When Is The Best Time To Start Thinking About Your Career?

You’re somewhere in the process of submitting your application to start UWI in September. You’re probably thinking, career? Why should I think about that now?

Hear us out. It’s never too early to start thinking about your career and you’re already on the right track by reading this blog.

The moment you enter university, you’re entering a network of opportunities to put you on a path to succeed. You may think that the best way to achieve career success is in the classroom and you’re partially right – excelling at academics is a great way to gain in depth knowledge about your field and build relationships with your lecturers and classmates.

But, the world of work is nothing like a classroom; you also have to prepare for that too.

Let’s chat a bit about our Division of Student Services and Development (DSSD). The DSSD team helps students develop a positive, holistic education experience throughout their university journey. You’ll hear the term “holistic education” a lot – it simply means that you’ll be looked at as a whole person and educated in a way that addresses your emotional, social, ethical, and academic needs.

Director of DSSD, Dr. Deirdre Charles, explains how they provide resources and a range of support services to meet the unique needs of students: “We assist in areas such as career planning and management, community engagement, student leadership, academic support, counselling, financial aid, student activities and events, student employment, and various accommodations for disability support and students with medical conditions.”

Dr. Deirdre Charles, Director of DSSD

The Careers, Co-Curricular and Community Engagement Department helps you take your first step towards career exploration, planning and development by offering career advice, co-curricular involvement, community engagement and service learning programming. Don’t take our word for it. Check out some testimonials from students who actually took advantage of the opportunities:

Student Testimonial

Careers & Placement
Student Career Facilitator

Jason Trotman-Williams,
August 20, 2016

“To the Career and Placement Family, I would like to sincerely thank you for having me as a Career Facilitator for the past year. I am honoured to have been under your wings. You have groomed me to be a sound professional and made working with you an interesting lifetime experience.

When I started out I was most unsure of myself and very intimidated by the world of work. You all have been so warm and welcoming. I am still a work in progress, but this experience has been a great one for me. It has grounded me and put me on a path to map out my career. It has given me tools to start out professionally, to begin to feel more comfortable in my own skin and with my abilities.

I will always be grateful to you for your support and kindness which you offered so generously. Thank you for opening my eyes to a new stage of opportunity and strength. Words cannot express my appreciation.”

“Under your (Ms. Kathy-Ann Lewis) and the Division of Student Services and Development’s (DSSD) direction, I’ve neared to take pride in being a student of the UWI, to strategise, be organised and follow through with my decision-making.

I was given a path to the future with my SIGI3 Career Assessment, which highlighted ‘International Trade Specialist’ and have used that information to pursue the path I’m currently on. A guiding beacon.

The invaluable experience with you and the rest of the UWI Alternative Break: Grenada team showed me what can be accomplished with teamwork and proper planning. It was also very influential in forging close ties with our regional brothers and sisters, further impacting my future decisions towards somehow being involved in the regional integration project.

I am grateful for these lessons and experiences as I prepare for Barbados in August 2019.”

Student Testimonial

Careers Placement
Alternative Break

Nwadike Bacchus,
May 2019

Student Testimonial

Careers Placement
Employment Opportunities

Jemima Robin,
October 5th, 2017

“This email is to express my sincere gratitude to you for sending my resume to the Bursary, Main Administration Building. I got through with the job. HIP HIP HOORAY!

Thank you so much for believing in me!

Quite honestly, if I saw the opportunity myself, I would not have thought to apply for it or would have been hesitant.

Thank you so very much once again. From the depth of my heart, I am eternally grateful.”

Success looks good on them, and it will on you too. Even if you’re not sure what you want to do professionally, speaking to the Careers Department is a great place to start.

Thinking about your career doesn’t have to be scary and your thoughts may change throughout your time at university – certainly in your lifetime. The great thing is when you start your first year at UWI, you gain access to a tremendous amount of support and guidance to help you. You’ll get a chance to strengthen your work ethic and enhance skills you may not even know you had through workshops, internships, and virtual interactive presentations with knowledgeable experts.

Your journey is what you make of it so why not plan ahead and start now? You’ll learn so much and gain confidence in the process.

We can’t wait to see you shine.

Remember, at the St. Augustine Campus, we provide students not just with academic and professional competencies, but we also instil in our graduates the character traits that will make them positive forces in society.

Game Changers