Supporting my students' future

Students can book an appointment with LSE Careers Advisers on CareerHub. for one-to-one support, including on interview technique and searching for a job and many will already have done this when they come to speak to you. Encouraging students to attend, even if they're not quite sure what they'd like to do yet, can give them a valuable source of support and advice.

As well as using LSE Careers, as their Academic Mentor, it may be a good idea for you to dedicate a session to talking about a student’s plans for the future, or even just to dedicate a few minutes to making sure they know who to approach if they’ve got questions. Many students still won’t know exactly what it is they’d really like to do and may wish to discuss this with you. Others may want to seek your expert advice on your field.

Some questions you could ask your students to guide the conversation include:

• Have you got plans for after you graduate? What would you like to do?
• Are you considering further study? In what and where?
• What would be your ideal career?
• Have you approached relevant staff or alumni of the School for further advice?
• Have you met with a Careers Adviser? 

Students who do know what they’d like to do when they leave may look to you for advice on how to give themselves the best chance to achieving their aim.The Careers Service can support this more specifically, particularly if the student wishes to aim for a field you have no experience of. You can still help students (whether they know what they'd like to do or have no idea) by advising them on how to set clear goals and how to make the most of their time at LSE.

Student goals could be around developing a CV, doing an extracurricular activity that may develop skills that they want, or applying for jobs, internships, or study abroad.

You can refer your students on to LSE Careers, who offers drop-in sessions at LSE LIFE on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2-5pm and one-to-one appointments bookable on CareerHub.

Finally, students may want to join SU Societies as a means of developing their knowledge and interests.

Many students will want to engage with internships while at LSE. These offer an opportunity to engage with hands on ‘real world’ experience and to see how the study of a discipline looks in a professional context. LSE has a variety of schemes that students can apply to, and it is worth discussing them with students who are keen.

Some key advice to offer students who are considering applying for internships:

1. Pay attention to deadlines.

2. Begin the application process early to give yourself plenty of time to ensure you are happy with what you submit.

3. Balance your applications with your LSE work- you do still need to complete assignments while you’re applying.

4. Remember that with certain internships, such as Spring Week, students will be studying for exams at the same time as the internship

There are a variety of internships available including LSE Parliamentary Internships, Santander University Internships, LSE Graduate Internships and Banking Internships. For further information and help on how to apply for these, students are encouraged to speak to an LSE Careers Adviser.  

Students will need references for work after university or for applications for future study. Most will ask their Academic Mentor first. Others may ask course lecturers and departmental tutors. Students should give you ample warning if they need a reference from you and should make their CVs available to you to help you with the reference writing process. Much of the information that is useful for reference writing can also be accessed from LSE for You – class reports, student marks, and other miscellaneous information. 

You should only give references when the student has given his or her consent or when the organisation making the request has provided proof that the student has consented. If an employer requires proof of student attendance, this is handled by the Student Services Centre – forward the request to ssc.verifications@lse.ac.uk.

If you do not feel you can provide an appropriate reference, discuss the reasons why with the student and see if you can help them identify and contact somebody more apt.