developing student employability through the creation of online professional identitites - using...

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Developing Student Employability Through The Creation Of Online

Professional Identities

Using Learning Technologies to Develop Employability Skills Workshop

Thomas LancasterThursday, 11 July 2013

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Employability In Context

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Why I’m Interested In Employability

Thomas LancasterSenior Lecturer in Computing at Birmingham City UniversityProgramme Leader BSc Computer ScienceTeach Professional/Employability SkillsHEA TDG Funded Research “Improving Industrial Sandwich Year Placements For Computing Students”Developed and Delivered HEA Employability and Online Professional Identity WorkshopsSocial Media Advocate

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Not Just Computing!

Online Professionalism is equally valid for all academic subjectsStudents should be expected to be fully computer literate in order to gain professional employmentAn Online Professional Identity is one of the clearest methods

through which a student can demonstrate their computer literacy

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The Difference Maker?

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How Do Students Become Employed?

Traditionally, they showcase their skills and perform well during an employment selection process

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Like This?

http://www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/graduate-programmes/apply/index.shtml

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The Problem

The student has done little to set themselves apart from their competitionThe “so what…” factor

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We Can Help Our Students Show More

Work ExperienceAssignments Simulating

IndustryIndustrial Sandwich Year

PlacementsParticipation In Student

Competitions

Portfolio Of WorkInterest In Their Subject

Outside The ClassroomEvidence Of EntrepreneurshipProject or Dissertation

Tailored Towards Employment

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Applications Are Dead

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173031991814896.html

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Social Media Provides Jobs

1 in 6 American job seekers found their most recent job through social media40% attributed this to LinkedIn78% to Facebook42% to Twitter

“I wasn't scouted. I involved myself in a brand's Facebook page and a company which works with that brand took an interest in me and offered me a job.”Zachary Chastain

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/16/social-recruiting

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Online Identity Is Important

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Employers Know About Online Identities

http://mashable.com/2011/10/23/how-recruiters-use-social-networks-to-screen-candidates-infographic

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Students Need To Showcase Their Brand

http://www.ashleyksmith.com

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Some More

http://www.adamtsmith.co.uk

http://www.alaurentiu.com

http://ayeshaprofessionalpresence.webnode.com

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The Technical Side

This looks difficultBut, setting up an online professional identity is well within the technical ability of most studentsNo web design experience needed

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Third Party Services

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rizhwan

http://portfolio.bcu.ac.uk/user/view.php?id=59163

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To Include

MinimallyProfessional Email AddressGoogle AccountLinkedInFacebookTwitter

IdeallyOwn Website

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Control What Other People See

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Direct Control

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

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A Few Others…

http://www.youtube.com/user/DrThomasLancaster

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/ctn/our-staff/thomas-lancaster

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How I Get Students Involved

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I Teach And Assess This

Professional Practice UG2 (over 2012-2013 year)

Level 5 (Year 2) module taken as part of BSc Computer Science and BSc Business Information TechnologyApproximately 120 students Including Direct Entry students

15 creditsTaught over 20 weeks (19 teaching weeks)Module covers employability and project/research skills

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Employability Content

Week

Topic Week Topic

1 Online Professional Representation

5 Personal Development Planning

2 The Placement Selection Process

6 Assessment Centre Simulation

3 CV Writing And Application Forms

7 Time Management And Planning

4 Aptitude Tests 8 Interview Techniques

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Assessment

Create a Professional Online Presence (using your own website or one other delivery platform of your choice)This should support placement and job applications (encourage real life use)This should show creativity (and answer the “so what?” question)

The Professional Online Presence should include:Appropriate information to present you in a positive lightCV2 year Personal Development Plan

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Does It Work?

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Some Findings

Students generally seem appreciative of the practical approach to employability incorporated into the moduleMany seem shocked that employers and academics know about social media (their secret home)Highest take up is with using LinkedIn, which few students had a profile on before teaching

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Some Challenges

Difficult to encourage involvement from international studentsSome students remove their Online Professional Identities after assessment, or do not wish to engage with employabilityNeed to encourage teaching staff to “lead by example”Getting students to actively market themselves requires an approach across more than one module

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To Find Out More

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Slides And Resources

HEA Computing Workshops

“Enhancing The Employability Of Computing Students Through An Online Professional Presence” (slides and teaching resources)http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/events/previous-events/employability-workshop

“Professional Presences for Academics”http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2013/9-May-Birmingham-STEM

Other External SessionsHEA STEM Conferences 2012 (Workshop) and 2013 (Paper and Talk)British Computer Society – Cheltenham and Gloucester Branch (Talk)

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Contact Details

Thomas Lancaster:http://thomaslancaster.co.ukthomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk

Or Tweet Me:@DrLancaster

Slides Available At:http://slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster