IMESS Scholarship Funding Category A deadline:
27 April 2012

IMESS Scholarship Funding Category B deadline:
27 April 2012

Non-scholarship applications deadline:
27 April 2012

 

 

 

IMESS Student Handbook

Why do IMESS? A Careers Perspective

Our IMESS students come from academic backgrounds as diverse as their forty plus countries. Some already have degrees in the study of our area. Others have degrees in specific disciplines but are less familiar with our region. In all cases IMESS complements these students' existing skills and provides a vital stepping stone to a range of careers.

IMESS graduates are qualififed to progress to PhD research or to careers in governmental or international organisations and may specialise in finance, commerce, analysis or consultancy. Others may seek a career in diplomacy, journalism or in non-governmental organisations. Indeed, the post-IMESS possibilities are as broad as the scope of the IMESS degree itself.

IMESS graduates are working in banking and finance, international trade, political risk assessment, business analysis, e-commerce, international development, for energy companies, national governments, NGOs and international organisations, while a number are continuing their studies and are enrolled on MBA or PhD programmes.

IMESS Associate Partners and internships

The IMESS consortium has signed agreements with a number of Associate Partners, drawn from the public and private sectors, encompassing national and international businesses, cultural institutions and governmental and non-governmental organisations. Our Associate Partners include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the British Library, the Hungarian Foreign Affairs Society and the European Development Agency. The involvement of the cross-sector Associate Partners ensures that IMESS graduates are equipped with the transferrable employment-related and discipline-specific skills and competences necessary to succeed in a globalised, knowledge-based economy.

At the end of year 1, students are encouraged to apply for an internship at an organisation related to the applicant’s field of study in terms of discipline or region. A list of relevant opportunities are provided to the students, while arrangements have also been made with a number of Associate Partners to make internships available exclusively for IMESS students. If the internship is unpaid, the students can apply to the consortium for one of eight EUR 500 bursaries.

The IMESS Careers Programme

IMESS students are offered a tailored careers support package within the structures of the wider UCL and SSEES career support structures. In particular, during year one the SSEES Careers Advisor will run special sessions on 'Writing successful Applications and CVs' on in November and on 'Preparing for Assessment Centres' in the following January. In addition to this, in March, SSEES hosts a 'Careers Evening' at which many of the most significant employers are represented. The Careers Advisor has a weekly drop-in session during term-time and can provide information on the full range of the events and activities that the UCL and University of London Careers Services offer.

Many IMESS students are interested in undertaking an internship in-between year one and year two and, to this end, we have created a very useful database detailing possible internship opportunities and we encourage students to apply to these firms and organisations. Other IMESS students prefer to head early to the second year country and, to this end, our East European language teachers are normally able to advise on summer schools and language preparation courses.

UCL SSEES Careers Advisor

UCL subscribes to ‘The Careers Group - University of London’ which supports UCL’s dedicated Careers Service. IMESS students are entitled to use UCL’s extensive services at any time during their period of study. UCL SSEES has its own Careers Advisor who will be available to IMESS students throughout the programme. The advisor can assist you with relevant guidance on your career planning, as well as helping you to build up your key skills for job-hunting (e.g. CV presentation and interview technique). There are weekly ‘drop-in’ sessions for short individual discussions on site at SSEES, on Wednesdays (11.00 - 1.00 in Room 503) during term time. Longer appointments are held by arrangement on Wednesday afternoons at the main UCL Careers Office.

You can contact the careers advisor by dropping into the Wednesday morning sessions at SSEES or by calling in at the UCL Careers Service. Please note: the UCL Careers Service is located on the 4th Floor of the University of London Union Building, Malet Street (opposite Waterstones).

The Careers Service is frequently contacted by employers with offers of part-time, temporary as well as full-time work in which you might be able to use your specialist skills. Details are kept in files behind the Issue Desk in the Library. Details of talks, dedicated skills sessions, and other careers information will be found at UCL Careers.

Other sources of information

The IMESS Alumni Association website gives further access to careers networks and opportunities. For current IMESS students the IMESS Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) has a regularly updated careers page, which includes listings of PhD and other opportunities as well as advice on writing research proposals and the database of internship contacts. Finally, the SSEES website has links to various useful sources.

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