Careers Day in Sports

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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Postgraduate study opportunities for Sports
Scientists
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Before you apply, think carefully what you may
want to do after your course. If the main
reason you are considering doing a postgraduate
course is to improve your career prospects, ask
potential employers whether they prefer
candidates to have postgraduate qualifications or
work experience. Your choice of subject is
important more options may be available if you
can avoid specialising too narrowly. Specialisati
on can be important however if you wish to
specialise!
From http//www.ukstudentlife.com/Course/Postgrad
.htm
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science

• Postgraduate study may not be a good idea if the
  real reason is because your family wants you to
  do it, or because you haven't put much thought or
  effort into looking for a job.
• Some good reasons to consider postgraduate study
  are
• because you enjoy your subject and want to spend
  more time studying it
• because you want to broaden your knowledge by
  studying a taught course in a new subject
• - because you want to follow a career which
  requires specialised knowledge (for example as a
  researcher, or as an academic)

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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
The main types of postgraduate courses are A
Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) or a Postgraduate
Certificate (PG Cert) is a taught course lasting
about 9 months (usually from September to June).
People who are interested in teaching sometimes
study for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
(PGCE). There is usually no requirement to
produce a written dissertation to obtain a
postgraduate diploma they are considered to be
less academic than a Masters degree. These
courses are often largely vocational.
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
A Taught Masters course (sometimes known as
"postgraduate qualifications by coursework") is a
taught course lasting 1 year full-time (or 2
years part-time). To be accepted you normally
need to have a good undergraduate degree, but not
necessarily in the same subject. There is a fixed
curriculum, and an exam at the end. Teaching
usually involves a mixture of lectures, seminars
and tutorials. Students must produce a written
dissertation at the end of the course (an essay
often of between 10,000 and 20,000 words). The
most common qualification for you is an MSc
(Master of Science)
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
A Research Masters is a 1 year full-time (or 2
years part-time) course. It involves working to
produce an original study known as a thesis (an
essay often of between 30,000 and 40,000
words). Students work largely on their own, but
are guided by a supervisor. The qualification
is an MRes (Master of Research).
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
An MPhil (Master of Philosophy) is a supervised
research course in any subject (not only
philosophy) which requires 2 years of full-time
study (4 years if part-time). The most able
students can choose to continue studying to
obtain a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy, which
requires a total of at least 3 years of original
research (6 years if part-time), including the
time spent working towards the MPhil. Both an
MPhil or a PhD require the completion of a
thesis, and may require you to attend a spoken
interview (known either as a viva voce or a
viva).
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Where do you find One? Start looking on the
interweb (well if you watch Soccer AM you know
what I mean!). 1. Look on PhD finder websites
(there's zillions of them) Good sites
include www.jobs.ac.uk www.bases.org.uk (a good
course finder there specific to
SES) www.findaPhD.com www.findamasters.com http//
scholar.google.com/ http//www.sportengland.org/co
urses/ www.prospects.ac.uk
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Where do you find One? 2. Hunt one down If you
like a particular area of study go to google type
it in, find an academic who researchers/teaches
it and ask them if they have a PhD going! 3.
Talk to one of us here at the CSES and we can try
to steer you in the right direction.
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Can you do one here? If you liked Essex and you
want to stay then yes you can do both an MSc and
a PhD here. The caveat is that most here are
self funding so you have to be prepared to fund
it your self (occasionally PhD studentships come
up but in reality (and not just here) theyre
thin on the ground. Same deal applies just ask
one of us what we do and we can tell you and
then contact Julie Lord or Noreen Harburt re
applying it really is that simple.
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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science

• What can you do here?
• A Masters by research or PhD
• MRes
• MSc in Cardiac Rehabilitation (subject to
  approval)
• Look at our department website on
• http//www.essex.ac.uk/bs/

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Careers Day in Sports Exercise Science
Remember..
Youre a long time working, what's 2-4 more years
slumming it going to matter?
Theres only one thing better than spending your
own money and thats spending someone else's!
Theres only one thing better than spending
someone else's money and thats spending the
banks!
Its true that a little bit of knowledge is
dangerous (and cheap) and a lot of knowledge is
much better (it just costs a bit more).
A PG qualification isnt a meal ticket, theres
no guarantees in life, you still have to sell
yourself.