FEATURE
BE PREPARED…
A well prepared student at campus events is still far more likely to be the exception than the rule. So what would happen if students weren’t able to meet employers without preparing? Bob Athwal, Director of Careers at the University of Leicester explains what happened when it implemented a ‘no prep, no entry’ policy, and how this has done more than just generate a better conversation…
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The impact was impressive; 86% of employers rated the quality of conversation they were having with students as good or excellent. In fact, students’ impact was so strong in some cases that
many exhibitors booked their place for our 2013 Festival in December 2012.
T Bob Athwal
Director of Careers, University of Leicester
he regularity and volume of students coming to campus events (not just the annual careers fair) having done little or no preparation had always been a source of disappointment, and something most in the industry have come to expect. However, in January 2012, after more than 11 years in graduate recruitment, I moved from Head of Graduate Schemes at RWE npower, to Director of Careers at the University of Leicester. In my new position I had to ask whether my Career Development Service should be doing more to address this. More importantly, could we afford not to? In February 2012, the publication of the Wilson Review prompted our university to look at the question from a different angle. This highlighted: “The graduate recruitment environment is evolving rapidly and careers services in universities have to adapt. There is a very clear priority to align student aspirations with the reality of the graduate recruitment market…” Campus events largely fail to achieve this. In fact, the traditional careers fair model inadvertently creates an environment where students feel like the buyer, and employers feel like the seller. Although employers are competing for talent, many students don’t appreciate these meetings are platforms for them. Not just to make an impression and learn more about their chosen employment, but to understand the action they need to take while at university. Quality conversations with employers help students to understand their ‘employability challenge’ and undoubtedly help manage their expectations too. However, this is only ever realised when the student is prepared and capable of driving this. This belief in quality conversations prompted our Career Development Service to introduce a ‘no prep, no entry’ policy. Very simply, before attending any employer event, facilitated by the Career Development Service, students would have to prepare to gain entry. Applying to all events (including the University’s annual Festival of Careers), our decision to take this stance was a significant step – and not one I could recall another university doing.
To support the policy we designed a programme of workshops that would constitute the preparation required. However, these were not mandatory and to engage students we concentrated on messaging that made clear what students would gain from this support, why the approach was being adopted, and the impact we wanted to have on individuals. Consequently, the emphasis was on understanding quality conversations from the employer’s perspective rather than simply the ‘dos and don’ts’ when meeting employers. We began promoting the new policy in October 2012 and despite low student attendance to begin with, approximately 4,000 students were prepared in the four weeks leading up to our Festival of Careers. The impact was impressive; 86% of employers rated the quality of conversation they were having with students as good or excellent. In fact, students’ impact was so strong in some cases that many exhibitors booked their place for our 2013 Festival in December 2012. The ‘no prep, no entry’ policy has also helped us understand that the employability challenge needs to feel more tangible for students; more immediate. Consequently it has become part of a wider strategy to engage students across the University. Unfortunately, a significant number of students still believe they can enjoy the social experiences of university in their first years, concentrate on achieving the desired exam results, and then think about their careers afterwards. This is simply too late and by using this approach to identify those with this view, we are now able to explore others ways of reaching them. This will hopefully lead to an even more successful Festival in 2013, but for now the advice we’re giving employers is to come prepared when you come to Leicester. Because along with some great satisfaction levels, employers found that students were asking some very challenging questions…
For more information about events at the University of Leicester visit
www.le.ac.uk/careers. For information about the 2013 Festival of Careers please contact Raj Patel on 0116 252 5117 or
rp295@le.ac.uk
GRADUATE RECRUITER 7
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