Get connected
The Careers Centre has many opportunities to help you network and enhance your employability. In this post, we’ll look at some ways you can get started and get connected!
Through networking, you can be alerted to job opportunities that have not been publicly advertised, get help with applying to organisations that interest you, gain work experience of sectors you’re curious about, find someone to mentor you, and much more. Some of the ways you can network are available to anyone, while others are unique to University of St Andrews students.
SaintConnect
Saint Connect is the University’s exclusive, global, online community. It is designed to help students, alumni and friends of the University connect with each other to:
- network
- seek or provide career mentoring
- keep up to date with what’s happening in St Andrews.
If you are a current student, you can use Saint Connect to network with alumni to learn about a particular industry, employer or role.
Coffee Connect
Find inspiration through conversation!
Coffee Connect is an incredible opportunity for students to find out more about the world of work from University of St Andrews alumni.
This easy to engage with mentoring programme connects students and alumni. Students can develop their communication skills, get experience of networking in an informal setting and get 1-1 advice from an alumni. Students and alumni are matched based on their course, location or the career path they are interested in.
Apply through Saint Connect. Closing date 15 October.
CareerConnect
All fully matriculated students at the University of St Andrews have access to CareerConnect.
You can use this platform to:
- book appointments
- search for part-time jobs, internships and graduate opportunities
- register for events, including employer & alumni events, skills workshops and careers fairs.
- submit online queries.
When you first log-in to CareerConnect, you must first check and complete your profile. If you’re not automatically taken to your profile, select ‘Update Profile’ from the ‘My Profile’ menu. Once you have filled in all the required fields, click on ‘Save’ on the final tab to submit your profile changes. Please note your course details cannot be changed, as these are based on your student record.
Find out more about CareerConnect.
Work shadowing
The Careers Centre organises a work shadowing programme in which alumni, friends and staff of the University of St Andrews offer their time for you to shadow them at their place of work.
This programme will typically involve shadowing someone in the workplace, either in-person or virtually for a day to a week. The type of shadowing will vary, depending on the host’s availability.
This is an unpaid programme. Work shadowing is meant to help you explore your desired career path but is not equivalent to an internship.
Find out more about work shadowing.
Further help
Build your elevator pitch
An elevator pitch is a brief, compelling speech that allows you to articulate your value proposition concisely and confidently.
Having a polished 30-60 second elevator pitch can help you:
- stand out at events, including careers fairs, on-campus employer presentations, assessment centres or during internships
- make the most of chance encounters and interactions which could possibly advance your career
- promote yourself and open the door to new opportunities.
Build your own, outstanding pitch quickly and easily with the help of the Careers360 elevator builder tool.
Business Networking
Login to the Careers360 Business Networking tool to discover companies in a specific sector, find people who worked at various companies and identify people in certain roles.
If you have questions regarding any of these networking opportunities, please email [email protected]. We’re happy to assist!