This four page presentation holds the current Solent Capital Compass Model used for embedding employability in our curriculum, along with simple definitions aimed at students.  It also holds version four of the Solent Student Employability Journey, reflecting the Solent Capital Compass model.  A bibliography page is also available. 

The model is up to date as at May 201

Jones, Rosy

Sant, Richard

English

Solent Electronic Archive

The Solent Capital Compass model  
of experience, skills and competencies required for graduate employability 
 
The Solent Capital Compass Model 
 
May 2013 
Definitions 
Area of Confidence Definition How can I develop this area? 
Self-Awareness To be aware of your own strengths and 
weaknesses is an important part of applying for 
jobs. Often you will be asked in interview to talk 
about your strengths, and even to identify a 
weakness. Strengths might include being a good 
communicator, having leadership skills, or being a 
good problem solver for example. 
Log on to Career Box on MyCourse. 
The first section is “Self Awareness” 
where you will find lots of self-tests 
and learning tools. 
Opportunity Analysis Knowing what opportunities are out there for 
graduates, and especially graduates from your 
discipline is one for the first steps in managing 
your career.  In many cases employers are looking 
for graduates from any discipline so understanding 
the opportunities can open up possibilities you 
may not have thought of before.  
 Go to the Student Information 
Centre and discuss your options with 
one of the advisors there. 
 
Alternatively, logon to Career Box 
“Options and Opportunities” or 
“Course Focus to investigate your 
options 
  
Career Decision 
Making 
This is about focus. At some point when you have 
made a realistic appraisal of the opportunities 
available to you it will be time to narrow down 
your focus and make some decisions about which 
path or paths you want to pursue. 
Log on to Career Box on MyCourse 
and use the “Making Decisions” 
materials 
CVs and applications Making the transition from university into your 
career involves the important skills around CV 
writing, applications, and interview techniques. 
Getting this part right is about making sure you 
stand out to your prospective employer. 
Book yourself a mock interview with 
a careers advisor. 
Look up the booklet “Applications for 
Success” on the Careers tab on the 
Portal 
Personal Skills Being able to show that you can manage your time 
effectively, solve complex problems, and generate 
ideas are important skills that employers are 
looking for. It will be important for you to identify 
which ones you are best at and find some 
examples too. 
Check out www.mindtools.com for 
ideas and tools to help you develop 
your personal skills 
Inter 
personal 
Skills 
Working with other people is part and parcel of 
most working environments. Before an 
organisation will take you on they may ask you for 
examples of your ability to work with others, 
communicate well, and be a team player. 
Check out www.belbin.com and look 
at the team role descriptions to 
identify your team working style. 
Employability and Enterprise February 2013 
Digital Skills Not only do you need to be able to be confident in 
using word processing and spread sheet office 
technologies but understanding the increasing 
business use of social media has become just as 
important. 
Log on to: 
Mycourse.solent.ac.uk/socialmedia-
help 
 
 
 
 
Industry Knowledge Once you have identified the industry or type of 
organisation you would like to work in its important to 
understand how that industry works and the kind of 
skills it requires. These knowledge and skills may come 
from your course, from your work experience, and 
from your research. 
Log on to www.prospects..ac.uk and 
check out the ‘job sectors’ tab to 
understand your industry better. 
Experience Having work experience on your CV will give you a big 
advantage when looking for work. This may be short 
or long and can be industry related or general. The 
important thing is to have some and to be able to 
explain what you learned from it. 
Log on to Graduate Jobs South and  the 
jobs dashboard on the portal and apply 
for one of the job opportunities listed 
there. Or Volunteer for an organisation 
that will build your experience 
Enterprise Quite a number of students will undertake freelance 
work, or pursue a business idea upon graduation. A 
larger number still will be working in small or micro 
enterprises. If this describes you then you need to 
have some understanding of enterprise 
If you are interested in the idea of self-
employment book an interview with our 
enterprise advisor at the Student 
information centre or drop into Re:So 
or Solent Creatives for freelancing.  
Social Capital A large proportion of jobs in today’s market are gained 
through contacts and referrals. Expanding your 
number of professional contacts can be very beneficial 
in finding work opportunities. 
Get yourself a  LinkedIn profile and see 
if you can make contact with some 
recent graduates from your course 
Psychological Capital Making the transition from university to work can be a 
demanding experience. Making sure you develop the 
resilience and confidence to aim high and ride through 
the setbacks will put you in a good position to succeed 
in  the career you are aiming for. 
Find yourself a mentor, especially one 
from the industry you want to get in to. 
Join the Mentoring+ programme 
(details on the Careers tab) 
 You could track down a recent 
graduate from your course on LinkedIn 
Area of Confidence Definition How can I develop this area? 
Richard Sant and Rosy Jones, February 2013 
Employability and Enterprise 
 
© Southampton Solent University  
The Student Employability Journey Version 4 
18th March 2013 
Offer Pre 
registration 
Registration Level 4 Level 4-5 
Summer 
Level 5 Level 6 Level 5-6 
Summer 
Graduand Graduate 
Offer Pre 
registration 
Registration Year 1 Yr 1-2 
Summer 
Yr 2 Yr 3  Yr 2-3 
Summer 
Graduand Graduate 
Bridging and 
bonding 
capital 
Social 
Capital 
Psychological 
Capital 
Self-efficacy 
optimism & 
hope 
Resilience 
Personal and 
Interpersonal 
skills 
Knowledge 
Experience 
Digital and  
work related 
skills 
Career 
development  
skills 
Human 
Capital 
SA questionnaires 
Recognise  the value of being a 
graduate – where your degree can take 
you 
Volunteering in Curriculum+ 
SA questionnaires 
Employability pedagogical toolkit for lecturers  
Peer 2 Peer 
Placements 
Project 
Societies 
Solent Graduate 
Schemes 
Business input 
to revalidation 
Jobs Dashboard and GJS 
Business sponsors for students 
Incubation 
space 300 top businesses 
Additional and identified 
support 
Business sponsors for students 
Business mentors Identify 
employability 
cohort 
Solent Entrepreneurs' 
Network for Sustainable 
enterprises (SENSE) 
P2P Employability Course reps 
SIFE Sparks, ESSA 
Business mentors for 
targeted cohorts 
Understanding Business Start up  
Team working 
Industry specific knowledge 
Freelance and enterprise career route 
Develop a cracking CV 
Industry speakers 
Alumni case studies and stories 
Options building 
Creating an 
appropriate CV for PT  
Selling yourself 
Understand and adapt to changes in personal skills, abilities, interests, values, strengths and weaknesses  Know how to read a 
JD/PP and respond to it 
Options building Options building Professional and 
Social networking 
Professional and 
Social networking 
Identify and  develop general business skills 
Using numbers effectively (Martec, FBSE)  
Coherent digital  and numerical literacy 
Enterprise Skills where appropriate – Business Understanding, Financial Literacy   
Using numbers 
effectively (FCIS)  
Using Language effectively 
Creativity / Problem solving / Innovation Time management 
Developing self-reflection  
Using self-reflection for 
decision making 
Presenting 
yourself 
Using networking 
for real 
Learning to learn  
Networking as a 
source of work 
Capture previous experience 2 
Pre-registration admin for work exp e.g. CRB 
checks, PT job choice preferences 3 
Placements / Self-employment placements 
Get real world experience 
Develop Self-Management (turning up and tucking your shirt in) 
Real live briefs or consultancy projects True consultancy projects 
Doing  Business Start up  
Real live briefs 
Recognise  
“Graduate-ness” 
Industry involvement Industry involvement 
Industry involvement 
Freelance and enterprise career route 
Applying for part time jobs 
Practising applications and interview skills 
Applying for work experience and freelance opportunities 
Richard Sant and Rosy Jones, March 2013 
Employability and Enterprise 
 
© Southampton Solent University  
Note: Exemplar only.  The specific items on 
the employability journey will differ from 
course to course and student to student 
Theory and Research 
Chen, D.Q., Lim, V.K.G. (2012). Strength in Adversity: The influence of psychological capital on job search. 
Journal of Organizational Behaviour. 33(811-839 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J.Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the 
Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood. Pp241-258 
Halpern, D. (2005). Social Capital. Malden, MA: Polity 
Lin, N., Erickson, B.H. (2008). Social Capital:  An International Research Program, Oxford: Oxford 
University Press. 
Luthans, F., Yousef C.M., Avolio B (2007). Psychological Capital: Developing the human competitive edge, 
New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 
Fugate, M., Kinicki, A.J., Ashforth, B.E. (2004) Employability: A Psycho-social construct, its dimensions, 
and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 pp14-38 
Tomlinson, M. (2007) Graduate Employability and student attitudes and orientations to the labour market. 
Journal of Education and Work 20(4): 285-304 
Tomlinson, M.B. (2012) Graduate Employability: A review of conceptual and empirical themes. Higher 
Education Policy 25, 407-431 
York, M., Knight, P. (2006) Embedding employability into the curriculum.  HEA Learning and Employability 
Series One 
York, M. (2006 reprint).  Employability in Higher Education– what it is, what it is not.  HEA Learning and 
Employability Series One 
Employability and Enterprise May 2013 


The Solent Capital Compass Model of Employability

Southampton (e-Prints Soton)

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The Solent Capital Compass Model of Employability

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Solent Electronic Archive

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