More than a good CV

We know students get jobs when they have job-tailored CVs, oodles of relevant work experience and interpersonal skills fit to charm the birds off the trees. But as anyone who trained as a career professional knows, there is more to careers than a good CV. Jane Artress shares her wisdom on constructing holistic and meaningful approaches to career guidance from different theoretical strands

Changing conceptions of students' career development needs

Abstract — This paper takes as its starting point a brief review of a range of theoretical assumptions about the nature of career learning and decision-making and plots the emergence of the notion of ‘employability’ as a predominant paradigm for the organisation and delivery of career guidance services in UK higher education. The acquisition of employability skills in students is essentially a deficit paradigm that the provision of work-oriented learning opportunities seeks to address. A key driver for the development of employability as an institutional priority is policy-making by governmental agencies that foregrounds university-business partnerships as a component of economic generation. The development of workbased learning (WBL) and work placements as part of higher education courses is shown to exemplify how responsibility for students’ employability development is increasingly shared between institutions and (prospective) employers. The paper draws upon recent research findings that explore issues of quality assurance in WBL and work placements and poses questions for institutional services aimed to support students’ transition from higher education to the labour market. Access to WBL and work placements appears to be stratified and different types of opportunity are taken up by particular groups of students. A relatively new way of conceptualising career learning as ‘career adaptability’ has been developed out of theories of career ‘constructivism’ and is suggested to provide a return to a more student-centred paradigm which has the potential to be more inclusive. Career adaptability is exemplified by the use of the career adaptability scale to support students’ self assessment of their career learning and development.Tempus Project 517119-TEMPUS-1-2011-RS-TEMPUS-SMG

Evaluation of Careers Yorkshire and the Humber: inspiration activity and good practice guide.

The evaluation captures the work of Careers Yorkshire and the Humber in their response to the government's 'inspiration agenda' which aims to support schools, colleges and prisons to inspire career aspiration in young people. Careers Yorkshire and the Humber is a regional provider of the National Careers Service.Careers Yorkshire and the Humbe

H.E. Careers & Employability Services’ use of resources: Summary report

Lifeskills created with Barclay

Evaluation of Careers Yorkshire and the Humber Inspiration activity and good practice guide

The research suggests that Careers Yorkshire and the Humber (CYH) is continuing to make good progress in its inspiration work and fulfilling the expectations that it set itself in its Inspiration plans. Whilst celebrating its continuing achievements CYH is set on a journey of improvement and is actively seeking to continue to work collaboratively with partners, to make the most of its networks, to continue to provide impartial, labour market information and to grow the infrastructure to meet the needs of young people and their parents and advisers for reliable career-related information and support activities. The context for CYH’s inspiration work during 2016-2017 has become more complex as more organisations and services become available. This presents challenges but also opportunities which CYH appear to have grasped with enthusiasm.Careers Yorkshire and the Humbe

Towards a new narrative of postgraduate career.

This chapter examines the relationship between the postgraduate taught (PGT) student experience and career development. It argues that career development is a critical theme which draws together all aspects of the PGT experience. PGT students overwhelmingly choose to undertake postgraduate programs for career reasons. Their participation on program is best understood as a space through which they can pursue their career development. Finally, their transition from PGT study to the labor market is explored. While PGT study offers a clear advantage in the labor market, this is neither inevitable nor equally distributed. The chapter argues that despite the complexity of the return on investment, PGT programs continue to offer an important opportunity for individuals to develop their careers. This is true for both continuers, who move straight from undergraduate study, and returners, who reenter higher education after a period in the workforce. However, it also notes that access to PGT study is structured along familiar lines of social advantage. The chapter discusses the implications for higher education providers of this picture of PGT as a career development intervention. It is argued that providers need to embrace the focus on career development and to ensure that their programs help students to realize their aspirations and to transform their PGT qualifications into real-world opportunities.N/

Creative apprentices and envoys: routes to employment and participation

In commissioning this evaluation LeftCoast had the following objectives: (i) to explore the effectiveness of the Creative Apprentices and Envoys initiatives in delivering new routes and pathways to professional or voluntary participation in the arts and arts organisations; (ii) to look for evidence of good practice, learning moments, and effective approaches to individual skills and personal development; (iii) to conclude on how effective the schemes are in contributing to local arts sector development, and (iv) to look at the values and benefits perceived by individual participants. A brief literature review, together with participants’ and stakeholders’ accounts, evidence that the schemes provide new routes and pathways to professional and voluntary participation in the arts; that there is clear evidence of good practice, learning moments and effective approaches to individual skills and personal development; and that both Creative Apprentices and Envoys contribute to local arts sector development. The participants interviewed appear to value both the work-based and voluntary opportunities provided through these initiatives.LeftCoast

Future First: Alumni in the Curriculum Evaluation 2015

Future Firs