1. CEMPS Employability A Student Perspective

2. Employability : A Student Perspective Contents 1.Introduction 2.Student Perspective 3.Extra Curricular Provisions 4.Recommendations 5.Education Forum Oresund Link Road, Denmark/Sweden

3. The Project  Review the provision of employability services in the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences (CEMPS)  View to presenting outcomes and recommendations to staff  Initiate open debate on the topic of employability  Promote sharing of ideas between college members TGV, France

4. Why Employability?  An area of increasing importance  Concerns staff and students  A collaborative area  An area in which small changes can make a big difference Airbus A380

5. Positive Graduate Outlook  Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates are key to providing the higher level skills that are required for economic recovery and long-term prosperity in the UK (HE Academy, 2010).  It is essential that we raise the level of our STEM skills (BIS, 2010).  Two-fifths of employers struggle to find the STEM talent they need (Times Online, 2010) Wind Farm

6. Realistic Graduate Outlook 1.School leavers and graduates are lacking basic skills, says CBI survey  Weaknesses in time management and team work in graduates 2.45% of graduates at top universities (inc. Exeter) view career prospects as ‘very limited’  Competition for graduate jobs has never been fiercer 3.Graduates ‘paying £8000 for internships’  Students paying companies to set up work experience 1. Times Online (17/05/10) 2. BBC.co.uk 3. Telegraph.co.uk (18/12/09) Pendolino Tilting Train, UK

7. Employer Demand Attributes% Communication skills86 Team-working skills85 Integrity83 Intellectual ability81 Confidence80 Character/personality74 Planning & organisation skills74 Literacy71 Numeracy68 Analysis and decision making67 Source: CIHE Graduate Employability: Employers Where do these skills come from?  Degree  Work Experience  Extra Curricular Activities Pelamis Wave Generator, Portugal

8. Current College Employability Services Why is attendance low?  Don’t feel will help me – 42%  Inconvenient time – 39%  Perhaps students think they know what they want to do  Busy schedule – hard to find time  Maybe they should be attending... Source: CEMPS Employability Survey What services does the college offer?  Employer in the foyer  Careers drop-in  Company presentations  ITMB guru for IT

9. Who would you like to work for? Where do our graduates work? Source: CEMPS Graduate Destinations & Employability Survey  Ambition - large multinational companies  Reality– predominantly small and medium sized local enterprises  Do our students end up where they think they will?

10. Student Feedback What would students like to see?  “More one to one level of help”  “More help organising placements”  “More encouragement to get summer placements”  “List of summer placements and deadlines”  “Short presentations by multiple companies in an dedicated lecture”  “More presentations aimed at students looking for summer placements” Source: CEMPS Employability Survey Hang on, don’t these services exist?  Careers advisor drop-in  Dedicated placement coordinator  Emails with opportunities and encouragement from careers staff  Work placement database  Similar idea with Gradcracker, however low attendance  Employer in the foyer? Oil Platform

11. Recommendations New Developments  Dedicated ‘Placements Coordinator’ Recommendations  Invest in ‘Placements Coordinator’  Work placements data base and profiling  Enhance the CANDI module  Focus on helping students to make the most of the services available to them Recommendations  Try to encourage PDP as an important part of employability  Increase student awareness of past graduate destinations  Make students and staff aware of transitional programmes such as KTP and GBP  Utilise alumni and take advantage of our excellent reputation  Make use of institutional links Large Hadron Collider, CERN

12. Education Forum - Debate  Employability services offered by University and College are excellent  The changing graduate employment market means we need to keep up to speed  How can we encourage students to make use of the employability resources and support already available to them?  How can we further develop students' skills and employability throughout their degree programme? Milau Viaduct, France

13. Education Forum - Outcomes  Participation a big issue across CEMPS  More targeted marketing of events  Potential for integration of PDP into degree  Small tutorial classes in which all issues are discussed (Physics)  Integration of advice into booklet for joining students  Distribution of findings of SACA project to students Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong