Section of Population Health Division of Applied Health Sciences; College of Life Sciences and Medicine Does self-assessment and tailored intervention help to improve employability skills of post-graduate students? Dr Debbi Marais

MSc Health Services and Public Health Research & MSc International Health and Management

Diversity Diverse backgrounds –Undergraduate degree –Professions –Nationalities & Cultures (60-80% International students) Previous experience & skill levels –Teaching and assessment methods –Generic skills (IT, communication) –English language proficiency

Induction Programme Generic Skills course –non-credit bearing –Mostly 1 st week –Academic writing, Plagiarism, Library skills, Presentation skills, Essay writing, Note taking, Exams and Revision, Critical appraisal Challenges –Students arriving late –Not relevant at that time

Why Skills Audit? Individualised development –Everyone does not have the same needs –Pitch in the middle –Self awareness Generic skills - Curriculum Vitae for future career

Survey of 2009/10 Graduates SNAP survey 18 responses (60% of 30) –Mostly international, but variety of backgrounds, training Difficulty with –>50% Assessments (exams & essays) –>33% Oral presentations and Group work

Skills Audit 2010/11 Self-assessment of Skills during induction to identify strengths & development areas Tailored action plans to address areas of improvement Reflect on usefulness and progress

Skills Self-Assessment (SSA) - Preparation Information session for all full time students Complete and keep a copy of:Complete and keep a copy of: 1.Skills Info SK5003 self-assessment –Non-credit bearing –Self-assessment of IT skills , internet, Word, Excel, PP –Yes / No / Unsure –Workshop or online assistance

Skills Self-Assessment (SSA) - Preparation Complete and keep a copy of:Complete and keep a copy of: 1.Skills Info SK5003 self-assessment 2.Complete the free online personality typing - Jung Typology Test™ and record personality type (four letters) –72 Yes / No –Meyers-Briggs typology –4 Dichotomies Introvert vs Extrovert, Intuitive vs Sensing, Thinking vs Feeling, Judging vs Perceiving

Skills Self-Assessment (SSA) - Preparation Complete and keep a copy of:Complete and keep a copy of: 1.Skills Info SK5003 self-assessment 2.Personality typing 3.English not first/home language 3.English not first/home language, complete the Open University self assessment tasks –10 Tasks – Complete easily, with some difficulty, with greater difficulty –Academic reading, summarising, paraphrasing, logical order, grammar & spelling

Skills self-assessment (SSA) - Questionnaire Complete the SSA by linking to SNAP survey via (20 min) Completed before appointment (20 minutes) with Programme Coordinator –Dates and times on WebCT Think about own areas of improvement and plans for development during MSc

SSA SNAP survey (30 questions) Demographics Strengths & weaknesses (own words) Self-rated English language proficiency Communications skills (oral & poster presentations, publications, referencing) IT skills (TurnitInUK, track changes, data base search) Group work Essays/exams UK style CV Personality typing

Individual interview using SNAP results Plan of action discussed Suggestions made for: –workshops/courses to be attended –resources to be investigated –referral to group(s) to assist with specific aspects Using checklist Skills self-assessment (SSA) - Interview

‘Checklist’

Plan of Action s sent to each student individually regarding resources to be utilised and workshops to attend s sent to groups of students inviting them to specific workshops having identified interest

Evidence of development activities to be recorded in the portfolio and used to build own CV Course/workshop attendance Resources referred to Other action taken Reflection on own development over the 4 months and plan of action for the next 6 months to be uploaded after exams Skills self-assessment (SSA) - Reflection

Section of Population Health Division of Applied Health Sciences; College of Life Sciences and Medicine Results SSA Action Plan Reflection

Sample 27 FT students –15 HSPHR & 12 IHM Mean age 30 –22 to 52 years 2/3 International students (18) –English language rating 1 poor, 7 average, 10 good, 9 excellent 10 English NOT 1 st language

English Language Proficiency

Development Areas Rated ability to work in a team as good (17) or excellent (7) Only 6 at congresses & 5 never used PP

Personality Typing Most common personality types were ENTJ (5), ENFJ (4) and INTJ (3) Self-awareness and getting to know each other

Tailored Action Plans Workshops Delivered by Date No of students selecting Practical session with draft first assignment PC3 Nov 10 5 Personality typing workshop SLS1 Feb How to do a systematic literature search for your thesis Library22 Feb Referencing workshop Library22 Feb Enhancing your PowerPoint SLS1 Mar Presenting a paper SLS1 Mar Practice session for Protocol presentation PC14 Mar 11* 21 (12*) How to use track changes for comments on thesis PC29 Mar Poster practical Med Illustration16 Aug 11 9 UK-style CV workshop Careers Service TBA 20 Preparing your thesis for submission PCTBA 23

Reflection 84% response rate –2 non-progression –4 not responded (3 reminders) Did not refer back to information sent re Areas of development & Action plans Did not use portfolio Identified fewer areas of development

Workshop Attendance Workshops No of students selecting No attended Practical session with draft first assignment 5 1 Personality typing workshop 15 3 How to do a systematic literature search for your thesis 14 0 Referencing workshop 11 0 Enhancing your PowerPoint Presenting a paper Practice session for Protocol presentation 21 (12*) 10 How to use track changes for comments on thesis 13 5 Poster practical 9 UK-style CV workshop 20 Preparing your thesis for submission 23

Poor Workshop Attendance Reasons for missing –Prior commitments –Forgot dates/confusion over dates –Not right time Exams or assignments due Not relevant Booked additional courses Online support

The initiative was ? Good Enjoyable/ Supportive Useful/ Helpful Added value Especially for International students Overall, I do feel this was an important component of the masters course as it gave me access to tools that I could use to improve my transferable skills and thus improve my employability.

Because Provided insight into their strengths and weaknesses and allowed them to plan their development Highlighted potential areas for improvement and possible actions to take in order to improve in each area. Helped me to realise some of my hidden strengths and weaknesses, build my personal capacity for employability in a focused and realistic career line. It also helped me to feel more confident about my strengths.

Suggestions for Improvements Timing of interviews and reflection Timing of workshops –When needed –Not when assignments due / Exam time Better communication / timing of notifications and reminders of workshops

Bonus! Programme coordinator

The future? Make it part of the programme Improve timing of workshops and communication Portfolio use Online testing and automated linking to resources & workshops