ENGLISH SUBJECT CENTRE
A CAREERS FAIR IN CONJUNCTION WITH
THE ALUMNI DEPARTMENT
Claire Jones
University of Reading
June 2007
Services to English Students
It is a widespread view that English graduates are not good at ‘selling’ themselves to employers. This is not to say that they lack the skills, attributes and enthusiasm that employers seek: research conducted by the English Subject Centre shows that English graduates are doing as well as, if not better than, most other graduates three to four years after graduation.
Employers value the skills in critical thinking, communication and analysis that English graduates usually possess, but our students tend to underestimate the relevance of these skills to the workplace. (The ‘student profiles’ project undertaken by the Subject Centre produced a template which helps students link the skills listed in the English Benchmark Statement to those typically sought by employers.) English students need assistance and encouragement in articulating, in a way that is interesting and relevant to employers, the skills and attributes they have developed whilst studying and engaging in extra-curricular activity.
For this reason, the English Subject Centre has sponsored small projects in Careers Services which tailor materials or events specifically to the needs of English students. About ten projects were undertaken, covering such activities as interview technique workshops, alumni presentations, web-based resources and careers open-days. Details of all the projects can be found on our website at: . This document is a report on one of these projects.
The English Subject Centre
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 OEX
T. 01784 443221
A Careers Fair in Conjunction with the Alumni Department
Project Description
This project will organise a careers fair in conjunction with the alumni department targeted at English students and involving students from the department in planning and organising the event. Features will include speakers, workshops and a speed networking opportunity. A free booklet will also be produced to accompany the session.
Benefits to English students
Students will benefit by:
- Increasing their awareness of the range of careers open to them.
- Gaining knowledge of how to enter relevant vocational areas.
- Making contacts and networking with people working in relevant areas.
- Enhancing their career management skills in relation to marketing and self promotion.
Those involved in organising the event would also gain invaluable experience in activities relating to event management
Outline Plan of Activities
A project team will be convened in early October with a view to holding the event at the end of February.
Resources will include marketing costs, refreshments on the day and printing costs for the booklet.
Other information
Despite having an embedded career management skills module in our curriculum we are continually looking for new ways to build relationships with our English department. In addition to this we have organised smaller events in the past that have been very successful.
Project report
Due May 2007
Careers Action Day for English Students
Background to the project
Having attended the Networking Day for Careers Advisers working with Humanities students we were really inspired to try something new for our English students.
Proportionally English students make up one of our larger courses and tend to use CAS for guidance appointments but do not attend the more general events that we organise.
Reading provides compulsory Careers Management Skills modules for all second year students and feedback from both students and academics has been very negative in the past. As a result the department has been running the module with almost no input from CAS. As a result of staff changes, links with the department have not been strong, but there has recently been a new and very enthusiastic lecturer in post which has meant it was a particularly good time to try and strengthen ties
The aim of the project
The aim of the project was to organise a ‘Careers Action Day’ for English Students which would be led by the students in terms of meeting their needs and maximising attendance.
The day was to be accompanied by a careers guide (From Smith to Shakespeare) designed specifically for English students. The booklet included information on starting to think about a career, opportunities for English students, identifying and marketing skills as well post-graduate study, taking a gap year and self employment. The aim was for the booklet also to be used for future sessions and as a resource for English students using the Careers library.
The programme for the day
Introduction to the day (The department)
Postgraduate study (The department)
Journalism (No Sweat journalism training)
Publishing (Penguin)
Teaching (UoRDept of Education)
Marketing and PR, (Reading Borough Council)
How to get work experience in the media (BBC local radio)
Working abroad (Careers Service)
In order to make the day as useful as possible for the students and to maximise attendance we worked closely with the department and took their advice on the content and format of the day. The department were also the student facing side of the project.
We were advised by the department that to maximise participation in the event we should bring the event forward in order to coincide with the second year students’ Career Management Skills module as this has credit bearing assignments including a job study. This meant that in terms of publicity, the details of the event were emailed to all second year students by their lecturer and they were advised that although sessions were not compulsory ‘their presence was expected’.
The students set the programme for the day via feedback we received from the lecturer in terms of the areas that were of most interest to the students. The format of the day was that of a conference where students could attend the sessions that were of interest to them. Sign up sheets were placed on the door of the departmental office, again with the idea of keeping student effort to a minimum. Similarly we held the event in the English department as we were told ‘English students don’t travel’.
The sessions were designed to be interactive and therefore more engaging to the students. For example, the journalism session required students to write a short article for which they would be sent feedback from No Sweat in terms of their journalistic potential. The last ten minutes of each session was given over to an informal networking opportunity and refreshments were served in the hope of breaking the ice and creating a more informal atmosphere.
We had intended to source speakers through the alumni department as they are able to give us contact details for graduates that had registered with them as keen to talk to current students and this method had worked well for previous events. In the event we already had contacts in all the areas deemed relevant by the students, some of whom had attended previous events and some that we had cultivated in readiness for the event.
Evaluation
The most popular sessions were journalism and publishing followed by PR and teaching and then working abroad and postgraduate study. Feedback from the students was very positive and comments included ‘really useful day, thank you’. In the evaluation we also asked what action students were going to take as a result of the day and the most popular responses were to investigate relevant career areas and apply for work experience.
The department reported that students saw the day as a useful and integral part of their Career Management Skills course. As a result of this positive feedback the concept of visiting speakers will be embedded in the module next year. The only negative feedback from the department was that students seemed a little unprepared for the event in terms of having relevant questions to ask the speakers. With this in mind, it is intended that the students next year will be given time within the module to prepare questions, supported by CAS and the module tutor. The event strengthened links between CAS and the department.
Positive outcomes
One of the major positive outcomes of the project was that by contacting the department we were able to take part in this year’s Career Management Skills sessions. We have also worked with them to apply for a fellowship grant from our Centre for Career Management Skills to redesign future Career Management Skills sessions for English students with a bespoke online learning programme. We hope that by targeting the materials specifically to the needs of the students they will find them more effective.
The event also helped to raise the profile of CAS and generated interest both from students who attended the event and from a number of those who were unable to attend.
It was also a good networking opportunity for both the department and CAS because in the process of sourcing speakers we were able to make other contacts including people from professional bodies and Reading alumni. Several of these people have attended other sessions run by CAS.We also have the careers guide which can be used in the future and could work as a model for other subjects.
Lessons learnt
In terms of future events we could have worked harder to maximise the opportunity of promoting the Careers Service on the day and perhaps running a session on what the Careers Service can do for English students with the possibility of a tour of the CAS library.
We also found the attitude of the students in responding to the speakers questions not very forthcoming and this is something that has been taken up by the department.
Time tabling and room booking were also quite contentious and time consuming although we were fortunate in that the department took the lead on organising rooms. We chose to hold the session on a Wednesday which is a day that the students are not in lectures.
We had asked all the speakers for their PowerPoint presentations in advance so they were ready for the speakers as soon as they arrived and this minimised the possibility of technical hitches.One of the key factors for the success of the event was using the department to liaise with the students which gave the event additional credibility and we were able to use their knowledge of the needs and behaviours to pitch the event to the students in the most effective way.
Ultimatelyif we had not been given the grant we would not have run the event or produced the booklet. Having run it this year we plan to run similar events in the future and the booklet is already in place. As part of the evaluation we have a list of students interested in helping organiseevents and work on future careers materials.
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