Employability in Geology at Leicester: embedding interaction with industry throughout the degree course Dave Holwell Careers tutor, Department of Geology, University of Leicester, UK.

Stand alone vs embedded Stand alone activities –Careers Day –Careers-orientated talks –Industry talks (often through student societies) –Work placements... Embedded –Industry input to courses –Bursary schemes –‘Feeder’ placements

Industry input into courses “You guys just aren’t producing graduates with the right set of skills or technical knowledge” Need to involve industry in our teaching Not necessarily to teach industry skills – not our job To expose students to how their subject is applied in the real world – i.e. when they graduate How? Guest lectures in courses Practicals designed as real life exercises (as would be done as graduate geologists) Soil logging to British and European standards in Engineering Geology module

Example: exploration geology Module: Exploration and Site Investigation Methods Micromine involved in designing a coursework project Leicester first university in Europe to do so with Micromine Project involves the interpretation of geochemical data to identify an ore deposit Essentially a scientific data analysis and interpretation exercise, but packaged up as a real life situation Students use Micromine software (widely used in industry)

Example: exploration geology Output: Student produces a report in a professional style as would be the norm in industry Provides the student with experience of presenting work professionally and take the work to interviews Micromine involved in feedback to students and fund prizes

Bursary schemes Provide to the student: Financial assistance towards studies Work experience Masters projects Benefits to the industrial partner: An extended interview A relationship with graduates BEFORE they graduate A stream of graduates familiar with the industry EXAMPLE: AI 10 x £300 to first years 6 x £500 to second years 3 x £1000 to third years, plus a 4 th year Masters project

Feeder placements Provide to the student: Work experience for one or two consecutive summers Option of Masters projects Benefits to the industrial partner: A relationship with graduates BEFORE they graduate Development of a ‘feeder’ university for graduate places Reduces risk in hiring unknown graduates EXAMPLE: First Quantum Minerals Student work experience at end of 2 nd year Student work placement at end of 3 rd year Masters project in 4 th year Graduate job on completion of degree

Get industry involved with mutually beneficial initiatives DURING the degrees, not just when they graduate