Supported career planning

Source: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/careers-resources/final-year-ug/careers-support/scp/ Parent: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/careers-resources/

In addition to the support all students can get from Careers and Placements, we are able to offer enhanced careers support to eligible undergraduates and recent graduates. This enhanced offer is designed for those who may experience specific barriers impacting their career journey, providing space for deeper reflection, planning, and progression.

"The key reason why I would recommend the service was how bespoke it was. I got to know my careers advisor really well, and they offered me incredibly tailored advice and support." Social and Political Sciences student

Supported Career Planning

Through a series of up to six one-hour sessions with the same Careers Advisor, final year students and recent graduates can benefit from consistent guidance that is responsive to their individual needs and circumstances - helping them to build confidence and take meaningful steps towards graduate employment or further study.

Watch our intro video to find out more

Supported Career Planning (Short)

Through a one-hour career planning session, followed by a 30-minute follow-up, undergraduate students and recent graduates can benefit from a longer appointment than our standard 20-30 minute careers appointments. This is designed to support you if you have a specific challenge you would like support to address.

If you think you might be interested, read on to find out more...

Eligibility criteria

For Supported Career Planning (up to 6 hours), you must be a University of York undergraduate home student in your final year of study, or a University of York home graduate (with a Bachelor's degree) who graduated in the last 12 months, with one or more of the personal circumstances listed below:

For Supported Career Planning Short (1.5 hours), you must be a University of York undergraduate home student in any year of study, or a University of York home graduate (with a Bachelor's degree) who graduated in the last 12 months, with one or more of the personal circumstances listed below:

Personal circumstances:

Disabled students (this includes students with long-term health conditions, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health conditions)
Students who are care leavers
Students who are care experienced
Estranged students (The term ‘estranged student’ describes someone who has no communication with both of their biological or adoptive parents, and the situation is likely to remain permanent)
Students in receipt of a York Bursary or the Care Leavers and Estranged Students Bursary
Students who were eligible for free school meals or discretionary payments at high school/college (not including universal infant free school meals)
Students whose address they lived at before applying to university is within an IMD Quintile 1 postcode area (only applicable to UK postcodes).

How to check the IMD Quintile of your home postcode

For England

Go to the English indices of deprivation 2019 data lookup tool.
Enter your postcode in the ‘Enter postcodes’ box.
Click ‘Get deprivation data' green box.
Once complete the page will tell you if your postcode has been matched.
The matched data for your home postcode will be available as an xlsx or csv file. To open in Excel, download the xlsx file.
Column F in the downloaded spreadsheet gives you the Index of Multiple Deprivation Decile. This will be a number from 1 to 10.
Decile 1 or 2 = IMD quintile 1

For Scotland

Go to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) tool.
Enter your postcode in the ‘Enter postcodes’ box and click ‘Submit'.
Once complete the page will tell you the SIMD Area number.
SIMD Area 1 = IMD quintile 1

For Northern Ireland

Go to the NI Multiple Deprivation Measures tool
Enter your postcode in the ‘Enter postcodes’ box and click ‘Search’.
The tool will show your Super Output Area (SOA) name and a list of ranks and quintiles
Look at the ‘Multiple Deprivation’ row and check the ‘Quintile’ column
Most deprived 20% of areas in Northern Ireland = IMD quintile 1

For Wales

Go to the Welsh index of Multiple Deprivation Index webpage
Scroll down the page to the ‘Files’ section
Select and download the ‘Postcode to WIMD rank look up’ (3rd file listed)
Open the Postcode to WIMD look up spreadsheet and select the tab along the bottom of the page labelled ‘Postcode_to_LSOA_WIMD_rank
In column A of the spreadsheet, enter your home postcode and ensure you do not leave any blank spaces
Column G will show the IMD Quintile number

AND

Be experiencing barriers to your ability to secure a graduate level job or further study, meaning you need more flexible and enhanced employability support than the Careers and Placements standard appointments are able to provide. See What kind of 121 support is best for me? section to see examples of what Supported Career Planning can help you with and to understand what support is best suited to your needs.

Eligibility criteria aligns with the Office for Students’ guidance on those student groups eligible to receive funding under the Progression part of York’s specific Access and Participation Plan. Please note that postgraduate and international students/graduates are not eligible to apply. If you don't meet the criteria, see What can I do now? (below) for other ways you can get support.

**Please note that graduates who engage with Supported Career Planning must have completed all of their sessions within 15 months of graduation.

Supported Career Planning privacy statement

If you are not sure if you are eligible or have any questions about Supported Career Planning or Supported Career Planning Short, please get in touch with careers@york.ac.uk

What kind of 1-2-1 support is best for me?

Supported Career Planning

I have no idea what career options I have and have complex circumstances meaning I require ongoing support to move forward
I need a remote graduate role due to my personal circumstances
I need a part time graduate role due to my personal circumstances
I am a disabled student and need support to develop an understanding of my needs/personal circumstances in the recruitment process or transitioning to the workplace, as well as how to articulate these needs to an employer (e.g. disability requiring reasonable adjustments)
My personal circumstances (which may include a fluctuating health/mental health condition) and learning needs mean I require more time with a consistent person to work through steps to secure a graduate level job or place on further study.
Due to my personal circumstances, I need flexibility in terms of when I access careers and employability support (e.g outside of the Careers and Placements opening hours of 10-3pm)
I have additional life responsibilities or factors, such as caring responsibilities, which have created barriers to exploring my career choices
I have a lack of professional networks and support systems to guide me in exploring my career options
I have a lack of support around recruitment and workplace professional language and expectations and concerns, which is proving a significant barrier to my progression
I am an independent student who is overwhelmed and feeling pressure of securing a graduate job post university due to the challenges in transitioning out of university without family support. I feel I need more time to work through this than the Supported Career Planning Short allows
I am restricted to a specific geographic area when considering graduate work and/or further study, and this is presenting barriers to achieving graduate employment.

If you have an immediate need for careers support where there is an upcoming deadline, such as a specific application or interview, please book one of our standard careers advice appointments. You can find out more via our Talk to Us webpage. \

Supported Career Planning (Short)

I have no idea what career options I have and want some support to start exploring my options
I currently need support articulating my needs/personal circumstances to an employer (e.g. disability requiring reasonable adjustments)
I have a lack of professional networks and support systems to guide me and need support with making a plan to get started
I do not feel confident to search and apply for career opportunities in line with my specific interests and goals
I am preparing for recruitment process scenarios (including interviews and assessment centres) and want to discuss specific anticipated challenges relating to my personal circumstances (if you have a specific interview or assessment centre coming up in the near future, you can access our support on our webpages *link*)
I have experienced rejections throughout internships/placement year/graduate role/further study recruitment process(es), and need support in understanding how to move forward
I am an independent student who is overwhelmed and feeling pressure of securing a graduate job post university due to the challenges in transitioning out of university without family support
I feel I have a lack of experience relevant for the specific sector or role I am interested in and don’t know how to move forward
I am restricted to a specific geographic area when considering internships, placement years, graduate work and/or further study.

Please note you are restricted to one Supported Career Planning appointment with follow up per academic year.

Supported Career Planning FAQs

What happens in Supported Career Planning sessions?

In your application form, you will be asked what you want to achieve from Supported Career Planning. If you are successful in gaining a place, this information will be shared with your Careers Advisor to help form the basis of the support.

How you can make the most of Supported Career Planning:

For both Supported Career Planning and Supported Career Planning Short, it's absolutely fine if you don’t have your next steps figured out — that's what we're here to help with. Your Careers Advisor will guide you with tailored advice, useful information, and practical strategies to support your goals. However, real progress comes from what you choose to do outside the session. It's up to you to take what you’ve learned and put it into action between sessions.

In order to make the most of your sessions, you should:

Make every effort to attend the Supported Career Planning sessions you have scheduled. If you need to reschedule due to exceptional circumstances, please give your Careers Advisor as much notice as possible and book an alternative date.
Make sure you attend your Supported Career Planning sessions in an area where you can concentrate with minimal distraction.
Be willing to put aside dedicated time to work on any agreed actions in between sessions.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to access Supported Career Planning please outline these in your application so that we can best support you.
For Supported Career Planning (up to 6 hours), we recommend that all sessions are completed within 6 months of your first session, unless in exceptional circumstances. **Please note that graduates who engage with Supported Career Planning must have completed all of their sessions within 15 months of graduation.
For Supported Career Planning Short (1 hour session followed by a 30 minute follow up), we recommend that your follow up session takes place within 1 month of your first session.

What do other students and graduates say about Supported Career Planning?

From 2021-present, 100% of those who completed Supported Career Planning said they'd recommend it to other students. Look at some of their stories to find out more.

**Please note that Supported Career Planning was previously called Career Coaching, and so case studies and videos will refer to this.

Robyn (Social and Political Sciences) "In the space of a few months, I went from being unable to envisage myself in full-time employment to having secured employment in my desired field with all the reasonable adjustments I needed to allow me to thrive in work."
Sharmaine (Law LLB) "I was able to explain my fears and worries about the working world in a safe and understanding environment."
Sofia (Human Geography and Environment) "It is extremely useful to ask for help when looking at the different types of careers available to you, as sometimes we don't think to look down certain paths, or underestimate our abilities."
Martha (History) "I would highly recommend careers coaching to any student. Especially if like me, you have a disability or other circumstance that can make applying for jobs seem intimidating."
Chiedza (Psychology in Education) "I am so glad I reached out for this help as I doubt I would have achieved what I have this year without it."
Tom (Computer Science) "Having someone that can guide you through the process of planning your next steps when you are still uncertain is very helpful."

How do I apply?

Check you've read the ‘eligibility criteria’ section. If you are eligible for Supported Career Planning or Supported Career Planning Short and resonate with the purpose of this enhanced support, please complete the application form below.

Applications are considered on a rolling basis each month, and places on Supported Career Planning and Supported Career Planning Short will be allocated accordingly in line with availability. You can expect to hear the outcome of your application within 4-6 weeks.

If we do not hear from you within 10 days of allocating you a place, we re-allocate your place to another student.

Any questions about Supported Career Planning and Supported Career Planning Short should be directed to careers@york.ac.uk. Please note that emails to this address are not monitored outside of working hours.

Supported Career Planning application form

"I would highly recommend [Supported Career Planning] to any student. Especially if like me, you have a disability or other circumstance that can make applying for jobs seem intimidating” - History student

Student case studies

Hear from other York students about their experience of supported career planning.

Other support

Other support available from Careers and Placements

Online resources

The following resources may be helpful for your situation:

Exploring career ideas
Next steps planner to work out what stage you're at and what to do next
Looking for work - graduate jobs
Applying for jobs - how to manage the recruitment process, including CVs, applications, interviews and assessments.

Talk to us...

Don’t forget, whether or not you're eligible for coaching, you can still talk to us:

Come to a drop-in if you're on campus, 10am to 12pm in the Careers and Placements building, Monday to Thursday during semester time. Or book a careers advice appointment. Not sure which is best for you? Find out more about our appointments.
Send us a message via Handshake

Graduates in West Yorkshire

There are also coaching or graduate development programmes available for unemployed or under-employed graduates in West Yorkshire: Graduates West Yorkshire (for graduates living in, or originally from, West Yorkshire).