National Careers Service adviser LIVE on TSR tonight!

Hi!

National Careers Service adviser Tom here again to offer advice and information on all things careers, education and employment until 9pm!


Send me a message or post your thoughts here!

If I studied Medicine in university what would the minimum amount of years be? If I wanted to be a paramedic how many years in uni would I study for and could that degree apply to anything other than just being a paramedic?

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch.

Medicine is one of those degree subjects which will take a little longer than normal to complete, you’ll be looking at around 7 or 8 years’ worth of studies before becoming fully qualified.

In order to be a paramedic, you’ll be looking at around 3 years as a minimum for your university studies.

You’ll likely need to re-train in some form to look into moving your career to a different area but this might not necessary mean formal qualification like going back to university.

I’ve included the Job Profile page for a Paramedic below which might be useful as a starting point for you!

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/paramedic

Good luck!

Tom – National Careers Service team.

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch.

Medicine is one of those degree subjects which will take a little longer than normal to complete, you’ll be looking at around 7 or 8 years’ worth of studies before becoming fully qualified.

In order to be a paramedic, you’ll be looking at around 3 years as a minimum for your university studies.

You’ll likely need to re-train in some form to look into moving your career to a different area but this might not necessary mean formal qualification like going back to university.

I’ve included the Job Profile page for a Paramedic below which might be useful as a starting point for you!

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/paramedic

Good luck!

Tom – National Careers Service team.

Hello,

Was wondering if you had any general advice for job interviews?
I have my first ever job interview tomorrow however, it's on Skype.

Is it okay to ask them questions about the hours and general questions about the role? They haven't provided a great amount of detail in their advertisement :I

Thanks and hope you're having a good evening,
Cheese

Hello!


Thank you for the information, I feel like 7/8 years is way to long but 3 years seems okay. Do you think the pay is good for a paramedic or not worth it?

Also what extra training would you need to do?

Thanks

Hi,

The average salary for a paramedic is £40,040. A really useful way to compare average pay is to use a website which gives you Labour Market Information. One website which does this is LMI for all. You can compare statistical information about careers against each other or compare them against the national average. The link for this website is http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/widget/

With regard to the training you would need to move into a different career after being a paramedic this would be job specific depending on the career you moved into.

It might also be worthwhile to note that to become a paramedic, and in some cases to start training as one you would need a full manual drivers licence.

Good luck with everything!

Tom

Hi!

National Careers Service adviser Tom here again to offer advice and information on all things careers, education and employment until 9pm!


Send me a message or post your thoughts here!

Is engineering for shy people

Hi!

National Careers Service adviser Tom here again to offer advice and information on all things careers, education and employment until 9pm!


Send me a message or post your thoughts here!

hi i have an interview on Saturday and i have received the questions the interviewer is going to ask me, i was wondering if you could help me answer them: i am doing a pharmacy apprenticeship
1: what skills can you bring to this role?
why have you applied to this role?
where do you see yourself in 5 years?
why are you looking to get into this career?
thankyou

HI there,

First of all, congratulations on getting an interview! Getting that far means that they must thing you're a suitable candidate, so that's a really positive sign. I'll try to address the questions one by one...

What skills can you bring to this role - for this one it's probably worth referring back to the person specification in the job advert, it should list the skills and qualities required, for each one, try to think of an example of when you've exhibited it, either in work, study or elsewhere. What they're really looking for here is that you understand what you're applying for and what it entails.

Why have you applied for this role - be honest! If it's an apprenticeship then they're most likely looking for someone who wants to learn, improve and progress and develop a long term career. For most people, the answer is to gain knowledge and experience to further my career, and that's fine, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years - here they're looking ot see if you understand the bigger picture of the industry as a whole and where the role you're applying for could lead, so it's worth researching the organisation and learning about what else they do and what progression opportunities they offer. Again, be honest.

Why are you looking to get into this career - this is your chance to show your personal motivations, whatever they are, and get across how passionate you are about it. It's common that your answer for this will have some crossover with some of the other answers and that's totally fine, as long as it's genuine, that'll come across.

You might find this page on the Reed website useful, they cover some of those questions and have some other handy advice on interviews on there too... reed.co.uk/career-advice/common-interview-questions-and-answers

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any further questions. Otherwise, good luck for Saturday!

Thanks, Mark

thankyou you much for replying would i need to ask the employer a question at the end of the interview

It's not a bad idea, it makes it look like you're interested in them and that you've been putting a lot of thought into working there. You could ask them about what opportunities for progression there are, what a typical day looks like and you can ask the interviewer what they like about working there. Again, researching the organisation and trying to think of a question that shows you've done some research will really impress them, for example, 'I read...on your website and I wanted to ask...'