UTS Careers Presents: Enhancing Student Employability

Today’s Presentation History What makes a student employable? What have we been doing? Examples and survey What will we be doing to improve employability

History Undergraduate Employment (Full-time and part-time)

Employer Surveys 105 employers responded to three different surveys Majority of responses from SMEs 53% described UTS students as “Most sought after graduates” or “Highly skilled and employable”. 74% UTS graduates consistently demonstrated core technical skills

Where could UTS Graduates improve? Communication skills Ability to market themselves effectively (31% said poor) Exposure to the work place Team work/ Problem solving

Could business assist with improving employability skills? Soft skills development Exposure to the world of work Importance of meeting employer expectations Mentoring, site visits, internships, “real” projects, workshops, sit on course development panels, guest speakers, work shadowing.

Faculty Consultations The impact of any change in student profile and in particular the mix of part time and full time students. A decrease in number of students undertaking internships and decrease in subjects offering industrial training or workplace integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. An increase in response rate from international students prior to receiving Permanent Residency (PR) status. An increase in total enrolments while graduate job vacancies have stagnated or decreased.

What has caused the decrease? Global financial crisis Graduate skills deficits (Including poor self- marketing) Increase in enrolments Decrease in work integrated learning opportunities

What makes a student employable? What factors impact?

UTS Graduate Attributes PersonalProfessionalIntellectual Managing own work Working with others Cross cultural understanding Capacity for initiative and innovation Capacity for community engagement Disciplinary, professional and technical knowledge Application of expertise appropriate to the practice context Understanding the contexts of professional work Ethical understanding Critical and independent thinking Spoken and written communication Information technology literacy Information literacy

Who are the main employers? Regular recruiters of UTS graduates Business units/organisational structure What jobs are there? What do people do in these jobs? What are the expectations of employers? Are there industry networks? Current affairs within the industry/profession Industry trends Where are jobs advertised- specialist web sites/blogs Pay rates Contextualised Industry Knowledge

“I am well informed about different IT careers”

Employability Survey 2010 Final year student in 20111,058 Completed degree at the end of Graduate of UTS883 TOTAL SAMPLE 2,600

Career Management Skills Developing an awareness of their capabilities in relation to the needs of the workplace Skills – Technical and generic Knowledge Attitudes Experience Career goals Life long learning Ability to find a job, keep it and transition into higher level roles.

My Future Career Plans

The statement which best reflects the future career plans of final year students (n=1055)

Who influenced your career choice? (n=1692)

When did you discover the career you were most interested in?

What skills do you think employers value?

To what extent do you possess these skills?

How much knowledge current students possessed about employment related factors and considerations (n=1055)

Self Marketing Skills Ability to communicate relevant skills – verbal and written. Ability to identify and describe complex examples demonstrating these skills A strategic marketing approach targeted to individual employers The ability to differentiate oneself on achievements/experiences etc A clearly defined objective or goal. Networking skills

In applying for full-time employment those aspects of the application process which graduates have found to be easiest to complete/participate in (n=1055)

In applying for full-time employment those aspects of the application process which graduates have found to be the most difficult to complete/participate in (n=1,055)

Why respondents who have successfully received offers believe they have been successful (n=615)

What do you consider are your greatest weaknesses when applying for and being interviewed for employment? (n=611)

Attitudes Identify the attitudes valued by employers Raise awareness Discuss how to demonstrate.

What’s next? Academic member of staff:  Mapping graduate attributes across the University  Survey of academic staff re student employability  Looking at how we can better use Industry Advisory Networks  Establishing chat rooms/blogs with alumni Report back