Mature Students Career Support

Top Tips for Mature Students:

  • Discuss your ideas with a careers advisor when you first begin at university; do not wait until your final exams are looming! Merely having a degree does not guarantee employment, so it is important that you are aware of how to optimise your chances. Guidance regarding your choice of course and development of extra-curricular activities will help lead towards viable career options.
  • Nurture contacts from previous jobs - they may be able to help you in your new career direction
  • Identify the transferable skills (communication, organisation, team work, problem solving etc) you have developed in your previous work and in your degree. Highlight these in your CV, in application forms and in interviews.
  • Accentuate your experience of previous working environments; you know all about working for a living.
  • Remind employers that experience counts when making effective business decisions; sell the fact that you have the experience of which younger graduates dream.
  • Challenge and confront prejudice - but don't presume that it is always a factor.
  • Emphasise your ability and flexibility to work in a mixed age environment.
  • Convey your reliability and loyalty

 

Why see a Careers Advisor?

Careers advice is the support offered by qualified and experienced advisors to help you work through the process of career choice. It is free, impartial, confidential, and is focused on your individual needs. Career guidance can help you clarify where you are, help you to identify what you need to do next, and how to go about it. Whether you are considering employment or further study, it is often helpful to talk to a careers advisor before you plan your next course of action. You don't have to know what you want to do before seeing an adviser. Simply having a discussion can help you to generate ideas, explore options and help you decide what you want from a career.

Typical queries include:

  • Assistance with identifying your skills, abilities, and matching career profiles
  • Information on specific employment opportunities or further study options
  • CV advice and reviews, and help with job applications and interview techniques

Patsy Ryan is the Careers Advisor for mature students. For more information, please email patsy.ryan@ul.ie. Additional information is also available from the UL Mature Student Office.

 

CV Clinics

CV Clinics are a 15 minute individual meeting with a Careers Advisor to help you work on your CV. CV Clinics are available Monday - Friday. Log into MyCareerPath to book your appointment.

Before booking:

  • If you need help with preparing a CV, please book into one of our CV workshops in the Events section on MyCareerPath.
  • Review our guide to writing the perfect CV.
  • We recommend that you use CareerSet first to get instant feedback on your CV and advise on developing it further. Once you've updated your CV, book an online CV Clinic to help you strengthen your CV further and to answer any questions you might have.
  • *Graduates will only be able to access CareerSet while your University of Limerick email is still valid, but you can still access 1:1 feedback with a CV adviser for up to two years after graduation.
  • Have your CV ready in PDF format as you will need to upload the document when completing the booking.

 

Careers Consultations

Careers Consultations are a longer 30-minute individual meetings with a Careers Advisor. Careers Consultations are available Monday - Friday. Log into MyCareerPath  to book your appointment. Appointments are available online, or on-campus.

Meet a Careers Advisor to discuss:

  • Career Plans
  • Job Search
  • CV preparation
  • Interview Preparation. You can also do a practice interview by using the ShortlistMe platform. This interview practice platform is available 24/7 from any location. you can access it directly here and complete practice interviews independently at a time that best suits you.
  • Further Study
  • Change of Course
  • Have your LinkedIn Profile reviewed

Once you have booked your appointment:

  1. We will send you a Microsoft Teams invite 1 hour before the appointment which you will receive to your email, please accept this invite.
  2. Ten minutes before the meeting, open the Microsoft Teams invite on your calendar (Download Microsoft Teams if you do not currently have it). Open the app and find your scheduled meeting and click “join the meeting”.
  3. You can join on a laptop/tablet or your phone. You can enable video or voice only (depending on your network coverage.