A Career in Politics

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A Career in Politics

With the election on everybody's mind I thought it would be useful to have a look some of the different ways of working in Politics:

Become an MP. To become a Members of Parliament you do not need to have any specific qualifications, other than you must be at least 18, and be a citizen of Britain, a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland.

Most M.P's become involved  in politics through allegiance to a particular political party and they work their way up within that party, by campaigning with the party, often initially on a voluntary basis. Most M.P's will have had other careers before becoming involved in politics. Sometimes people get involved in local politics, e.g becoming a town Councillor or Mayor, before becoming an M.P.

For more information see: www.parliament.uk

Working in Parliament. 1000's of people work at Parliament and  it is possible to work for the House of Commons or the House of Lords or the Parliamentary Digital Service and each has their own recruitment processes. It is also possible to work for individual MP's and they directly employ all of their staff, just as a small business does.

There is also an apprenticeship scheme with in Parliament called the The Parliamentary Academy Scheme. This is a paid apprenticeship that is available to 16-24 year olds who have not got a university qualification. It involves working in the office of a M.P whilst also going to college to gain relevant qualifications

For more information see: www.parliament.uk and www.parliamentaryacademy.com

Work for the Civil Service. They do the practical and administrative work of the government. They run the major government departments such as the Department of work and pensions and the Ministry of Justice.  

There are lots of jobs at all levels within the Civil Service and for graduates they run very popular Fast Stream programme and graduates could end up working in areas such as the economy, foreign affairs, the environment and many more

For more information see: www.gov.uk 

Sources: www.parliament.ukwww.gov.ukwww.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk

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Careers in the Computer Games Industry

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Careers in the Computer Games Industry

The Games industry is a rapidly expanding employment sector with many different types of opportunities.

The UK games industry employs around 10,000 people and there are around 2000 games companies in the UK

There are many different types of jobs available:

Games Designers develop the concept and the story and the user experience

Game Programmers are involved with AI (Artificial Engineering), User interface and tool development and in-game physics

Game Artists can be concept artists designing the overall look of the game or 3D artists who model everything and add colour and detail

Games Writers write the overall story and the dialogue of the characters, as well as auditioning and coaching the voice actors

Audio Engineers create the Games soundtrack which includes background noises as well as the music

Animators create every character and creature in a game, designing everything from facial expressions to complex moving scenes

Producers manage the budget and timescales and promote the game to the media

HOW TO GET INTO THE INDUSTRY

Although there are no specified qualifications most people will have a university degree linked to the area of game design they want to study. E.g. Designers will usually have a games design or computing degree,  artists tend to have an art based degree such as graphic design and writers may have a journalism or English background. An interest  in and experience of the game industry is of course really important.

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE

www.creativeskillset.org

Lots of information on all careers in the creative sector, including games careers

www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk

For information on all careers with useful links to further websites

Thanks to Gabrielle Kent from Teeside University for some of this information, gained from her very useful presentation at the recent National Careers Guidance show in London

Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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The Space Industry

I attended the National Careers Guidance show at Olympia in London a couple of weeks ago and one of the most interesting talks I went to was on careers in the British Space industry.

It was delivered by an excellent speaker from the National Space Academy, which is run by the National Space Centre in Leicester. It's purpose is to increase space related knowledge and education within the UK, in order to increase the number and quality of students entering science and engineering careers.

Some of the most interesting points you may not be aware of are:

  • The UK space industry is huge and is a an expanding industry. It  employs 35, 000 people and has an 11 billion  turnover
  • Of course this is not just related to space travel-it covers all sorts of areas. Some examples of these are: satellite design and production, aeronautical engineering, robotics, law and computer programming
  • The UK is a world leader in Satellite design, building and operations and this is an area  that is likely to be expanding in the future
  • It is possible to study a level 3 space engineering course, that involves A level Maths and Physics along with a BTEC level 3 engineering diploma and an extended project covering engineering and physics problems. It is all taught in a 'space' context and is currently available at Loughborough College/National Space Academy, Salford City College and Birmingham Metropolitan College/Great Barr School  from Sept 2015
  • It is also possible to do a higher apprenticeship in the space industry. It has been put together by UK space sector companies and can lead to a Foundation Degree in Engineering validated by the University of Leicester.

  • Airbus is one of the major British companies in the space industry and they offer Higher apprenticeships and graduate schemes

  • For more information see the following websites:

Many thanks to the speaker from the National Space Academy for this information

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Apprenticeships

Welcome to my new blog!

Apprenticeships are becoming more and more popular with young people, for good reason. Working, studying for qualifications and earning money at the same time can be an attractive prospect.

It is particularly good alternative if you are not sure university is for you. If you manage to find a good apprenticeship then sometimes they will even pay for you to study university level qualifications as part of your apprenticeship!

Apprenticeships are available in all sorts of areas, such as Engineering, Business administration and Catering as well as many more unusual areas such as Events organiser and Interior design assistant.

Although they are mostly for 16-25 year olds, older people can also apply, but the training may not be paid for by the government, which means the employer would need to be prepared to pay for the training.

The main place to find out more and apply for apprenticeships is the government website: www.apprenticeships.gov.uk

Another website worth looking at is the new future talent website: www.future-talent.com. This is particularly good on advice about apprenticeships for parents

Also see www.apprenticeshipguide.co.uk for lots of useful information as well as links to vacancies

LOOK OUT FOR APPRENTICESHIP RELATED EVENTS HAPPENING IN YOUR LOCAL AREA, AS PART OF NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK FROM 9-13 MARCH 2015 See www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-apprenticeship-week-2015 for more info

I am at the National Careers Guidance show in London next week, so keep an eye out for my next blog for new and exciting careers-related snippets!

 

 

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