I’m a National Careers Service Adviser – Ask Me Anything

Thanks for clarifying this. You could look into typing up any notes that you need so that you can refer to them later or ask the person who is training you to email through what you have been trained on and then you could print off the notes to understand any notes in future.

I hope this helps! Please get back in touch if there is anything else that we can help you with.

Samrita.

Do you mean just write the notes whilst being instructed how to do the task, even though they may well be messy and not enough elaborate, and then latter on in the day rewrite them up (either on computer or on paper) ? If so, is this supposed to be done whilst in the workplace?

Didn't get the second bit, asking the person who is training me to email through what I've been trained on. Do you mean any notes he may have with him for the getting the task done? If so, I find that bigger firms usually have this option, but the smaller ones might not, or if they do then the "internal" notes (like say some made by the predecessor/prior employee on the chair) won't be necessariy correct or aren't clear to you personally etc.

I ask, because personally I've found that if the notes made aren't of quality, in other words they're not elaborate or clear enough, then chances are repeated questions, confustions etc you'll naturally ask your line manager (or whoever is instructing/training you), which can make them bit angry on you and disturb them during their own work if you see what I mean...

Thanks

Thanks for getting back in touch...only you will know what is best for you in terms of the notes you make, if you feel that it would be best to make messy notes and then type these up later and also if your employer will allow you to do this. You could speak to your employer to discuss this. Also, it may be helpful to communicate to your trainer to adjust their speed so that you are able to make notes that are of a quality that you can understand in the future.

It would be brilliant to give you a complete answer but it all comes down to the way you learn and what is best for you and the company.

I hope this sounds okay!

Samrita.

Thanks, much appreciated.

Also, how late can you apply to Graudate Schemes ? Would 3 years and more (from graduation) be unacceptable ? Thanks

You're welcome...as long as you meet the requirements for the graduate scheme it should not matter how long ago you gained the qualifications. For example, if a job asks for specific GCSEs or A-levels, it doesn't matter how long ago an individual gained these as these do not go out of date and the same goes for your degree. As long as you meet the requirements that are set by the employer, you are able to apply.

Hope this is helpful!

Samrita.

Hi there
which university would accept me for automotive engineering without doing A level maths?

Hi, great question! This will all depend on the university and their requirements. I would advise contacting universities direct to see if they will accept you onto the course without this qualification, if this is a set requirement. It may be that they need you to gain specific skills that are gained from the maths subject. Speaking to the universality will help you understand what they look for in applicants and see if you are able to gain other skills or apply with other subjects. I suggest this as they are the ones who set the requirements and also decide if an individual is accepted onto the course.

You can check university courses on the UCAS website and gain contact details by looking on university websites:

www.ucas.com

I hope you're able to explore automotive engineering courses soon to look into the requirements needed.

I hope this has helped and please get back in touch if there is anything else that we can help you with!

Samrita.

Hi there!

I am a Y13 student and would like to do find an internship (probably 1-2months) this summer. I am going to Uni this September.

I understand that internships are usually made for graduates/current uni students, but are there other opportunities for me/people in this awkward position to gain valuable experiences whilst getting paid?

thank you very much!

Hi tom, i'm currently in year 13 at sixth form and am struggling with my mental health and the pressures of the exam period. I would like to do all 3 of my A levels but with the way my life is going at the moment i really am struggling to keep up with the workload. is there any way i could go to uni with 2 decent a level grades; potentially through clearing?

Hi, I'm in year 11 and I'm not too sure if I want to work in the government or start up my own business, is there any work experience that I could do in the summer that could give me an insight of each and help me chose? I'm not sure if to do maths, economics and politics or maths, business and sociology.

Hi,

Thanks so much for getting in touch, I’m really sorry to hear that you feel you’re struggling but it’s brilliant you’re looking for some advice.

The first thing I would say is that your health must always come first when thinking about school and university in the future so I would strongly recommend speaking with your family, friends and teachers about how you are feeling. If the workload is getting on top of you, hopefully those you speak with will be able to work with you to find a better way for you to cope and help you feel more confident about your studies!

There are a lot of services and helplines that can provide more in-depth information about mental health so I’ve included a link to some below – if you ever need to speak with anyone outside of your social or family group, there will be a lot of people ready to help:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

With regards to the A-level side of things, universities will always take individual circumstances into account so the likelihood of you being able to apply for university with 2 A-Level grades in very high!

Depending on the type of course or career you’re interested in, I would recommend starting by having a look at the UCAS website (www.ucas.com) as they list all the entry requirements for different degree courses across all the universities in the country – you can hopefully get a better idea of what sort of grades you’re aiming at before you need to make a final decisions.

I would also recommend speaking with them directly as well as the information on the websites can be quite general and if you wanted to get more specific details, speaking with a member of university admissions staff will certainly be useful!

I hope this helps to begin with but please feel free to get back in touch if there’s anything else we can help with.

Many thanks and good luck!

Tom.

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch!

There are a number for government based work experience positions you are able to apply for but I believe all the positions for this summer have already been taken but I’ve included the e-mail address and the website so you can get in touch to confirm and see if there are any alternative positions available

https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/lords/lordshro/student-placements/

[email protected]

There is also quite a good article about Civil Service placements which could be beneficial while you are looking for opportunities:

https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/public-service-charity-and-social-work/advice/289033-work-experience-in-public-service

With regards to starting your own business, many people begin this type of career by working within the industry first to build up working skills before setting out on their own – if you have a general idea about what area you would like to be working, a good starting point would be to volunteer or gain part time/temporary employment with a company to start learning how this particular business works from the inside.

It might also be useful to have a look through the details in the website below to gain a better understand of what it will take to build a business from scratch – obviously, lot of the information is catered towards those who are in a position to set up something straight away but the ideas are certainly useful to be aware of:

https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/thinking-of-starting-up-in-business

Subject-wise, the set of choices you’ve offered will both keep the career routes of government and setting up your own business open to you – a qualification in politics will undoubtedly be useful for you for government work and both the economics and business subjects will be extremely useful when it comes to your own business as well.

The final choice is yours but if you are struggling between the choices, try to think about the set of subjects you would enjoy most – after all, you must actually study these subjects for the next two years, you might as well enjoy the ride as well!

I hope this helps!

Tom.