Enhancing Student Employability Academic and career partnerships; benefits, challenges and aspirations Lindsay Yardley, Senior Academic Katie Whitehouse, Careers Consultant

What do career staff do? Over to you – those not from careers background – what do you think careers professionals do?

What do academics do? What do academics do?

What could we achieve if we worked together? We just want to pose this question – think about what you may have already achieved through successful partnerships or what you could achieve through closer partnerships. We are going to share our journey, being mindful that you will have your own stories of partnership too. It would be great to hear about these during the lunchtime show, tell and share activity.

Our Journey Share Initial meeting – different perspectives, shared commitment. Transform Transformation of the Transition to Registered Practitioner Module & student support through the final six months of their nursing programme. Together Working together to co-develop resources e.g. vodcasts, learning resource packs.

Initial reduction in careers appointments Ups and downs Trial & Respond Student feedback Initial reduction in careers appointments Re-evaluate Bounce back! Student feed-back led to offering alternatives for the students with regards to how the engaged with the activity of reviewing applications Use of vodcasts and other co-authored resources (e.g. learning resource packs) rather than careers lectures initially led to reduction in careers appointments. Careers input to sessions. Changes to the title, content and framework of the learning resource pack.

The ripple effect! Strengthening of the Partnership Joint projects & initiatives Employability Working group Transitional bloggers Nearly Qualified Days 10 Step framework HEA National Toolkit: www.heacademy.ac.uk/EHAE

How did we make it work Personality & shared commitment Getting the right people together Willingness – share & learn Value, Respect & Trust Offering & Embracing opportunities Taking positive risks Take the time to build relationships Explore perceptions; real or otherwise Keeping students at the heart of our shared practice The partnership team has been effective due to the shared commitment from both sides. Importance of personality & shared commitment – getting the right people together According to the Higher Education Academy (2013) partnership is: A process rather than a product. It is about how, why and what we do with students. It is an approach that supports a way of doing things rather than it being an outcome in itself. It is an ethos rather than an activity which should underpin our philosophy when working with students. For working in partnership with students to be successful there are core principles that need to be followed (ibid). The National Union of Students (NUS, 2012), the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, 2012) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA, 2013) outline the principles of partnership working as: Willingness to share and learn from one another Appreciating the value of other perspectives, mutual respect Placing students at the heart Offering and taking opportunities

Benefits of partnership working Students BCU Wider partners Ourselves!

A handful of our top tips….. Go for coffee with your Careers Adviser! Share contacts, meet with other key staff Explore ideas Be open to suggestions & potential for change Challenge one another & share feedback Say thank-you!

Any questions?