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Kickstart Your Career: Getting Ahead at University

Building a satisfying career is a lifelong process. Use this course to take the first step and start university on the front foot.

10,701 enrolled on this course

A young, confident student at a university campus.
  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    2 hours

Learn how to make the most of university and start building your career

Thinking about the future as an undergraduate can be both exciting and terrifying - especially with regular news about changing job markets. How are you supposed to prepare for a future that’s unknown? A university degree can be a great start if your time at university is put to good use. Use this course to find out how to get the most from your university experience and start working towards a successful and satisfying career now.

What topics will you cover?

  • Your vision of your future and what you want to build in your life
  • Building your sense of who you are and how that affects your career choices
  • Understanding the resources and skills you have now as well as those you may need in the future
  • The kinds of job or business opportunities that might exist during and beyond university
  • Exploring the world of work and the opportunities that exist in an industry or field
  • Building your understanding of career pathways and outcomes
  • How to choose a course of study
  • How to get ahead and build a personal or professional point of difference
  • How to approach university life and get the most from the experience
  • Strategies for decision-making and planning

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify and articulate individual strengths, values, motivations and personal characteristics
  • Evaluate individual strengths, values, motivations and personal characteristics
  • Reflect on learning from self-awareness and opportunity awareness exercises and incorporate it into life and career goals
  • Explore the labour market and identify career opportunities
  • Identify potential professions related to your degree
  • Investigate possible future roles and pathways in the profession
  • Explore ways of connecting with people in the profession
  • Assess self-awareness and knowledge of career opportunities to make career decisions
  • Reflect on personal response to challenge or setbacks and consider the possibility that failure is a process of learning and an opportunity for growth

Who is the course for?

No previous knowledge or skills are required for this course. Confidence in navigating the web would be an advantage.

We’ve estimated it takes approximately four hours to complete the course. However the activities in Week 1 may be new to you and take a little longer than two hours, whereas the activities in Week 2 are more decision based and may take less than two hours. Of course if you dive deeply into all of the activities you may spend longer on the course but you’ll learn a lot about yourself and careers in the process.

Who will you learn with?

Hi there! I am an undergraduate Engineering student, majoring in Electrical Engineering with a second major in Economics and Finance. I am excited about the endless possibilities in my career.

Who developed the course?

Queensland University of Technology

QUT is a leading Australian university ranked in the top 1% of universities worldwide by the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Located in Brisbane, it attracts over 50,000 students.

  • Established

    1989
  • Location

    Brisbane, Australia
  • World ranking

    Top 180Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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