careers and employability talk russell group teachers' conference
DESCRIPTION
Delivered by Bob Gilworth, Director, Careers Centre, Leeds University and Lucy Hawkins, Careers Adviser, University of Oxford.TRANSCRIPT
CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY
Bob Gilworth, Director, Careers Centre, University of Leeds [email protected] Lucy Hawkins, Careers Adviser, University of
Oxford [email protected]
OverviewInteractive element: Labour market quiz 5 minutes
The Graduate Employment market 5 minutesDestinations 10 minutes
Interactive element: Graduate job assessments 5 minutes
Enhancing employability 20 minutesWhat is employability?What can help students become employable?What do careers services do?What can be done right now?
The Graduate Market
The Graduate Market?
• Employability ≠ (any) employmentEmployer ranking, graduate level-jobs
• 6 month snapshot has major shortcomings• Sample sizes can vary!• Narrow view of the graduate job market…• … and university experience
The Graduate Market?
The Graduate Market• Much more than just generic graduate schemes• 2011 UP on 2010 • Climbing back to 2007 levels from 2009 low point (not uniform)• Vacancies UP in 2011, 1/3 will go to “converted” interns/placement• Many blue chips have more summer interns than “sandwich” places• Many universities increasing the strength of their placements
The Graduate Market• Graduate market ≠ wider employment market. • Protected, global talent pipeline• UK market is at least 60% “any discipline” (like the US, unlike much
of Europe).• No need for prospective students to trade off enjoyment and
success for a vocational course if that is not their preference.
Destinations
10
Russell Group
All UK universities
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Work
Work & Study
Study
Unemployed
Unavailable
Source: DLHE 2009 census of leavers from 2008
6 months a
fter
leaving
Destinations overview
Key Information Set (KIS)
• Standardised• Published from Sept 2012
– On successor site to http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/
– Uni websites (via widget)– UCAS course finder
• Containing:– student satisfaction – course information – employment and salary data – accommodation costs– financial information, such as fees– students' union information.
12
Current data available
14
Institutional information
A minority of Oxford undergraduates work in the City
15
Education
Health
Management Consulting
Industry
Inv BankAccountancyOther public service
Recreation & MediaOther finance
Computing & IT
Other
Source: DLHE stats 2007; CS analysis
6 months a
fter
leaving
Information for decisions
And there’s a variety of further study from Oxford
16Source: DLHE stats 2010 of 2009 leavers; CS analysis
Higher degree course
Higher degree - research
Professional qualification
Other quali-fication
PG diploma or cer-tificate Not aiming for qual
6 months a
fter
leaving
Information for decisions
Work in own subject
Law
Education
Business analysts
Business related other
Artistic creation
Other work
Legal Training
PGCEProfessional training Other study
Wide range of options: e.g. Oxford History graduates
17Source: DLHE survey 2008
Information for decisions
Enhancing Employability
Subject studied
Work experience
Internship
OU students work harder
Responsibility position
Clubs and societies
Personal tutorial system
Skills training
College system
Achievement in sport
Gap year
Possibly important ProbablyNot important
It’s why employers hire those that they do:
Source: CS survey 2009 of 300 employers
What is employability?
20
Work experience
Employability experiences
Working out what to do
Getting CV etc ready
Learning to network
Learning about an industry
Exploring further study
Practising interviews
Finding useful job ads
0 1 2 3 4ExtremelyVerySlightlyNot at all
… and many 1st year students are very aware of the need to increase their employability:
Source: CS annual 2011 survey of 950 students, 2010 survey of 830 students
How important are the following?
It’s what leavers think they lack:
Source: Unemployed Leavers 2010 (Careers Service), 3-11 March 2011
Initiative and problem solvingPlanning and organising
Self-managementTests
Team workingOther (please specify)
CommunicationLeadership
EntrepreneurshipSkills
Work experienceCommercial awareness
Don't know
0 5 10 15 20
Less competitive areas for unemployed leavers
What is employability?
What helps a student become more employable?
An awareness of the skills and competencies they might need to demonstrate
Opportunities to develop the above
Access to employers that value them
Graduate Schemes
• Have always been highly competitive• Not grown in line with UK graduate output• Some have a 2:1 cut-off, some do not• Some screen on UCAS points, some do not.• Majority take a hard line on SPAG!• All want to know ‘why them’
Graduate employability
Motivations, commercial awareness, career focus are often key differentiators.Work experience as essential evidenceIncreasingly as part of the recruitment process
through internships/placements. For some this means competing at graduate
level mid- way through year 2.
Graduate networking
• Networks and the skill of networking are crucial in many career areas-including business start-up.
• Alumni can play a very important part eg Leeds careers network, Leeds for Life networking events.
• Crucial distinction between social networking and professional networking.
• Levels of cultural capital can affect networks (connections) and the skill of networking.
Employer targeting
• Is a fact of life.• Opportunities to meet top employers (Times Top
100 for example) on campus are greatly increased by attending a highly targeted university.
• High Fliers Top Twenty is published annually (and is dominated by Russell Group universities)
• Generally a major benefit of attending a RG university
What do our careers services do?
• Job and internship boards• 1:1 appointments• Workshops, networking, speaker events• Many opportunities to meet employers• Support through departments, student societies• Learning and development programmes (some
curriculum-linked)• Business start up support• Support for alumni (often for life)• Present information – often publically available• Support all - impartial, free of charge
To do now: for students
• Check motivation and focus for current decision
• Learn information-gathering and decision making skills (e.g. applying through UCAS!)
• Get pro-active and seek experience• Ask questions and test assumptions
Any questions?
Bob Gilworth, Director, Careers Centre, University of Leeds [email protected] Lucy Hawkins, Careers Adviser, University of
Oxford [email protected]