This book explores a noteworthy variety among economically advanced countries in the competences fostered by higher education, and the emphasis placed either on laying a broad basis of knowledge or direct preparation for professional tasks. In some countries, universities are closely involved in ensuring a rapid transition from student to employee; in others, students typically face a long period after graduation for the search of a suitable career.

Is a career as a professor the right choice for you? If you are a graduate student, how can you clear the hurdles successfully and position yourself for academic employment? What's the best way to prepare for a job interview, and how can you maximize your chances of landing a job that suits you? What happens if you don't receive an offer? How does the tenure process work, and how do faculty members cope with the multiple and conflicting day-to-day demands? With a perpetually tight job market in the traditional academic fields, the road to an academic career for many aspiring scholars will often be a rocky and frustrating one. Where can they turn for good, frank answers to their questions? Here, three distinguished scholars—with more than 75 years of combined experience—talk openly about what's good and what's not so good about academia, as a place to work and a way of life. Written as an informal conversation among colleagues, the book is packed with inside information—about finding a mentor, avoiding pitfalls when writing a dissertation, negotiating the job listings, and much more. The three authors' distinctive opinions and strategies offer the reader multiple perspectives on typical problems. With rare candor and insight, they talk about such tough issues as departmental politics, dual-career marriages, and sexual harassment. Rounding out the discussion are short essays that offer the "inside track" on financing graduate education, publishing the first book, and leaving academia for the corporate world. This helpful guide is for anyone who has ever wondered what the fascinating and challenging world of academia might hold in store. Part I - Becoming a Scholar * Deciding on an Academic Career * Entering Graduate School * The Mentor * Writing a Dissertation * Landing an Academic Job Part II - The Academic Profession * The Life of the Assistant Professor * Teaching and Research * Tenure * Competition in the University System and Outside Offers * The Personal Side of Academic Life

In a world where there are increasing concerns about graduate underemployment and likely career trajectories, it is not surprising that there is a significant body of literature examining graduate careers in post-industrial societies. However, it has become increasingly evident in recent years that there is a stark disconnect between academics who research employment and education, and careers and employability professionals. Graduate Careers in Context brings these two separate groups together for the first time in order to provide a better understanding of graduate careers. The book addresses the problems surrounding the graduate labour market and its relationship to higher education and public policy. Drawing on varied perspectives, the contributors provide a comprehensive examination of issues such as geography, mobility and employability, before presenting and discussing the benefits of future collaboration between practitioners and academic researchers. The interdisciplinary focus of this book will make it of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of education, sociology, social policy, business studies and career guidance and coaching. It should also be essential reading for practitioners who wish to consider their role and responsibilities within the changing higher education market.

There is so much more to recruiting talented graduates than meets the eye, from projecting the right corporate image, defining the competencies required, through to advertising, selection and finally induction and retention. This is the first book to bring together all these crucial elements to enable employers to understand what it is they need, how graduate expectations are changing, and be able to think through their strategy and put it into practice.This is the most comprehensive book on the subject; it contains best practice standards and a wealth of hints and tips.

Written by experienced careers advisor Steve Rook, the new edition of this indispensable guide will help readers to develop the skills they need to land their dream job. It breaks the career planning process down into manageable steps, from researching roles and gaining work experience to crafting a stand-out CV and impressing at interview. It also includes practical guidance on networking, entrepreneurship and responding to job offers. Packed with reflective activities, top tips for successful applications and real life case studies, it contains everything students need to develop their skills, get their foot in the door and set themselves up for a fulfilling future. This text will be core reading for students on a wide range of career-related and employability modules. It will also be an invaluable resource for students researching their career options independently. New to this Edition: - Updated content on networking and managing your online presence - More content on work experience and internships, and how they can help students get their foot in the door - Expanded careers theory content

Is your son or daughter thinking about applying to university or already at university? Are you worried they won't find a good job - or any job - when they graduate? There are 80 applicants for every graduate job and 28% less graduate job vacancies, so your child is no longer guaranteed to find work on graduation. They'll need to work much harder to stand out from the other applicants - but what can you as a parent do improve their prospects? Bringing you the best and latest advice from the jobs market, graduate careers guru Paul Redmond shows you how to help your child get a head-start in their future career. From understanding the importance of your child's degree course and university choices, to ensuring they don't fall in the unemployment trap on graduation, you'll learn how to be their personal careers adviser and kick-start their success! Your involvement can have a real - and positive - impact on your child's future prospects and it's never too soon to start planning. Discover how to: Increase their employability Boost their earning potential Equip them with essential works skills Use your own contacts to get them ahead Get them the right work experience If followed, the advice inside will directly increase your son or daughters employability: whether it's ensuring they get the right skills and experience that employers are really looking for, or learning how to successfully navigate the changing world of recruitment. Not only can you help your child get the right qualifications, you can also make sure your child has the right experience and contacts to give them the edge in their hunt for a job, so they can take their first step on the career ladder. You have the power to give your child a major advantage in the world of work, so give them a head start in tomorrow's world of work, today. Paul Redmond is also the author of The Graduate Jobs Formula that gives practical advice to help graduates find employment.

In a time of too many graduates for too few jobs, and in a context where applicants have similar levels of educational capital, what other factors influence graduate career trajectories? Based on the life history interviews of graduates and framed through a Bourdieusian sociological lens, Culture, Capitals and Graduate Futures explores the continuing role that social class as well as cultural and social capitals have on both the aspirations and expectations towards, and the trajectories within, the graduate labour market. Framed within the current context of increasing levels of university graduates and the falling numbers of graduate positions available in the UK labour market, this book provides a critical examination of the supposedly linear and meritocratic relationship between higher education and graduate employment proposed by official discourses from government at both local and national levels. Through a critical engagement with the empirical findings, Culture, Capitals and Graduate Futures asks important questions for the effective continuation of the widening participation agenda. This timely book will be of interest to higher education professionals working within widening participation policy and higher education policy.