Cooperative Education & Careers Division Gavin Connell Cooperative Education & Careers Division You are very welcome, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. My name is Gavin Connell (HOC). This morning I am going to bring you through the student centered model of careers supports provided by UL. In term of context for 2nd level students-my service message is that UL is distinctive in the way that we enable students to bridge classroom learning, personal development and future employability. You will be getting a briefing on the range of academic programmes but my focus will be on work of CECD.

First and largest Coop programme in Ireland Integrated Coop & Careers Division Student centred focus Opportunities to work and study overseas Connected with employers Excellent record in graduate employment What’s distinctive about UL? How do we do this? This is an overview of our model and the following are our key indicators of how effective UL is in this. 40 year history- Integrated Cooperative Education and Careers Division nationwide Largest mandatory accredited programme in Ireland placing 1800 students from over 50 courses across 4 faculty. We deliver over 2000 1:1 sessions and also an average of 250 employability classroom based sessions. One of the key outcomes of this is that have a 97% placement rate-with 23% undertaking placement overseas in 25 countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Australia, North and South America, South Africa, Ghana, and countries right though Europe. Working with over 4500 organisation contacts with 14% new contacts to secure placements with approximately 800 companies. Both large multinational corporations and SMEs work with us on the programme. Strong market sector knowledge to allow us to move with external market drivers. 2

Developing Employability: 4 year process PRE POST Developing Employability: 4 year process Year 1 – 2 Career focus, Choosing options, Coop preparation . Year 2/3 – Coop placement, Faculty visits, Recording skills development Year 4 – Career consultations, Career fairs & events, Job search techniques Course related skills Relevance of modules Monitoring of experience Assessment Reflection Assimilation Integration Model that we base the “student experience” on, it is core to the founding ethos of UL. Engaging with students from 1st year through co-op onto 4th year and into postgrad study. Specialist advisors for mature students and postgrad students. Partnership: Faculty, Employers, Careers

First Destinations of 2015 Graduates: All Faculties Primary Degree UL Employment rate 18% higher than the HEA’s most recently-available national average figure 92% of primary degree graduates are in employment or further study Average starting salary of approximately €25,510

Salary by Ranges

Region of Employment – Primary Degree

Region of Employment (abroad) – Primary Degree

Employment Sectors: Primary Degree, All Faculties

Employment by Faculty : Primary Degree

Placement as main predictor of future graduate employment Employment outcomes--FDR Generic skills development on Coop Getting your degree/Using your degree Why this is important to your conversation—Heading (Getting your degree/Using your degree) Placement as main predictor of future graduate employment Employment outcomes--FDR Generic skills development— 10