Studies as part of your career
Congratulations! Gaining a place to study is a wonderful achievement. It is also of vital importance for your career prospects.
You are about to embark on a new and exciting phase of your life that may, at first, also appear quite hectic. Now is a good time to stop and reflect on your path: where you have come from, where you are now and where you hope to go.
Consider and write down the following for yourself:
- What made you choose this degree programme? What are you interested in within the field?
- What factors played a role in your decision to apply? What do they say about your way of making decisions?
- How would you describe your field to your grandmother?
- Please return to these questions after the first teaching period, term or academic year. Have your answers changed?
- Challenge your perceptions: Search for concrete information on what graduates from your field do after graduation. You can start by exploring the töissä.fi website, the alumni search feature on the University of Helsinki’s LinkedIn page, and the career tracking data on the Instructions for Students website.
- The next time you find yourself pondering the question “What will I do when I grow up?”, try changing the question to “What next?”. Does it change anything?
Your career is a journey through education, employment and life, and you cannot plan your professional life separately from the other areas of your life. Our thoughts, hopes and plans are also continuously changing and evolving, as is the world around us, including the world of work.
The University’s Career Services is here for you throughout your studies and up to one year after your graduation. When considering your future, your skills or your expertise, or searching for support or advice for a traineeship or job-seeking, please explore the sections Work and career and Traineeships on the Instructions for Students website.
You can start planning your traineeship by checking out the FAQ on traineeships for new students.
Watch the Studies, career and expertise video on Unitube.
If you don’t want to watch the video, you can read the narration as text (pdf).