Employability is:A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations’. (Yorke, M. 2004)

Passport To Employability: Initiative to record, validate and give an award for employability skills acquired through co and extra curricular activities.

• Rationale behind the P2E initiative• What is it about?• The Pilot• What was learnt from the pilot – challenges!• What next?

Rationale behind Passport to Employability• Generally recognised that whilst a good degree is a pre-requisite in the graduate

employment market, this alone is no longer enough to secure that first graduate job

• The 2011 CBI/EDI Education & Skills Survey showed that employability skills are the single most important consideration for 82% of businesses when recruiting graduates.

• Newcastle Business School – ranked in the Top 10 for Graduate Level Employability, ‘The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2012’

• ‘73% of employers would recruit a graduate with volunteering experience over one without’ (Timesbank. Reed Executive)

• In a survey conducted by CIHE, 29% of employers felt overseas study experience makes a graduate more employable

• 30% of NBS students undertaking a work placement get offered a full-time job for after graduation

Fewer Graduate jobs52 applicants for every graduate job!

Third of under 25 yr olds unemployed!

How can you make sure you stand out?

The economy!!Higher numbers of graduates leaving University

NBS co-curricular activities• Year long work placement

– Better degree classification– 30% offered jobs after graduation– Leave as boys, return as men

• Study abroad– Increasing numbers taking a single semester or a

whole year studying or working abroad.– Employers see it as important

• The numbers…

Numbers of students undertaking a work placement or period of study abroad

Still 65% of students not going on work placement or undertaking study abroad

(NBS UG students approximately 600 at each level)

Employability skills gap

Passport to Employability• 65% of UG students still neither undertaking a work placement nor

studying abroad• What employability skills can they demonstrate to employers?

• Aims/objectives of P2E– To bridge the CV Gap– To guide students to co and extra-curricular activities which will enhance their

employability skills– To offer activities which will enhance their employability skills(P2E day)– To provide a vehicle to record their employability leading to an award.

• All within three categories of activity:• Work experience• Community engagement• Global engagement

• To provide evidence for employers of employability skills attained.

Pilot

• Students– Level 4, UG

• BA Business With Marketing• BA Accounting

• Meetings– Three timetabled meetings per cohort each semester

• Blackboard organisation• P2E file• The award

Activities• Personal Development Planning• Key skills

– Talks from industry– Training sessions

• Work Experience• Community engagement• Global engagement

Recording & Validating the AwardLevel 4

1. PDP Self analysis 40 Skills analysis 10 Careers analysis 10 Action plan 10 Reflection 10

2. Key Skills Skills sessions 20

Skills/careers session

10 Skills/careers session

10

3. Work experience 0 -20 10 10

4. Volunteering & Community

0 -20 10 10

5. Global focus 0 -20 10 10

100

•Activities 1 and 2 are compulsory• Activity 3: up to 10 credits can be gained from work undertaken up to 2 years ago•For activities 3 – 5, 10 credits are gained from 10 hours spent on these activities.

Recording & Validating activities

• Validating the activities as employability skills– Undertaking activities– Recording activity– Validating activity– Using forms

• Recording activity and hours undertaken• Reflective statement outlining employability

skills gained

Some of this year’s activities

• Passport to Employability Days• Guest speakers from industry• National Business competitions• Outward bound team challenge• Marketing Volunteering scheme• Starting your own Business day• Travel Scholarship• Range of internships

• Volunteering through the Students Union

• Business positions through the SU

• Helping out at Open Days• Northumbria skills sessions• Programme Representation

Challenges to pilot

• New students• Limited activities for L 4 students• Resourcing supporting and validation• Timing – when to validate• Engaging students• Blackboard site

– Overuse– Time to upload

Going forward• Business & Engagement Champion to concentrate on this initiative• September 2014: non-compulsory award for all FT NBS Undergrads• Follow the student journey

– open days,– welcome week– Programme meetings (Programme leader buy-in)– Student engagement centre– Social media

• Still lots of questions– Levels of award– Recognition of placement and study abroad– Recording of achievements and validation via Pebble Pad (?)– Resourcing– Consider validating past activities– Identify external award body – C & G

• Longer term credit bearing module? Pass/Fail…….