CAREERS INTERVIEW SUMMARY & ACTION PLAN

Your Thoughts

Reaction to Morrisby profile (if relevant):

Agreed with the personality profile and was encouraged by the high ability results and agreed may reflect that she has “more gas in the tank” when it comes to her studies. 

University/career ideas:

No ideas.

Subjects you plan to study at A level/alternative:

Biology, psychology, not sure about what else (doesn't like thinking about the future)

Ideas about work experience (end of Year 11):

No ideas.

Summary of Your Interview (including, in particular, any issues identified)

We discussed where Edwina was at the moment, her ideas about careers, universities and A level choices.   A near term issue that came up was that while her school performance is solid, her Morrisby results suggest even more potential.  We discussed why she might be underachieving and she said she was a bit lazy.  We discussed if adjusting her study style might help. Her high reasoning might suggest using lots of problem questions/past papers may be an engaging way to study.  Likewise her high perceptual score suggests visual methods like spider diagrams might appeal while her high mechanical might suggest active learning would suit her.  It may be that her traditional approach – note taking – is not effective alone therefore, and particularly not suited to her?  

I also wondered if career research, starting with her Morrisby career suggestions, may encourage application in her current studies.  I showed how much greater the choice of degree at universities could be, so it was more likely she would find something that would engage her later on down the line.  We discussed that the important thing was to research future options as this was the only way she would find out what did and did not interest her.  Try to be open minded and make decisions on informed experience/research than presumption.

Regarding A levels, she thinks that biology and psychology would complement one another and this makes sense and is supported by her Morrisby profile pattern.  Do her teachers agree?  Although she lacks some confidence in maths, her very high reasoning score may suggest significant potential in this subject and I wonder if she might check whether this could be an option with her maths teachers, particularly if supported by a high eventual GCSE grade?   I also wondered whether economics might appeal given her reasoning/maths ability (admittedly A level economics is not very mathematical but it is at degree level). High perceptual and verbal scores, as Edwina has, can, when combined, sometimes suggest ability in social sciences like economics and psychology.   Explore economics.  What about ICT/computing (supported by high reasoning, perceptual and mechanical scores) and the fact she says she likes working with computers?

Again, something supporting the above suggestions is a statement in the Morrisby that I noted which was based on comparing your reasoning, practical (mechanical/spatial) and general abilities (verbal/numerical/perceptual) was:  “The pattern suggests that you would enjoy some technical careers which demand a thorough understanding of practical principles. You probably would not enjoy writing essays and arguing about theories that had no base in fact.”

With this in mind and thinking longer term, I did also wonder about engineering, which her dad works in and was something that interested her when younger (fixing cars, etc…).  Might this be an interest that will re-emerge?  If so, would she consider physics A level?  We did not discuss this much and it is a challenging subject but from a profile point of view, it looks feasible.  Does she agree?  Do her teachers agree?  What will her view be after GCSE results?  Might there be technical areas like acoustics, sound or audio engineering that particularly appeal to her given her interest in music?

Edwina has every reason to be optimistic about the future.  Her profile is one that suggests many options are open to her from an ability point of view and I hope using the above comments and below actions, she may find she is able to stretch just that little bit further in her studies.  Her profile certainly suggests she is capable of top grades. I also hope that the below research will uncover exciting options for her longer term future, which may also serve to motivate her in the short to medium term.  Good luck!

ACTION PLAN

A level choices:

Speak to people in the years above about the subjects she might consider, look at textbooks and speak to teachers.  Based on the analysis of her Morrisby scores (see above), would maths, economics and computing/ICT be worth exploring?  Even physics?  Speak to teachers and people in these subjects in particular in addition to biology and psychology.

Note (depending on how below career goes): Biology would be sufficient for some medical related degrees (eg. podiatry) but medicine itself and some other areas would require chemistry.

Career research:

Work experience:   we discussed that many medical areas that can be entered with a vocational, career related degree.  Given she mentioned wanting to help people and her Morrisby aptitude pattern, I wonder if a medical related work placement  may be worthwhile, even if only to rule this out as a career path at this stage.  Ideally on such a placement she should see different departments, including what allied health professionals do such as podiatrists and physiotherapists.

Given her interest in music and possible aptitude in practical areas like engineering/production, I also wondered about work experience with Radio QFM. 

Web-based career research:

Explore your Morrisby career suggestions and the websites provided in your booklet/online profile for each one.  Remember, exploration is key to finding out what your interests are.  In particular, you may wish to look at:

Healthcare (explore even if just to rule out, given how many of these came up in your career suggestions):

For an overview of healthcare careers see:  nhscareers.nhs.uk/a-to-z/

See a wide variety of areas:  doctor, physiotherapy, audiology, podiatry, dietetics, occupational therapy, optometry, orthopists, etc…

Check demand for these different areas in COA The Careers Directory (“Broad Outlook” Section)

Two reasons to explore more than just doctor:  to find out about alternatives but can also strengthen medical application as shows you understand the importance of other allied healthcare professionals to the NHS.

See bma.org.uk “becoming a doctor” section

Try healthcare careers questionnaire and then research what comes up:  stepintothenhs.nhs.uk

Also look at professional bodies, very good for specific info and events, eg.:

Podiatry: careersinpodiatry.com

Physiotherapy: see csp.org.uk

Finance would be compatible with your ability profile although your interests as expressed now meant these did not come up.  Would work experience/research change your view?

prospects.ac.uk/accountancy_banking_and_finance_sector.htm

directions.org.uk/careers/what-finance-documentary/what-finance/

Financial adviser appeal?  You would help/advise people while using numerical and business skills.  There are lots of demand for these people too (shortage of young recruits): directions.org.uk/employers/sesame-bankhall-group/#other-programmes

Financial careers (look beyond the obvious, see areas like insurance, risk and financial planning):  directions.org.uk/careers/  See the opportunities section of this website for examples of sponsored degrees in finance and work experience placements.  Note huge demand in risk and insurance given the financial crisis.

Engineering: tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/careers.cfm

IT:  e-skills.com/careers/young-people/bigambition

bigambition.co.uk

watch some of job profile videos (eg. computer bug programme tester)

University:

Prioritise research in areas where you may consider a related vocational degree (eg. medicine, areas allied to medicine such as pharmacy or podiatry, engineering, acoustic/sound engineering, IT for business) here:

www.ucas.com (see course search)

Search by key terms such as those that come up in your research above.  Some niche terms worth searching by include “audio engineering”, “finance”, “product design engineering”, “IT for business”, “games design”,  healthcare terms such as “podiatry”, etc…

Good books (usually in Careers Library and/or main library):

COA Degree Course Descriptions – quick overview of what each main degree involves and also provides related degrees to research on UCAS

HEAP Choosing Your Degree Course & University – gives quick overview of what each uni offers in each main subject area – contents of the degree, different variations at that institution, what you can combine a particular subject with.  Burrow down on uni’s own website when you find something that appeals.    See the health sciences, medicine, computing, engineering, business & finance chapters.

HEAP University Degree Course Offers – by subject, shows you grades required by each uni and advice for entry into that course.