Online employability resource for University staff.*
03 Dec 2007
Helping students to improve their job prospects.
Many students attend university with a view that the experience will improve their job prospects. The role of universities within the context of skills development for the workplace is very much a topic for debate within higher education, government and employer circles at the moment.
The University of Manchester is committed to trying to meet the expectations and needs of its students, and the 2015 Strategic Plan now makes it explicit that the University will offer opportunities for students to "develop key employability skills".
In June 2007, a group of 18 academic and academically-related members of staff from across the University proposed the development of a central information resource related to employability that could be used by all staff. The result, an online 'Employability Toolkit', has been launched and is now available at:
The Toolkit addresses:
- What is employability?
- How can we encourage students to develop it?
- How can students/the university assess employability skills?
- How do students demonstrate to potential employers that they have the relevant skills?
The aim is to bring together current information available locally, nationally and internationally. The resource also contains a database of ways in which students can gain employability skills outside their academic studies, e.g. through voluntary work, as well as more obvious links to the HE Academy's subject area information for skills development.
The site will be developed further over the coming months, so please let us know of any further useful sources of information. Contact:
- Andrew Whitmore or Dominic Laing at the MLP Careers & Employability Division at andrew.whitmore@manchester.ac.uk / dominic.laing@manchester.ac.uk / 52828