Explore & Discover

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

You'll usually need GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or A levels, as well as experience or industry qualifications.

You could study for a foundation degree, HND or degree which includes quality control options, for example in production management.

You could get into this job as an apprentice and work your way up to a quality control job.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

• the ability to use your technical knowledge to design policies
• organisational skills

3. What you'll do

You could work in many industries. You'll usually work in a team supervised by a quality manager.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• dealing with customer feedback and complaints
• assessing and rating suppliers
• designing, reviewing and updating quality control policies
• training new staff
• producing reports

You'll also have duties specific to your industry. For example, in manufacturing and engineering this could include:

• finding and fixing faults at each stage of the production process
• testing samples in a lab
• making sure labelling is accurate
• checking that production methods meet legislation guidelines
• inspecting materials for defects and using methods like non-destructive testing (NDT)

4. Salary

Starter: £12,500 to £15,000

Experienced: £18,000 to £25,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work 35 to 40 hours, Monday to Friday. In manufacturing, you may need to work evening and weekend shifts.

You could work in an office, laboratory or factory production area.

6. Career path and progression

With experience and training you could move into supervisory, management or research jobs.

Role Description

Magazine Journalist:

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• going to meetings to plan the content of the magazine 
• suggesting ideas for articles 
• interviewing and researching to collect information for articles 
• writing articles to suit the magazine’s style 
• keeping up-to-date with developments and trends in the magazine's subject area 
• working as a critic, reviewing things like films, food or concerts

Newspaper Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Broadcast Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Role Description

Every day you will be speaking to clients on the phone, via web chat, email or face to face to make sure thye are happy with the product, your company, and their customer service.

Your day to day tasks may include:

• reporting on how well clients are doing with the product
• speaking to clients to make sure they are happy
• training clients
• answering clients questions and solving problems
• informing management team of any recurring problems with the product

Role Description

Key duties:

Dealing with showroom sales and internet orders

Website maintenance

Ebay sales

Deliveries (may include heavy lifting)

Serving customers and taking telephone enquiries

The successful applicant will have:

Excellent organisation skills and time-management

Well presented with excellent communication skills both written and verbal

Ideally GCSE at C or above in Math’s and English or equivalent

Friendly and helpful manner with excellent customer service skills

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

You’ll need to take the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) graduate fast-track diploma to become a chartered member.

To become a chartered member, you’ll need:

to have completed a law degree recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) within the last 7 years, or

to have completed a common professional examination (CPE), or graduate diploma in law (GDL, sometimes known as GDip) conversion course, if you’re a non-law graduate

If you don't have any law qualifications:

you could work for a law firm and study part-time for a level 3 diploma or level 6 professional higher diploma, or

start as a clerical assistant or legal secretary

You’ll then need to work for a further 3 years before qualifying.

Even if you’re not working in a legal environment, if you meet the entry requirements, you could study for the CILEx graduate fast-track diploma full-time, part-time or at home.

CILEx has more information on becoming a legal executive.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

excellent communication skills

administrative and IT skills

accuracy and attention to detail

research skills

an organised approach

the ability to work under pressure

3. What you'll do

You’ll specialise in a branch of law, like:

conveyancing – the legal side of buying and selling property

probate – wills, trusts and inheritance tax

family law – divorce and children’s matters

civil litigation – disputes between people

criminal law – defence or prosecution of people accused of crimes

company and business law – tax, contracts and employment law

Depending on your specialism, your work might include:

advising clients and explaining legal matters

contacting professionals, like mortgage lenders, planning officers or other lawyers on behalf of clients

researching and summarising legal information

preparing legal documents

writing to clients

drawing up wills

preparing contracts

representing clients in court

preparing bills for clients

4. Salary

Starter: £15,000 to £28,000

Experienced: £35,000 to £55,000

Highly Experienced: up to £100,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

In many full-time jobs you’ll work standard office hours Monday to Friday. Flexible hours and part-time work are often possible.

You’ll be based in an office, but may also spend some of your time at courts and police stations.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could take on more complex cases and build up a large client base. You could also progress to leading a team of legal executives and secretaries, or become a practice manager in a law firm. 

With further study, you could qualify as a solicitor.

Role Description

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need a foundation degree, HNC, HND or degree in a relevant subject, like applied chemistry, applied physics, materials engineering, materials science, or technology.

You could also do a degree specialising in a group of materials or their commercial use, like biomaterials, metallurgy, polymer science, or sports and materials science

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship, and then work your way up

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining has information about careers and qualifications in this field.

Skills required

You’ll need:

creative problem-solving skills

maths, science and IT skills

communication and presentation skills

the ability to prioritise and plan effectively

What you'll do

You’ll research materials used in industry, like carbon fibre reinforced plastic, polymers, ceramics or alloys, and test their behaviours under different conditions.

You’ll usually work in a particular area, like metals, coatings or chemicals. 

Your day-to-day duties could include:

researching new ways to combine materials

analysing test data, using computer modelling software

developing prototypes for new products

designing manufacturing processes that use new materials

investigating the reasons behind component or structural failures

supervising a team of technicians

writing reports 

You’ll use non-destructive testing methods to investigate materials, like electrical conductivity, or tolerance to heat or corrosion.

You might work with nanomaterials like graphene and phosphorene, and identify where their properties could be put to use, like in computer electronics or biological sensors.

Salary

Starter: £20,000 to £26,000

Experienced: £26,500 to £40,000

Highly Experienced: over £45,000

These figures are a guide.

Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 35 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday, with some overtime to meet deadlines.

You’ll be based in an office, laboratory or manufacturing environment. 

You may have to travel between sites.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could move into project management or technical sales. You could also specialise in a particular material, or work in research and consultancy.

Role Description

You'll be helping people in their own homes or in day centres, residential or nursing homes.

Your day-to-day duties may include:

• getting to know clients and their interests and needs
• helping with personal care like washing, using the toilet and dressing
• food preparation, feeding and giving out medication
• carrying out general tasks like housework, laundry and shopping
• helping clients manage their budget, pay bills and write letters
• supporting families to get used to new caring responsibilities
• giving emotional and practical support to children and young people
• working with other health and social care professionals to provide individual care and development plans
• helping to organise leisure activities
• going with clients to and from a residential home

Role Description

Entry requirements

There are no set requirements but some employers may expect you to have a degree. Relevant subjects include:

advertising
media and communications
digital marketing
journalism
public relations
business management
You could get into this job without a degree if you have the skills and experience in areas like marketing, advertising or PR. 

You can do college courses in social media and business. 

You could also start as an assistant manager and work your way up. 

You’ll usually need some knowledge and experience of social media. To get experience you could:

manage your own social media profiles
volunteer to manage social media for a charitable organisation
ask to get involved in social media sites of the company you already work for
You’ll need excellent IT skills as you’ll be using social media software and tools. You’ll also need knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) methods and ‘key’ or ‘searched for’ words to drive more users to your social media site.

Experience of graphic design and digital editing software can help. You can use these skills to make your social media posts better by adding videos, photos and infographics.

You could get into this job through a creative and digital media apprenticeship.

iCould has a video interview with a social media assistant.

Skills required

You’ll need:

an eye for detail and the ability to work accurately
the ability to deal with more than one task at a time
creativity
presentation skills
an analytical approach to data
writing skills

What you'll do

You’ll monitor and upload content to sites like:

Facebook and Twitter
Instagram and Pinterest
YouTube and Vine
Your day-to-day duties may include:

updating social media sites
writing blogs, articles and posts
responding to social media posts and developing discussions
checking online for company mentions and customer feedback
searching for interesting posts, news and articles to attract site visitors
overseeing competitions and campaigns promoting your company
taking part in conferences and group chat relevant to your industry or company
educating other staff on social media use
promoting social media use within your company
developing strategies to increase your audience
using social media tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck or Buffer to manage multiple sites
using web tracking tools like Google Analytics, Social Report or Bitly

Salary

Starter: £23,000

Experienced: £25,000 to £35,000

Highly Experienced: £75,000 (head social media manager)

These figures are a guide.

Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work normal office hours, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may need to work evenings and weekends when working on a campaign or with deadlines.

If you’re freelance, you may work longer hours depending on the needs of your clients and the amount of work you take on.

You’ll be based in an office and spend a lot of time working on a computer. You may also attend meetings and make presentations about your work to clients or colleagues.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could move into managing social media for larger companies or progress to a senior or head social media manager job.