Teaching and Learning > DOCUMENTS
Interview with a University of Warwick Careers Adviser
Julie Gallimore
University of Warwick
Interview with Careers Adviser responsible for Philosophy students
We do increasingly talk of values as a careers service. In a CV workshop for example we would be asking students what's important to you and encouraging them to articulate their values.
In my experience most interest in CSR and values comes after graduation, once students have been working for a while and become conscious of what they don't want in their working life and develop a clearer sense of social responsibility. For some students, shifts in values often inspire a complete career change.
We carried out a survey in 2007 to see if students were interested in an Ethical Careers Fair and it attracted a very poor response. We do still run a Careers Unlimited fair with a focus on the charity and voluntary sector. The advisers also deliver a workshop, Building your career in the voluntary sector which hasn't been popular - the title working in the charitable sector holds more appeal and has been better attended. For many students there is a lot caught up in the language so we try to appeal to this.
Students who express an interest in ethical or socially responsible careers often talk of wanting to make a difference. I try to encourage them to get skills and experience that will make them attractive to the sector, for example, a graduate with a sales and marketing background in a large corporate recently got a similar role with the World Wildlife Fund.
There is a growth in careers in regeneration, which may involve working in a community project or housing and students generally don't know much about these roles. Some regional development agencies are working with universities to raise awareness of these jobs and offer placement opportunities for example, regenWM offers regeneration placements in the West Midlands.
The main areas of activity that I'd be discussing around ethical careers would be
- Climate change
- Impact on environment
- People and planet
- International development
Students wanting this kind of career are not necessarily visiting the careers service; they are more likely to be already doing some kind of volunteer or campaign work.
It's clear that some students see csr in terms of how employers treat their personnel. These students are deliberately targeting smaller companies because they don't want to work the long hours of large corporate organisations and think they will be better treated in a smaller company.
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
