By Kristine Pole

On average, employers receive 86 applications per vacancy, up 23 per cent on last year (ISE, 2023) but only 28% of students reported being confident searching for jobs; 25% confident about applying for a job; and a mere 18% confident about how to write a CV (CMI, 2023).

Eighty per cent of employers claim that graduates aren’t prepared for graduate employment (CMI, 2023) and identifies eleven skills to boost graduate employability including teamwork, communication and decision-making. The same research indicates that only 27% of students think they can confidently demonstrate these skills (CMI, 2023).

To help address this, the second year ‘Employability Skills’ module delivered to all CCBS students, offers students the opportunity to learn and be assessed in a practical, real-life and compassionate manner.

The module requires assessment in two key steps in graduate application and recruitment (Application Portfolio and Mock Assessment Centre) to build knowledge and confidence and creating an authentic learning experience (Gulikers, Bastiaens, Kirschner, 2004).

The module centres around two key steps.

1. Creating effective application materials using creative, digital and AI enabled tools.
2. Participate in an experiential ‘mock Assessment Centre’ to apply their soft skills developed and trial an authentic recruitment experience.

1) Creating effective application materials using creative, digital and AI enabled tools.

Students complete a portfolio of work ‘Employ.Me’ to learn to promote themselves and their skills to a future employer. 

Students have to create a personal brand video, CV, covering letter, draft emails, undertake a personal SWOT analysis, create a LinkedIn page and use AI interviews to practice their techniques.

2) Participate in an experiential ‘mock assessment centre’ to be assessed on key soft skills and trial an authentic recruitment experience.

This one-day experiential role play event tests includes team-based tasks, personal interview, a case study analysis and aptitude test (numerical and verbal reasoning and situational judgement test). The event takes place away from campus and students are expected to dress professionally.

Support from Careers and Enterprise, local employers, alumni, practitioners and staff from across all Sections of the Business School to ensure personalised feedback on behaviours and activities.

Overall, students report high engagement with this event and cite is as being influential in helping them gain both part-time and graduate employment by providing personalised feedback for personal development and growth.