to the University community, please email alumni@uos.ac.uk

To access FutureMe, visit suffolk.careercentre.me/welcome/Suffolk