AGCAS Community - Employability

Careers in the EU Institutions

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:21:11 GMT

On 16 March 2010, the European Personnel Selection Office will launch a procedure to select graduates to work in the EU Institutions. This selection procedure will comprise the fields of European public administration, law, audit, economics, and information and communication technology.

AGCAS welcomes new code of practice

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:44:23 GMT

AGCAS welcomes the recently-launched revised QAA Code of Practice on Career Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (Section 8) and is pleased to have been centrally involved in the revision.

Bursary for graduates volunteering overseas

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:20:22 GMT

Youth and education charity Raleigh is offering over 300 bursary places between summer 2010 and spring 2011 to graduates from low income families interested in volunteering overseas. The Raleigh Graduate Bursary Award gives recent graduates the opportunity to develop key employability skills through community and environmental work in remote communities.

Employers shortlisted for curriculum work with careers services

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:18:13 GMT

Six employers have been shortlisted for the 2010 AGCAS Award for the Outstanding Contribution to Developing Employability and Skills in the Curriculum. They were all nominated by higher education careers services. The award is one of the prestigious annual TARGETjob awards offered by GTI.

Government announces national internship service

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:48:05 GMT

The government has announced the creation of a national internship service, which will deliver undergraduate internships, partly with the aim of widening access to professions which Alan Milburn's report Unleashing Aspiration highlighted as being out of reach for less well-off or connected graduates.

Creating future proof graduates

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:45:55 GMT

Birmingham City University was awarded National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) funding in 2007 for a project aimed at helping students identify and prepare for critical incidents, which according to employers epitomise the major problems that newly-qualified graduates encounter when they start work in the 'real world'.

The value of volunteering

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:18:12 GMT

Volunteering is by no means a novel concept in careers guidance and the benefits of the activity for career development are well articulated. However, with graduate unemployment levels rising and all sectors showing falls in vacancies, demonstrating the value of volunteering has never been more important.

MASIV in museums

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:41:45 GMT

Modular Accreditation for Students Invoved in Volunteering (MASIV) is a project at the University of Reading designed to develop a training and accreditation structure for students volunteering within the museums service.

Employability - a key issue for students

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

The National Student Forum (NSF) has produced its second annual report in which it reports on students' current experiences and sets out its priorities. For the first time, employability receives a chapter of its own in which NSF recommendations to universities, government and national bodies are clearly laid out.

Employability central to government's HE framework

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:53:56 GMT

The government has unveiled its policy for higher education, setting out the role universities will play in securing the country's economic recovery and long term prosperity. The report includes recommendations that will affect careers services, including a requirement for universities to publish statements on how they promote employability and on the long term employment prospects of particular courses.

Reading champions SMEs in the south-east

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:13:29 GMT

The University of Reading’s Careers Advisory Service has produced a new publication to help graduating students in south-east England find their first jobs in small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs). First Move South East 2009 offers careers advice to students and provides details of graduate opportunities in SMEs, as well as postgraduate courses in higher education.

AGCAS celebrates awards winners

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:44:37 GMT

The winners of the 2009 AGCAS Awards for Excellence were announced at the Biennial Conference, held at Brunel University earlier this month. The number of nominations received for each category is evidence of the high-quality, innovative and collaborative work taking place at AGCAS member services across the country.

Warwick celebrates new employability award

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:18:39 GMT

The Centre for Student Development at the University of Warwick ran its first Warwick Advantage Award celebration event earlier this year. The award is a unique collaboration between the centre and the Students’ Union designed to develop students’ employability skills. The event gave formal recognition of the extra-curricular achievements of 130 students, both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Welsh partnership offers virtual services

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:17:24 GMT

The South West Wales Higher Education Partnership (SWWHEP) has been working on new projects to help the three careers services it represents improve the employability of students and build relationships with employers.

Greenwich targets international students

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:15:15 GMT

The Guidance and Employability Team (GET) at the University of Greenwich recently piloted a topical workshop to an international cohort of current MBA students. The aim of the workshop was to help international students bridge the cultural gap and to equip them with the employability tools needed to succeed in a fast-changing world.

Graduate employability - recent reports reviewed

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:19:36 GMT

Recent months have seen the publication of a number of influential reports on graduate employability. Robert Partridge, former Director of Careers Service at the University of York, has been reading two of them: Future Fit and The Employability Challenge.

Longitudinal survey published

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:14:33 GMT

The Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) has published the results of its second large-scale longitudinal survey of the 2004/5 cohort of leavers of higher education. The report makes fascinating reading to anyone interested in the graduate labour market.

There is a huge amount of data including employment outcomes (after 3.5 years) by subject of study, qualification level, degree classification and ethnicity, as well as comparisons with the DLHE survey.

Bursary for graduates volunteering overseas

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:35:02 GMT

Recent graduates from low income families can now benefit from a bursary award offered by youth and education charity Raleigh in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The scheme gives recent graduates the opportunity to enhance their employability skills through community and environmental work in remote communities overseas.

Government launches new graduate internship service

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:26:58 GMT

The government's new initiative to increase the number of internships available to UK graduates has been officially launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Top professions out of reach - government report

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:19:35 GMT

Top professions, such as medicine and law, are increasingly inaccessible to all but the most affluent, according to a new government report on social mobility. The report looks into widening access to high-status jobs and recommends that young people in England have access to much better careers advice.

AGCAS Awards for Excellence - shortlist announced

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:20:59 GMT

AGCAS is delighted to announce that the judges have agreed the shortlists for the 2009 Excellence Awards. There was a record number of nominations with some services submitting entries under several award categories.

LSC to re-launch career development loans

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:22:29 GMT

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is making changes to career development loans in a bid to make them more attractive to potential learners seeking to improve their skills for work.

PwC win AGCAS award for work with careers services

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:05:01 GMT

PricewaterhouseCoopers has won the AGCAS Award for the Outstanding Contribution to Developing Employability and Skills in the Curriculum at the TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2009.

They were presented with their award by Wilma Martinelli, AGCAS President, at the awards dinner hosted by the comedian Alan Carr at Grosvenor House, London.

Dundee first to offer internship graduate certificate

Sun, 03 May 2009 14:18:07 GMT

The University of Dundee's Careers Service has become the first in the UK to offer graduates an internship certificate. The Scottish Internship Graduate Certificate (SIGC) is designed to boost student employability and career prospects.

Graduate internship plans announced

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:39:26 GMT

The government has made a long-awaited announcement on its plans for graduate internships. The package of measures to help combat graduate unemployment will include opportunities for both paid and unpaid work experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

The catch-22 of media work experience

Sun, 03 May 2009 14:04:49 GMT

Laura Dean, Career Development Tutor, outlines Leeds Metropolitan University's innovative response to the shortage of media-related work experience.

Stepping on from dance

Sun, 03 May 2009 14:08:41 GMT

The career destinations of students on dance courses has been the focus of recent research conducted by Sheila Cross, Head of Careers Service at York St John University. Research findings show that despite an increase in the number of degrees in dance on offer, this has not been matched by a similar expansion in related jobs.

Careers education case study (7): Using the SOAR model to develop employability in psychology undergraduates at a university in south-east England

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:00:12 GMT

This is the seventh case study in the series, which aims to give a flavour of how HE careers education is being developed across the UK.

New report outlines UKCES employability drive

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:01:38 GMT

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has launched The Employability Challenge in response to employers’ concerns about the lack of employability skills amongst prospective candidates.

Employers shortlisted for curriculum work with careers services

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:30:24 GMT

Six employers have been shortlisted for the AGCAS Award for the Outstanding Contribution to Developing Employability and Skills in the Curriculum. They were all nominated by higher education careers services. The award is one of the prestigious annual TARGETjob awards.

New employability report published

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:58:13 GMT

A new report has been produced jointly by the CBI and UUK. Future fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work outlines the importance of employability skills both to the economy and to individual students and graduates.

'Radical changes ahead for careers services' NICEC report

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:55:10 GMT

A new report concludes that radical changes already taking place in some institutions will have significant implications for the roles and continuing professional development of higher education careers staff.

Employer visit to Aldi, Neston (On the Wirral)

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:16:28 GMT

An opportunity to find out about a large successful graduate recruiter.

ConstructionSkills Event, Stockton

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:19:28 GMT

Overview of careers, qualifications and training opportunities available within Construction and the Built Environment.

FEDORA Careers Guidance and Employment Group Conference, France

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:53:21 GMT

A conference for all graduate recruiters, higher education educators and support staff interested and involved in European graduate employment and employability.

Careers Information and Employer Liaison Conference, Warwick

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:05:07 GMT

The theme of the 2010 Careers Information and Employer Liaison Conference is 'Networks and Networking'. The conference will take place at the University of Warwick from July 13 to 15 and is open to all AGCAS members, not just careers information and employer liaison staff.