Advising Entrepreneurial Students
Key Points
### This section should be finalised by NCGE when the material has been completed
1. Many students are enterprising, and some are entrepreneurial. They may indicate that they intend to run their own business at some stage in their career. Given the changing nature of careers, many graduates will find themselves running their own business, or being self-employed at some stage in their lives.
2. A few, who are very entrepreneurial, will want to start a business straight away and are ambitious for growth.
3. Some may expect to become self-employed straight away for a variety of reasons - eg the sector they are in, their family circumstances, or constraints on their ability to seek or find traditional employment.
4. Others will plan to embark on employment or further study in order to build up their skills and experience.
5. All of these are embarking on an 'entrepreneurial career' which brings with it uncertainties and dilemmas, as well as satisfaction and rewards. Many students may feel daunted by choices ahead of them, and also under-informed about the pros and cons of each. They need access to information, advice and guidance.
6. In order to help them you, as a Careers Professional, will need to understand the nature of entrepreneurial careers, and the ways that students may embark on them. You can then confidently give entrepreneurial students the advice they seek.
7. Your Careers Service will also need to decide how it will interact with other teams in the University to raise student awareness of enterprise and entrepreneurial careers.
8. These web pages are intended to help increase your awareness of the issues surrounding entrepreneurial careers so that you can better guide the students to the most appropriate careers.
9. Although the main focus of the material is to help enterprising and entrepreneurial students to look at career options in business, the same principles apply to those that aspire to start other ventures, such as a social enterprise.