Informational Interview- Imperial College London
Before departing for London, my first challenging assignment was to find an informational interview for my visit. I wish to have a career in Student Affairs that would allow me to either work aboard or travel abroad often; perhaps Study Abroad, International Programs, Recruitment, Admission, etc., so I wanted to speak with individuals in Student Affairs in the UK. I thought it would be easy to find someone, email them, and set up a meeting time, but that was definitely not the case. I emailed four different universities and colleges in London and at least two Student Services departments at each institution. After getting two rejection emails from two different places saying that their institution just didn’t do meetings like that, I finally received a yes from Imperial College London to meet with the Director of Careers Services, Elspeth F.
Imperial College London was founded in 1907 and is a competitive STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) institution that also included a medical facility and a business school. They have around 16,000 total students, and students from 126 countries, much like the University of Kansas. The Career Services Department is settled in South Kensington, and in my short time on the campus, outwardly very similar to an American college campus. There were students hanging out in the dining area with books, computers, phones and friends and there were classes going on in this building as well. As far as comparisons, it felt like a union or a central student locale. The Career Services office even had a student worker at the front desk and several students working or milling about the area.
In true international careers fashion, not everything went as planned for my interview. As I arrived at the Careers Services office, the receptionist said they had no record of my appointment. However, within moments, the Information Assistant who made my appointment, Michelle Swallow, came over to say the something must have come up and that she would find me a new person. She outdid herself and ultimately found me two gentlemen to speak with: Jason Y., Deputy Director of Career Services and Richard M., Information Manager of Career Services. Both men had been at Imperial for several years, and gave me great insight to UK Student Services compared to US Student Affairs.
One of the first things that I learned was that Career Services doesn’t really fall into the “Student Affairs” umbrella it does in the United States. It is usually included in the education side of things, while admissions and exams fall under the “Registry”. However, in true Student Services/ Affairs style, both men had an interesting and round about way of entering the field. Jason worked as a health care agent, counselor for local youth, and the link was to Imperial was through being a counselor or advisor to youth on careers, school, and life. He self described his journey as a “Cinderella story.” Richard was previously a librarian, which is why he is now the Information Specialist; he deals with scheduling, logging, digitizing, and essentially anything with data or information.
My prepared list of questions was geared towards understanding the culture and practices of higher education/ student services in the UK. They, in no particular order due to conversation flow, were:
How did you get into Student Services/Career Services/?
What is unique about working in this field?
What are some of the noticeable differences in Career Services/Higher Education in the UK versus the US?
What are advancement opportunities like?
Student Services is a broad field; do students/employees typically jump around?
Would it be difficult for an American to work in the UK for Imperial (or any university)?
What are some experiences/ skills looked for to join this field?
Are graduate students working in the Career Services office? Is that for a degree, apprenticeship, job?
My main discoveries from these questions were that Career Services are a little bit different in the UK than the US, but fundamentally, they are very similar. Jason told me tons about a program Imperial hosts where students can take seminars on certain life skills and development, since there are no social sciences at Imperial. They also do workshops, career advising, resume building, intern placements, and graduate school advice. This sounded very, very similar to my own Career Services Center at KU.
I also learned that there are many American students there studying as undergraduates, and postgraduate. As I later learned during my time in London, this is vital to begin the process of being about to work and live in the UK. Jason and Richard both emphasized the internationality of Imperial and how competitive it is in the world as a STEM institution. Which was good news, personally, because when I asked if people tend to move around in the field, like they seem to in the US, they said it can be done, as long as the person has the skills and qualifications needed. I thoroughly enjoyed my first informational interview, gained two contacts in the UK, and learned a great deal about Higher Education and Career Services in the UK.
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