Making the Most of your Committee Skills

Career Development Centre

@LaurenF_Careerslnferguson

Aims

Understand the employability skills gained from involvement in a club or society

How this experience can make you more employable

Sell your experience in job applications and interviews

Help and support available from the Career Development Centre

Why did you decide to join a committee?

Thought it would be funWanted a new challengeAn opportunity to be involved in

how the club/society operates Become more employable

What are employability skills?"A set of achievements,

understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and to be successful in their chosen occupations". 

Peter Knight & Mantz Yorke

“Identifying skills and poor interview technique are the greatest challenges for young jobseekers.”

HR Magazine, 2013

Know your skills

Your skills

Think about: What you enjoy doing What you are good at Your strengths Identify weaknesses and areas for

development

How do I develop employability skills?

Academic studies Work experience/Internships/part-time

jobs/placements Voluntary work Undertaking additional responsibility (class

rep, student ambassador, STEER mentor) Hobbies/interests Membership of university clubs and

societies

Skills you are developing Communication Team work Leadership Initiative Problem-solving Flexibility/Adaptability Organisational skills Time management Tact/Diplomacy Delegation Numeracy Project management/event planning

Skills you need

What skills do you need to be successful in your chosen area of work?

Reflect on your experiences Recognise your learning to build on it

and use it to help you to manage your career in the future

Think about your existing knowledge and how you want to develop this

Reflect on situations where things didn’t go as planned. What did you learn from this and what would you do differently next time?

How to reflect

Keep a journal or diary Record your thoughts and feelings

about situations you have encountered

Record your achievements! Consider your reactions to situations What have you learned?

What graduate employers say:

“If we recruited on the basis of degree level, we’d just use a computer but we’re looking for examples of leadership, teamwork and commercial awareness which are usually found in extra curricular activities and work experience. In short your degree alone won’t get you a job. You need work experience too.”

Tim Forster, Head of Resourcing

PricewaterhouseCoopers

What graduate employers say:

“….we look for graduates who can bring more to the table than pure academics. Typically, the graduates who shine have work or life experience which differentiates them from other applicants”

Gaynor Sykes, Graduate Resourcing Manager, Vodafone UK

So what? Show the employer how you match

their requirements and can apply your skills in their organisation

Give evidence Use strong and positive language

Positive LanguageAction words: created, delegated,

piloted, directed, initiated, researched, developed, delivered, co-ordinated……

Positive adverbs: successfully, confidently, positively, accurately

Avoid weak or negative words: only, did, helped with, although….

Think about your competition!

What employers are looking for

Good qualifications+

Well developed transferable skills+

A range of experiences +

Commercial awareness+

Motivation!

STAR

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How can we help?

Career advice and guidance CV & application advice Interview practice Assessment centre advice Job searching strategies Employer talks 20 minute bite-size skills workshops:

interview techniques, social media, online testing, applications , CVs etc

Career Development Centre 3A1 Cottrell Building 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday Drop in careers advice, 11am to

3pm, Monday to Thursday Bookable appointments also

available www.stir.ac.uk/careers www.facebook.com/cdcstirling@cdcstirling@LaurenF_CareersLnferguson