Undergraduate career skills tracker

Evidence the employability skills you are learning on your undergraduate degree

 

What is the undergraduate career skills tracker and how does it help me?

The undergraduate career skills tracker is a way to track your skills development during your degree and record examples.

A chemistry degree develops career skills that employers value such as communication, team-work, problem solving, and time management. Employers will want evidence or examples that show you have the skill. The undergraduate career skills tracker is a simple way to document them.

You will be able to use it for your CV and when making job applications.

Information for university staff 

Are you a lecturer, course director, or university careers officer? Please download the following document for information on how embedding the UCST can help your students. 

Get started

  1. Click on one of the skills buttons to log into Pathfinder where you can access the activity.
  2. Once on the activity's page, click on 'add to my activities’.
  3. The activity will then refresh and you can click 'access resource' to open the interactive questionnaire. 
  4. You can click the 'home' icon to see all your activities on Pathfinder in one place. 

Track your career skills

Make sure you are set up for degree success and have all the information you need to thrive.
Setting goals, prioritising tasks, and creating a structured approach to achieve them.
Searching, gathering, and understanding information to gain new skills and knowledge.
Understanding the fundamental principles, theories, and concepts that underpin chemistry and how they apply across different contexts.
The ability to carry out laboratory and experimental work using appropriate techniques and equipment.
Designing robust experiments to test hypotheses and executing them systematically to generate reliable results.
The ability to communicate effectively using your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
Collaborating effectively within a team or group to achieve shared goals, while navigating differences and potential conflicts.
Using digital tools and technologies to simplify tasks and process information.
Identifying problems, analysing information, and developing and choosing solutions.
Applying ethical judgement and considering environmental, societal, and inclusivity impacts in scientific work.
Working in accordance with safety standards, quality systems, and regulatory frameworks to ensure safe, reliable and compliant outcomes.
What's next? Use your skills and reflections to plan next steps.

How you can use the undergraduate career skills tracker

  • Track your skills development as you progress through your degree, identifying strengths and areas to focus on.
  • Reflect on your experiences in labs, group work, placements, part-time jobs, and extracurricular activities and what skills you’re building.
  • Create a bank of examples you can draw on for CVs, cover letters, job applications, and interviews.
  • Identify your next steps for personal and professional development by recognising where you feel confident and where you'd like to grow.
  • Prepare for networking conversations or careers events by getting clearer on what you enjoy and where you’re headed.
  • Monitor your progress over time by revisiting the tool during each year of your course.
  • You could use it as part of a tutorial with your lecturers to focus on your planned career growth.