Phoenix, October 2020 - Responding to Covid-19

ISSUE 161 OCTOBER 2020

RESPONDING TO COVID-19

Locked down, not locked out: Opening doors for graduates during a pandemic

Delivering careers guidance in turbulent times

Rising to the challenge: Preparing for the unpreparable

Warp-speed employability: Accelerating technology-enhanced delivery

The road to reinvention

Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

october 2020 CONTENTS RESPONDING TO COVID-19

5

LOCKED DOWN, NOT LOCKED

17

DON’T PANIC, THERE’S A

29

GROWING DIGITAL SUPPORT

OUT: OPENING DOORS FOR

PANDEMIC! WORKING IN A

FOR WIDENING

GRADUATES DURING A

NEW VIRTUAL WORLD

PARTICIPATION STUDENTS

PANDEMIC

University of Portsmouth

Lancaster University

Kingston University 19 7

REMOTE CONSULTING

31

PROJECTS: DELIVERINGA

DELIVERING CITY-WIDE

KEEPING EMPLOYABILITY ON

BETTER EXPERIENCE?

SUPPORT

THE AGENDA

University of Bath

University of Leeds and Leeds

University of Bristol

Beckett University 21

9

A UNITED FRONT:

COMPETING PRIORITIES:

DELIVERING CAREERS 33

WARP-SPEED

ONLINE, COLLABORATIVE AND

GUIDANCE IN TURBULENT

FREE – IS THIS THE FUTURE OF

TIMES

EMPLOYABILITY:

CAREERS FAIRS?

The Careers Group, University

ACCELERATING

The University of Edinburgh

of London

TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED DELIVERY

11

CELEBRATING THE UNEXPECTED

22

Lancaster University

WHAT I LEARNT IN ALUMNI RELATIONS DURING A

POSITIVES OF VIRTUAL WORK

35

CAREERS ON THE COUCH:

PANDEMIC

EXPERIENCE

DEVELOPING A YOUTUBE University of Manchester

Nottingham Trent University

SERIES IN LOCKDOWN Northumbria University

13

INNOVATING THROUGH

23

IMPROVING YOUR VOICE FOR ONLINE DELIVERY

LOCKDOWN: CREATING

37

UCL

OPPORTUNITIES FOR A

REGAIN CONTROL Plymouth Marjon University

DIVERSE STUDENT BODY London Metropolitan University

25

BOOSTING EMPLOYABILITY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

15

39

University of Aberdeen

ADAPTING ONLINE GRADUATE

Glasgow Caledonian University

AGCAS Scotland collaboration

Caledonian, Queen Margaret, Stirling)

PAGE 1

MASTERING THE ART OF PROMOTION

SUPPORT ON A MASSIVE SCALE

(Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow

SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO

27

BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR THE OU? NOT QUITE The Open University

41

THE ROAD TO REINVENTION Leeds Beckett University

42

43

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE:

51

UNLOCKING NEW POTENTIAL

INSPIRATIONAL ALUMNI:

PREPARING FOR THE

FOR ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

SUPPORTING STUDENTS

UNPREPARABLE

DURING LOCKDOWN

IN CHALLENGING TIMES

University of Derby

University of Birmingham

University College Birmingham

EFFECTING POSITIVE CHANGE

53

THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING

A VOYAGE INTO EFFECTIVE

65

A WHOLE NEW WORLD Swansea University

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT:

University of Sussex

CHARTING A NEW COURSE FOR RESEARCH IN THE WAKE

45

64

SCALING UP DURING LOCKDOWN: CREATING VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS

67

CREATIVITY IS CATCHING:

OF COVID-19

POSITIVE ACTION IN TIMES OF

AGCAS Employer Engagement

COVID-19

Task Group

University of Gloucestershire

Keele University 55 47

NAVIGATING UNCHARTED

SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO

68

THE DIGITAL AGE

FIND THEIR FUTURE, THEIR WAY

WATERS USING INNOVATION

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR

Bath Spa University

LSE

AND CREATIVITY Cardiff University

57

DEVELOPING CROSS-

69

CONTINENTAL CAREERS 48

SUCCESS IN A VIRTUAL

ADVICE

GAINING IN-DEPTH STUDENT

WORLD

Istituto Marangoni

INSIGHTS DURING A

SUPPORTING STUDENT

University of Chester

PANDEMIC The Open University

59

ADAPT FAST, ACT SMART, KEEP

PLUS

CONNECTED: EVOLVING 49

COUCH TO 5K: MOVING

CAREERS SERVICE DELIVERY

DELIVERY ONLINE

DURING COVID-19

Edge Hill University

University of Exeter

61

FOSTERING COMMUNITY, BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS: PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE WORKPLACES OF THE FUTURE The University of Edinburgh

63

THE BENEFITS OF

71

RESEARCHER’S DIGEST Covid-19 Special Edition

COLLABORATION ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE University of Manchester and University of Warwick

73

CONTINUING SUPPORT DURING COVID-19 AND BEYOND Jisc student and graduate services

PAGE 2

Phoenix is the digital journal of AGCAS, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. It is published three times a year.

To find out more about AGCAS,

message from the

see www.agcas.org.uk

Created in-house by AGCAS, based on an

EDITOR

original design by Marcom www.mar-com.net

Our aim in publishing this issue of Phoenix is to showcase how university careers services have responded to the challenges posed by Covid-19. We profile AGCAS members’

PHOENIX EDITORIAL GROUP

initial response during the first few weeks of lockdown, reflect on how they navigated the months that followed, and outline how they continue to evolve and futureproof careers and employability delivery within a changed – and still changing – landscape. Over the next few pages, you can read about the wide-ranging support and myriad of interventions that have been rolled out by AGCAS members across the UK since the middle of March.

Of course, it has been far from plain sailing. There have been seemingly insurmountable personal and professional challenges to overcome along the way; the past few months

Jenny Hammond Liverpool John Moores University

have tested the resilience of careers professionals, students and recent graduates alike.

But, despite the challenging circumstances, the pandemic has also presented opportunities and resulted in unexpected positives for careers services. Opportunities for greater collaboration across departments, institutions, cities and regions. Opportunities to extend reach and accessibility, to engage previously unengaged groups of students and graduates. Opportunities to establish and grow new employer relationships.

Opportunities to learn and use new technology to enhance delivery. Opportunities to

Lisa McWilliams Keele University

unlock geographical barriers and increase global connectivity. Opportunities to break down physical and conventional structures to rethink existing institutional aims in delivering employability strategies. Opportunities to flip the rhetoric, acknowledging the challenges but painting a more optimistic picture of what might be possible to counter the relentlessly negative public narrative.

Suzie Bullock Without question, this issue of Phoenix busts the truly archaic myth that university careers

University of Leeds

services are resistant to change. AGCAS members adapted very quickly to a shifting external context. Yes, most were able to pivot to remote working overnight, building on their use of existing platforms to enhance online delivery. For others, it took a little longer to flick the switch. Either way, regardless of the time it took to get fully up and running

Ellen Shobrook University of Birmingham

following the announcement of a national lockdown, AGCAS members have done more than simply move provision online to replicate face-to-face delivery in a virtual world.

In addition to ensuring content was fit for purpose, tailored to the changing labour market and the broader circumstances created by the pandemic, careers services have also embraced the opportunity to reconsider their usual modes of service delivery. As one

Rebecca Valentine The University of Edinburgh

contributor writes: “sometimes it takes a global pandemic to shake things up a bit”.

Many services had already been planning to make changes to existing programmes.

When lockdown hit in March this created the space to think outside the box, presented the opportunity to go back to the drawing board, start from scratch and try something new. This has resulted in innovations that might not have been arrived at under normal circumstances, delivered at a pace and scale that could not have been imagined. “We have been invigorated, not by pressing repeat but through reinvention”, writes another

Mary Macfarlane

contributor.

Leeds Beckett University Over the following pages, you can read how AGCAS members have provided students and graduates with continued access to graduate recruiters, through the delivery of virtual employer visits and panels, mock digital assessment centres and online careers fairs. Equally, careers services have created the space for alumni to share insights and

PAGE 3

inspiration, to reflect on their pandemic-related workplace challenges to date and, for the 2008 cohort, their experiences of graduating into a recession. Dedicated calling campaigns have provided a safe space for students and graduates to have positive, empowering conversations with guidance professionals in a climate of chaos and fear. New bite-sized careers and employability content has been co-produced with students to ensure currency and accessibility. Virtual internship programmes have provided students and graduates with opportunities to gain meaningful work experience while also supporting SMEs as they navigate their own pandemic-related business challenges. Online skills awards have enabled students to undertake a wide range of employability-enhancing activities, while the resulting awards celebrations have led students, staff and external partners alike to reflect on what they have achieved during a challenging year. New jobs boards have been created to identify alternative suitable part-time roles for students, many of whom lost a key source of much-needed income overnight. Existing programmes of support have been expanded for delivery across different time zones in response to the sudden dispersal of students to all corners of the globe. Labour market expertise has been consolidated and shared with internal and external stakeholders. Communication and engagement plans have been timed appropriately, with key messages staggered in order to avoid information overload and ‘break through the noise’ of competing institutional priorities.

Aside from showcasing service delivery, we also feature articles on how to use your voice during times like these, with an overview of the techniques that can help careers professionals to deliver effective online sessions. We also hear why it is important to carve out time to shout from the rooftops about the successes and achievements of the past six months. And there’s a Covid-19 special edition of our regular Researcher’s Digest feature. That really is just a whistle-stop tour of this bumper issue, which is by some distance the biggest issue of Phoenix we have ever published in its forty-year history.

It is impossible to read the articles in this issue and not feel inspired by the commitment and dedication of AGCAS members.

From the outset, in the midst of panic and uncertainty, university careers services have been doing everything they can to support students and graduates through very challenging times, in the face of many competing institutional priorities. The examples of service delivery featured will continue to offer significant value to students, graduates, employers and other stakeholders long after restrictions have been lifted, when we are all out the other side of the pandemic and its legacy. In a climate where there are scarce opportunities to draw breath, university careers services will continue to adjust to a changed and changing internal and external environment, to innovate in rapidly shifting circumstances and fight to keep employability on the agenda. It was ever thus.

As I write, parts of the country have just entered the next phase of tighter lockdowns, with further restrictions likely to follow in other areas over the coming weeks. While some careers services have returned to limited face-to-face delivery, others have remained fully in the virtual world. How the remainder of this first semester will play out remains unclear. What is certain, though, is that AGCAS members will continue to play a vital role in supporting the cohort of students and graduates most affected by the pandemic, to help them manage career disruption and access the tools they need to take advantage when opportunities do become available.

When Rishi Sunak’s announcement that “careers advice works” landed within the AGCAS community, he was preaching to the converted. In addition to the broader package of careers support made available to young people through the National Careers Service, it is of paramount importance that the expertise of higher education careers professionals and the university careers services in which they work are recognised and sufficiently resourced to meet the anticipated growth in demand from the student and graduate populations hit the hardest by the pandemic. We will keep lobbying for this on behalf of AGCAS members.

The one constant during these highly unusual times is the strength of community that exists within the careers profession.

University careers services are rich in collegial, specialist, expert practitioners. Ever conscious of the challenges ahead, it will be more important than ever to share endeavours, knowledge and best practice in responding to stakeholder needs, as we navigate the next few months.

As ever, my thanks go to all article contributors and the Phoenix Editorial Group who have helped to produce this issue. I hope you enjoy it – it has been a genuine pleasure to compile.

Gemma Green, Editor

PAGE 4

locked down, not locked out: OPENING DOORS FOR GRADUATES DURING A PANDEMIC

Kingston University’s Careers and

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Employability Service (CES) launched a wholly virtual internship The funding secured was enough to offer 100 virtual internships

programme to address the challenges faced by both the small

lasting 100 hours over a period of six to eight weeks. This felt like a fantastic achievement. However, as we worked through the

business community and graduates entering the job market at a time of

details, many challenges presented themselves – some of which felt insurmountable at times.

profound instability.

LAURA INGHAM, Career Firstly, we had never run an internship programme on this scale,

Development and Graduate

virtual or otherwise. We have delivered student consultancy

Outcomes Manager, and PAUL

projects, so had some knowledge to work from, but otherwise

CLATWORTHY, Employer

we were starting from scratch. Next, we had no internships

Relationships Manager, reflect on

sourced and our timelines (six weeks from funding secured to

the success of the scheme so far, as

first interns starting) meant we were simultaneously recruiting students and generating internship opportunities. This also

well as the impact on students,

meant students were applying to a generic internship

employers and wider CES team.

programme, going through recruitment and then finding out which opportunities were available. Disappointment was a significant concern. Last, but by no means least, we were in the

As lockdown started, we moved quickly to identify sources of funding that would enable us to launch a graduate internship programme.

Working closely with our Partnerships & Business Engagement Team and

our

Alumni

&

Development

Office,

we

drew

on

the

Higher

Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) from UKRI and Covid-19 funding

midst of a global pandemic! Would students have the head space to consider an internship? Would employers be interested, and have the time to support students? And, of course, our team was working remotely with their own challenges.

from Santander Universities to try and meet the scale of our ambition and the demand from graduates and employers.

We were confident that the process was robust, developmental and reflective of real life

PAGE 5

Investing in the recruitment process was the right thing to do. Aside

NEW EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIPS

from saving the team time and headaches, engaging with experts from Gradcore to design and run the assessment centres meant we were confident that the process was robust, developmental and

To get things off the ground, we had to work at lightspeed. On the

reflective of real life. Student feedback from the process has been

employer side we reached out to local SMEs we had worked with

excellent.

previously. Our aim was to stimulate the local economy and support employers where we had existing relationships. Sadly, many contacts had been furloughed or lost their jobs. We next targeted SMEs in the

Leaping head-first into this

London/South and South West London/Surrey regions. This was a great opportunity to increase the geographical spread of our

was the right thing to do for

employers, and establish relationships with new employers.

our graduates, employers For students, we prioritised raising awareness amongst 2019 and

and the team

2020 graduates. The aim was to get them hooked, signed up and engaged in the recruitment process. We were determined that the recruitment process would be an authentic and developmental experience. To achieve this, we worked closely with Gradcore who developed and delivered a series of virtual assessment centres,

SENSE OF UNITY

supporting us with the written applications and final selection.

Aside from the benefits to students, engaging the whole CES as One of our key concerns was maintaining connection between employers and their interns. To facilitate this, Careers and Employability Service (CES) staff have taken on roles as mentors and

assessors and mentors has connected the wider team to the project whilst also developing their knowledge and skills. It also helped us generate a sense of unity during lockdown.

business advisors to support the interns and employers, and we have also used online project management tools.

From an employer engagement perspective, we are really pleased with how many new SMEs we have welcomed onto the programme, and how flexible and adaptable they have been throughout.

This programme is the most popular we have ever run

While it was far from ideal that we were sourcing internships whilst recruiting, and that the short timescale and pandemic meant that we would never be able to cater for all students, we did secure broad roles that could appeal to a range of subject disciplines. Next time, our aim is to secure funding earlier and engage with employers before recruiting graduates, to improve the experience for all

MISPLACED FEARS

parties.

The positive feedback so far has affirmed that leaping head-first into

Our fears around graduate engagement were completely misplaced. We had around 400 expressions of interest with over 150 students going through the assessment centre. In terms of demand versus supply, this programme is the most popular we have ever run. At the time of writing, we have completed the bulk

this was the right thing to do for our graduates, employers and the team. Our key take-away is that collaborative and flexible working has helped us overcome the challenges and deliver positive opportunities that would not have happened had we waited for the stars to align.

of recruitment and filled 60 internship vacancies. The next step is targeted recruitment to ensure we use all funding and fill the more specialized vacancies.

All graduate interns have been trained and introduced to their

Connect with Laura on LinkedIn

employer, mentors and business advisors. The parts we can control are over – it is now in the hands of the interns and employers to make things work – all we can do is support and

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

hope!

View the video: Kingston University Internships Virtual Assessment Centre

PAGE 6

competing priorities: KEEPING EMPLOYABILITY ON THE AGENDA

ELLEN GRACE, Faculty Employability Manager at the University of Bristol Careers Service, outlines the challenges of maintaining a whole-institution approach to employability in the face of competing priorities during the pandemic.

At the University of Bristol Careers Service, we work in partnership

CONNECTING STAKEHOLDERS WITH

with academics and other internal stakeholder to embed employability as an integral part of education and the student

EXTERNAL REALITY

experience. We aim to achieve whole-institution responsibility for preparing students for life and work beyond university. Covid-19 has made this more important, and more challenging. In the short term, we need to work with academic schools to reach graduating students most in need of our support. Longer term, we need to continue to engage students early to ensure they are prepared for the reality of a tougher graduate labour market in the years to come.

As the significance of the impact of Covid-19 on the graduate labour market and the employability of our students became clear, we knew we had a vital role to play in connecting our internal stakeholders with the external reality. Developing and sharing labour market expertise has proved a powerful way of doing this. Our first live labour market information (LMI) webinar, Preparing students for the challenges and opportunities in a changing graduate labour market, involved a range of employer representatives sharing first-hand

The challenge that we, and all institutions, face is that are we operating in a climate of numerous and pressing priorities: the rapid pivot to teaching and assessment online, and the significant transformation of academic programmes, student support and life on campus as we move into a blended 2020-21. So, how can we

experiences of the impact of the pandemic on graduate recruitment, work experience, and business needs. Building on this, and to maintain momentum, we have shared further insights via our regular communications, most recently through a new student-facing web page.

keep employability high on the agenda in the context of these competing priorities?

We knew we had a vital role to play in connecting our internal stakeholders with the external reality

PAGE 7

We have seen immediate impact, with academics drawing on this content in their work with both colleagues and students, and collaborating with members of the careers service to deliver employability Q&A sessions. It has also shaped priorities for this academic year, including inspiring or giving momentum to plans to increase access to work experience through placements and real-world projects.

FRAMING OUR APPROACH

We have worked to align our aims with current institutional priorities:

INSTITUTIONAL PRIORITY

exploring employability as one part of a curricula transformation in preparation for a blended model. We have used this opportunity to define and frame our approach, with clear messages for academics about surfacing the employability benefits of existing pedagogic methods, and the potential of authentic learning to deliver innovative and engaging digital education. We have also delivered timely practical advice via a blog series, making the most of the current momentum to enhance teaching and learning by integrating employability within this.

These include short-term plans and ‘quick wins’, such as working with academics to surface employability in units, or longer-term ambitions to embed real-world learning and work experience in the curriculum.

We know that quality and responsiveness will remain an essential part of the strong trust we need to sustain academic colleagues’ commitment to working with us. It will remain a universal challenge for university careers services to influence and be heard in what will be a busy and uncertain 2020-21.

What we do know is that employability needs to remain an institutional priority. We will continue to work hard to keep it high on the agenda by sharing our labour market expertise, integrating with curriculum enhancement, and sustaining the strong relationships and partnership approach that have been critical to our success so far.

BUILDING CREDIBILITY

Our partnership model with academic schools, which is underpinned by

ellen.grace@bristol.ac.uk

Employability Partnership Agreements (EPAs), has helped to increase our institutional credibility and influence in recent years. This year, EPAs

Connect with Ellen on LinkedIn

have provided a familiar vehicle and structure for us to progress conversations about employability and how we can support students in the current context. Despite the pressures schools are under, we have EPAs in place with all 28 academic schools in 2020-21.

The quality of the broader support and opportunities we provide to students and our responsiveness has impressed academic and other colleagues we work with. We rapidly transformed our services, including building a new online Career Ready Course, redeveloping our employability award, the Bristol PLUS Award, and designing an innovative programme of opportunities for students to engage online with employers. To align with our university-wide civic response to Covid-19, we also pivoted our internship model to support SMEs impacted by, or responding to, the pandemic. This has enabled us to create meaningful work experience opportunities for our students while supporting local businesses.

The challenge that we, and all institutions, face is that we are operating in a climate of numerous and pressing priorities PAGE 6

PAGE 8

online, collaborative and free:

Similarly, some employers will be happy to proactively reach out to students where others will wait to be approached. How could we replicate these preferences and behaviours online?

IS THIS THE FUTURE OF CAREERS FAIRS? LUCY EVERETT, Employer Engagement Manager at The University of Edinburgh, explores the process and

CONSIDERING THE OPTIONS

There are a huge number of online careers fair platform providers out there, and many ways to ‘do it yourself’. So, what are the key parameters?

learning her team went through to run their first online careers fair with collaboration from 15 Scottish higher

Employer ‘booths’ that provide up front information on what they do, links to live or future roles, and information on the representatives who will be available on the day. This allows

education institutions.

students to discover and explore company information in advance, and for companies to raise awareness of their brand.

It is stating the obvious, perhaps, but in order to do our jobs, helping students navigate the labour market and their own career

Search and filter functionality to help both students and employers to be able to find each other and initiate

decision making, we need the organisations who will be conversations. This mimics both parties being able to approach employing them as partners in this journey. They facilitate what this looks like in real life, outside the safety of the university

each other at a face-to-face event, but enhances the conversation by giving each more knowledge in advance.

environment, so all of the interactions we facilitate for students to engage with employers need to work for the employers too.

Before March 2020, we had robust, established models. And then lockdown and physical distancing happened. We needed to

Text, audio and video chat functionality. This replicates face-toface interactions as much as possible but also allows for shorter, less intimidating interactions for some students.

find new models, and fast. The first questions for us were what outcomes did we want and what kind of interactions were we

With all this in mind, we created an online careers fair that was as

trying to replace?

easy as possible for employers to access in the challenging labour market they were facing. It was free for employers to attend, and we took on the initial administrative burden of setting up their

MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS

employer profile on the system and then asked them to upload their vacancies.

We also decided to open the fair up to graduating students from all We have traditionally run a Graduate Jobs Fair at the end of Scottish universities. This benefitted both the class of 2020 across May, just as exams finish, to support final year undergraduates entering the workplace, with a focus on immediate-start opportunities within small and local businesses. For us, careers

Scotland but also incentivised diverse employer engagement by broadening the talent pool, both in terms of discipline and geography.

fairs can serve multiple functions depending on where students are at: discovery and career exploration, company culture and opportunity awareness, as well as recruitment advice and networking with employers. For company representatives, fairs are generally about brand awareness, talent-spotting, and

There is a precedent of

application numbers. Many students don’t do much preparation before walking into a fair: they look at the information we provide on the day and walk around seeking inspiration and connection, potentially listening in on their peers’ conversations before speaking to employers themselves.

PAGE 9

collaboration across the AGCAS Scotland community

PARTNERSHIP APPROACH

Collaborative, cross-university working comes with its own challenges. Complexities around budgets, charging structures,

We had 52 students contact us today

different vacancy systems, and university licensing protocols at each institution were all barriers to a full partnership approach. However,

and already over 30 applications for

there is a precedent of collaboration across the AGCAS Scotland community and, combined with the strong will from employer engagement staff across the 15 institutions, we were positive the

the role. We are really happy with the outcome, definitely the best online

results would be worthwhile.

fair experience (Employer) The University of Edinburgh led on purchasing the licence (we used GraduateLand for this event), and managing fair administration and communications to students, employers and careers staff at all institutions. Other universities invited their employers and students to

I was able to look through a number of

participate and provided staff to support student engagement on the day.

different job opportunities that were 'matched' to my profile, some of which

Given that this was our first experience of running a virtual fair, there was a lot of research, learning and project planning for our team.

We worked closely with colleagues across the service to ensure adequate training of staff and to produce resources for students and

I did not know about. It was presented with a great user interface (Student)

employers to help them prepare for, and understand what to expect from, their first online careers fair experience. All this preparation was also with a view to future-proofing our semester one provision, where we are delivering all our employer engagement online.

NEW CONVERSATIONS

Graduate Jobs Fair Online was held on 22 July with 69 employers and over 1,695 graduating

In a

students from 15 Scottish universities, resulting in 3,708 conversations between students and employers and over 1,135 job applications. Feedback about the experience and practicalities of a

challenging

new platform reflected the pros and cons of interacting online but, overall, both employers and students were really positive about the experience and the opportunity to have these kinds of

labour market,

conversations.

having an Offering the fair online as a collaborative, and free, experience was key to its success. In a challenging labour market, having an accessible way for employers to engage with graduating

accessible way

students from a diverse talent pool is a powerful offer. As the labour market, and belts, get even tighter and university politics even more complex, it will be ever more important to use the strength of

for employers to

our community to share best practice and collectively support connections between students and employers.

engage with graduating students from a diverse talent pool is a powerful offer

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn

Follow Lucy on Twitter

PAGE 10

EXTENDED REACH

We contacted each of our partner businesses and most were keen and able to transition to an online delivery model. Although we lost some placements, particularly in the healthcare and construction industries, running a virtual programme opened doors

celebrating the unexpected positives OF VIRTUAL WORK EXPERIENCE

to new employers. It also enabled us to extend our reach to engage new groups of students and graduates who had previously struggled to take part, including those with disabilities or with no summer accommodation in Nottingham. The flexible working arrangements of a virtual programme also allowed those with other commitments, including caring responsibilities and key worker duties, to participate.

FEELING CONNECTED

Showcasing Nottingham as a graduate destination is a key aim of the programme. Maintaining this through remote delivery was a

ANNA BEACROFT, Employability Adviser Coordinator at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), reflects on the switch from a longstanding work

major

challenge.

There

was

no

opportunity

for

students

and

graduates to visit the company premises and network face-to-face with employers at the celebration event. Without being physically located in the city, how would they still feel that connection?

experience programme for students and graduates to a virtual delivery model in the early stages of lockdown.

We

switched

experiences

the on

focus

to

LinkedIn.

online All

networking

students

and

and

showcasing

graduates

were

encouraged to: join a dedicated LinkedIn group, also open to all participating employers; take part in our social media competition; and produce a digital poster showcasing their project in a visually engaging

way.

This

approach

helped

them

to

feel

connected,

engage with each other and employers, and easily demonstrate the skills and experience they had gained from the programme.

After months of preparation we were ready to launch our sixth annual Grads4Nottm employer-led work experience programme in March. As part of the programme, local employers set challenges for students and graduates with the aim of enabling them to gain professional experience and work in interdisciplinary teams while solving a business challenge. With just hours to go until we opened applications to the 2020 programme, the nationwide UK lockdown was announced. Efforts to create a virtual programme started immediately amongst the chaos of the whole country adapting to life under lockdown. In a time of great uncertainty, we wanted to ensure that we did everything we could to enable students and graduates to access quality work experience and continue to improve their employability.

Running a virtual programme opened doors to new employers

PAGE 11 PAGE 10

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

It goes without saying that office culture is difficult to replicate

Sometimes it takes a global pandemic to shake things up a bit. We

through remote internships. We wanted to foster a community spirit

were happy with the original Grads4Nottm format and, although

to try to compensate for the loss of daily chats, not to mention office

continually looking to improve, we would never have made such

lunches and afterwork drinks. We hosted daily ‘coffee and cake’

significant changes if it weren’t for Covid-19. Having run the virtual

catch-ups over Microsoft Teams and a mid-placement

model and experienced the unexpected positives, we will be

Nottingham-themed quiz, which was very popular and open to all.

combining the best of both worlds for future programmes. We plan

Not only did these offer a social side to the work experience, it

to increase our use of LinkedIn and encourage remote networking;

also served to support wellbeing. Knowing that everyone would be

digital posters and use of webinars and online tools to encourage

in different home situations, coping differently with lockdown and

student interaction are here to stay for future iterations. If social

adjusting to working from home, it was important to us to build in

distancing allows, we plan to run a face-to-face model alongside a

this additional support for our students and graduates.

virtual model next summer. This approach will open-up more opportunities overall, diversify the students and businesses able to participate and ensure we are preparing our students and graduates for the post-Covid workplace.

UNEXPECTED POSITIVES

There have been many unexpected positives of virtual delivery,

Sometimes it takes a global

including increased student engagement during workshops and webinars using the chat function on Microsoft Teams. This is

pandemic to shake things up a bit

something we have experienced across all online employability delivery at NTU over the past few months. Over 90% of students and employers plan to keep in touch and a number of students have gone on to complete additional work for their employer following the programme. Student feedback about working remotely has been very positive, with the vast majority saying they

Anna.Beacroft@ntu.ac.uk

enjoyed it and over 93% saying they would take part in another virtual experience. Feedback also showed that students felt well

Connect with Anna on LinkedIn

supported by their teammates, employers and the employability team.

PAGE 12

JONATHAN EASTWOOD, Careers and Employability

innovating through lockdown:

Service Manager,

CREATING

enforced move to a fully virtual careers

and NEELAM THAPAR, Head of Careers and Employability, at London Metropolitan University, outline how the

service has resulted in an enhanced offer

OPPORTUNITIES FOR A

for students and employer partners in line with institutional priorities related to social

DIVERSE STUDENT BODY

justice and civil responsibility.

our students may be facing and how to adapt their processes to London

Metropolitan

University

is

built

on

a

strong

history

of

widening participation (WP) and social inclusion; 96% of students

ensure

they

were

not

disadvantaged

due

to

lack

of

equipment,

internet or a suitable environment.

are from at least one underrepresented group, 69% of the student population are mature students and 64% are from a Black, Asian or Minority students

Ethnic are

(BAME)

mature

background.

learners

who

A

have

large caring

proportion

of

responsibilities

our or

INCREASED ENGAGEMENT

substantial employment commitments. The institution has championed strategies for social justice and civic engagement in recent years and has ambitious plans to grow further in these areas.

Increased events

engagement

and

through

was

use

of

witnessed the

online

across

online

Careers

Portal.

webinars, The

swift

On 16 March 2020 none of our Careers and Employability team upskilling

of

staff

to

learn

how

to

use

technology

and

amend

had delivered any form of careers advice online. Fast-forward five content months

and

there

is

clear

evidence

that

virtual

careers

for

online

delivery

was

rewarded

by

a

224%

rise

in

service students attending webinars compared to workshop attendance in

delivery has provided an effective way to overcome the significant previous years. engagement barriers experienced by our student body. It has also presented

real

value

to

local

employer

partners

and

community

organisations.

We

also

experienced

increased

student

attendance

and

interactions with employers at our flagship summer employability event, which we pivoted to virtual delivery with content adapted

DIGITAL POVERTY

to

reflect

the

pandemic.

The

event

consisted

of

19

sessions

delivered by employers, of varying size and sectors, university colleagues and careers consultants.

Virtual delivery enabled us

to deliver a CV session at 8pm for the first time, resulting in the For us, the key institutional challenge at the start of lockdown was ensuring that students (and staff) were able to access university from home. This involved issuing large numbers with laptops, creating easy to access information pages where academic and support services information was displayed, and signposting to guidance on how to use the different technologies. On learning that students were missing out on video interviews due to lack of quiet space, we also created guidance material for employer partners on the challenges

highest ever numbers for that type of session. 97% of students were satisfied with the online conference, 91% reported that their knowledge had increased and 89% said they had increased in confidence. We curated online resources from our Careers Portal to

support

teaching

and

learning

during

lockdown.

129% increase for unique users and an increase of 151% for all activities within the first six weeks of lockdown.

We moved quickly to address the challenges associated to social poverty and create meaningful interventions PAGE 13

The

embedding of this content within the curriculum contributed to a

The student voice has always informed our student offer

CONFIDENCE IN OUR REACH

FORWARD PLANNING

Flexibility from both the student and employer perspective has

Drawing

delivered some impressive results. In May we partnered with

developed an autumn employability offer where flexibility for students

Salesforce and Deloitte to deliver a webinar for their workforce

and employers remains central to delivery. Our key, employer-driven

development program, which trains recent graduates on Salesforce

programme to support BAME students enter graduate programmes

tools to then enter employment with Deloitte.

will run in the evening. Growth in our webinar delivery has resulted in bespoke

on

the

successes

packages

for

of

the

past

care-leavers,

few

months,

students

with

we

have

disabilities,

This led to 34% of all places being allocated to our students, which

international students and those who have engaged with the student

dwarfs the number of students we have had working with these

support team. The increased comfort in accessing digital support has

organisations in the last five years combined. Over 35% of the

led to the creation of bespoke, course-specific careers materials that

successful students had never had any interaction with the Careers and

students can work through at their own pace.

Employability Service before.

Increased confidence in our student and employer reach has meant that we have been able to develop an offer which maximizes returns for all

INSTITUTIONAL GOALS

stakeholders. We have partnered with growing SMEs to put on virtual internships for graduates; managed recruitment has been delivered of organisations looking to increase diversity.

The university has gone through an impressive transition over the past year in embedding institutional priorities relating to education for social justice in the curriculum and through civic engagement with local stakeholders and organisations. The innovations that the

STUDENT VOICE

Careers and Employability team have developed during the pandemic, which has also seen our digital content embedded into curriculum delivery for the first time, means we now contribute to these

Given that our student body consists of multi-priority caregivers,

goals. This will enable us to play a key role in addressing social

commuter students and those who work full-time jobs alongside their

inequality and helping to build the diverse workforces of the future.

study, our flexible service delivery will continue to offer value beyond lockdown. The student voice has always informed our student offer, and this enabled us to move quickly to address the challenges

Our flexible service

associated to social poverty and create meaningful interventions. The need to maintain a virtual offer has seen us enhance our mechanisms to

delivery will continue to offer

capture the student voice and be more flexible to meet their needs by embedding virtual access into business and operational planning.

value beyond lockdown

PAGE 14

HELEN The

adapting online graduate support

University

of

Assistant

Director

Edinburgh

at

Careers

Service, was part of a group of AGCAS Scotland colleagues who collaborated design

and

MOOC, she

ON A MASSIVE SCALE

STRINGER,

deliver

with

outlines

a

funding the

graduate from

support

QAA.

development

to

Here,

of

the

MOOC pre and post-Covid.

Collaboration is the hallmark of community and AGCAS Scotland prizes itself on the shared vision and collective endeavour that

THE LIGHT-BULB MOMENT

underpins our activity. As with many challenges, two (or more) heads are better than one, and even better with an injection of funding to make things happen. And so a group of colleagues from five Scottish universities (Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow Caledonian, Queen

This revelation prompted a rethink about how we engage our graduate population. Was there a more graduate-friendly way of repackaging the content? A Massive Open Online Course

Margaret and Stirling) used QAA Enhancement Theme funding 'to

(MOOC) offered the opportunity to address the central barriers

‘investigate which groups of graduates are most likely to benefit from

identified in the graduate interviews and allowed us to detach from

employability support interventions and the best way to deliver these’.

our ‘careers identity’, invoking a different tone and language. And so Shelley Morgan, MOOC Project Manager, led on the development of ‘Just Graduated? What Next?

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

Pooling our various initiatives, it seemed we had tried all conceivable

Graduates prefer highly

options. Graduate boot-camps, coaching, targeted internships and lifetime access to careers services all had the same issue – low

personalised support,

uptake. What were we missing? When we conducted semi-structured interviews with recent graduates, the results were pretty illuminating.

Key findings suggested that graduates prefer highly personalised support, available on timescales to suit them, with online delivery the preferred method for most. Some graduates are also unlikely to seek advice from a university careers service, linking this with ‘going backwards’.

PAGE 15

available on timescales to suit them, with online delivery the preferred method for most

The MOOC's main feature comprised:

COVID POSTSCRIPT

Curating a strong ‘graduate brand’, including a tone focussed on professional development, lifelong skills, and continuous, active

And then along came Covid-19 as an unwelcome and uninvited

reflection, and a departure from more typical careers offerings

guest, but one we had to accommodate. The project team moved quickly to update the MOOC, adjusting to a changed – and changing – environment. Content and imagery reflected new post-

Bite-sized content, including scenario-based learning, videos, short voiced PowerPoints, quizzes, forums, goal-setting exercises, self-reflection activities and a glossary of terms

pandemic sensibilities, with more nuanced marketing messages. The course was widely promoted by Scottish universities and numbers doubled with 219 registrants in June compared to 108 in the first run.

A dynamic marketing campaign with ‘teasers’ introduced a month

Notably, the issues identified by the graduates were broadly

before the main launch in February 2019, with powerful straplines

commensurate with the first group, with ‘exploring career options’ the

to spark interest (“New Year, New Me”; “Stuck in a rut? Change your future”).

top reason for registering and ‘confidence’ the second most popular.

Only three participants directly mentioned the pandemic as causing specific concern, with one stating: “I had a graduate job lined up for September but I am worried it will not go ahead due to Covid and

Sign-ups from over 100 participants would seem to suggest we

thereby seek guidance within this course”.

got something right, but we knew there was still work to be done.

Plans were afoot to relaunch in September, with refreshed content and a new graduate cohort.

The limitations of the platform preclude in-depth evaluation, but we are confident the MOOC has the potential to make a valuable – and enduring – contribution to graduate support as they transition from university life to the world beyond.

Project summary

Download Developing

The project team moved quickly

Graduate Employability Support in Scotland

to update the MOOC, adjusting to a changed – and changing –

Just Graduated? What Next? MOOC

environment

PAGE 16 PAGE 15

CALLER CAMPAIGN

We had agreed earlier in the year to expand on our contact strategy

by

calling

unengaged

final

year

students.

When

lockdown hit this seemed even more important. The initial main aim was to ensure they were aware of our extended five-year service

don't panic, there's a pandemic!:

offer, but we also contributed to the university’s strategic priority of ensuring good communication with all our students throughout the process of pivoting to online learning.

Staff from across the department contributed to this large-scale endeavour, and we worked in two phases: firstly calling those

WORKING IN A NEW VIRTUAL WORLD

students with no previous experience of our services, and later moving on to the ‘semi-engaged’ who might have attended an event or perhaps visited the centre once in the past.

Between March and August, we spoke to over 800 of our final year UK undergraduates, 54% of the identified group.

GUY TOWNSIN and ALEXANDRA HEMINGWAY,

Though

some were struggling, we were pleased to find our students were generally resilient and upbeat, welcoming our calls as a positive

Careers Manager and Careers Adviser at the University of Portsmouth, outline how the Careers and Employability Service decided to not only move their

contact from the university. of

graduates

reported

Understandably, a higher proportion

greater

career

readiness

in

the

second

phase, when classes and assignments were out of the way for the majority and they had had a chance to get to grips with their next

offer to a virtual world but to also embrace the

steps.

opportunity offered by the pandemic to create an enhanced programme for students and graduates

As

a

result

of

appointments

the and,

calls, in

we

many

booked cases,

a

total

further

of

169

follow-up

interventions

have

already taken place as students were keen to access support and progress their plans.

OPPORTUNITIES BULLETIN

As would have been common across the UK careers and

As we knew that uncertain employment prospects was a key

employability landscape in late March, our team grappled with the

concern, we created an Opportunities Bulletin, which was sent out

move to remote online working and how this would affect our

twice-monthly during April, May and June to all our students as

services. Rather than simply try to replicate our existing offer, we

well as recent graduates. Our aim was to give readers a sense of

decided to produce a specifically-adapted work plan to demonstrate

control by sharing regular insights into the changing labour

how our service was stepping up to offer the right support for our

market, highlighting sectors still recruiting and linking through to a

students and graduates at this challenging time.

range of job vacancies we were advertising.

We developed a programme of three key initiatives and can now

This new channel of communication also allowed us to signpost to

reflect on the successes of these - in terms of organisation, team effort,

our services and promote a range of useful online resources and

high levels of engagement, and a very positive response from the

virtual events offered by our team and employers. As a result of

students and graduates who have used our services over the past five

the bulletin, we saw an increase in web views on our jobs board

months.

and this positive engagement continued throughout the summer.

Our aim was to give students and graduates a sense of control by sharing regular insights into the changing labour market

PAGE 17

OPPORTUNITIES WEEK

The third and final strand to our work was a programme of 32 virtual sessions, which took place during one week in June. We covered a wide range of themes – including traditional areas like CVs, but also self-employment, finding your strengths and wellbeing topics – with employers contributing, too. Each session was delivered

We wanted

through Google Meets and scheduled for 30 minutes to avoid virtual fatigue and help people stay focused.

participants to feel

We were delighted that 754 students and graduates participated, with 104 students

like they were

attending three or more sessions. Attendance figures suggested that the breadth of topics was appreciated, and enabled us to showcase a range of opportunities, ideas and information to support students and graduates virtually. Facilitators reported students feeling more confident in asking questions in a virtual setting through the chat box and were impressed by the quality of the attendees’ questions.

We wanted participants to feel like they were taking positive action to improve their job

taking positive action to improve their job prospects in challenging times

prospects in challenging times, and feedback was sought to measure impact. Students identified the top four reasons for attending sessions: to think about a future career, to increase personal confidence and motivation, to improve job searching, and to develop employability skills. 84% cited that they felt more confident in their next step as a result of attending the sessions. We now have experience and confidence to draw upon in the development of the virtual events programme for the new academic year.

VALUABLE INSIGHTS

In conclusion, while these initiatives required a lot of hard work from the whole team, we are proud to have accomplished a programme of positivity, supporting our students’ and graduates’ career planning in uncertain times.

We also gained valuable insights for our own planning, for instance via the caller campaign: it still seems that many of our clients have been surprised by what the service offers, in spite of our best efforts to promote our offer using all the available channels. We plan to follow this up with focus groups of targeted individuals, to help us develop and refine our marketing messages. While this work was born out of adversity and turmoil, it has proved to be well worth the effort.

guy.townsin@port.ac.uk

alexandra.hemingway@port.ac.uk

PAGE 18

remote consulting projects: DELIVERING A BETTER EXPERIENCE?

NAOMI LOVE, Careers and External Engagement Adviser at the University of Bath School of Management, outlines the impact of Covid-19 on the delivery of MSc summer consulting projects. Here, she reflects on the changes and adaptations made to the programme, stakeholder engagement with the new offer, and the lessons learned to inform future delivery.

One of the reasons students choose Bath School of Management

RISK MANAGEMENT

for their master’s programme is the opportunity to undertake practical experience as part of their MSc. An alternative to the dissertation, students complete two group projects (one corporate, one charity) and a reflective essay (collectively known as Practice Track), putting their academic knowledge into practice on real business challenges and gaining valuable experience.

Over 200 students opt to take part annually. We source around 15 multinational and medium-sized companies as corporate project providers, and 20 local charities.

Students traditionally view Practice Track as a riskier option than the dissertation due to the proportion of group work and weighting when calculating the final grade. With eight courses involved, groups can include students from across the School. Combining this with remote working was a concern; students, who may not know each other, navigating the challenges of remote group work. We reviewed the groups, allowing for a maximum eight-hour time difference between

When lockdown hit in March, we were on the cusp of launching our 2020 projects; group allocations were ready to be announced and the first client event was just a week away. As an assessed part of the programme, cancelling was not an option; we had to quickly adapt to deliver the projects remotely.

participants, with a minimum of two students from a similar time zone. We worked hard to ensure there was some overlap of the working day amongst participants and that there were no individual outliers; this was a crucial element of reducing team friction.

We offered live online information sessions about how remote

FLEXIBLE DELIVERY

delivery would run, using students’ questions to develop comprehensive FAQs on areas of concern. Despite giving students the option of switching back to the dissertation at the

With 80% of the cohort international students, representing 32 different nationalities, circumstances dictated that they could now

end of March (at the height of pandemic uncertainty), we were heartened that 70% remained.

complete their course from anywhere in the world; project providers would also be mostly working from home. We needed to deliver a programme that enabled everyone to participate fully and flexibly. Bound by the learning outcomes of the module, we had some flexibility to adjust the delivery methods and student outputs, but we also needed to maintain the quality. With students working remotely from each other and the general disruption

The experience has given us a valuable insight into how we can prepare our wider cohort

surrounding Covid-19, how could we best prepare them to meet the high expectations of participating companies?

PAGE 19

for starting work remotely

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

NEW NORMAL

The changes gave us an opportunity to offer training and support

Overall, we have been really pleased with how the remote

in new and highly relevant areas: working in remote teams,

projects were received. Students have benefitted from the

running virtual meetings and managing a project across time

opportunity to develop valuable skills and gain an insight into

zones. These are all areas that our students will be putting into

the ‘new normal’ ways of working that they can expect in the

practice in global workplaces. We created a range of training

future. We have maintained our existing relationships with

resources, using different formats (videos, Sways and online

companies in a difficult period, and hopefully developed

resources) to reach as many students as possible. We

strong relationships with new partners too.

complemented these with live Q&As using Teams. The experience has given us a valuable insight into how to engage

The experience has also been valuable for planning remote

students with our virtual delivery next year, and how we can

delivery of our year-round careers support. The most popular

prepare our wider cohort for starting work remotely.

resources were those linked directly to deliverables. We are now actively planning our resources to ensure we tie general training into tangible outputs. One area that we will be looking

BUSINESS SUPPORT

to address next year is how to support students to engage more informally with their clients. There were Teams and Slack invites

Parallel to managing student engagement, we were also

aplenty, but feedback suggests that students found it harder to

quickly assessing the situation with our project providers. The

embrace these communication channels.

speed at which the furlough scheme was introduced meant that we had to be immediately proactive in identifying who

With new partners getting involved every year, many

was in a position to continue, and who could not. For those

commented that they would not have known it was planned to

still able to participate, we were able to offer much greater

run any other way. This has given us confidence in students’

flexibility. All engagement with students was conducted

abilities to work and deliver value remotely, opening up an

remotely, which saved businesses travel time and allowed a

international pool of project providers for the future. We are

greater pool of staff to be involved, including those based

now considering whether this is in fact a better learning

overseas. We were keen to ensure that any issues with

experience. Certainly, with increased remote working looking

technology would not overshadow the students’ efforts and

likely to remain for a while, the programme provides an insight

prevent companies receiving valuable insight, so we

into remote working that could give students the edge.

introduced a new deliverable, a business report, to supplement the presentation.

Many project partners commented that they would not have known it was planned to run any other way

Njl35@bath.ac.uk

Connect with Naomi on LinkedIn

PAGE 20

WE ARE CLAIMING THE VIRTUAL GUIDANCE SPACE AND MAKING IT OUR OWN

Colleagues are using their creativity to create a new kind of

delivering careers guidance

welcoming space for students: “I make the space welcoming with interesting backgrounds on Teams (add some humour), screenshare a useful website to explore together and a visual to look at”, “I tell

IN TURBULENT TIMES

the client that I am in a room with a closed door so this is similar to how it would be on campus with confidentiality”. And we remember that the students have a context outside MS Teams: “I check out who

In April and June 2020, 160 AGCAS members

can support them, where they are. What is their context?”.

attended the webinars Delivering Effective Guidance for Turbulent Times and Adverse Markets. LIZ

WE ARE USING SOME GREAT

WILKINSON, Senior Careers Consultant at The

GUIDANCE TECHNIQUES TO LIFT

Careers Group, University of London and AGCAS

THE CLIENT UP AND MOVE THEM ON

Board Director, shares a snapshot of how careers and We are contracting more strongly than ever and building ‘working

employability professionals anchored and adapted

alliances’ with our students: “What shall we aim towards together

their professional guidance practice to support

today?”. We ask the clients questions to encourage focus, reflection

students and graduates in the memorable Covid-19

and clarity: “How have your values been changed by this time of change?”. We are asking them what’s going on for them right now

Summer of 2020.

Recent times have provided some very shared experiences (“unmute your microphone”) but also exacerbated existing privilege imbalance among students and staff. Aware of my inevitably limited view as I pulled together content for the Delivering Effective Guidance for

and encouraging them to explore what’s on the horizon: “I usually try and break it into short term and long term values”. And we are still drawing inspiration from AGCAS training: “On my Advanced Guidance training I was told, when in doubt, summarise - it’s been invaluable as a technique, especially during panic”.

Turbulent Times and Adverse Markets webinar, I arranged a ‘critical friend’ conversation with Obieze Oputa, Careers Consultant at St Marys University and expert in careers empowerment work for BAME students. The frank and enriching conversation we had about how we

WE ARE DEALERS IN HOPE, POSITIVITY AND AGENCY

now best deliver guidance, and empower all our students, foreshadowed the rich conversations that effervesced in the webinar Above all, we are providing a space to have positive, empowering chat boxes. Those conversations co-created a sense of shared conversations in a climate of fear: “What energises you?”, ”Tell me endeavour and community. To quote one colleague, “It’s great that the what you do that makes you feel happy and confident”. From careers community is coming together even stronger”. What follows positive reflection comes action planning: “What is the one thing you are some of the key themes from this community of practice. really want to do after our meeting?”. And sometimes we give them permission to pause: “Strategic quitting – an alternative perspective to resilience”. To maintain our own resilience, we switch off the

Our careers services are rich in reflective

computer, focus on the positive and reach out to our own professional and personal support network.

practitioners, adapting and striving to support and equip their students and

Our careers services are rich in reflective practitioners, adapting and striving to support and equip their students and graduates in these

graduates in these turbulent times

turbulent times. As a fellow webinar participant commented: “Thanks to everyone for sharing ideas - great to have the support of the whole AGCAS community in times like these, for our students and each other”.

Elizabeth.Wilkinson@careers.lon.ac.uk

Download the webinar recordings Connect with Liz on LinkedIn

from Effective Guidance for Turbulent Times and Adverse Markets (21 April

Follow Liz on Twitter

PAGE 21

2020 and 24 June 2020)

KIM BAILEY, Careers Consultant at the University of Manchester’s Careers Service, has recently completed a one-year secondment as Senior Alumni Officer in the

what I learnt working in alumni relations

university’s Division of Development and

DURING A PANDEMIC

on how to optimise alumni support to

Alumni Relations. With half of the year spent working with new Covid-19 challenges, here she shares her thoughts

enhance careers activities for students.

We are fortunate at the University of

back and forth to campus for evening events

community, and ensure student attendance data

Manchester that our Division of Development

had presented an additional barrier.

is collected and fed into our alumni database.

and Alumni Relations has a team dedicated to sourcing alumni volunteers, and we have a long-standing collaborative relationship focused on supporting employability.

Through my secondment I have seen from both perspectives how alumni and students can benefit from connecting with each other.

Our alumni make incredible contributions to our employability programme; their insights and inspiration were needed more than ever during lockdown as we shifted to online delivery.

This helps create a circle of support: engaged Additionally, we have seen high participation levels, with students asking alumni panelists questions through the chat box function,

students who have benefitted from alumni support are more likely to become volunteers as alumni in the future.

which they can be nervous to do in person.

Uploading the recordings of events to online platforms has also meant that more students can access the support after the event, which

INFORMING CAREER DECISIONS

is increasingly important for our recent graduates who we want to engage ahead of the Graduate Outcomes survey. Furthermore,

The importance of alumni support is

alumni’s recorded video clips will be used to

particularly pertinent now, as students can

enhance employability teaching content for

become more confident and competent at

semester one.

using technology in a safe space and practise

PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS

asking questions, ahead of online networking events with employers and virtual assessment

Our immediate challenge was how to

Alumni’s insights and

emulate our established Meet the Professionals series online. Instead of the

inspiration were

questions to alumni panels through chat

hear from alumni that engaging in this way is new to all of us. Alumni can candidly share the challenges they are facing in the

usual in-person speed networking sessions, we ran webinars where students asked

centres. It is also comforting for our students to

needed more than ever during lockdown

workplaces and reflect on how they see the world of work evolving in their sector, helping students make informed career decisions.

functions. Our webinars included subjectspecific insights from alumni of maths,

Although students and staff have much to gain

physics, and psychology, and content tailored for different groups of students,

CIRCLE OF SUPPORT

including the opportunity for students to make

secured graduate work in the UK. Understanding alumni motivations has been helpful in recruiting volunteers to support our

IMPROVED ACCESS

from online alumni events, we also cannot disregard the losses of in-person events,

including international alumni who had

events. Through a survey of our alumni, we found that 35% volunteer ‘to give back,’ 27% ‘to keep connected to the university,’ 14% ‘to

We have seen many benefits for students

network with fellow alumni/staff,’ 14% for

and alumni alike, not least the accessibility

their own career development and 10% other

of online delivery. Owing to travel and

(including completing volunteer hours at their

social distancing restrictions, alumni from

organisation and to recruit students). We

all over the UK, and overseas, have been

share event feedback with alumni and tag

able to take part from their own home.

them in LinkedIn thank you posts to keep them

Previously, participation has been restricted

engaged. It should not be forgotten that the

to those who could travel to Manchester.

journey to becoming an alumni begins as a

Accessibility has also improved for those

student: it is crucial that we continue to help

students living at home, where travelling

students see the value of their alumni

genuine one-on-one connections. In the future we hope that a mixture of in-person and online events will allow all benefits to be realised. As we approach a year ahead of blended learning and uncertainty, one constant is the power of a proud and supportive alumni community.

Kim.bailey@manchester.ac.uk

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn

PAGE 22

improving your voice FOR ONLINE DELIVERY

SALLY BROWN, Careers Consultant at UCL Careers, The Careers Group,

Methods such as the Alexander Technique, chi kung, and yoga will not only relax you, but help you feel energised. In turn, this will help you to stay calm and controlled if the unexpected happens.

outlines how techniques used by professional actors can help career

BREATH SUPPORT professionals deliver more effective online sessions.

Working at a desk all day can lead to bad posture habits and delivering content online while hunched over our devices. The voice Lockdown and Covid-19 have brought a whole range of

depends on many parts of the anatomy to function effectively so, to

unprecedented challenges when delivering content online. Even

help it perform more naturally and thereby with less effort, we need

experienced professionals have reported concerns about delivering

to avoid constricting the muscles it relies upon. If we do not warm-

familiar content in this new way. These can range from increased

up these muscles - or worse constrict them - we are essentially

nerves about potential issues with technology or whether students

making them work much harder, making us feel more tired. It also

will engage in discussions, worries about speaking too quickly or

means that the vocal cords must work harder to compensate,

not clearly enough, and fatigue after delivering an online session

leaving us with sore throats. You should therefore ensure your

(despite being seated throughout).

device is raised up to your eye line to avoid hunching over. You could also consider delivering your session standing up; this will not

Having taught drama for many years, I recognised many of these

only help your posture but will increase your natural energy.

issues were like those experienced by performers. Control over the voice means control over the mind – and vice versa – which sets the stage for you to perform at your best. Based on the techniques that I taught in acting classes, I designed some online workshops for

The voice is a powerful tool

colleagues on improving their voice for online delivery.

ENERGISED RELAXATION

WARMING UP

The body and mind are interconnected. When one is calm, so is the

Like with any physical activity, it is important to warm up your voice

other - and it works for stress too. Even if your heart isn’t racing,

to ensure vocal quality and avoid fatigue and strain. This also helps

being even a little tense can lead to muscles restricting, leading to

to warm up your mind and thereby your motivation, making you not

poor vocal quality and vocal fatigue.

only more focused but more interesting to listen to.

PAGE 23

I would recommend: For vocal clarity, you don’t have to go to elocution lessons. Just open tongue twisters – find the ones you find most difficult and focus on

your mouth wider than you might for normal conversation; this will

these

help you to slow down and force you to articulate your words clearer.

blowing ‘raspberries’ with your tongue and lips

massaging your face and neck

Delivering your session standing up side stretches and forward rolls (but be careful if you have a bad back)

will not only help your posture but

yawning - try holding yourself on the ‘brink’ of a yawn to warm

will increase your natural energy

up the larynx (yawning is also a great ‘quick fix’ for relaxation)

You should also pay attention to your body during the session as it

POWERFUL TOOL

can affect your state of mind, even if you are not consciously aware of it.

Although these techniques are designed for professional colleagues, they are also applicable to students as they seek to become better

RESPECT YOUR VOCAL CHORDS

online communicators, for example as they engage with employers.

Even when we, as career professionals, return to more face-to-face delivery, online delivery will still have a key role to play – allowing

Avoid drinks that dehydrate you. Coffee, tea, and alcohol are poor

students to access effective content in a flexible way that matches the

choices before a session, as are ‘milky’ or sugary drinks. You should

developing needs of the 21st century’s ‘new normal’.

also avoid chocolate, fried foods and dairy for up to three hours before a session. All these affect the mucus that lubricates the vocal

The voice is a powerful tool, not just for communication but also as a

cords and throat, giving you a ‘clogged up’ feeling. Water is an

representation of you. So, although we cannot control the current

excellent choice, particularly warm water mixed with honey. Keep

situation, take control of yourself and your voice – and inspire others

away from sparkling water to avoid a build-up of excessive gas.

to do the same

Snacking on water-rich foods, such as watermelon and celery, is also a good idea.

sally.brown@ucl.ac.uk

PAUSES, PACE AND PITCH

Connect with Sally on LinkedIn

Try to use the full range of your voice when speaking but avoid raising your

Follow Sally on Twitter

pitch at the end of sentences, as this can make you sound unsure. If you are worried about speaking too quickly, pay close attention to your breath; if you feel like you are trying to ‘catch it’, then slow down. If you are a naturally quick talker, you might find it useful to insert planned pauses and slower moments for when you want to emphasise your key messages. An actor will ‘score’ their script, labelling it for when they will pause, change pace and pitch to create a desired effect. So, whilst you may not wish to script your sessions, you might find it useful to rehearse the key phrases you wish to emphasise - and do so with a pause, a change of pace or pitch.

PAGE 24

boosting employability

Learning to use new forms of technology was a significant challenge for all our staff but taught

THROUGH

us that we were also more agile and

TECHNOLOGY

flexible than we had imagined

NEW PROGRAMME, NEW FORMAT

Designed to fully support both students and graduates, the award scheme utilised a range of technology to deliver a month-long programme of six sector briefings, 15 live ‘career bites’ seminars, nine

JANICE MONTGOMERY and REGINA JASCHKE,

new online courses, and seven ‘tiny bites’ videos introducing students to various aspects of the careers service or areas of the website to

Senior Careers Advisers at the University of

support their career planning. We used Blackboard Collaborate to run careers sessions for students from all the university’s academic schools.

Aberdeen, outline how the Careers and

A total of 21 employers contributed to our sector briefings, outlining the

Employability Service harnessed existing

state of the job market in their field. Employers also offered expertise

technology to quickly deliver a new programme of

for general sessions on topics such as resilience. The shorter courses covered all the basics of career planning – building a LinkedIn profile,

support to meet the needs of new graduates in a

completing CVs and applications, postgraduate study, finding

time of unprecedented change.

vacancies, preparing for interviews, and resilience – but the Like careers services across the country, we had to transform our

technology enabled us to present these topics in a new and very

offer in a single working day from a fairly traditional office-based

professional format.

service to fully online. From the outset, not only were we contending with a pressing need to convert all our normal services to online delivery but we also faced the challenges of finding creative and

The student response was better than we had anticipated. 819 students

innovative ways to support new graduates who were facing totally

engaged with our employability award over the month and, since

unexpected circumstances. We had also been looking for a way to

participation meant points and points meant prizes, we awarded 360

pilot a new skills award idea, which would be based on points for

employability awards at bronze, silver and gold. Over 1,160 students

certain activities that could then equate to award levels. Step forward

and graduates attended online seminars over the month and nearly

our Aberdeen Employability Boost Award.

2,000 undertook one or more of the mini courses on offer.

I developed the confidence and self-awareness that are necessary to approach the job market during these challenging times.

Second year student, Accountancy and Finance PAGE 25

AGILE RESPONSE

We have learnt that not everything works well all the time. Online delivery requires more support and resource than face-to-face sessions to manage the user experience, troubleshoot technical issues and support speakers and

This award has really opened my eyes to the whole range of

facilitators. We found that we needed to create clear user guides for students and presenters in advance of sessions to reduce the number of technical issues we had to deal with in any given session. We discovered that having a back-up presenter is important as you never know when the wifi is going to let you down or the presenter is going to suddenly

work and volunteer opportunities available. It has also given me the insights into

disappear.

applying for jobs and what is However, despite the additional preparation and support required, the huge benefit of online delivery is that it enables agile responses. Learning to use new forms of technology was a significant challenge for all our staff but taught us that we were also more agile and flexible than we had imagined.

Furthermore, online delivery has opened up a network of employer partners

required of me to do so. All in all this award has really increased my employability.

not constrained by geographical location who are eager to engage in new and different opportunities.

Third year student, Anthropology FUTURE FOCUS

and International Relations Aside from the more obvious benefits of 24/7 availability and increased student engagement, online delivery and the use of new technology has:

enabled us to reach our student body in new and more comprehensive ways

upskilled students/graduates in unprecedented times

Connect with the Careers and Employability Service on LinkedIn

led to new and productive connections with employers and academics

increased our global outlook and connectivity

The blended service delivery model is clearly here to stay and our experience over the past six months has enabled us to plan future delivery using technology in increasingly novel and agile ways for the benefit of our students and graduates.

I benefited by gaining insight into how the pandemic was affecting employability at this time

Second year student, LLB

PAGE 26

While The Open University (OU) is used

business as usual for the OU?

to delivering remotely, the challenges of the pandemic have been like no other.

Here, AYESHA PEERAN, Learning and Teaching Careers & Employability Consultant, shares OU’s learning and

NOT QUITE

outlines future plans shaped by the experience of the past six months.

The Open University’s Careers and Employability Services (CES) regularly delivers online support to 175,000 part time students and recent alumni across the UK and internationally. So, you might think that Covid-19 didn’t really change the way we do things. And you’d be right, to an extent. Planned events went ahead and one-to-one consultations continued as staff transitioned to working from home, with interruptions from dogs, doorbells, and children in the new normal. But that is where the resemblance to business as usual ended.

REASSURANCE AND INCLUSION

74% of OU students are in employment and 20% have a disability or health condition. This was a stressful and emotional time for

ADAPTED DELIVERY

We responded quickly to student needs. Online events such as iCareers – imagining your digital future and Keep calm, it’s only an

students who were key workers, sole traders, those who had been

assessment centre went ahead as planned at the beginning of

furloughed or feared becoming isolated. The potential impact of

lockdown, but we adjusted communication to account for the

every word used in addressing students and the need for sensitivity

changing environment. Knowing that recruitment was rapidly

was suddenly crucial. Even though everyone is weathering the

changing, a one-day virtual careers fair was organised for students to

same storm, students are going through very different experiences.

hear directly from employers about recruitment plans and how their

This needed to be acknowledged to remain inclusive and

industry was being affected. A total of 45 employers signed up to

reassuring.

attend at short notice, with 1,540 students logging on throughout the day. 74% of students said that they were reconsidering their career

The rhythm of careers service demand changed. As students dealt

plans and 38% said it helped them gain a better understanding of the

with changes in the delivery of face-to-face tutorials, exams and

current landscape.

assessments, there was an initial dip in requests for one-to-one careers consultations in early March. This was followed by a surge

Online provision ranged from a ‘quick queries’ forum, a ‘Lockdown

in April. Careers consultants reported that discussions were longer

careers kit’ and short animations and podcasts on career planning

and more complex as students were reflecting more on their goals,

and redundancy. Faculties and Student Services included these

values and fears emerging from the changes in the job market.

resources in their communications to students. We also set up a Careers Cafe forum intended as a community space for support and shared experiences, with light touch moderation. Over 600 students have visited this space since June. Discussions have ranged from finding a values-based employer to completing your dissertation in

The rhythm of careers

spite of noisy neighbours. During this time CES also supported AGCAS webinars and responded to multiple requests from the wider

service demand changed

PAGE 27

network, drawing on our experience of remote and digital delivery.

RESPONDING TO STAKEHOLDER NEEDS

To keep on the pulse of changing student and market needs we have created a survey to capture these. This is completed by staff and members of the OU Student’s Association every six weeks and feeds into a subgroup to inform future planning and student communications. The makeup of the subgroup rotates to include members from all areas of the service, who then swiftly create and collate

Even though everyone is weathering the same storm, students are

relevant resources for students and employers.

going through very We will continue to streamline our events timetable and provide more simplified offers, such as our short ‘On the Bus’ audio and video resources and our ‘CV

different experiences.

miss to CV hit’ webinars, which are drawing 100+ participants at a time. New topics will be added in response to themes identified by students and ISE LMI

This needed to be

reports. An integrated and differentiated model of tailored careers support is being scaled up to improve retention and progression of cohorts identified in the university’s Access and Participation Strategy.

We are also maintaining and building our employer relationships, using ISE’s

acknowledged to remain inclusive and reassuring

needs analysis to inform how we deliver our events across the year and offer a differentiated menu in response to employer behaviour and altered recruitment cycles. The importance of the Black Lives Matter movement during this time is leading to discussions within the service and its impact offers a timely opportunity to consider our provision and culture.

Our learning will shape our service for the next few years. We will continue to evolve and innovate and look forward to sharing and collaborating with institutions across the sector.

Ayesha.peeran@open.ac.uk

Connect with Ayesha on LinkedIn

Follow Ayesha on Twitter

PAGE 28

GROWing digital support FOR WIDENING PARTICIPATION STUDENTS

SUE EDWARDS, Careers Widening Participation Manager at Lancaster University, outlines their two-stage approach to adapting the delivery of an established programme aimed at enhancing widening participation students’ awareness of the graduate recruitment process.

At Lancaster University, it was our Capital Connections event that

Series was born: 10 webinars over 5 weeks, with 27 organisations

was the first to be hit by the consequences of Covid-19. Capital

represented, 32 guests, almost 300 attendees at live events and

Connections is a flagship event within Lancaster’s GROW Your

already over 100 views of recorded webinars.

Future Programme, an opt-in scheme of careers-related support and employability activities open to all students from a widening participation (WP) background. Capital Connections offers the opportunity to visit employers and connect with alumni in London and Manchester to increase students’ social and cultural capital through building professional networks, broadening awareness of the range of graduate opportunities available, and experiencing different organisational cultures. A further key aim of the event is to

It was evident from the questions students were asking during the webinars that there was anxiety, concern and curiosity about the rapid shift in graduate recruitment practices they were hearing about.

Listening to the student voice led to phase two of our response, which was to collaborate with SRS Recruitment and Employability Experts to provide students with the experience of a digital assessment centre.

offer students an insight into current graduate recruitment practices, using an experiential approach to help increase their confidence and employability skills.

ACCESSIBILITY

TWO-STAGE RESPONSE

Given the WP background of the student cohort, accessibility was a key consideration. Since no one was now travelling to interviews,

To accurately replicate current employer recruitment processes, budget from our Travel2Interview bursary was repurposed to enable students complete an online application form, undertake a strengthsstudents to apply for funding to purchase the necessary equipment to based video interview, create an active LinkedIn profile and help them participate effectively. Disabled students, particularly participate in mock assessment centre type activities as part of the neurodiverse students and students with mental health conditions such employer visits. As lockdown took hold, our plans to visit employers disintegrated, along with the opportunities to develop professional networks and experience assessment centre type activities. Phase one of our response to Covid-19 was to collaborate with the employers we were due to visit. From this, the Capital Connections Webinar

We recognised the need to strike the right balance between recreating an employer’s assessment centre and providing the right level of support

PAGE 29

as anxiety, were encouraged to identify reasonable adjustments they may need in the process, supported by our Disability Specialist Careers Adviser. Having a real-life opportunity to practice requesting reasonable adjustments is essential to building confidence to do so with employers, whilst also increasing

Listening to the student

understanding of what adjustments they may need in the graduate

voice led to phase two

recruitment processes.

We noted that there were some last-minute nerves that meant

of our response

students considered withdrawing. Reassurance was given, along with top tips, guides and welcome briefings. We reminded them that this was a safe place to learn and make mistakes.

REAL EXPERIENCE

CONFIDENCE BOOST

On the day of the assessment centre, students connected with professional assessors to complete a group exercise, presentation, and one-to-one interview. Virtual breakout rooms meant that students also had the chance to interact with each other and staff from the university throughout the day. The SRS digital platform replicates what employers use to assess, score and connect with talent, thus helping to offer a very real experience of attending an employer’s online assessment centre.

Feedback from students highlights that this experiential approach was powerful. All participants said they would recommend the digital assessment centre experience to other students. Furthermore, 100% of students felt either confident or very confident about applying for graduate roles post-assessment, compared to 11% pre-assessment.

In their comments, students highlighted the value of the experience and how it helped them reflect on their own development. Overall, Capital Connections 2020 was hugely successful in supporting

Students received detailed feedback reports for each exercise, identifying their strengths and development areas and allowing them to instantly apply their learning. They also completed a self-

students to gain insight to a wide variety of graduate opportunities and the digital assessment centre was a key feature in helping them to prepare for the graduate recruitment process.

reflective journal, helping to identify their next steps. SRS offer an AQA Level 3 Award in Employability Skills and we chose to make this available to all our students, providing a useful addition to their CV to talk about with future employers. We recognised the need to strike the right balance between recreating an employer’s assessment centre and providing the

This experience has highlighted the value of providing students with the opportunity to practise all elements of the graduate recruitment process and gain feedback to boost confidence and self-efficacy, which is especially pertinent in light of the increased competitiveness of the graduate labour market.

right level of support. Therefore, for those students who initially struggled to meet the AQA criteria, they were given extra time with the assessors and a further opportunity to demonstrate it.

s.edwards9@lancaster.ac.uk

Connect with Sue on LinkedIn

PAGE 30

a united front: DELIVERING

BEN ROBERTSON, Careers Consultant at Leeds Beckett University, and MARC STEWARD, Careers Consultant at

CITY-WIDE

the

University

of

Leeds,

discuss

how

a

serendipitous

encounter at an AGCAS event a few years ago set the

SUPPORT

foundations they

outline

for

new

how

and

the

collaborative

impact

of

the

activity.

Here,

pandemic

has

accelerated the opportunities to unite two universities and provide

city-wide

graduate body.

PAGE 31

support

to

a

diverse

student

and

The creative spark was there, the desire

including the powerful effect of undertaking

to collaborate was there, yet the

an informational interview to hear people’s

physical structures and existing

career story, and undo the pre-conceived

institutional obligations were hard to

negative ideas that many people create

untie. In the end, it took a global

about networking.

pandemic to open-up opportunities for long-awaited careers and employability collaboration between the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University.

Through the success of Leeds Untied (not a typo!), and continuing with a strategy of coproducing workshops or webinars with students that started in semester 1 (pre-

After the initial shock of lockdown, reflection

pandemic), Marc created another webinar

and then speed of flipping our respective

series, Life in Lockdown: A Student’s Story.

services’ delivery online, we seized the

These webinars were born out of students’

opportunity to fulfill what we had been

LinkedIn posts that outlined, through live

discussing on-and-off for the last few years.

Our key purpose was to deliver careers and employability activities that were innovative

and recorded interviews, the activities that they had embarked on during lockdown, intended to inspire and provide positivity.

and collaborative, building on our respective work with colleagues and students before March.

Co-delivering online

CREATIVE CONTENT

has allowed us to break Co-delivering online, using Microsoft Teams

FULL TANK

out of conventional

and the chat function to drive engagement and questions, in addition to the creative

Thus, Leeds Untied (not a typo!) was born

and GIF-centred content, has allowed us to

and we had a full tank of key messages to

break out of conventional structures and

deliver. We rolled out the first episode of

experiment with a more conversational and

our webinar series, Curiosity Killed the

informative style of delivery. We have used

Cat(astrophe) as our first collaborative

icebreakers, activities and quizzes to deliver

venture. The key aims here were to get

key career development learning content in

students to understand how curiosity is an

a fun and engaging way, helping students

important weapon in their career

to reframe their current circumstances and

development and the search for jobs,

to provide them with positivity whilst

especially those opportunities that are

empowering them to take practicable small

hidden or need to be created out of the

steps forward, preaching a bias-to-action

pandemic. Links were made to commercial

philosophy.

structures

UNITED FRONT

Leeds Untied (not a typo!) was born out of the fact that the content we were delivering as a united front was all about identifying, untying

and

strategies

discussing

that

the

lockdown

issues

had

and

presented.

Students attended with open minds and an

acumen and students making their own inquisitive

nature.

More

importantly,

they

‘luck’ through curiosity about what opportunities the pandemic has created

In addition, students have been introduced

and speculative approaches to possible

to key frameworks and recent developments

employers.

in career development learning such as the chaos theory of careers, life design growth

mindset.

We

have

also

and

delivered

have engaged and feedback has shown that

they

have

understood

the

messages

and the way we have delivered these. It is this

curiosity,

inquisitiveness

minded

attitude as

our

that

will

students

and

be

This was followed by Networking not

messages about the importance of career

demand

Working? Let’s Chat! Here we aimed to try

pivot, reinvention, positive uncertainty and

navigate an uncertain future.

and

to get the students to see the benefits of

controlling the controllable.

in

opengreat

graduates

networking in their job search strategy,

M.A.Steward@leeds.ac.uk

Our key purpose was

b.robertson@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

to deliver careers and Connect with Marc on LinkedIn

employability activities that were innovative and collaborative

Connect with Ben on LinkedIn

Follow Ben on Twitter

PAGE 32

DIGITAL REFRESH

From March 2020, the opportunity arose to accelerate our technology-enhanced careers education, building on awardwinning use of Abintegro and partnerships with digital education

warp-speed employability:

facilitators and academics. Retaining the CareerEDGE model at the core of careers module design, all undergraduate programmes underwent a digital refresh. The recent success of a faculty-wide blended module, Future Global Leaders, had inspired innovation in our pedagogy. Overnight, previous use of

ACCELERATING

Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Panopto, alongside student’s familiarity with digital careers education, proved invaluable in

TECHNOLOGY -

supporting a full switch to remote teaching and assessment.

Renewed focus was placed on automated recruitment practices,

ENHANCED DELIVERY

replacing conventional CV assessments with peer-to-peer CV360 and LinkedIn reflection tasks. New e-courses, forums and resilience events became core elements of our Preparation for Placement

MATTHEW HOWARD, Undergraduate Careers Manager,

shares

how

Lancaster

University

Management School (LUMS) adapted plans to

provision. Across multiple departments, the Jigsaw approach to collaborative learning served as a popular method for empowering students online. Podcasts, live Q&A sessions and bitesize webinars encouraged engagement. Interactive apps like

deliver

remote

education, careers

undergraduate

embedded

guidance

at

employability

employer

scale

in

activity

response

to

and the

Kahoot, Mentimeter and Padlet helped inform tailored interventions. Furthermore, final year modules maintained their focus on transition skills, but focused heavily on emerging job market difficulties.

challenges presented by Covid-19.

REIMAGINING EMBEDDED ENGAGEMENT

As the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) revealed growing uncertainty in recruitment, LUMS Careers sought to help students through light-touch industry career insights and mentorship.

Complementing synchronous teaching within two modules, our seventh annual Accounting & Finance Insights Conference went Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) had a strong

virtual, with multinational and regional employers inspiring career

digital employability offer prior to Covid-19, including video

planning through webinars and e-business games. Marketing

appointments, 24/7 virtual support, contributing to the Lancaster

Careers Coaches also held an in-curriculum, project-based Virtual

Careers podcast Get That Grad Job, extracurricular webinars,

Brand Takeover in June, where alumni mentored first years in the

and a range of digital tools to deliver accredited careers modules.

design of creative solutions to sustainability challenges.

With the implementation of a national lockdown, we were able to switch to fully remote services at speed. However, considering the difficult road ahead, we had more questions than answers. How could we reconceptualise careers education, information and guidance to support students located worldwide, faced with heightened levels of anxiety and uncertainty? Moreover, what steps should we take to futureproof our service for the impacts of

In the first week of lockdown, we reimagined an experiential learning module held at an international conference. Retaining key field trip elements, students practised elevator pitches and networked with CEOs from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Our Placements Team collaborated with 20 organisations throughout May to deliver hundreds of online practice interviews and assessment centres.

Covid-19?

Remote student projects continued to support local enterprises. In addition, working with Lockin GO, LUMS Careers guaranteed 80 Chinese students an internship in Beijing or Shanghai.

It is crucial that we overcome existing and invisible barriers to students’ self-efficacy, including digital poverty

PAGE 33

TRANSFORMATIONAL GUIDANCE

Between April and June, we saw a 60% increase in the number of LUMS career interactions, compared with 2019. With students

The pandemic has

facing life, work and study disruptions we have seen a rise in trauma-informed and uncertainty-defined conversations.

highlighted the importance

Consultations have focused on career decision-making. Key challenges have been managing demand and helping students to

of empathetic and LMI-

plan positive steps forward, whilst often unable to access expected

informed guidance

work experiences.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of empathetic and labour market informed guidance. Our team has proven that we offer a specialist, pragmatic and transformational service. Emulating the resilience of our students and graduates, we have identified multiple, flexible and creative ways to help reconstruct career strategies, from drawing on holistic coaching models to offering virtual appointments across multiple time zones.

STRIVING TO IMPROVE

FUTURE FOCUS

To achieve positive employability outcomes in 2021 and beyond, we must remain focused on the psychological needs of our students and offer pragmatic guidance. It is also crucial

Despite the challenges, our remote careers offer has received positive student, academic and industry feedback. In preparation for delivering online services for the first term of 2020-21, we conducted a summer audit of our undergraduate employability curriculum to reflect on recent innovations, consider the student experience and identify areas for improvement.

that we overcome existing and invisible barriers to selfefficacy, including digital poverty, accessibility and inequality. We are confident that by continuing to leverage faculty-level Careers Registration data, championing digital provision, and nurturing relationships with academics and industry partners, our team will continue to demonstrate agility in response to Covid-19, and its legacy.

We plan to convert non-core assessments into self-directed tasks for online delivery. We will use time savings from not marking assessments to deliver new professional skills e-courses curated using Microsoft Teams and Abintegro. We are evaluating asynchronous and synchronous teaching practices to build a streamlined, flexible and accessible curriculum, amidst pandemic restrictions.

Retaining augmented digital industry engagement and e-guidance appointments remain a priority, with hopes to offer face-to-face activities from January. In addition, to advance a collective digital offer, Lancaster have recently established a cross-faculty Careers Digital Innovation Working Group.

m.j.howard@lancaster.ac.uk

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn

Follow Matthew on Twitter

PAGE 34

careers on the couch: DEVELOPING A YOUTUBE SERIES IN LOCKDOWN

MARK LEE, Careers Adviser at

Anticipating that students would spend a lot of time on social media during lockdown and exploring how our content could be seen as

Northumbria University, outlines the development and delivery of a YouTube series to support final

relevant to students, we decided to release our episodes on YouTube. This would allow for easy access on a range of devices, keep our service’s social media platforms high profile, and give us detailed analytics to measure engagement.

year from the

students home, project

while

and on

the

working impact

future

of

service

delivery.

Like all engaging shows, we wanted each episode to offer a variety of content, as well as feature contributions from a range of stakeholders – staff, students, alumni and employers – with the aim of being current, relevant, reassuring and authentic to viewers. We also felt that

As we entered lockdown and moved to remote working, we realised

outsourcing content would be a useful method of having enough

two things. Firstly, that the class of 2020 would be entering a

media, while keeping employers engaged with our service. We were

uniquely challenging and uncertain economic environment.

delighted when they were equally enthused about sharing tips and

Secondly, that they would likely soon be inundated with e-learning

recruitment updates via this format as we were.

presentations. In response, we began to brainstorm how we could best bring careers content to life in a more engaging way, while providing graduating students with information and advice that would be up to date as possible.

DIY APPROACH

Anticipating that students would spend a lot of time on

After much discussion as a team, the idea of online, weekly ‘webisodes’ emerged from witnessing how UK television broadcasts were suddenly taking a DIY, ‘built from home’ approach to their delivery. From this ideology, Careers on the Couch was born. A weekly format with a positive but realistic tone was our focus, highlighting what students could control. This would also allow us to adapt quickly to changing external contexts.

PAGE 35

social media during lockdown, we decided to release our episodes on YouTube

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

IMPACT AND LEGACY

A team of four service staff and three student advocates worked on

We launched each webisode weekly via YouTube, but also

the project, fitting it in around existing workloads, and dividing roles

promoted the series via staff and student emails, newsletters, and

based on interests and existing skillsets (research or editing). The

via personal social media and LinkedIn channels. Prior to this

student advocates provided invaluable input on content, tone and

project, our service had not developed much in the way of video

student appeal. Several of them were also digitally savvy and able

content, so we had no specific engagement targets in mind.

to contribute to more technical tasks.

However, we were really pleased to see that we were gaining 10 new YouTube subscribers a week, and there was an average of

We aimed for a structure of ten-minute episodes, comprised of

266 viewers per episode (with episode 1 being the highest view

several two-minute segments. Using Microsoft Teams was helpful

count at 528 views). YouTube analytics also showed us the

for remote collaboration; our creative team shared apps to use

viewership was 72% UK based, which has given us the insight to

(InShot, Teleprompter and Camtasia), recording tips, and held

consider an international episode in future. The project received

daily chats.

positive feedback from students, as well as senior university leadership.

Even as staff and students begin the return to campus, Careers on the Couch is here to stay. We will be moving to a monthly format,

Prior to this project, our service had not developed much in the way of video content

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

Aside from the tight turnaround for each episode, the biggest

to reduce delivery pressure on the team and allow more time to plan each episode, but we are excited about the opportunities to grow our YouTube channel and to develop our staff expertise in editing and video production.

Mark.Lee@northumbria.ac.uk

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

challenges arose from our contributors providing segments which were of low video quality, portrait-mode recordings, or videos exceeding the two-minute limit. This meant that our editing time was significantly increased - and at times we had to be quite creative to

Follow Mark on Twitter

ensure we could utilize all of the content. Good internet connections were also an absolute must - one stressful afternoon saw me spending three hours uploading a segment, and simultaneously ruining Netflix for the entire family.

PAGE 36

SARAH STEVENSON, Head of Careers & Employability, and PHILIPPA ELFORD,

supporting students

Careers

&

Plymouth

Marjon

the

Employability

TO REGAIN CONTROL

supporting

of

at

reflect

on

University,

development

programme

Coach

of

a

web-based

activities

students

to

aimed

regain

at

control

during periods of uncertainty.

The move to a virtual offer in March 2020 went smoothly for our

To date, 163 students have engaged with the programme, with the

service.

majority from a widening participation (WP) background. These

based

Having

platform

previously supplied

invested

by

in

Abintegro,

Futures

online,

students

were

a

web-

already

include a care leaver, students who have a disclosed disability, those

comfortable engaging with our resources remotely. Live chat took

who are first in family to enter higher education, and students

the place of our drop-ins and our existing use of Microsoft Teams

classified as POLAR 1-3. Engagement from WP students suggests

supported a transition to virtual one-to-one appointments.

that Futures’ flexible and accessible delivery model has benefitted groups that may have previously experienced barriers to participation.

SIZABLE IMPACT

ENHANCED DIGITAL OFFER During the initial stages of lockdown student feedback suggested that many were predominantly focused on managing the transition to online learning and completing assessment tasks.

The expertise we developed in using an existing web-based platform

However, the team’s engagement with webinars and virtual

and its various tools to supplement ‘normal delivery’ pre-lockdown

events quickly unearthed the sizeable impact Covid-19 would

enabled us to react quickly to the circumstances and enhance our

have on the class of 2020. Conversations with student support

digital offer. Our Covid-19 web-based programme of activities has

and academic colleagues, alongside feedback received directly

resulted in the creation of resources that can be utilised by the whole

from students, highlighted the levels of anxiety being

Marjon community at any time. We have futureproofed our delivery

experienced by our students, who wanted to regain control of

and

their career management and transition into graduate

respond quickly and confidently in a changed – and changing –

employment.

graduate labour market.

will

continue

to

support

students

to

position

themselves

BITE-SIZED DELIVERY

Through Futures we created a six-step programme comprising tasks and activities that would help students to feel in control but

We helped students to

would not be reliant on engagement with business. The programme was promoted via our student intranet and social

recognise that their Plan A

media channels. Each step of the programme was also promoted over a six-week period in our weekly e-newsletter and intranet to convey a bite-size, accessible approach, to completion.

PAGE 37

may not be possible

and

SIX STEPS TO BEING COVID READY ALL ABOUT ME In a competitive job market, recognising strengths, personality traits and work motivations is key to being adaptable, flexible and open to vacancies. Completing career assessments in these areas helped students to recognise these.

PERFECT MATCH Utilising Prospect Planner and Abintegro’s Career Pathways, we helped students to recognise that their Plan A may not be possible but that there were other job roles that they might be suited to in the interim.

KNOW YOUR EMPLOYER Having established a Plan B, students were supported to identify the businesses that recruit for these roles. Using Abintegro’s Job Tracker, students were prompted to follow businesses and save searches to ensure they were notified of new vacancies. We provided students with guidance on how to research employers and how to utilise this research in the recruitment process.

INTERVIEW-WINNING CVs Recognising that CVs don’t form part of the recruitment process for many organisations, we used the process of writing a CV to prompt students to reflect on their skills, attributes, knowledge and experience. We utilised the CV 360 tool to provide students with personalised feedback to better understand their skill dominance and experience.

GET NETWORKING(without any awkward events) We designed activities to help students recognise the importance of developing a personal brand that is reflected through a positive digital footprint, culminating in students creating a professional LinkedIn profile.

MARJON CAREER PULSE Finally, students completed the Marjon Career Pulse and were provided with a personalised report highlighting their strengths and development needs across seven key areas of employability. Students were signposted to further online resources to address their development needs.

slstevenson@marjon.ac.uk pelford@marjon.ac.uk

Connect with Philippa on LinkedIn

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Follow Philippa on Twitter

Follow Sarah on Twitter

PAGE 38

mastering the art OF PROMOTION

KATRINA FORBES, Head of Careers

Alumni then approached us with a new idea for an internship programme. The GCU Graduate Internship Programme was

at Glasgow Caledonian University, reflects on the benefits of collaboration with alumni colleagues

created to offer graduates paid industry experience of two to six months with an SME, voluntary organisation or GCU alumni employer. Internships were funded through a ÂŁ200,000 donation of support from Sir Alex Ferguson and formed part of

during the height of the pandemic.

Here she outlines how the experience has reinforced the value of effective

a new initiative, Mentoring, Internships, Networking and Talks (MINT) for Graduates. While the internships programme was created in partnership with alumni colleagues, the careers team led on the management of the process.

marketing and promotion for internal and external recognition during turbulent times.

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Like many, we started the year with plans that have subsequently

Working closely with alumni colleagues on all these initiatives, it

changed. Back in January, I was approached by our Alumni

quickly became apparent how successful they were in

Engagement team to discuss a new approach to making their

communicating and promoting our joint offer. Their promotion of the

mentoring scheme work. Originally, this was going to be a small

Career Mentoring Programme to alumni, for example, reaped much

programme with around 50 or so students. We all know what

better results than our promotion to students. They shared news of the

happened next.

new schemes via the university intranet, which was picked up by the university marketing team. We even made the local news.

DELIVERING EXTENDED SUPPORT

With no history of careers service initiatives ever making the local news, this led me to consider how our alumni colleagues were achieving such good results. The first thing I observed was the speed

The implications of Covid-19 for the delivery of the mentoring

– they were writing about new schemes almost the minute they were

programme were twofold. Firstly, alumni colleagues had more

created. They also used sales and marketing knowledge and were

time on their hands. Secondly, university senior management

able to draw on prominent figures, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, to

decided that the programme should be opened up to all

provide supportive quotes to the press. While their social media

graduates and Level 3 students. We rapidly developed the

presence seemed similar to ours, it was being used differently with

necessary processes and launched the Career Mentoring

greater and more frequent interactions. Crucially, they were using

Programme 2020 to an expanded cohort at the end of June,

news about the likely impact of the pandemic on graduate

working closely with alumni colleagues to match our students to

employment as a hook to get people to read about the new schemes

suitable mentors.

on offer to students and graduates.

PAGE 36 PAGE 39

SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS

While we have a good social media presence, with strong student

Observing the work of our alumni colleagues, the masters of

and graduate engagement, what we do not have is a team of sales

promotion, has been a valuable experience. We are changing our

and marketing experts to drive this activity. Moreover, with a small

project management behaviour as we scope new service offerings,

and recently reduced team, and when the pressure is on to deliver,

learning the value of placing marketing and communication closer to

we sometimes forget to shout about what we are doing as we are

the start of the planning process, instead of being an afterthought.

too busy with the day job.

We will keep learning from them, and they have said that they are learning from us too.

Our priority since lockdown has been to support as many of the class of 2020 as possible. Working with alumni colleagues, we

The first step has been to write about our experience here (having

have rapidly established new initiatives and we will seek to maintain

never written for Phoenix in my 18 years in HE careers). We have

the momentum as we enter the autumn term. While we have always

also recently contributed two articles to the university’s internal news.

offered a high-quality service, delivering a range of initiatives and

The next steps may see us on national television. Watch this space.

interventions day in day out, our experience over lockdown has made us take stock and reflect on how we shout about what we do.

We need to get better at pushing out the good news stories. While we may not be the ‘face’ of the new schemes to senior managers,

Katrina.forbes@gcu.ac.uk

we need to position ourselves as key to their delivery.

Connect with Katrina on LinkedIn

We need to get better at pushing out the good news stories

PAGE 40

WE'RE NOT GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY

Back to the human face of careers, we moved on to experiment with a summer-long programme. Delivering sessions throughout July and August was something we had never attempted prelockdown. These were pitched as live sessions, with the opportunity to tune in via catch up at a later date. The numbers

the road to

engaging live reached levels we would have only dared to dream of hitting on campus. We learnt quickly, recognising hot topics and how to pitch them in a way that resonated, particularly with

REINVENTION

our class of 2020. Sessions offered insights into career development, the current UK climate for employment and how to create a professional online profile.

KATIE CLIFF, Careers and Employability Engagement Manager,

and

GEORGINA

LARKIN,

Careers

Consultant at Leeds Beckett University, share how the

At the end of June we delivered over 30 sessions in one week as part of Beyond Beckett, bringing employers, alumni, students and graduates together for an online careers bonanza. The momentum

disruption

caused

opportunity

to

by

rethink

Covid-19 careers

has and

presented

the

employability

delivery.

has continued, with the highest levels of student engagement we have ever had over the summer months. We reached final year students who had not previously engaged with the service, with many becoming repeat attendees, along with first, second and

“It's official 'mad March' has begun @BeckettCareers!”, we posted on LinkedIn pre-lockdown. Little did we know how true this would become.

Fast forward six months and what would have seemed implausible then has become standard practice now. We have survived the transition to

postgraduate students who found the events through our extensive social media campaign. We continue to extend our reach with students reaping the benefits of accessible, online delivery: a further 20% have viewed the resources at a later date.

delivering careers support in a virtual world and have student, graduate and cross-institutional endorsement to prove it.

LESSONS OF LOCKDOWN MOVING BEYOND CAMPUS Reflecting on the behaviours that have served us well – Our move online began, in truth, with the ‘let’s turn it into a webinar’ approach and a scramble to get to grips with preferred platforms.

However, this early foray brought confidence in the technology, the possibilities and – critically – stakeholder engagement. Now was the time to strike. The careers offer, which had previously been squeezed into a packed academic, working and social life, was now liberated.

experimenting, sharing learnings, refining delivery, being bold, cross-team collaboration – has influenced our approach as we head into the new academic year. The value of our work has been recognised by the wider university, and this has brought new opportunities. We have been invigorated, not by pressing repeat but through reinvention.

We had the opportunity to occupy an unfilled space in students’ minds.

WHAT'S IN YOUR TOOLKIT?

At the start of the year we had, fortuitously, invested in technology

K.E.Cliff@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

to develop our online offer, so the tools were ready. Thus began a 16-week e-learning campaign, fired into the inboxes of current

G.Larkin@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

students as part of weekly communications sent out via our

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn marketing team. And the result? Online users of the platform tripled, tipping from the hundreds into the thousands who progressed to explore its content more widely. The campaign was also picked up

Connect with Georgina on LinkedIn

by our Centre for Learning and Teaching, which presented the opportunity to showcase our offer to academics hunting for digital learning to enhance their own curriculum delivery.

We reached online engagement levels we had only dared to dream of hitting on campus PAGE 41

We developed our own mock virtual assessment centre using Microsoft Teams to develop students’ skills and experience in managing job applications and the recruitment processes during lockdown. A total of 23 students completed the assessment centre over three sessions, with new online interview software also available to students.

Our enterprise offer has grown and developed into an entirely online

rising to the challenge:

modular offer since its launch in February 2020, which has boosted our engagement numbers and enabled more students to benefit. Of the 90 students who engaged, around half have completed many of the

PREPARING FOR

modules.

THE UNPREPARABLE Student feedback has indicated CLARE HOLDEN, Services Manager at the University of Derby’s Careers and Employment Service, shares

that, for many, online delivery is preferable to on-campus

how changes implemented pre-lockdown aided the transition to an improved service for students and graduates.

REAPING THE REWARDS

Before Covid-19, the University of Derby’s Careers and Employment Service had been through a restructure, with a number of new staff

Our big celebration event, Employability Awards 2020, will reflect on

recruited to take the team in a fresh direction. We had been

the achievements of a challenging year for students, staff and external

challenged to deliver more digital services and to take an evidence-

partners alike. Nominations were open before and during lockdown;

based approach to target embedded curriculum delivery. We had

this year, we have had our highest ever number - over 15 categories.

signed up to the Advanced HE framework, and had worked with

We used Teams to bring the judging panels together and will be

academics, students and employers to define employability skills.

announcing all winners via videos released through our social media channels over the celebration week.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

We worked hard on our communications and engagement strategies during lockdown and will continue to do so. Our efforts were

Pre-March, we had already begun to deliver workshops using

rewarded with an increase of almost 100% from July 2019 (7,445) to

Blackboard Collaborate, drawing on training delivered by institutional

July 2020 (14,884 ). The accessibility of content, with students able to

experts in online learning. For less confident members of the team we

undertake a range of online learning modules in their own time, has

had also arranged to pair-up staff to offer support in case of technical

been a contributing factor to the increased use of our website. We

failure or unexpected issues. Just as student engagement with online

plan to continue to develop our online learning offer to support

workshops was starting to grow, so too was staff confidence. This, in

extracurricular delivery in 2020-21. We have also engaged finalists,

retrospect, was a perfect way to rehearse before lockdown hit.

through targeted personal contact to ensure they are aware of our three-year graduate offer and the access they have to personalised

In the first few days, we re-grouped, tried out Microsoft Teams

ongoing support and guidance.

meetings, and set up a daily staff briefing to monitor the mood of the team, offer support, and manage the changes required to the service

As we approach the new academic year, we will seek to deliver a mix

and our delivery.

of online and, where permitted, face-to-face activities. The team embraced the challenges and demands of working during a period of

DELIVERING DIFFERENTLY

unprecedented disruption. The resilience and digital competencies learned before and during this time will hold us in good stead for an uncertain future.

In May, we delivered Gradfest, our first ever virtual careers fair, entirely online with just two weeks of planning. A total of 17 employers and 349 students attended. Employer feedback was very positive, demonstrating a real appetite for attending a virtual event,

C.Holden@derby.ac.uk

without the need for travel and extended time out of the office. We also delivered 51 webinars, attended by 487 students - a large increase in online engagement from the previous year. Student

Connect with Clare on LinkedIn

feedback has indicated that, for many, online delivery is preferable to on-campus.

PAGE 42

effecting positive change through service learning

This summer, the University of Sussex Careers and Employability Team began a partnership with academic colleagues to pilot service learning across a range of disciplines. As the pandemic drives

institutions

communities

to

seek

seek

to

out

rebuild

innovative and

and

transform

engaging

methods

post-Covid,

EMILY

of

online

HUNS,

teaching,

Head

of

and

as

Careers,

Employability & Entrepreneurship, reflects on what now seems a particularly timely intervention.

Service learning is a form of experiential education whereby students apply their academic knowledge to real, discipline-

COMMUNITY BENEFIT

relevant problems experienced by organisations local to the university. Activity takes place within the curriculum and is led and Through service learning, local community organisations are able to supervised by academics. It is a simple but effective idea, already tap into research-informed academic expertise and the fresh thinking well established in the US and Canadian university sectors. There of a group of talented students. Key to the concept of service are a number of benefits to students, university and the wider learning is that activity is undertaken in partnership with community community. members and organisations. Students, faculty and community members all serve as co-educators, co-learners, ‘co-servers’ and cogenerators of knowledge and practice. There is neat alignment here

EMPOWERING STUDENTS

with the drive in many universities towards co-creation.

Students gain from service learning in several ways. Evidence points to better learning outcomes because students are required

RESPONDING TO COVID-19

to demonstrate their knowledge, thus connecting the cognitive to the emotive. In good news for careers professionals, service learning also connects students to employers, and can potentially empower students to find their passion.

To share an example from our pilot, student groups (supervised by academics) from our School of Life Sciences and School of Global Studies will work with Adur & Worthing District Council to help re-

Service learning develops student skills, confidence and networks in much the same way as the ‘grand challenge’ programmes established in many universities, but with the potential for greater reach because the activity is embedded (and usually assessed) within the curriculum.

PAGE 43

imagine use of the region’s outdoor spaces post pandemic, creating a blueprint for other authorities. Other partners on this brief include Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Local Nature Partnership and Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre. Meanwhile, in October, 150 final year economics students will be working with another local organisation

to assess arguments for the reshoring of supply chains in response

We are pleased to be leading this pilot. As we all recognise, one

to Covid-19. All core material will be delivered via online lectures

of the pleasures of careers work is bringing partners together – in

and online interactive activities, making the activity well suited to the

this case academics, students and the local community – for useful

current times.

purpose.

However,

what

is

unusual

and

exciting

about

service

learning is that, having tested and honed the approach, and found At Sussex, we see service learning as a vehicle for marrying two

our academic service learning champions, the ship should sail and

strategic aims: ‘at scale’ student access to real world opportunities

scale

and student-led knowledge exchange. University strategy commits

Employability. We will simply continue to facilitate roll-out through

us explicitly to “co-deliver[ing] projects on the ground in local

platform

communities – making a real difference to people’s daily lives and

leaving delivery in the capable hands of a growing number of

helping our partners to tackle big and small issues”. In response to

teaching staff in academic schools.

with

minimum

management

resource

and

required

from

employer-academic

Careers

and

connection,

the pandemic, we are also aligning pilot activity with the priorities outlined in regional economic recovery plans.

Given the appetite shown for the pilot thus far, the project has strong potential to deliver immediate and long-term impact at the university and within the wider community, at a time of significant

POST-PILOT VISION

need.

The pilot will be evaluated in late spring 2021. By then, we expect to have bought in an online platform, which will help enable roll-out of service learning across the university. Through this platform academics will be able to search through a database of live briefs and students will be able to interact easily with each other, their academic supervisor and partner organisation, sharing documents, links, video clips and feedback.

In response to the pandemic, we are aligning pilot activity with the priorities outlined in regional

e.huns@sussex.ac.uk

economic recovery plans

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn

PAGE 44

scaling-up during lockdown: KATHY ENGLAND, Business Engagement

CREATING VIRTUAL

Manager their

INTERNSHIPS

years

at

busiest and

Keele

University,

internship

shares

top

reflects

summer tips

for

in

on

seven

delivering

virtual internships.

Keele has seven years’ experience running

Internships were set at 100 hours and open

these areas. Organisations wrote their own

internship schemes in different guises.

to both students and graduates. They could

job descriptions and we took responsibility for

However, prior to Covid-19, we had very

apply for as many opportunities as they

the sifting and shortlisting. At times it was a

limited experience of delivering virtual

wanted but only undertake one internship.

challenge to keep up with demand – we

internships. Although we had allowed a

Where host organisations had capacity, we

received over 620 student applications

handful to take place where a micro SME

permitted more than two interns. From the

across the 118 advertised roles.

had no suitable office premises, students

outset we had stipulated that all internships

were still able to meet on campus for

had to be done remotely; little did we know

meetings with their supervisors.

that we were effectively future proofing our internship scheme, with remote working

When the first lockdown measures were

becoming the new normal. We had students

announced at the end of March we saw an

living in Italy and Cyprus, working for small

immediate and dramatic fall in demand for

charities in Cambridge and Newcastle-

Keele Talent from our (mostly) local

under-Lyme.

AND SUPPORT

Students were encouraged to seek

commercial SMEs. Their efforts were,

application advice ahead of submission. We

understandably, concentrated on how to survive and look after their staff. Some SMEs

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

experimented with a talent pool system, but

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

were unable to continue with their intern,

the time taken to triage large amounts of students to get them to polished CV stage

while others asked us to cancel or postpone

For those of you already familiar with

was overshadowed by the urgency required

their adverts. So, with Santander funds

managing internships, you will know how

to fill the roles given the circumstances, so

remaining to be spent, we reacted swiftly to

much of it is about (trying to) balance

we reverted to our tried and trusted

launch a new UK-wide virtual internship

supply of opportunity with student demand

‘advertise to all’ approach instead.

programme to place students and graduates

for experience. It turned out we didn’t have

in the not for profit sector over the summer.

to worry about either and we managed to

Alongside the scheme, we set up a self-

get most internships started by July. Our

matching offer for students. This involved

marketing materials suggested that

giving them the resources and advice to find

organisations might want to offer

their own opportunity, which we then

opportunities in support of back-office

authorised for funding. 18 students took up

functions, social media, data analysis,

this offer, a sharp increase on the previous

administration, or fund-raising work.

year (four). It was certainly encouraging to

Analysis of the roles offered closely reflect

see such determination in a time of crisis.

NEW EMPLOYER PARTNERSHIPS

Ten weeks later we had arranged 126 student and graduate internships, across 85 organisations, the majority of which had never engaged with us before. Of the 126, 118 were fully funded by Santander for charities/not for profit organisations and 8 were commercial SMEs who part-funded

Little did we know that we were effectively future-proofing our internship scheme, with

the internship.

remote working becoming the new normal

PAGE 45

We asked students to submit a weekly timesheet via Microsoft

Feedback so far has been extremely positive and there are signs that

Teams. We also set up an optional private channel for each

some organisations intend to retain their intern on either a voluntary

internship, which some of the organisations used as their preferred

or paid basis. In the current climate, it is highly probable that virtual

communication method. This approach enabled us to see the activity

internships will become the new normal. Having to react swiftly

undertaken by the students on a weekly basis, intervene when

really made us focus our efforts on what had worked well and not so

appropriate, and avoid gaps in activity we had previously

well over previous years of running our internship schemes. We

encountered. We think students were more invested in their

already knew that the summer is an ideal time for internships; we

internship as they knew we were monitoring their hours.

shall now focus our efforts on this part of the calendar and run fewer term time part time opportunities.

EXTENDED REACH

We reached across all subject areas and 55% of the interns came

We had students living in Italy

from a widening participation background. One surprising outcome was that 75% of interns were female. In previous years, we have

and Cyprus, working for small

always ended up with a 50/50 split. At application stage, the split

charities in Cambridge and

was already 64% female. This suggests that during the crisis males were less motivated to apply but also less likely to be successful at

Newcastle-under-Lyme

shortlisting and interview stage.

Having to react swiftly really made k.s.england@keele.ac.uk

us focus our efforts on what had worked well and not so well over

Connect with Kathy on LinkedIn

previous years of running our internship schemes

TOP TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL VIRTUAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

1. Give excellent and swift customer service to both organisations and students

to

help

gain

their

confidence

in

your

programme.

Communication is key – make the most of video calls to enhance engagement. Regular contact is even more important when everyone is remote.

Follow up on student applications and offer support. Word

travels fast among the student body and you need them to be your ambassadors! We used LinkedIn a lot to increase engagement from organisations.

2. Offer a virtual platform for communication between students and organisations, but allow them to agree their own if preferred.

3. Set clear parameters and a mode of delivery that matches the resources

available

to

you.

Don’t

underestimate

the

administrative

resource required, particularly when coordinating at a distance.

4. Set up and stick to one online platform to log all internship activity, ideally a combined CRM, vacancy advertising and application portal – this will save hours

PAGE 46

navigating uncharted waters USING INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

JANE GOODFELLOW, Head of Careers

PLACEMENT PRIORITY

and Employability at Cardiff University, describes the team’s journey since

One of Cardiff University’s ambitions is that 50% of our students

March to re-imagine service provision

will have undertaken a placement by the time they graduate. In

and deliver a fully online service.

2018-19 the result was 43%, with our Futures Connect team contributing 900 extracurricular opportunities. As well as

With our existing online resource, Your Career Journey, and a few

converting ‘standard’ placements to a virtual format, the team have

tweaks to our booking system, we were up and running virtually within

worked with employers to develop a number of new options

twenty-four hours of lockdown. Students had immediate access to

including student consultancy projects, career mentoring, sector

24/7 support with flexible options for synchronous and asynchronous

insights and a new teaching pathway. In collaboration with Cardiff

engagement. With our initial response covered, we then turned our

Metropolitan University PGCE course leaders and teachers from

attention to tackling more challenging issues, such as placements and

partner schools, we created a programme that encompasses the

recruitment. How could we provide a service to students in these areas

key elements for students interested in a teaching career.

when the world of work had almost come to a standstill?

Our approach enables us to meet high demand for teaching experience and increase value and scale, whilst building a library

VIRTUAL CONTEXTS

of teaching resources that we can offer to our partner schools. This pathway will be more impactful than our original offer, especially

Part of our approach was to offer employers as much flexibility as

when students can also go back to visiting schools.

possible to be ‘on campus’ in smaller and more focused virtual contexts, recruiting where vacancies existed and maintaining their

NOT ALL PLAIN SAILING

brand where they didn’t. We successfully placed 228 students in organisations offering remote work experience between March and July. We also created five themed Explore weeks covering volunteering, teaching, graduate schemes, STEM and careers in the public sector. This involved the whole service in a programme of activity, culminating in a virtual fair/showcase/event. The introduction of CareerSet enabled rapid, detailed and gamified CV feedback. As a result, careers advisers had more time to dedicate to providing essential advice and guidance to students at a time of great uncertainty.

Yes, some students have been left disappointed by the lack of placements options. We have also had to cancel parts of our provision outright, including one of our employability modules. We have all faced personal challenges, and not all staff adapted as easily as others. However, the team’s spirit and commitment have been inspiring. Knowledge, talent and creativity came to the fore, with a pace and scale of innovation that I could not have imagined when I sat at my kitchen table in March and switched my laptop on for the first day of homeworking.

A particular highlight was the creation of a new podcast. We recruited two enthusiastic postgraduate broadcast journalism students with fully honed podcast skills and heaps of creativity to create My Career in Lockdown. The format of two students discussing their experiences of looking for work, backed up by guest speakers and our resident careers adviser, proved a popular and, at times, uplifting outlet. The podcast gained good publicity, excellent reviews and enough traction for us to commission a second season.

Lockdown has created the space to think outside the box, giving us the opportunity to creatively re-imagine our student offer. Our transformation has been recognised by our PVC and Dean for Student Employability. The next academic year seems less like uncharted waters and more like a navigable voyage. We have exciting offers for students and employers, and a skilled and resilient team. We look forward to the challenges ahead.

Lockdown has created the space

goodfellowje@cardiff.ac.uk

to think outside the box

Connect with Jane on LinkedIn

PAGE 47

Follow Jane on Twitter

The OU has the most demographically

On the flip side, we identified pitfalls to be

diverse and geographically dispersed

avoided in future, including improving

student population in the UK. In all areas of

interactivity between participants (such as via

operation, we continually strive to remove

extended use of platform tools and online

barriers such as cost, location, time

activities), ways to overcome

commitment, disability and social

technical/logistical limitations (e.g. draw tool

circumstance. To be as inclusive and

anonymity/chat box restrictions) and the

gaining in-depth student insights

representative of our students as possible,

importance of focusing content to enable in-

digital measurement methods need to

depth discussion (for example, disability

accompany online careers service delivery.

perspectives were raised but could not be

Naturally, we wanted to explore whether

explored sufficiently).

DURING A

within a digital space. We had logistical

PANDEMIC

focus groups can be conducted effectively

questions about costs and recruitment, and more about viability. Does a digital interface help or hamper group dynamics? What are the methodological and ethical constraints?

LYDIA LAUDER,

deeper student insights because of current and future restrictions on

Quality Manager at The Open University

Don’t give up on gaining

UNMISSABLE

face-to-face methods

Careers and Employability

OPPORTUNITY LOOKING BEYOND

Services, argues that while the pandemic has restricted

We researched methodological best practice

PANDEMIC BARRIERS

and carefully designed the sessions in

face-to-face student interactions, online focus groups can be an

consultation with experts from the OU’s internal Student Research Project Panel. We

effective means to capture the

ran two one-hour sessions (one for current

student voice.

students, one for alumni) via Adobe Connect as part of the OU Online TalentConnect careers fair in November 2019. With over

Students’ insights into their experiences have

7,000 students/alumni registering for the fair

become a critical layer of the new regulatory

(4,384 attended), this was an unmissable

ecosystem. National data collection

opportunity to gain student insights. Our

captures this to some extent, informing future

marketing approach paid off and positive

student choices and quality service provision.

sample sizes were achieved: 12 in the

In practice, data and insights that are timely,

student group, 4 in the alumni group (and a

robust, low-burden and representative of

waiting list rate of 29 students).

student experiences may be the very

the student voice; don’t give up on gaining deeper student insights because of current and future restrictions on face-to-face methods. Our trial has shown that online focus groups are an effective evaluation tool for careers services, complementing other measurement and feedback systems.

In 2020, we developed our approach further, delivering online focus groups for students from our Disabled Veterans Scheme

project. Our trial and subsequent work thus

RICH INSIGHTS

(OU), student insights inform service delivery

makes an important contribution to the case for using digital evaluation methodologies,

and are critical in helping more people

corroborating the limited research in this

realise their potential, achieve their learning

The focus groups yielded rich data insights

goals and become career confident.

into student perspectives on the UK labour market, their confidence in navigating opportunities, age-related issues,

DIGITAL DYNAMICS

view the pandemic as a barrier to engaging

and Achieving Your Goals career readiness

‘oxygen’ that is required for a careers service to thrive. At The Open University

Our message to AGCAS colleagues is to not

experiences using our services and the

field (such as Daniels et al, 2019). We will continue to push back the digital frontier in this area and hope our experience can help other careers services deepen their understanding of students’ insights.

special needs of alumni. We also learned lessons about the viability of online focus Student evaluation comes in many shapes and sizes - one option being focus groups, well-established in academic and market research (Bell, 2008). Interactive and collective in nature, they enable in-depth data gathering and efficiency (input from multiple participants simultaneously).

group delivery. The anonymity offered

Lydia.lauder@open.ac.uk

allowed for candid responses by participants (for example, expression of sensitive

Connect with Linda on

comments on age or disability). In removing

LinkedIn

barriers, the format also ensured

Follow Lydia on Twitter

demographic groups from the whole student population were well represented.

PAGE 48

couch to 5k:

MOVING DELIVERY ONLINE

EMMA BONATI, Careers Adviser at Edge Hill University, outlines how previous forays into online delivery enabled a swift transition to delivering an adapted service to support students and the wider community.

Like many AGCAS colleagues, we surprised ourselves at how quickly

AT THE CLICK OF A BUTTON

we embraced new technologies to deliver an adapted service for students and graduates. Pre-lockdown experience proved vital. With virtual delivery under the belts of a revered few, we were able to

Our largest learning to date came from delivering a full day,

adapt quickly to departmental needs.

festival-themed, virtual event at the start of June. Interactive sessions from seven speakers were delivered to over 160 students. Delivery of the event online was actually easier to manage: there was no car parking to arrange, nor catering costs to calculate. Everything

EXCEEDING STUDENTS' EXPECTATIONS

happened on the one Blackboard Collaborate ‘stage’; speakers arrived for their allotted time slot, delivered and then departed with the click of a button. Immediate feedback could be sought from

Partnership work with our Faculty of Education was one of our immediate responses, which enabled joint delivery of an online QTS Employability Festival Week in April, and an Employability & Transitions Programme for non-teaching students throughout May. Students’ expectations were that extracurricular activities would be

onscreen polls, students’ questions were answered live via a textbased chat area. The platform replicated a seminar classroom environment, but one where a wider variety of students felt confident to ask questions given the anonymity offered through online personas.

cancelled, so we were pleased to make these opportunities available to them so soon after lockdown. This early experience quickly taught us

Recordings uploaded to our website after the event received over

both the pros and pitfalls of delivering in an online world – the time

300 hundred engagements in the first week of going live. Extended

needed for preparation, producing scripts for larger events,

reach is a clear benefit of virtual delivery. Student engagement with

establishing back-up plans for when the tcehnology fails – the norms

the event dwarfed the numbers we would normally see on campus

now for so many of us working from home.

and this has been true of other aspects of our delivery.

PAGE 49

We will continue to listen to the student voice to find out what

We will continue to work hard to ensure the promotion of highquality volunteering opportunities. Through our third sector network we will also facilitate further opportunities for member organisations to network and share best practice as they navigate the challenges

works best for them and how we

ahead.

can shape our support STUDENT VOICE

GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY

The changes forced by the pandemic has made us reflect on our delivery pre-lockdown; in many respects we can’t believe what we weren’t already doing. While we are not running marathons yet,

Comparisons with 2019 show that students’ take up of support to find part-time jobs quadrupled. As lockdown was announced, with jobs in the hospitality and leisure sectors at risk and many of our students relying on this income, we immediately set to work identifying alternative suitable roles. We created an online jobs notice board, which initially was updated daily. This has had over 2,500 views, which equates to a quarter of Edge Hill’s total undergraduate student body. Feedback from students indicates that,

we have learnt that students are mostly resilient and adapt quickly to changing situations. Many have excellent knowledge of online social mediums and mobile phone technology and have adapted well to virtual delivery. We will continue to listen to the student voice to find out what works best for them and how we can shape our support. Some students clearly enjoy engaging remotely – it is convenient and less threatening. Finding the right balance will be key as we evolve future delivery.

in addition to easing their financial needs, by contributing to society at a critical time the roles they have undertaken have increased their self-worth.

Over 750 Edge Hill students responded to the call for NHS

In addition to easing their financial needs, by contributing

volunteers, but we knew that many more would be looking for other volunteering opportunities. Our Volunteering from Home resource was viewed over 2,700 times. This has shown that the right information, promoted to students the right way and at the right time really hits home. With face-to-face roles still restricted we anticipate remote

to society at a critical time the roles students have undertaken have increased their self-worth

volunteering opportunities will be highly sought after, either as flexible one-off opportunities or through more regular commitments.

emma.bonati@edgehill.ac.uk

Connect with Emma on LinkedIn

PAGE 50

unlocking new potential FOR ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT DURING LOCKDOWN

PHILL WILLIAMS, Careers Consultant in the College of Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, outlines how the unique circumstances we were suddenly forced to face back in the spring have inadvertently presented us with an opportunity to tackle challenges that existed prior to the pandemic, as well as those presented by Covid-19.

The College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham is comprised of the schools of Psychology, Biological Sciences, Sports & Exercise Sciences and Earth & Environmental

PAINTING A POSITIVE AND PERSONAL

Sciences. Careers Registration data and student feedback has consistently emphasised, perhaps unsurprisingly, that there is a

PICTURE

strong interest in niche occupations within the areas of healthcare and psychology, sport and leisure, science and pharmaceuticals, and the environment.

Our solution was to engage alumni from a breadth of sectors and job roles to deliver a new series of informal webinars, Lockdown Lunches. To date, the opportunity to offer sessions of this type had

ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES

been limited or not possible at all. The webinars offered students unique insights into the roles and responsibilities of alumni and uncovered the immediate impact that the current climate was having

To date, this has presented us with two distinct and longstanding

on each profession. Crucially, students were active participants in

challenges. Firstly, how do we ensure our students are able to

each webinar, contributing their own questions and queries, which

engage with professionals working within these industries, when

were expertly answered by each of our guests.

there are fewer opportunities to network with a clinical psychologist or a sports scientist on a stand at a typical careers fair. Secondly, given that our degree programmes all face similar labour market

Much of the research and labour market insights shared over the

difficulties where the availability of opportunity does not match the

past few months has not always been particularly easy reading.

level of demand, how can we educate our students about the wider

Lockdown Lunches offered the opportunity to flip that rhetoric to

opportunities available to them with their degree disciplines?

paint a far more positive picture about these niche industries,

Couple these challenges with the extraordinary pace of change in

where there are genuine opportunities for growth and change,

the labour market, and it was clear that a remedy was required.

opening up possible future opportunities for our students.

PAGE 51

Being asked to be part of lockdown lunches was an honour. In the midst of Covid19, I was keen to share my experience with students and demonstrate how, after 11 years of practice, a pandemic has totally changed my role.

Beth Sykes, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, University Hospital Birmingham (BSc Physiotherapy, 2009)

I think a big key to success was the excellent facilitating by the Careers Network. Their personal approach made it feel like a genuine conversation and I really enjoyed it. I think it's very encouraging that the university has adapted so rapidly to the new and virtual environment we're in.

Laura Brindley, Civil Service Fast Stream (BSc Psychology, 2018)

STUDENT REACH

UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

By the end of the series, we had delivered 29 webinars across 11

Alumni engagement for the College of Life and Environmental

weeks, featuring 30 unique guests. A total of 360 unique students,

Sciences has never been stronger, but we still have so much

from an equal mix of year groups, attended at least one webinar.

untapped potential. Our experience delivering Lockdown Lunches

Many students attended multiple sessions resulting in a total of 565

has demonstrated a proven methodology for effective alumni

attendances at an average of 20 students per webinar. The webinars

engagement. We will use this as a platform to deliver engaging

were well received with 98% of students rating them either four or five

careers education as we move into a unique academic year of

stars. Feedback shows that students enjoyed the open interview style.

blended delivery. We now feel far more equipped and confident in

They also reported that the webinars had given them insight into

delivering careers provision for our students and graduates, to help

sectors they had not previously considered and felt that we had

them navigate an increasingly turbulent and rapidly changing climate.

delivered a good initiative in response to lockdown.

Quite simply, without the excellent and overwhelming support of our alumni, this series would not have been possible. Beyond the webinar, many of our guests have continued to engage with students, by connecting on LinkedIn, developing informal mentoring relationships, and even uncovering new job opportunities that would otherwise be hidden.

Much of the research and labour market insights shared over the past few months has not been easy reading – we

p.j.williams.2@bham.ac.uk

had the opportunity to flip that Connect with Phill on LinkedIn

rhetoric

PAGE 52

Last month, AGCAS published Evaluating the

a voyage into effective employer engagement:

Effectiveness of Employer Engagement, a research report that challenges assumptions about employer engagement. GABI BINNIE, AGCAS Policy and Research Manager, and

CHARTING A NEW COURSE FOR RESEARCH IN THE WAKE

LUCY EVERETT, Co-Chair of the AGCAS Employer Engagement Task Group, outline how the findings can be applied in a postCovid world and reflect on the value of the

OF COVID-19

research in the wake of the changes catalysed by the pandemic.

Late last year the AGCAS Employer Engagement Task Group proposed an ambitious project that aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multitude of careers-related employer engagement activities and answer, once and for all, the perennial question: is the careers fair dead?. In short, we now have an answer. But in the post-Covid climate, do our conclusions still stand?

A questionnaire open to any AGCAS member with employerfacing interaction a part of their role ran for two months from January 2020. We received 108 full responses from 69 different institutions. In addition, we conducted eight interviews with large employers to explore their perceptions of effective employer engagement activities. The Institute of Student Employers (ISE) included questions in their 2019 recruitment survey around types of activity and effectiveness, allowing us to compare employer and university responses.

SETTING SAIL

FIRST STOP: FINDINGS We set out with three broad objectives:

The most common careers or employability-related interactions To create a typology of current types of interactions between higher education institutions and employers;

between students and industry facilitated by universities prior to March 2020 were employer skills workshops, followed by single employer talks and generic vacancy advertising services. The

To provide insights into which types of interactions between higher education institutions and employers are most effective from both the university and employer perspectives;

To explore what challenges exist in delivering effective interactions between higher education institutions and employers.

majority (70%) of face-to-face on-campus employer engagement activities were extra/co-curricular, with only 30% embedded within the curriculum.

Before March 2020, the most effective employer engagement activities from a university perspective were careers fairs (general and sector-specific), followed by structured year-in-industry schemes, internship/shadowing programmes and employer skills

To ensure that the full breadth of employer engagement activities were workshops. According to quantitative data from the ISE’s 2019 included in the research, the first step was to compile a list of possible recruitment survey, careers fairs were also the most effective careers or employability-related interactions between students and employer engagement activity, followed by employer talks and industry at university. We felt that it was important to map the whole workshops. This data leads us to conclude that the death of the range of delivery modes or employer engagement activities, so the careers fair has been exaggerated. However, our in-depth resulting typology splits activities out into four delivery categories: interviews with employers give a more nuanced view with more embedded, extra/co-curricular, face-to-face on campus, virtual. We positive discussion about the value of small, tailored events. We didn’t know it at the time, but our decision to split out activities into faceconclude that a mixed approach across different activities is often to-face and virtual was a stroke of genius (or precognition?). the most effective, where quality conversations and volume of interactions are both important measures for employers

PAGE 53

CHANGING COURSE

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

At the time of the survey, only 21% of careers-related employer We were left to consider the value of our research in the wake of the engagement activities were delivered virtually. The only activities to changes catalysed by the pandemic. We have concluded that, if be more commonly delivered virtually than face-to-face were anything, the value of this research has increased exponentially. We generic advertising services (e.g. social media, posters, plasma have a typology of interactions from before the pandemic, as well as screens), vacancy handling and targeted advertising services (e.g. quantitative data to benchmark what proportion of employer targeted emails). Even more starkly, only 5% of the activities rated engagement activities were delivered virtually before the pandemic as most effective by universities were delivered virtually, and none (21%) and how effective they were in comparison with face-to-face of the activities in the list of the top ten most effective for universities deliver (not very). were primarily delivered online

We plan to grow the research project by launching short pulse surveys Soon after the survey closed, the government announced that the UK would begin a period of lockdown. Employers and universities alike shifted their activities online rapidly. For employer engagement professionals, this meant a move from 21% online delivery of careers-related employer engagement activities to essentially 100%. Employer engagement teams have been

that will allow us to directly compare employer engagement before, during and – hopefully – after the pandemic. It is too early to tell whether the changes that occurred as a result of Covid-19 are here to stay, but the new course of this research will give us real-time evidence for how universities, employers and the world of work has evolved in response.

exploring various iterations of what might replace careers fairs virtually, from avatar-style fair software to combinations of web pages, webinars and video content. Presentations and skills sessions have moved to webinar format and many are innovating

Download the research report

with online speed networking and using new technology, as well as social media, to broaden reach.

At the time of the survey, only 21% Connect with Gabi on LinkedIn

of careers-related employer

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn

engagement activities were Follow Lucy on Twitter Follow Gabi on Twitter

delivered virtually PAGE 54

supporting students to find THEIR FUTURE, THEIR WAY

BARNABY MOLLETT, KATHRYN SAUNDERS and LIVI SHAW, Careers Consultants at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), recall the journey of planning and delivering an expanded summer programme of careers events and workshops to support students across different time zones.

Over the last six months, we have all experienced a dramatic shift in how we work, including how we engage with our stakeholders.

SUMMER GROWTH

At the top of the list of stakeholders is our student body. Here at LSE, we have a larger postgraduate and international cohort than

This was the context in which we set out to deliver Your Future, Your

most other UK universities. With the arrival of summer, and the task

Way, a summer programme of online careers education and events. In

of planning careers support for the summer term — supposedly the

previous years, our equivalent summer programme had been relatively

quiet time of year — came a series of new, seemingly

small – undergraduate students had finished their studies for the year

unanswerable questions. What did our students need from the

and our postgraduates, whilst still engaging with LSE Careers, were

careers service? What should we be providing? And how could

focused on dissertation writing – so we ran a consolidated programme

we provide it?

of workshops and seminars on employability topics for thise remaining on campus. Fast forward a year and we all know how the world has changed.

The programme has helped to

Despite the impact of the pandemic, we agreed in our first planning meeting that our new summer programme should not be a direct

galvanize and provide focus to

response to Covid-19, only relevant at this strange point in history. Our objectives were to demonstrate that LSE Careers was there to help

the LSE Careers team at a time when we are working more geographically distant than ever

students by providing information, advice and guidance; addressing student concerns through a programme accessible anywhere in the world; and offering ideas on how students could make the most of this time by developing skills and gaining career insights from alumni and employers.

PAGE 55

LIVE TRIALS

FUTURE FOCUS

Ultimately, this resulted in over 30 webinars, virtual panels and

Some of our initial fears, including the usefulness of running events

remote workshops – delivered to undergraduates, postgraduates

at this time and whether anybody would engage and ask questions

and alumni – as well as the creation of permanent Skills at Home

in the online environment, were directly refuted in the programme

videos covering key areas for students to develop over lockdown.

feedback. Students cited that they had enjoyed interacting with other

For one part of the programme, we ran a series of hour-long alumni

participants and received great tips and relevant advice.

insight panels with three or four alumni currently working in a particular sector. Each gave a short introduction and answered

In addition to the positive impact and extended reach to our student

three thematic questions before a facilitated Q&A from the audience

body, Your Future, Your Way provided a coherent, branded

via Zoom chat. These events have functioned as live trials for the

programme of careers education that we have been able to

busy autumn term ahead. Colleagues in all parts of our service –

highlight to stakeholders, such as academic departments, to

careers consultants, employer engagement, student experience and

demonstrate the work of LSE Careers in supporting students. It has

operations – have learned a lot about the format of online delivery

also taught us many lessons for planning ahead, particularly in terms

and the necessary tweaks, particularly when contending with

of the relatively heavy use of our operations team to support and

different time zones and technical capabilities.

manage the setup of events.

The programme has also helped to galvanize and provide focus to the LSE Careers team at a time when we are working more

TARGET AUDIENCE

geographically distant than ever. This has been one of the most important aspects. As the name suggests, everyone with a part to play in Your Future, Your Way – whether in delivery, planning or in attending – has hopefully taken something from the programme it

We received almost 2,000 event bookings on the programme from 1,200 different students, which is a year-on-year increase of 447%.

that is useful, developmental and positive at a time of great uncertainty and difficulty.

As expected, just over half of attendees were in year one of a postgraduate programme, whilst almost a quarter were undergraduate finalists – a key demographic given the uncertain labour market many are graduating into. Almost all sessions were recorded and accessible after the events. By the end of July, online

Connect with Barnaby on LinkedIn

recordings had been watched a further 1,000 times (with almost no promotion to students). Most encouragingly, 95% of attendees reflected that they felt they had made progress upon attending an

Connect with Kathryn on LinkedIn

event, with 90% feeling ready for their next steps. We also analysed movement in terms of students’ career readiness, observing some interesting patterns.

Connect with Livi on LinkedIn

PAGE 56

developing cross-continental CAREERS ADVICE

ALEX MESTERTON-GIBBONS, Careers Service & Industry Relationship Manager, shares how Istituto Marangoni adapted to a sudden dispersal of students to all corners of the globe at the start of the pandemic, and how the careers service adjusted to meet this new international dilemma.

PAGE 57

From the beginning of lockdown, our international students chose to return home to be with their families. While none of us could foresee the impact of the pandemic or avoid the implications, we were not expecting to completely alter the services that we provided. In April, I had a call with a student, who informed me she had returned to Russia and needed some advice on how to find a job while she was at home. I had to pause because, in truth, I knew nothing about the Russian job market. From that day on, I realised we could no longer provide advice and resources only on UK employability, because our students were no longer in the UK.

TAILORED APPROACH

This decision has helped to make our careers service team stronger and more knowledgeable. We are far from experts in regional employment practices for every country. However, after surveying our students to find out where they were located and what type of support they would require over the next few months, we were able to tailor our approach and narrow our research. CV templates, job platforms, and social media sites vary to a large extent across countries, and the approach to networking and recruitment differs greatly between local and international businesses. Advising on small differences (such as pictures on CVs, bilingual applications, and job sites not appearing without a VPN) to dealing with more challenging situations (such as the currency and language barrier when giving accurate advice in conjunction with a student’s skills, or being able to suggest regional alternatives for students based in a city without a relevant industry) has been a real learning curve.

UNLOCKING BARRIERS REGIONAL EXPERTISE By broadening our industry contacts, reaching out to international employers and working with alumni, we have been able to extend our network. In turn, this has provided students with relevant connections that will make a difference while they are based at home and avoid any gaps in their professional growth. Operating digitally has also allowed us to engage with speakers from around

In an increasingly globalised economy, we must acknowledge that careers advice (especially for international students) has little value unless

we

can

adapt

our

approach

and

be

credible

sources

of

information for students, who may eventually work elsewhere in the world.

the world, unlocking barriers of collaboration that would normally exist due to location and, thereby, enhancing the multi-continental advice shared with students.

Istituto Marangoni has locations across the world, which has allowed us to work together, share expertise, and reach the students

This

whole

journey

versatile

delivery.

students

come

has

By

from,

resulted

enhancing their

in

more

our

regional

accessible,

understanding

job

markets

inclusive of

and

where

and our

employment

culture, we have improved our overall delivery and approach and can now support students even better than we did before.

closest to us, regardless of school affiliation. With a fashion and design specialty, these are industries that only exist in major cities and not in rural parts of the globe, which has made this period even more challenging for our students. We have now been able to

careerservice.london@istitutomarangoni.com

support and advise students in India, China, Russia, Italy, Nigeria and UAE, many of whom have since secured full-time or part-time

Follow Istituto Marangoni on Twitter

work.

We could no longer provide advice and resources only on UK employability, because our students were no longer in the UK

PAGE 58

MOVING SWIFTLY

Once it became clear that the university was going to close in mid-March, we had to react quickly. We needed to prioritise the speed of transition, providing reassurance for students, delivering effective responses to enquiries, and sharing good internal communication so that staff were aware of any short-term updates and the direction in which we were moving.

adapt fast, act smart, keep connected: EVOLVING CAREERS

Our initial communications focussed on alerting students that we were still ‘open’. We also redesigned the careers system so that all users had to view a regularly updated FAQ section. Providing easily accessible key information helped alleviate common fears and anxieties.

By 17 March, all of our core services were available online – appointments, resources, programmes and schemes. Our triage

SERVICE DELIVERY

team adapted well and rather than dealing with individual enquires in person or over the phone, these were filtered through

DURING COVID-19

the system using live chat and email. Even our flagship events moved to virtual delivery, such as our Grand Challenges programme, which morphed into Challenges Online and ran successfully in June.

BIDING OUR TIME

We knew the university would be disseminating a lot of information regarding exams, admissions and recruitment. Timing was essential to break through the ‘noise’ and to ensure our key

OLIVER LAITY, Careers Information and Systems Manager at the University of Exeter, outlines how

careers and employability messages were heard. Our aim was to ensure our approach didn’t overwhelm students but made them aware that our support services were still available. These

the timing and communication of key careers and employability messages, and a united team effort, have led to the delivery of a quality online service

included additional Easter holiday sessions, the Exeter Award, online application form writing retreats, video interview support and practice, and up to date graduate labour market information and advice.

for students.

We listened to staff at all levels, particularly those that best The Information and Systems Team at the University of Exeter forms part

understood students’ likely questions and issues. It became more

of the wider Student Employability and Academic Success (SEAS)

important than ever to humanise our messages on social media.

division, which covers all careers, employability and global

Through our Penryn campus we ran campaigns such as Home

opportunities inside and outside the curriculum. We work to the

office setups, Pets at home and Meet the team. These were

following set of specific values:

informal, used different multimedia and were delivered across multiple platforms. Student engagement revealed that our more

• We offer a great service to our students

personal approach to communication was exactly the right thing to do.

• We support each other

• We provide effective solutions

• We are always looking to improve service

It became more important than ever to humanise our

All were brought into sharp focus as we entered the unknown in March.

PAGE 59

messages on social media

Noticing a big jump in our social media engagement, we utilised our channels to promote connectedness and community, initially posting about our experiences working from home, and making sure that everyone understood our ‘new situation, new support, same dedicated team’ message. This led to us working closely with our Students’ Guild via a weekly mini takeover on their Instagram account, showcasing our range of services.

Timing was essential to break through the ‘noise’ and to ensure our key careers and employability messages were heard

BROADENING OUR OFFER

By the time we felt students had taken on board our new messages it was June, so we broadened our communications and began engaging with staff and students through an increased variety of channels. These included online magazines, video blasts, Instagram takeovers, live chat and the launch of our new podcast, dealing with real and current issues.

FUTURE FOCUS

We will keep a preference for digital appointments and continue to provide virtual events and fairs. Staff togetherness has been important. Sharing our working practices and lockdown challenges brought everyone together and helped us support one another. As a team, the main challenges we have found during this period involve communication, with many of us feeling swamped by the volume of virtual meetings, team chats and the endless refilling of our inboxes.

A range of new employer sessions followed, run by those within our employer network and via third parties who had moved quickly to

Everyone has found different ways of coping and adapting. We will bear this in mind as we continue to adjust as a team.

provide universities with useful interactive sessions that students could benefit from.

There is still a long way to go – and more students to deal with during the busy autumn semester – but our experiences of

We promoted casual work opportunities for students, including those that would be most helpful during the pandemic. We also

togetherness, rapid yet sensitive change, and customer focus, should stand us in good stead.

promoted remote opportunities and ran the recruitment for 300 paid student roles to help the university deliver enhanced online learning.

At the last count, in summer 2020 we ran over 118 sessions with 2,191 attendances, compared with 100 sessions and 892 attendances during 2019.

o.j.laity@exeter.ac.uk

Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn

Listen to the Career Zone podcast

PAGE 60

Fostering community, breaking down barriers:

APPLICATION OF LEARNING

Students were able to meet the full learning outcomes of both

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE WORKPLACES OF THE FUTURE

programmes, all while working at a distance. We had 20 groups of Change Agents drawn from across all three colleges and levels of study, operating across multiple time zones. They worked in groups on one of two challenges: reducing youth homelessness in Scotland or how to rebuild Edinburgh’s tourism industry and festivals sustainably post Covid-19. The speedily redesigned training courses, combined with the application of their learning to the challenge topic, allowed them to develop skills and confidence in complex problem solving, using data and working in teams.

Insights participants got to grips with working as part of an online team to gain an insight into the job sectors and careers of alumni, make new connections, and develop skills in networking, communication and professional behaviours. All of this activity

RUTH DONNELLY, Assistant Director, and EILIDH

was underpinned with reflection, to ensure students got the most out of the experience and were able to articulate this to others.

STEELE, Internships and Work Experience Manager at The University of Edinburgh, share their experiences and unexpected benefits of rapidly redeveloping two existing student development programmes for online delivery.

An unexpected benefit of We recently redesigned two face-to-face student development programmes: the Insights Programme, a one-week experience for

the move online was the

widening participation students to spend time with alumni, locally and internationally, to build up their confidence and networks; and Students

sense of community that

as Change Agents (SAChA), a four-week challenge-led experiential learning programme with external partners. Transitioning these programmes successfully online has confirmed to us that students can continue to develop their skills and attributes in the online space.

Furthermore, delivery through these means can offer additional benefits of developing new skills, breaking down barriers and fostering community.

STUDENT DEMAND

With the reduction in traditional development opportunities during lockdown, such as work experience and international travel, and with many students looking to use their time usefully to progress their personal development, we fully expected there to be interest in these programmes. However, we were surprised with the level of demand and commitment. SAChA attracted more than three times the number of applications we would expect for a face-toface version; and over 100 students signed up for Insights Online, with 93% of them engaging in at least one live session. The majority of participants also completed each programme, which we attribute partly to the fact that they were designed with accessibility in mind: session timings were flexible and were all recorded to allow students to be able to accommodate other demands on their time, such as work, caring responsibilities and the need for downtime.

PAGE 61

developed between staff, students and external hosts

FUTURE WORKPLACES The information I learnt will be valuable for Through working remotely, students were also able to learn

the rest of my life and I can't imagine where

new skills to prepare them for the future workplace, where we

else I would have been able to gain such

know it will be more necessary than ever to be digitally

experience and knowledge - I have had no

literate, highly organised and self-driven. We provided

other opportunity like it at university. I think it

support to help them navigate multiple platforms used in the programmes (Teams, Collaborate, Sharepoint, Mural and Zoom), but let them get to grips with software. We initiated

could be the point in my university life that will have MADE my future career

the online conversations with the students, but we then left Insights participant

them to it to continue these, to get to know each other, create synergy in their group, learn how to listen to each other and check understanding, how to communicate their ideas without

Without the change agent experience, I

talking over their peers, and delegate tasks appropriately. As a result, students developed empathy and an appreciation of

wouldn't have made such wonderful friends

the need to be flexible as they gained insight into each other’s

in lockdown, been pushed to develop new

personal circumstances. They were also thrust into the

skills (alongside my Edinburgh Award

limelight in online presentations, an opportunity few of them

experience), and ultimately have the

would have had in the normal course of their university lives.

chance to enact real change in Edinburgh

SAChA participant

STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

Both programmes have student development at their heart,

Transitioning these

using external partners such as alumni and organisations, to build up confidence and networks. An unexpected benefit of

programmes successfully

the move online was the sense of community that developed between staff, students and external hosts, many of whom met

online has confirmed to us

for the first time through these programmes. Barriers were broken down as we all learnt together how to best use the software and communicate effectively at a distance.

Analysis of the impact of the programmes on students has

that students can continue to develop their skills and attributes in the online

reassured us that the online versions have had comparable results to the in-person equivalents.

space

While the move to hybrid delivery will present many new challenges for staff and students, it can also present the opportunity for students to develop new skills which will prepare them for the changed workplace of tomorrow.

sacha.project@ed.ac.uk

insights.programme@ed.ac.uk

PAGE 62

Acknowledging the reduction in opportunities globally, we have worked together to build our employer engagement offer,

The benefits of collaboration on an

delivering collaborative events in order for our students to engage with a competitive global market. We have shared key insights from employers who are embracing remote working to access the best talent regardless of geographical location, thus opening up new opportunities that were not previously available.

INTERNATIONAL SCALE

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

We have already held our first joint Global Panel event, which attracted over 300 students and saw panellists form India, South East Asia, China and Africa to discuss the new world of work and their top tips for graduates in the current climate. We have also developed and delivered new online workshops to upskill our students and increase their awareness of their online presence, the hidden job market and how to be digitally agile, embracing technology for professional purposes. It is important that our students understand that flexibility and resilience are essential graduate attributes to maintain in the changing landscape of the

NOELEEN HAMMOND-JONES, International

world of work, and we are working closely to reinforce these messages through online FAQ live sessions and short videos on

Careers Consultant at the University of

social media.

Manchester, and ESTHER DE PERLAKY, International Employability Manager at the

As we head into the new academic year, we are planning monthly joint global panel events with employers and alumni from

University of Warwick discuss how cross-

across the world to share their knowledge and experiences of the

institutional collaboration has enhanced the

global graduate labour market. We are also planning our biggest

support available to students as they navigate a

event yet with our valued partner universities working together as a group of 15 institutions (now including Exeter and Cardiff) to

turbulent global graduate labour market.

plan our expanded Asia Careers Insight Series for March 2021.

By combining resources, we aim to deliver the UK’s largest joint careers event for our students.

The universities of Manchester and Warwick have partnered to deliver an annual China Fair for many years now. In January, as the impact of Covid-19 was being felt across Europe, we had to

STREAMLINED PROCESS

make very quick decisions about our scheduled 2020 fair. This resulted in the rapid transformation from a standalone fair to the China Career Insight Weeks, which offered over 30 online events for students from 13 partner universities: Manchester, Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Bath, Aston, Oxford, Leeds, Lancaster, Sheffield, Liverpool and Manchester Metropolitan.

Embracing the agility of the digital age, we have used a number of platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Go To Webinar and Trello) to share best practice and deliver our joint events, streamlining communications processes to work as one cohesive team. True collaboration has enabled us to share knowledge, expand our events and visibility worldwide, engage with more employers than

EXPANDED OFFER

ever before, and support a wider pool of students across institutions.

The success of this event, and extent of the collaboration with other universities, led to further planning and discussions to expand our offer beyond the insight weeks. We wanted to explore ways our students could benefit from our shared resources and contacts

We will continue to collaborate to support students to build the knowledge, skills and experiences required by employers to gain an advantage in what is likely to remain a turbulent global graduate labour market.

throughout the academic year. Over the last few months we have held several meetings to brainstorm ways in which we can continue to work to increase the visibility of our student talent pool in a turbulent global market, as well as raise the profile of our

Noeleen.hammondjones@manchester.ac.uk

Esther.de-Perlaky@warwick.ac.uk

institutions as recruitment hubs.

Connect with Noeleen on LinkedIn Connect with Esther on LinkedIn

PAGE 63

Inspirational alumni: SUPPORTING

In order to support, engage and motivate students further, we decided to ask our alumni for help. The response was brilliant. Over 40 alumni registered to take part in sessions where they discussed their career journey, gave hints, tips and answered questions on a range of topics. We delivered a variety of sessions, ranging from

STUDENTS IN

Special Hair and Media Makeup to Starting a Business.

As the sessions evolved, we started to ask alumni questions around

CHALLENGING TIMES

setbacks and hurdles, and how they overcame these. It was reassuring for students to hear how alumni had dealt with challenges.

We also had a few alumni who had graduated during the 2008 recession, so their advice was pivotal. As one student commented: “The alumni Zoom meeting was interesting and I felt better that things might not fall into place for me straight away.” These sessions were recorded and are being used by lecturers, as well as our marketing department, to support students further.

ONGOING COLLABORATION

SARA CHAN, Assistant Director for Student

In partnership with Newman University and the University of Birmingham, we continue to work on an Office for Students (OfS)

Employability, and DANIELLA BARNICLE, Progression Coach at University College Birmingham (UCB), outline the rapid changes

funded project, My Community, My Career; Transformation West Midlands, which aims to support local students and graduates into higher skilled employment and build a diverse graduate talent pipeline for West Midlands employers. Funds were awarded to

they have made to move their services online and the benefit of drawing on the alumni community to enhance student support.

target locally domiciled students and graduates, particularly from black and minority ethnic groups and students/graduates with disabilities, who may face wider challenges to securing graduate level employment.

University College Birmingham invests heavily in placements and employability, with almost all courses having a placement opportunity.

The focus of this project has been on personalised, tailored and

The pandemic and the subsequent closure of businesses meant that

individual progression coaching support and mentoring. We have

almost all our students immediately lost out on their placements, part

explored other innovative ways to support individuals and keep

time jobs and graduate scheme interviews. In order to support students,

them engaged during the pandemic. New sessions such as Ask the

we quickly adapted our careers service offer and went virtual for one-

industry experts, Step up to Level 7 and Get into postgrad teaching

to-one guidance appointments.

have been created in collaboration in order to support students across all three universities. During lockdown, we switched to

For the first time, support was delivered via email, telephone, video and

delivery of all one-to-one appointments online or by phone. As a

a new live chat functionality through Abintegro. We used Big Blue

result, engagement across the institutions was even higher than

Button, Zoom and GoToMeetings software to present employability

before. We delivered alumni sessions and expert talks to reassure

sessions, which were updated to include voice overs so they could be

and inform students who were struggling to secure graduate

shared with academic teams and students.

employment. The additional sessions and resources we have added to the project have been vital at this time.

We had a few alumni who had graduated during the 2008 recession, so their advice was pivotal

Whilst there is no substitute for real world work experience, the recent shift to remote support has shown how we can enrich the student offer and keep them motivated and engaged in new and flexible ways that keeps things fresh and innovative.

RESPONDING TO STUDENTS' NEEDS s.chan@ucb.ac.uk The first thing we noticed was the response; student engagement

d.barnicle@ucb.ac.uk

remained high in this period. Our appointments were getting booked up, with attendance higher than before. From conversations with students we were hearing a lot of the same questions, such as “what can I do with my

Connect with Sara on LinkedIn Connect with Daniella on LinkedIn

degree?” and “how can I get into (X) career?”.

PAGE 64

THINKING ON OUR FEET

As lockdown fell, we were due to hold our networking and mock interview activities that form part of a compulsory assessed employability module for Year in Industry students.

We had 100 students and 50 employers ready to attend a

A WHOLE

face-to- face networking event, involving the traditional networking greeting of shaking hands. We had to think on our feet. How could we continue to offer assessed activities for

NEW WORLD

students and enable them to complete a compulsory module, whilst following the national guidance for the pandemic?

Situations like this can force you to be creative and come up with solutions that you might not have considered otherwise,

EMMA EVANS, Employability Consultant in the School of Management at Swansea University, discusses some of the

and so we decided to turn the assessment on its head.

We asked students to set up a LinkedIn profile and use this platform to connect to employers. This approach had the added benefit of supporting students to build their online professional network. Likewise, we had to rethink the mock

new approaches they have been using to support students during the pandemic, many of which

interview activity. We gave students access to ShortListMe software allowing them to practise their interviewing skills using an online video format. Employers responded favourably to the changes and many of the students

have been integrated into plans for the coming year owing to their

commented that the exercises gave them the impetus to create a LinkedIn profile and to practise video interviewing.

success.

Feedback from both students and employers has been

Careers and employability teams across the UK have learnt to adapt quickly, getting to grips with new technologies and lots of uncertainty to support students who face different challenges in managing their careers and expectations of what lies ahead. At Swansea, this has led us to innovative ways of working which have enhanced the service and support we can provide – innovations we might not have arrived at under normal circumstances.

Situations like this can force you to be creative and come up with solutions that you might not have considered otherwise

PAGE 65

so positive that we have decided to take these assessed exercises into the next academic year. This will have the dual benefit of allowing us to futureproof our employability module, in case of a second wave, whilst also developing students’ skills in video interviewing and online networking in a working world where the way we communicate has changed.

DAY TO DAY CONTACT

BIGGER PICTURE

At the start of lockdown, we wanted students to understand

The impact of the pandemic has forced us to think bigger

we were still available to support them. We contacted them

and wider about how we provide a service. It has allowed

via email and social media, to offer email support and

us to connect more freely and easily with our students.

appointments through Zoom. Our one-to-one appointments

Looking to the future, these new developments will always

continued via Zoom throughout the pandemic. We saw a

form part of the service we offer. Technology has offered us

200% increase in student engagement with our appointments

alternative methods to have conversations with students and

for the months of June and July. We have also found these

shown that face-to-face is not the only way to deliver

appointments to be more focused, without the distractions that

support. We have also learnt the value of resilience. The

can come from working in a busy organisation or with

pandemic has tested the resilience of us all, but not least our

students rushing off to lectures. We will continue to offer

students who have proved their worth by making the most of

Zoom meetings for the foreseeable future as feedback from

the situation to develop themselves and prepare, as far as

students has been so strong.

they can, for what lies ahead.

GROWING APPETITE We also looked at other ways we could continue to

The pandemic has tested

interact with the students. At the start of lockdown we did a Facebook survey of 1,500 students, which indicated that

the resilience of us all

students were hungry to make the most of their time, learn and engage with any activities we had on offer. We set up a summer programme of activities, linking in with employers and alumni, asking them to hold online sessions on different sectors and giving tips on how students could develop themselves. Sessions ran over four weeks in June and July

e.l.evans@swansea.ac.uk

covering enterprise, career development, networking, skills development and virtual mock interviews. These proved to be hugely successful and we plan to hold these on a regular

Connect with Emma on LinkedIn

basis in the future.

PAGE 66

PACKAGE OF ACTION The Graduate Career Ready Certificate was incorporated within these resources. This is a programme of personalised and reflective activities individually curated by students. Students opt to

Creativity is catching: POSITIVE ACTION IN

attend two online sessions focused specifically on current labour market information from a menu of weekly one-hour sessions.

Students then select four self-led advice videos, links, toolkits and/or articles to stimulate additional learning and implement changes to skillsets before attending a one-to-one careers meeting. The meeting focuses on the programme’s impact, where

TIMES OF COVID-19

changes can be made to the student’s CV, and a personalised planned package of action. The programme culminates in a certificate evidencing enhanced skills development and the student’s proactive engagement in preparation for those first steps out of university into the labour market.

UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITIES Knowing that opportunities for placements and practical work experience will be much harder to come by in the new normal, we

MARILYN MCALEER, Work Placement Manager at the University of Gloucestershire, outlines how

have taken the best of the processes underpinning previous internship programmes and used readily available in-house resources to structure a new programme. Unlimited Student

the catalyst of the pandemic has forced changes in practice and thinking, stimulating creativity in supporting students and graduates at a time of

Projects will see all departments and schools within the university offering short, focused and remote project work to students. We are encouraging staff to think widely about the opportunities we can offer students to gain work experience, develop skills and

significant career and personal uncertainty.

engage with the university on a different level. We have no specific students in mind, the projects don’t need to be course specific, and our aim is to create as many projects as possible and

As lockdown hit, we launched a Careers Beyond Covid-19

engage as many students as we can.

webpage specifically aimed at students graduating in 2020. Set against the context of a pandemic-hit world where information overload was confusing, changing rapidly and daunting, our aim was to create safe, calming and structured resources that allowed

NEW DIMENSION

students to focus on the here and now, explore what they could

We inevitably faced challenges in developing two new and

achieve, learn how to use their time constructively, and focus on

distinct programmes over a very short period of time. However,

self-development. Our approach fitted neatly with mindfulness and

the attitude and creativity with which the whole team approached

a self-help ethos to improve students’ mental health, which was a

the tasks has demonstrated our agility and innovation. We are

concern given the volume of students who were dealing with the

already planning our Graduates of 2021 programme and phase

impact of withdrawn placements and job offers, and reduced part-

two of Unlimited Student Projects. The pandemic may have halted

time earning opportunities.

many things, but not the response to student support; we have been motivated and driven to do even more for our students within super-fast timeframes.

The pandemic may have

Alternative thinking, rapid response rates and adaptability are skills we have all attained and realised, alongside assisting

halted many things, but not the

students to build resilience for success. We are working differently, and this has added a new dimension to how we think

response to student support

about student support and employability, which will benefit the cohorts to come.

mmcaleer@glos.ac.uk

PAGE 67

REPURPOSED FUNDING

Using repurposed funding from our cancelled summer placement scheme, we developed the Digital Internship Scheme, which provided fully funded 50-hour remote internships, many of which were in hard to reach sectors such as heritage. While we had

Preparing students for

struggled for applicants to our annual summer placement scheme, demand for the internships was high, with many roles receiving over 30 applications. Student and employer feedback has been

THE DIGITAL AGE

consistently positive:

At first I was apprehensive about how much experience I could gain from a digital internship, however I now have a unique insight into my industry, new skills and a fresh confidence in my own abilities to work from home and still achieve success.

Student

We had lots of applications and were really

CHARLOTTE MARSHALL, Placements and

impressed with the high calibre of the

Work-based Learning Coordinator at Bath Spa University, outlines how the creation of

candidates. We shortlisted six students and to be honest could have appointed all of them. We

a digital internship scheme in response to the

were so impressed we’ve invited our successful

pandemic has enhanced the university’s civic

candidate back for a paid work placement in

engagement agenda.

the Autumn Employer

At Bath Spa University we value our close-knit community campus.

It is one of the best things about working here. Due to our relatively small size, you really do develop strong working relationships with both colleagues and students alike.

We worked hard to source diverse and rewarding internship opportunities that supported the requirements of local businesses and offered students the opportunity to gain remote work

CIVIC COMMITMENT

experience and develop the skills required in the workplaces of the future.

When the Covid-19 crisis took hold, our concern for the students we had worked closely with to teach resilience and adaptability, and encourage to take on new challenges to secure future prospects, was keenly felt across the team as many lost their internships. We also had a lot of sympathy for employers, particularly those from the hospitality industry, who were immediately hit by the crisis.

The pandemic has clearly accelerated the trend towards remote and flexible working; we will continue to support students to prepare for the digital age as virtual working becomes more common. Due to the success of the scheme, it will run throughout 2020/21 as the newly-named Bath Spa University Virtual Internship Scheme.

Whilst we convey the value of resilience, we also teach students to be dynamic and flexible - and there was no better opportunity to demonstrate these skills than in March 2020. We value our

c.marshall2@bathspa.ac.uk

relationships with local employers; Bath Spa’s long term commitment is to be a civic university. We immediately saw an opportunity to support primarily local charities and third sector

Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn

organisations at a challenging time whilst providing valuable work experience for students, many of whom had returned home.

PAGE 68

It has been challenging to adapt sessions that have traditionally included group

supporting student success

activities

IN A VIRTUAL WORLD CAREER RELEVANCE

We started to introduce this approach early and informed students of the additional activities they could pursue and the relevance to their career. We encouraged students to consider the following:

Recording any support they provided in their communities, whether caring for friends or family, paid work, or volunteering Joining extracurricular webinars or training sessions

HANNAH PERKINS, Training and Events Coordinator at the University of Chester, outlines

Completing independent research into a career area of interest Reflecting on a previous interview or assessment centre

how the Careers and Employability Team adapted the delivery of their employability-enhancing award programme and associated activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

experience Participating in mock video interviews, digital assessment centres or practicing psychometric tests

We were aware of the uncertainties that students were facing during lockdown and understood that getting recognition for

The Chester Difference Award (CDA) is designed to recognise

extracurricular activities may not be top of the priorities list.

employability-enhancing extracurricular activities. Previously a points-based system, and now built around pathways, students participate in a range of activities, many of which have traditionally

ADAPTED MESSAGING

been face-to-face.

We increased our one-to-one support, adapted our Prior to lockdown we were already planning changes to the CDA for September 2020, introducing a greater focus on understanding and articulating the employability related benefits of participating in extracurricular activities. One of the drivers for this change was to enable students to more easily complete the CDA whatever their

messages and found there was no drop in the number of activity submissions compared with last year. The number of students completing the CDA was also consistent with previous years and students clearly valued the support provided.

location. This proved useful when lockdown was announced as we had already considered how activities could be completed without face-to-face contact.

Following low engagement with webinars prior to lockdown, we were apprehensive about moving to a fully virtual events programme. However, students and graduates have seemingly welcomed the opportunity to engage with us

For the first time, the Chester

without having to attend in person. Attendance at events between April and June increased by 147% when compared

Difference Award will be open to graduates up to two years after graduation

with the same period last year.

Our events included a Focus on your Futures week for final year students, with sessions on finding a job during the pandemic and how to navigate the labour market. We also ran a Graduate Head Start programme, which included a Q&A session with 2008 graduates talking about their experiences of graduating into a recession.

PAGE 69

FLEXIBLE PROVISION

SUCCESS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

One thing we have learnt is the importance of offering

We have recently started delivering paid virtual internships

flexibility where possible. For our mock assessment centres,

with local employers, our enterprise programme Venture has

we originally kept to the same times when we moved to virtual

moved wholly online, and we are confident that the updated

delivery. When a number of students made contact to say that

CDA process and our events programme will work

they had problems with the technology or with the timings, we

successfully in a virtual environment. For the first time, the CDA

accommodated their requests. As the activities changed from

will be open to graduates up to two years after graduation,

group to individual, we were able to be more flexible with the

giving them the same opportunity to gain an award that can

dates and method of engagement. As a result, we intend to

bring huge benefits to their employability development during

offer greater flexibility in the year ahead.

a time when they may feel that their opportunities are limited.

Furthermore, now our alumni can engage with our initiatives

It has been challenging to adapt sessions that have

remotely from anywhere in the world. In these uncertain times

traditionally included group activities. Consequently, some

it is even more important to bring alumni in to inspire and

sessions have naturally become more focused on information

support students and graduates with their own career stories.

giving instead. For the year ahead, many of our workshops will run as Q&A sessions with a video providing introductory

We know next year is going to be different. However, by

information to watch in advance.

taking a blended approach, we can offer even more opportunities to prepare student and graduates for their next steps, whatever working life looks like in the future.

We had already considered how activities could be completed without face-to-face

h.perkins@chester.ac.uk

contact

PAGE 70

RESEARCHER'S DIGEST Covid-19 Special Edition

DR JULIA YATES, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at City, University of London, shares a digest of research relevant to the pandemic.

01

CAREER SHOCK Akkermans, J., Richardson, J., & Kraimer, M. (2020), The Covid-19 crisis as a career shock: Implications for careers and vocational behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior

02 CHANGES TO EMPLOYMENT Autin, K. L., Blustein, D. L., Ali, S. R., & Garriott, P. O. (2020), Career Development Impacts of Covid-19: Practice and Policy Recommendations, Journal of Career Development This paper unpicks four widespread consequences of the pandemic-led changes to work – unemployment, mental ill-health, the work-family interface and employment disparities

A career shock happens when an unexpected external event makes you start to question your own career. The events of the last six months have caused career shocks for many, all around the world. In this paper, the authors consider some of the lessons from the career shock literature and suggest ways that we could usefully use them now. The first lesson is about the importance of needing to be prepared for anything the world might throw at us. The authors suggest, specifically, that our reserves of psychological resources (social capital, human capital, identity and resilience) could be invaluable to help us cope. The second lesson is a useful reminder that the nature of the impact of the pandemic will change over time: career shocks will be different in the short and long term, and at different life and career stages. The final lesson picks up the idea of post job-loss career growth – the phenomenon in which people end up happier in their careers as a direct result of a negative experience.

Negative career shocks have long term positive consequences for some people, in particular those who weren’t all that happy in their jobs in the first place, but who needed an external push to motivate them to take action.

PAGE 71

– and the authors offer some suggestions for our practice. For practitioners working with unemployed clients, the key thing is to be up to speed on the rights of employees and access to benefits, and to remember that for some clients getting a job is more important than getting the right job. With clients who are struggling with their mental health, we need to develop evercloser relationships with mental health services and we should focus our career support on the basic fundamental human needs such as survival, competence, autonomy and relatedness. Whilst many of the challenges we are facing are common to others, each family will have its own particular mix of struggles. Practitioners are advised to remember that each family has its own particular challenges, and we need to try to identify, unpick and help clients with their unique needs. Finally, the authors highlight that the challenges of the pandemic have exacerbated existing inequalities in the labour market, with women, young people and those in lower skilled roles suffering disproportionately. Our role here is to continue to work with employers and policy makers to encourage their efforts to work towards a fairer and more inclusive workforce and society.

03 FACE-TO-FACE VS ONLINE SUPPORT

04 ZOOM FATIGUE

Passarelli, A., Trinh, M. P., Van Oosten, E. B., & Varley,

Morris, B. (2020), Why does Zoom exhaust you?

M. (2020), Can You Hear Me Now? The Influence

Science has an answer, The Wall Street Journal

of Perceived Media Richness on Executive Coaching

This final paper focuses on the phenomenon we all

Relationships, Academy of Management Proceedings

now recognise as Zoom fatigue. There hasn’t as yet been

Since the lockdown started in March, most of us have conducted our student work online, offering one-to-ones via

much empirical work published on this, but this article gives an interesting explanation of why it happens.

Zoom or Teams. There has been surprisingly little research conducted on virtual one-to-one support (counselling, coaching or guidance), even though some practitioners have been offering this kind of service for years. Here is one study that compared coaches’ and clients’ perceptions of video and face-to-face coaching. Face-to-face conversations give access to gestures, posture, gaze; they allow for immediate feedback through a head nod or a raised eyebrow; and they offer the chance for unconscious opportunities for connection through mirroring. Given all this, it is not unreasonable to think that face-to-face communication is likely to be deeper and more effective than video conference communication. However, the authors of this paper conducted a randomised controlled trial and found, to their surprise, that it wasn’t this straightforward. In fact, there was very little difference reported in the quality of face-to-face and online coaching, according to both coaches ad clients. The key thing that seemed to predict people’s judgement of the quality of the coaching was their own perceptions of how good the communication was – but this did not seem to be linked to the medium. The upshot is, yes, rich communication is vital to high quality coaching, but video conferencing does not entail poorer communication.

There seem to be three things going on, each making our brains work harder. First, when you are on a Zoom call, you get less useful information than you would in real life, and so your brain has to put in some extra effort to understand what is going on. On Zoom, we can only see each other’s faces, so we miss out on some non-verbal cues. Because it’s impossible to make eye contact through Zoom (whilst you’re looking at the camera, you can’t see the other person’s face), our brains have to work that much harder to connect psychologically.

Second, as well as having less useful information, we also have more useless information for our brains to deal with and filter out. Not only is there the distracting horror of having your own face staring back at you from your screen, but you are also looking at everyone else’s backgrounds, keeping up with the chat box, and quite probably checking your emails and keeping an eye on Twitter. All this extra activity forces your brain to work harder to focus on the meeting itself. Finally, there are messages which are simply confusing to your brain: the brain finds the slight delay caused by the technology difficult to handle, and the large close-up of faces a bit threatening. No wonder we are all exhausted at the end of the day!

If you would like further details about any of the research featured in this issue’s round-up, please email julia.yates.1@city.ac.uk

PAGE 72

CONTINUING SUPPORT DURING COVID-19 AND BEYOND

JAYNE ROWLEY, Executive Director of Student Services at JISC provides an overview of activity and services delivered over the summer, and looks ahead to the new academic year.

Over the summer I contributed to

It has been good to see and be

careers advisers to an event format.

Universities UK’s positive message

part of the collaborations between

Our heartfelt thanks go to

about the confidence students

key sector and professional bodies

colleagues across the community

should feel in their decisions to

calling on government to deliver

who are helping to shape and

enrol this autumn with universities

practical and funded initiatives to

deliver this new event with us.

working tirelessly to ensure they get

aid recovery. The challenges have

the best experience possible. We

never been greater. Jisc is looking

Taking place on 26 November, this

talked a lot about resilience and

at ways to support careers

virtual event will feature talks and

flexibility in uncertain times.

colleagues and recruiters with

panel discussions on careers, work

digital services especially in

experience and postgraduate study

I am writing this with two sons

tackling concerns around digital

from experts across the sector. It

having just embarked on their

poverty and maintaining a level

will help students and graduates to

university experience this month.

playing field for all students.

take the next steps in their journey, regardless of whether they already

They left with determination and optimism to make the best of things

FUTURE YOU

have a detailed plan in place or if

and with a clear vision that they will

Last summer we launched

they are not quite sure where to turn

benefit in the long term from higher

Prospects Future You, our podcast

next.

education and knowing that the

to help students and graduates get

skills and knowledge they will gain

a head start on life after university.

get more involved in Future You:

will prepare them for a new world of work as yet unwritten.

The podcast’s roaring success has

Live!, keep an eye out for our

led to the conception of Future You:

newsletters and on LinkedIn.

Live! where we will be taking the podcast’s inspiring advice and indepth insights from employers and

PAGE 73

If you would like to contribute and

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fix with Charlie’s weekly state of the

request systems are as safe as

nation blog on Luminate or register

possible

We eagerly anticipate the next few

for our monthly webinars. Luminate

inform students about the fraud

surveys, which will be invaluable

has seen record readers over the

risks of sharing degree

to track how the economy changes

past few months and we are

certificates online

in the wake of the social and

delighted that we can shed some

report instances of degree

economic disruption of the

light on what’s happening. The next

fraud to us for the OfS degree

pandemic.

webinar is 10 November.

fraud reporting service champion best practice among

Please feel free to contact me if you

employers, students and within

would like to hear more about our

higher education.

continuing support as we enter a new academic year. As your

Email adam.francis@jisc.ac.uk in

partner, our commitment is

our fraud team to find out more.

unwavering and the team is here to help however we can.

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THIS ISSUE INCLUDES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING INSTITUTIONS:

Bath Spa University

Nottingham Trent University

University of Bristol

Cardiff University

Plymouth Marjon University

University of Chester

Edge Hill University

Queen Margaret University

University of Derby

Glasgow Caledonian University

Swansea University

University of Dundee

Istituto Marangoni

The Careers Group, University of London

University of Exeter

Keele University

The Open University

University of Gloucestershire

Kingston University

The University of Edinburgh

University of Leeds

Lancaster University

UCL

University of Manchester

Leeds Beckett University

University College Birmingham

University of Portsmouth

London Metropolitan University

University of Aberdeen

University of Stirling

LSE

University of Bath

University of Sussex

Northumbria University

University of Birmingham

University of Warwick