Occupational Talks & Podcasts

Occupational talks

Each year we arrange a number of talks by representatives from a range of organisations who give a presentation about their occupational area, what their role involves and what the longer-term career progression may be in their area of work.

Getting involved in occupational talks can help you to:

• present useful information about your organisation.
• project a positive image of your organisation to students in all years of study.
• make face-to-face contact with students in an informal and relaxed setting.
• support the continuing professional development of your own staff by having lively and enthusiastic graduates in your organisation present to students about what it is like to work with you.

Talks are designed to give students a broad understanding of what an area of work involves so that they are better able to assess their own suitability and set about developing and enhancing the skills and experience required to enter a particular field of employment. In addition they can provide students with an opportunity to meet with real practitioners working in real jobs – usually a far more valuable experience than reading about jobs or browsing websites for information.

Talks can take one of two formats:

Occupational panel evenings

We choose a couple of occupational areas each year, based on student interest and the current job market, and arrange a panel of speakers representing four different organisations to talk about their occupation. This is followed by a question and answer session between students and panel members. Panel evenings are particularly useful for demonstrating to students the variety of settings in which jobs can be performed and the effect that the setting may have on job content, priorities and styles of working. These events take place during the evening and last for approximately 1½ hours.

‘A Day in the Life of…’ lunchtime talks

These take the form of a question and answer session between students and one or two representatives of a particular occupation. They take place in the Careers Service for an hour over lunchtime, and provide students with an opportunity to ask questions about that particular occupation, exploring routes in, options for professional development, typical career paths etc.

If you would like to book a ‘Day in the Life of... talk’, please contact: Pamela Hafekost, tel: 0114 222 0925, email: p.e.hafekost@sheffield.ac.uk

Podcasts and case studies

If you are a graduate from the University of Sheffield and are unable to visit the University to take part in an occupational talk, you may be interested in completing a podcast or case study which will provide our current students with an accurate and realistic view into the world of work. The Careers Service is currently building up a database of podcasts and case studies which are a great help to our students planning their own careers.
You can find examples at:

Graduate case studies database

If you would like to find out more, please contact: Pamela Hafekost by email: casestudies@sheffield.ac.uk