Frequently Asked Questions

Page contents > How do I book an advice appointment? | Can I pre-book an advice appointment? | Can I make an appointment with a specific advisor? | Why can't I log-on to My Careers Service? | How do I book a practice interview? | How do I book events? | Can I still use your services as an alumnus? | Can you change the address to which LSE Careers e-mails get sent to me? | What do I need to do to work part-time as an international student? | Will you sign a convention de stage?

How do I book an advice appointment?

• Careers advice and CV appointments are available every day Monday-Thursday. You should book through My Careers Service.
• Morning appointments for the whole week are all released at 9.30 on Monday.
• We release appointments for each afternoon at 9.30 on the same morning.
• Releasing appointments is a manual process and can take up to 10 minutes, so keep clicking 'refresh' to see new appointments as they are added.
• We hold 40 -100+ appointments daily. However, particularly in Michaelmas term, all appointments can get booked up by 9.45, so you need to be prompt!
• Careers advisers can also give advice on CVs and cover letters, so if there are no CV advice appointments available click "Careers advice" instead and book one of those.
• Please note, all successfully booked appointments will show up in your "My bookings" in "My Careers Service", and an automated e-mail will be immediately sent out to you. If you do not find these, please assume that you do not have an appointment and try to book again.
• Watch video guides showing how to book a careers advice appointment and how to book a cv check. 

Can I pre-book an advice appointment?

We will book an appointment for you in advance if:

• A careers adviser requests that we do so.
• You have lectures or classes daily between 9am and 10am. If you are not a second year BSc Economics student, you will need to bring in a print-out of your timetable to demonstrate that you are always unable to book at 9.30am.
• You need a telephone appointment as you are in full-time work during the holidays, or do not live in London.
• You have tried several times to book an appointment online but have always been unsuccessful. The best way to demonstrate this is to send us an e-mail at 9.45am.
• If you are a PhD student and wish to see Kate Daubney, please e-mail her directly. If you are an ADMIS student please e-mail Shaun Harris; and if an MES student please e-mail Judith Baines.
• If you are an alumnus who graduated in the summer of 2009, we can book you a Career Coaching session in advance: please see Graduate Advance for more information.

Can I make an appointment with a specific advisor?

• When booking online, the name of the careers adviser will appear by the appointment, so you can choose whom you want to see. You can see when each careers adviser normally works on the timetable page.
• If you can't book with the advisor specialising in your area, book with another. All of our careers advisers have extensive knowledge of all sectors, and will probably be able to answer your questions. If they feel you do need further help, they will refer you to a colleague for a longer, pre-booked guidance session.

Why can't I log-on to My Careers Service?

There are typically three possible reasons that you might not be able to log on:

• You are a student new to the school but have not yet enrolled. New students are granted access to My Careers Service during September each year following formal registration.
• You are an existing student, but you have overdue tuition or residential fees. You will be unable to book appointments or places at events until your balance is settled at Student Services.
• You have recently graduated, and your username has been removed from our server. You can continue to use My Careers Service by registering in the Alumni section. Please also see LSE Graduate Advance.

How do I book a practice interview?

• As soon as you have been invited for an interview please come to the Careers Service with the following print-outs:

• We will try to arrange a 30 minute practice interview for you within the next week.
• We can often book case-study interviews, but in busy times we cannot absolutely guarantee a slot. If you would like one, please inform us when booking.

How do I book events?

• All events that require booking must be booked through My Careers Service (with the exception of MBTI tests and Recruiter in Residence, for which a deposit is required). We normally release booking at least one week in advance, and the date that booking will commence is advertised on My Careers Service as soon as the event is posted.  
• Watch a video guide showing how to book a place on a careers event.
• We strongly encourage students to cancel their booking if they cannot attend any event, as our system will automatically re-open that place for somebody else. Demand is greater than the available spaces at most of our events, and failure to cancel will inevitably stop someone who wanted to from attending.
• If an event has "0" available places, check carefully to see when booking opens. If you are looking after the date and time given, then it means that the event is already full. Our more popular events can get booked up within a couple of hours. It is, however, worth checking back occasionally to see if any more slots become available through cancellations: you might get lucky.
• Our Fairs and Forums have hundreds of available places, but we unfortunately have to limit the number of attendees due to fire regulations. In order to ensure that everybody has an equal chance of booking, we typically release available places in two batches; one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so that students are able to book even if they have classes all morning.
• All dates and booking information for this year's fairs and forums, and most other careers events for Michaelmas 2009 are now listed alongside booking information on My Careers Service. For a quick overview of dates and information about how to use these events, what to wear and what to expect, see Careers fairs or Careers forums
• A number of places are reserved for alumni at most of our events. You can book them through Houghton Street Online, so you need to be registered there first. They are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
• LSE Careers events are available to members of LSE only. Students from other universities are unable to attend, and admission will not be granted to external friends or family.

Can I still use your services as an alumnus?

• All alumni can use LSE Careers Service for two years after graduation. Alumni who graduated in 2009 are eligible for special Career Coaching sessions. Please see LSE Graduate Advance for more details.

Can you change the address to which LSE Careers e-mails get sent to me?

• We are unable to change e-mail addresses ourselves. You can control where all e-mails get sent to by changing the address listed in your profile in "My Careers Service" and "LSE For You". Please note that the e-mail address you used when applying to the school is the default, and not your LSE e-mail.

What do I need to do to work part-time as an international student?

• If you are studying at LSE for a period of six months or more, and have a "Student Visa", then you are likely to be able to work for up to 20 hours a week in term-time and for an unlimited number of hours in the vacation.
• If you are unsure of your visa situation, please book an appointment with the LSE Student Union's Advice Centre. You can book an appointment through their website: http://www.lsesu.com
• All international students working in the UK will require a National Insurance Number - just like UK citizens.  National Insurance Contributions (a form of social security) is paid at 11% of the amount you earn above £110 a week, or 11% of the amount you earn above £476 a month. Employers cannot pay you if you do not have one. To apply, please telephone 08456 000 643. An appointment will be booked for you to collect your number from a Job Centre: you will need your passport, proof of address, and proof that you are studying at LSE. For more information, please see the HM Revenues and Customs: National Insurance Contributions webpage.

Will you sign a convention de stage?

• LSE Careers provides its own convention de stage for students wishing to intern in France, Belgium or Italy. We are unable to sign a firm's own convention de stage, as universities' legal liabilities are somewhat different in the UK compared to those three countries. We may be able to append a negotiated addendum onto the convention, but unfortunately we can neither change nor delete clauses in the main document. In order to get a copy, please come into the careers service, or e-mail us.