The University of KentCareers and Employability Service

Forensic Science Careers

You can download a copy of this presentation atwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

Skills gained on a Forensic Science Degree

• Gather and analyse relevant information from a wide variety of sources

• Identify and propose solutions to problems• Work with others in the preparation and

presentation of group work (group projects)• Project management• Technical skills• Work independently (individual projects)• Communicate with others in a clear and

articulate manner• Present ideas and arguments verbally in

presentations and seminars, and informal discussions

FORENSIC SCIENCE EMPLOYERS Forensic Science Service. www.fss.org.uk Disbanded!

Independent forensic contractors LGC - analytical science, consumer protection  pollution and

health, DNA and drug analysis also document examination for Inland Revenue and DSS.

Qinetiq - analysis of terrorist-related explosives.

Home Office (Police Scientific Dev’t Branch) research and development on equipment and systems used for the police and fire services.

Police Laboratories - 4 in Scotland

Police forces employ civilians as scenes of crime officers.

Destinations of Kent Forensic Science Grads

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/forensicsci.htm

Destinations of BSc Forensic Science graduates• Wyevale Garden Centre Trainee Manager• Aldi Deputy Manager• Enterprise Rent-a-Car Graduate Trainee Programme• Precision Lift Services Ltd Sales & Marketing Manager• Ashfield In2Focus Medical Sales Representative• ABV Solicitors/University of Law Paralegal/GDL• Brentfield Primary Science Teaching• The Metropolitan Police Police Officer (2)• Kent Police Communications Officer• Kent Police Investigation Management Unit Investigator• Bedfordshire Constabulary Offence Verifier• Authenticate Ltd Forensic Scientist (2)• LGC Forensics Trainee drugs analyst (2 MSci)• Inspectorate International Analytical Chemist (X-Ray Fluorescence) (3)• Eurofins /Sauflon Pharmaceuticals Analytical Chemist• St John Fisher Catholic School/ QTS Analytical Ltd Laboratory Technician• Medical Engineering Technologies/Nikwax Laboratory Technician• Scientific Analysis Laboratories/Cawood Scientific/ SAL Scientific Analyst• Mylan Global Respiratory Group/Bristol Laboratories Analytical Scientist• Huntingdon Life Sciences Analyst - product chemistry (2)• Thorpe Laboratory Ltd Quality Control Analyst• Glaxo Smith Kline Quality Assurance Scientist• Knight Optical Metrology Laboratory Assistant • NHS Kent & Medway Trust Assistant Technical Officer• British American Tobacco Senior Technologist• Kingfisher Environmental Services Graduate water treatment consultant• Transport Research Laboratory Graduate Consultant• Home Office Research Assistant • Kings College, London MSc Analytical Toxicology/MSc Pharmacology• University of Kent MSc Forensic Science/PhD ChemistryPlus shop assistants, waitresses and bar workers!See www.kent.ac.uk/careers/fdrbases/destinations.htm for full details

One third of graduate jobs accept any degree subject.

BECAUSE:• Learn new skills quickly

• Analyse & solve problems

• Numeracy

• Open to new ideas, adaptable and flexible

• “Managers of change”

• Marketing and Sales

• Retailing

• Social Work

• Personnel

• Civil Service

• Accountancy

• Banking

• Computing

Teaching• 1 year postgraduate course (PGCE) or Schools

Direct

• Many students go to Christ Church

• £25,000 bursary with 1st, £20,000 with 2:1 or 2:2 for Chemistry teaching

• Need at least 2 weeks experience in a state school – get this in June

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/siteach.htm

CHOOSING A CAREER

• CHOOSING A CAREER www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm

• Prospects Planner - powerful career choice program. www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner

• I Want to work in ….. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ScienceJobs.htm

Forensics Vacancy Sources• Speculative CVs - use Forensic Sci. careers page

• Kent University Vacancies Database www.kent.ac.uk/ces/vacancies.html

• Science Recruitment Agencies www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitephar.htm#agencies

• Gradcracker www.gradcracker.com

• Royal Society of Chemistry - includes vacancies from Chemistry in Britain magazine www.chemsoc.org/careers/careers.htm

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ScienceJobs.htm - placements and summer work tab

Accountancy

• Take any degree subject provided you have done careful research

• Need good A Level grades: about BBB minimum• Need good maths – about GCSE grade A minimum• Lots of jobs: PWC alone take 1,000 graduates a year• 3 years demanding study for professional exams:

12 hours per week in evenings and at weekends BUT paid £25,000 salary whilst doing this

• On qualification £40,000 +++www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/accountancy.htm

Computing

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/computing.htm

Many firms such as FDM, IBM, Sky and CGI take science graduates into IT

Just need a strong interest in computing and good evidence of IT skills

Many highly paid jobs!

How to apply

• CV and Covering Letter – speculative applications and small companies. See science CV example www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/forensic-science-cv.htm

• On-line application form – big companies

• For help see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm • Practice Science Interview

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/ivscience.htm

Application Process

The smaller company process is much simpler and you can apply much later (often after final exams) but salaries are usually lower and they offer less training and less chance to specialise.

On-line Careers Videos

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS

• INTERVIEWS

• SELECTION CENTRES

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/IntVid.htm

Postgraduate Study TAUGHT Higher degrees by taught course &

dissertation – MSc. Length: one calendar year (September - September)New £10,000 Government loan

RESEARCH PhD. Length: at least three years for PhD. Work independently to prepare a thesis

FUNDING Normally need 2:1 for research council bursary – fees paid, plus about £15,000 grant

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm

New Postgraduate Loans• New postgraduate loan scheme for English

-domiciled students and EU students studying in English institutions from 2016.

• Offers students up to £10,000 to help with costs of a masters degree.

• Students are eligible for the loans if under the age of 30 and studying for a full-time masters, or part-time at 50% intensity or above. There are no subject restrictions.

• Like undergraduate loans, graduates will only pay them back if they earn over a certain amount - probably the same as undergraduate loans (£21,000), and repay at a rate of 9% of income above this sum.

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm#Funding

Bruce Woodcock• An adviser is on duty for 15 minute consultations in the Careers and

Employability Service any weekday morning 10.30-12.30 or afternoon from 2 pm to 4 pm. You don't need an appointment - just ask at Careers Reception to see them.

• Check you campus emails regularly as I send you emails most Mondays. These can also be found at www.kent.ac.uk/ces/files/newsletters.html

• Apply early in your final year if you want a graduate training scheme with a “big” company, advertising, marketing, HR or primary teaching.

• If you don’t know what you want to do, can book an interview with me at Careers reception (Keynes Driveway) or via https://careers.kent.ac.uk/service/home.html Not for CV checks!

www.kent.ac.uk/careers Telephone: 01227 823299 Email: careerhelp@kent.ac.ukOpening hours: Monday to Friday 9 to 5 including vacations Drop-in times (no appointment needed: 15 minutes): 10.30 to 12.30 and 2 to 4 pmHelp given for up to 3 years after graduationWeekly careers emails every Monday afternoon

Careers Award on Moodle

• Half the unemployment rate for students completing the award www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

• DP2650 • Email bw@kent.ac.uk if you have problems enrolling

Careers Award Content12 Quizzes: need 75% to pass: allowed unlimited attempts

Complete 3 of the following 7 short, easy assignments

• Employability skills quiz

• How to develop the skills employers want?

• Test your spelling and grammar!

• What makes you happy at work?

• How commercially aware are you?

• Interview preparation

• Practice interview• What are the most

common interview questions?

• Aptitude tests and assessment centres

• CV quiz• CVs and covering

letters: drag & drop quiz

• Career planning drag and drop quiz

• Analyse your skills and learn how to make top quality applications

• Do you want to live to work or work to live?

• Choosing a career: find out what your ideal career is!

• Researching a career • Submit your CV for professional review• Social media in job hunting• Action planning

• I completed the award in my first year and got a placement with a top company due to the skills I gained on the award.• The amount of time put into this is astounding! I spoke to friends from other universities who said they wished they had

something like this.• It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an interview without doing it! • It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to applications and interviews in the future and has also made me

think about skills I have that I didn't think I had before.• It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot. Without realising, you have finished the course and have already put together a very

good CV and covering letter. • It covered every aspect, such as how to apply for a job, how to write a good cv and cover letter, analysing your skills and

showcasing them as well as making you think about the reason why we work. I was impressed with the amount of detailed information, links and quizzes which all proved extremely helpful and I learnt a lot that I didn't know before, making me feel better prepared for the future.

The University of KentCareers and Employability Service

Forensic Science Careers

You can download a copy of this presentation atwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

Moodle Careers Employability Award Assessed by a range of quizzes and assignments

Only 2% unemployment rate for students completing the award compared to 5% for other Kent students.

Will greatly improve your career planning and jobhunting skills, giving you strategies to make career choices and will increase your chances of getting a graduate level job.

Takes about 12 hours to complete

On completion you will get a University of Kent Careers Employability Award to add to your CV

Get 60 Kent Employability points for successful completion of the module.

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

Comments from students who have completed the award

You get a really nice certificate!

It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot.

Without realising, you have finished the course

and have already put together a very good CV

and covering letter.

It really blew my mind with some ideas I’ve never known

before, such as portfolio working and working from

home. I never thought about obtaining happiness from my

work before.

It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an

interview without doing it! Before the course I had only a vague

idea of my career path and opportunities. Now I am applying for summer internships and know how to

effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer and have a much

more focused plan for my future.

The module is very, very useful! I really love how it makes you to think about your personality and helps you to identify your

strengths and weaknesses.I found the module to be highly thought-provoking as it really

encouraged me to consider how my degree will benefit my future and what I can be doing now to

improve my graduate employment prospects.

I enjoyed the depth of the module. It went far beyond some general tips on

how to write a good CV and prepare for an interview. Rather it went in to detail

about the whole process of graduate job search from the beginning to the end. It

was very instructive .

The amount of time put into this is astounding! I actually spoke to friends from other universities who said they

wished they had something like this.

It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to

applications and interviews and has also made me think about skills that I didn't think I had

before. I recently had a very successful interview

largely because I put the advice on the module into

practice.

GET THREE YEARS HELP AFTER YOU GRADUATE

FINAL YEAR STUDENTS AND POSTGRADUATES

Through filling in our contact form at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/contact.html  you’ll be entitled to three years of careers advice after graduation from the Careers and Employability Service at the University of Kent free of charge.

We send regular Vacancy Emails which will give you job hunting tips and the latest vacancies. 

THE CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE IS OPEN DURING THE EASTER VACATION