EMPLOYABILITY Support hubs return

The IBMS has announced a new series of Support Hub zoom webinar sessions taking place over the coming months.

Following on from her article in The Biomedical Scientist magazine on “Assessing Employability Skills”, IBMS Council member Tahmina Hussain, and IBMS Executive Head of Education Sue Jones announced the return.

The Support Hub sessions will take place online via Zoom on Wednesday lunchtimes.

There is a new series of topics selected to cover key skills gaps, as identified in Tahmina’s recent employability study.

Set up to investigate employers’ expectations of pathology lab work, the study revealed an overlooked area in need of improvement – the skills and knowledge gap of new graduates.

By re-establishing these Support Hub sessions, Tahmina and Sue aim to provide crucial advice to all attendees, with a particular focus on helping new graduates to better meet employers’ requirements.

Tahmina said: “The aim of these sessions is to provide as much support as possible to members, particularly students and graduates, and hopefully bridge some of the gaps that have been highlighted from the employability skills study.”

Following sessions will cover other areas such as quality management, UKAS, and the role of pathology in patient care.

Tahmina has also planned for topics including CPD, STP, specialist portfolios and interview preparation tips to be covered in subsequent webinars.

Sue added: “Our IBMS Support Hubs provide a regular opportunity for us to engage with our colleagues, apprentices and students to offer useful and targeted guidance and support. We are focusing on employability and relevant technical and transferable skills for this first event in the series.”

Further details will be communicated in future IBMS newsletters and social media.