What Skills Can History Graduates Promote

to Employers?

Promoting History Graduates to Employers

By the end of this seminar you will:

• understand the skills which employers want graduates to have

• identify the skills which you are developing through your course

• identify additional skills and attributes developed through other activities

• know how to create an effective CV which highlights these skills

Skills employers want in graduates

• Communication – written, verbal, graphic• Teamwork• Leadership• Motivating others• Empathy for others• Integrity

• Personal effectiveness• Information gathering• Analytical thinking• Problem solving• Creativity• Planning and implementing plans

Skills from your course

A graduate in History should be able to:• appreciate the complexity and diversity of situations and events • understand a range of viewpoints • read and use texts and other source materials critically• gather, sift, select, organise and synthesise large quantities of

evidence • appreciate the problems involved in interpreting complex,

ambiguous, conflicting and often incomplete material • recognise that statements are not all of equal validity and be able

to test them by critical evaluation • formulate appropriate questions and provide answers using valid,

relevant evidence and argument • write with structure, coherence, clarity and fluency

Other sources of skills development

What other roles do you have in life?

Personal: parent, family member, friend, carerWork: employee, supervisor, team leader, team

member, self-employed, volunteer, active in family business

Interests:creative arts + crafts, individual and team sports, musical + drama performance, current affairs, community service, religion,

environment, travel

Additional skills developed outside studyThrough life experience you can gain skills in:

• Self-reliance• Negotiation• Practical problem solving• Multi-tasking• Organising other people• Dealing with people with different / conflicting views• Financial management• Using initiative

Options to enhance your profile

• GOALS / Summer Academy– linking students & pupils http://www.strath.ac.uk/apu/jobopportunities/ http://www.strath.ac.uk/summeracademy/mentorrecruitment/ • Museum/heritage volunteers – City Council, National Trust

for Scotland, Friends of Glasgow Cathedral http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Visitors/MuseumsGalleries/ http://www.nts.org.uk/Support/volunteers_home.php info@glasgowcathedral.org.uk • Archives volunteers – Society of Archivists http://www.archives.org.uk/ • Information work – Glasgow City Council, Erskine Hospital

lil@cls.glasgow.gov.uk and www.erskine.org.uk

Options to enhance your profile

• CACTUS – Community Action at U. of Strathclyde cactus @ theunion.strath.ac.uk • Nightline, Samaritans, Childline - counselling www.strathstudents.com/display/strathclydeadvice/Nightline http://www.samaritans.org/support/volunteer.shtm http://www.childline.org.uk/Volunteercounselling.asp • SACRO, Victim Support – links to legal + penal systems http://www.sacro.org.uk/index.html http://www.victimsupportsco.demon.co.uk/main/volunteer.html

Options to enhance your profile

• AIESEC and SIFE [Students in Free Enterprise] - understanding business and entrepreneurship http://www.aiesec.co.uk/stud/membership_how.asp?id=22 • Strathclyde Telegraph, hospital radio, volunteer publicity

officer – media involvement telegraph@theunion.strath.ac.uk http://www.shrs.org.uk/hbs/index.html • Study or summer job abroad www.strath.ac.uk/igo/informationabout/studyabroadopportunities/ http://www.careers.strath.ac.uk/ses/student/swabroad.htm

Presenting your skills in a CV

Content of a good CV

• Personal details – name + contact points• Personal statement/career goal [optional]• Education [reverse order]• Career history/work experience• Relevant skills/qualities• Positions of responsibility/achievements• Interests• Referees

Presenting your skills in a CV

Option 1: Degree related skills• Research, written communication and IT skills, work in groups

Option 2: Degree related skills• Excellent research skills, from initial design to final implementation• Analysis of official statistics and reports• In-depth qualitative interviewing• Ability to summarise complex issues in concise language• Competent user of SPSS, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel,

email and the Internet• Individual and team projects demanded strong organisational,

planning and team skills alongside the capacity to manage several tasks simultaneously

Presenting your skills in a CV

Option 1: Work related skillsCall centre agent• Responding to calls about accounts – enquiries and complaints

Option 2: Work related skillsCall Centre Agent – Credit Management• Take inbound calls from customers dealing mainly with enquiries

regarding pre-payment accounts.• Listen to customer and identify the main cause of their complaint

before explaining the company position together with a proposed method for resolving the issue.

• Work as part of a team that has to maintain a set call ratio together with targets for calling customers back after more detailed investigation of their issue.

Presenting your skills in a CV

Option 1: Leisure interests• Current affairs, reading, writing, travel, music, sport, meeting

friends

Option 2: Leisure interests• I am very interested in societal and current affairs and I like to keep

up to date with these through various newspapers and magazines. This interest also led to me writing many articles for the student newspaper, Strathclyde Telegraph, which I enjoyed very much.

• I enjoy travelling and visiting new countries and I have spent considerable time travelling through Spain and central Europe. I found this challenging and character building.

• I enjoy going to the cinema regularly, listening to music and reading. I also enjoy football, squash and socialising.

Help from the Careers Service

Careers guidance interviewHelps to identify your skills and match - ring 548-4320 them to suitable careers.

Student Employment Service Opportunities for part-time, vacation - rooms L5.26 & 5.27 paid and unpaid work – UK, overseas - vacancies on website

Resource centre – L5.01 Files, books on vacation and voluntary work ; study abroad; CVs

CV advice Drop in sessions- Tues. 1-4 p.m.- Thurs. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.