the employable graduate - university of leicester · 2016-08-15 · the employable graduate –...
TRANSCRIPT
www.le.ac.uk/careers
The Employable Graduate Teacher and Adviser Conference 2013
Ian Walker
Career Development Service
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Outline
• Case-study: Rebecca Evans
• What is an ‘employable graduate’
• Developing employability at University
– Student steps
– Career development service input
• Implications for schools and colleges
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Context: employable graduates
Now
Degree = employment
Degree + extracurricular = employment
UCAS tariff + 2:1 degree + good university + extracurricular + work experience = employment
Higher UCAS tariff + 2:1 degree + top university + extracurricular + work experience of measurable value + own personal brand = employment
www.le.ac.uk/careers
A typical graduate recruitment process
Application form – Psychometrics / SJTs – Tele-Interview – Assessment centre – Final interview
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Transferable skills framework Interpersonal Exploration and
Implementation Self-Management
Communication Research & analysing Learning, improving & achieving
Teamwork Problem solving & decision making
Resilience, adaptability & drive
Leadership & supervising Planning & organising Digital literacy
www.le.ac.uk/careers
WHAT STEPS SHOULD STUDENT TAKE DURING THEIR UNIVERSITY CAREER?
www.le.ac.uk/careers
1. Gaining work experience
• Relevant as possible to area of interest
– Responsibility, variety
• Ideally internships
– Voluntary, part-time, shadowing still of value
www.le.ac.uk/careers
2. Extra-curricula activities
• Societies
• Community clubs, groups
• University opportunities
• Ad-hoc opportunities
www.le.ac.uk/careers
3. Making the most of Curricula activities
• Group working
• Presentations
• Feedback – peer and tutor
• Reading around subject
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Direct benefits of these experiences • Transferrable skill development
• Professionalism
• Self-confidence and assuredness (it shows)
• Knowledge of work
• Career and academic motivation
...employers actively assess for all these
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Career Development Service input
• Curricula
– Transferable skills
– Modules with employability applications (Maths)
• Extra-Curricula
– Leicester Award e.g. “tomorrow’s teachers”
– Festival of Careers
– Internships and employer engagement
– Volunteering, Part-time work (Uni-temps)
www.le.ac.uk/careers
Student engagement and career skills
• Engagement
– Hub, Minimum Programme, Finalists, Careers Tutors
• Career skills
– Self-awareness - career aim; strengths and development
areas
– Job hunting: finding opportunities; amount of time and
effort
– Assessment process skills, including how to tell their story
www.le.ac.uk/careers
The employable graduate – getting a head start at school and college
• How do you already encourage employability (or at
least the foundations of employability)?
• Has this talk prompted any ideas around how to
develop employability further?
www.le.ac.uk/careers
• A few thoughts:
– Lack of (career focus?) = lack of career engagement = lack of employability e.g. “Other people are lucky, they know what they want to do…I never have”…high risk
• Solution: fine to go to university without clear idea of career, but only if gain a variety of experiences and reflect = focus
– Message to sixth formers: engage with career planning early and regularly e.g. encourage action planning at school, map out university time-line, show very narrow windows for engaging with careers.
– Development of transferable skills in curriculum and extra-curriculum
– Self-reflection, peer appraisal
The employable graduate – getting a head start at school and college