Kogan Page Editorial - The A-Z of Careers and Jobs

of careers and jobs

26th Edition

A detailed look at different types of careers and jobs. Helpful for those about to enter the world of work or for anyone considering a career change.

Job Hunters Guide

Recognized as the most dependable career guide available.

Job Scene

With a seemingly infinite number of jobs and career paths available, whether youre entering the workforce for the first time or hoping to change careers, this book is an informative guide to over 300 of the jobs and careers available in the United Kingdom and a valuable tool to get you through choice overload. The AZ of Careers and Jobs is the definitive tool to help you on your way to that dream job.

If youre looking for inspiration, browse the pages to discover jobs that you may not have known existed. Each section has a Personal attributes heading to help you discover how each job would suit your personality along with a section to find out how much you might expect to earn.

If you want some ideas for the different ways you could apply your qualifications, or if youre interested in further study and want to know where it could take you, go to the Entry, qualifications and training heading under each section to find out about what qualifications are needed for each career, or where your current qualifications could take you.

Do you already have a dream job in mind? Look up the entry directly, and find out more about how to get to your goal. You can find out if the job is what you thought it was, discover more about the entry requirements usually needed, and be signposted to further in-depth information on your specific dream job.

A levelAdvanced levelEdexcelEdexcel FoundationGCSEGeneral Certificate of Secondary EducationH gradeHigher grade (SCE)HNC/HNDHigher National Certificate/Higher National DiplomaNC/NDNational Certificate/National DiplomaNVQNational Vocational QualificationSQAScottish Qualifications AuthoritySVQScottish Vocational QualificationT LevelTechnical LevelUCASUniversities and Colleges Admissions Service

In England, the GCSE grading system has changed. Since 2017, English and maths have been graded from 1 to 9, with 9 being the top grade. Grades 9 to 4. or 5 equate to the previous systems A* to C. By 2019, all exams were graded by the 1 to 9 system, but most exam boards switched before that deadline. This guide refers throughout to grade 4 as equivalent to grade C.

Technical Levels (T Levels), first taught in September 2020, are an option following GCSEs and equivalent to three A Levels. These are two-year courses that prepare students for work. To ensure the content meets the needs of industry, T Levels have been developed in collaboration with various businesses and employers. As they are being finalised at the time of publication they are not widely referred to in the entry requirements for roles.

Scottish readers should be aware that, in order to simplify the text, the editor has referred to qualifications required in terms of GCSEs, A levels and NVQs or equivalent. NVQs are directly equivalent to SVQs but Scottish National and Higher Qualifications are not equivalent to GCSEs and A levels. The Advanced Higher does equate to A level. Full details of all Scottish qualifications can be found on the SQA website. The easiest way to compare the points awarded for A levels and Highers is to use the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) tariff calculator.

UCAS points were revised in 2017 and the new points system is used throughout this book. The UCAS tariff calculator can be used to calculate the UCAS points of your qualifications.

The National Academic Recognition Information Centre (comparability of international qualifications) (NARIC) can provide a letter outlining how your overseas qualifications equate to UK qualifications. There is a charge for this service: 59.40 for awards certified in English; 95.40 for awards certified in languages for which translation into English is required. They offer other services such as career path reports check their website for charges, options, etc: www.naric.org.uk .

www.cityandguilds.com

City & Guilds awards a wide range of qualifications across nearly 30 industries in the United Kingdom.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) carries out the necessary checks on anyone who has applied to work with children, young people or vulnerable adults. Only employers and licensing bodies can request a DBS check. Job applicants cant do a criminal records check on themselves. Instead, you can request a basic disclosure from Disclosure Scotland (you dont have to be from Scotland to do this).

www.ucas.ac.uk

Provides information about, and processes applications for, higher education courses. UCAS also provides information about postgraduate courses. It offers advice on funding your studies.

Apprenticeships are offered for a huge range of jobs; for example, a PE assistant in a secondary school or a software developer in an IT company.

Apprenticeships combine practical experience in a job with study. They are available at different levels, from Intermediate (Level 2, the equivalent of GCSE) right through to degree (Levels 6 and 7, the equivalent of a bachelors or a Masters degree).

Apprenticeships are administered slightly differently according to whether you live in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Each has its own web pages, giving advice:

• England www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide

• Northern Ireland www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/apprenticeships

• Scotland www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Work-based-Training

• Wales http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/skillsandtraining/apprenticeships

Not Going to Uni (www.notgoingtouni.co.uk) is a website that was set up by a student in 2008, to give options for school leavers who do not want to go to university. It includes lots of useful information about apprenticeships, as well as employer-advertised opportunities.

Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) provide a range of career and training information in different industries and are frequently listed in the information boxes under individual career entries.

• BESA (Building Engineering Services Association) design, installation, maintenance and management of heating and ventilation in buildings: www.thebesa.com

• CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) the construction industry: www.citb.co.uk

• Cogent Skills skills for science industries: chemical, pharmaceutical, healthcare, environmental technologies: www.cogentskills.com

• Create with code as coding becomes an increasingly important skill, there are many organisations that offer opportunities to learn to code. This is one example: www.create.withcode.uk

• Creative & Cultural Skills art, crafts, culture and heritage, music literature, performing arts: www.ccskills.org.uk

• IMI (Institute of the Motor Industry) retail motor industry: www.theimi.org.uk

• Instructus Skills (formerly Skills CFA) skills for business: www.instructus-skills.org.

• Lantra agriculture, animals, forestry, land, natural environment: www.lantra.co.uk

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