Employability skills
During the course of your Degree Programme, you should develop a range of transferable skills. These include skills in written and oral communication, organisation of information, presentation skills, teamwork and leadership. The unit descriptions outline the employability skills that have been identified for each unit.
You have your own, online ‘Employability Skills Record’ which is located on the intranet against your personal profile. Your Academic Advisor can also view this record. The aim of the record is to help you monitor and take an active part in the development of your employability skills. You should update your ‘Employability Skills Record’ on a regular basis, and at least once per semester. The skills record offers you links to useful suggestions to help you to develop your employability skills. You should discuss your ‘Employability Skills Record’ with your Academic Advisor during your one to one meetings. There is space on your record to set targets and you should review these regularly to chart your progress and think of strategies to develop your skills further. What you write in your ‘Employability Skills Record’ should prove extremely valuable when you apply for industrial/professional placements, summer internships, further study or graduate jobs, as the topics covered will often reflect those you may be asked about in application processes.
Your tutorial unit also aims to help you develop employability skills. A detailed list of employability skills and how these can be developed through tutorials is provided in your tutorial handbook and in a folder entitled ‘Developing your Employability Skills’ within the tutorial unit on Blackboard. This folder contains useful information about:
- Careers Resources
- Employability Skill
- Writing a good CV (including template and example CVs)
- Writing a personal statement for your CV
- Interview guidance
- Writing a covering letter
- Choosing a referee
These resources will become increasingly important as you progress on your Degree Programme and begin applying for placements, internships and jobs. You will also find useful resources about revision and exam technique and about career options and work experience in the tutorial unit on Blackboard.
As part of the tutorial unit, you will take part in sessions that focus specifically on employability (candidate selection, CV-writing, interview skills and tailoring a CV to a particular application). Your Academic Tutor will inform you about when these tutorials will take place. Further information is available in the tutorial handbook and on the tutorial unit on Blackboard.
The School organises a number of events during the year to help you to enhance your employability and you are encouraged to take part in these. Information about these events will be advertised to you via email.