Key Skills Exemplified

• Learning to Learn
  
• Communication
  
• Working with Others

Description

Students research an employer and prepare a presentation to persuade a company to employ them. Originally run at The University of Aberystwyth also used within the Faculty of Earth and Environment at The University of Leeds.

Rationale

Students find it hard to identify and articulate the skills they have learnt during their programme of study. During this project students concentrate on key skill development in a 'real' situation.

Learning Outcomes

• To develop research and analysis skills.
  
• To develop team working skills.
  
• To develop presentation skills.
  
• To develop the ability to reflect on skills developed within and beyond the curriculum.

Implementation

• The exercise has been run with 120 students simultaneously.
  
• Employers are usually keen to participate and will often sponsor the competition.
  
• Students in groups of about 6-8 are set the task of researching an employer or sector of employment that interests them.
  
• The chosen employment does not have to correspond to the subject being studied.
  
• They are asked to find out about the company and the skills the company/organisation requires of new graduates.
  
• They then prepare a group presentation that will enable them to persuade a visiting recruiter from this company to employ them.
  
• They are briefed to think about how they have developed during their time at university both during their degree and through extra-curricular activities and to select and describe how they have developed the skills being sought by the company.
  
• The Competition is held on an appointed day.
  
• Students prepare a 'stall' using tables, boards, presentational equipment and other props.
  
• 'Recruiters' who have been invited (both from within the university and from interested employers) visit the stalls and judge which group is most persuasive using an assessment sheet which provides criteria.
  
• Students need to be encouraged to give personal examples of how they have developed skills as evidence that they have actually developed the skills they are claiming.
  
• After the winning team is identified and the prizes awarded students are asked to reflect on what they have learned about organisational cultures, what employers are looking for in graduates, how confident they now feel in articulating what they have learned at university.
  
• The activity has been run as part of a module and assessed and has been used successfully at different levels of a programme depending on how it fits into the department's teaching strategy.

For further information, contact Pauline Kneale, School of Geography, University of Leeds, p.e.kneale@leeds.ac.uk. Guidance for students in setting up and running a 'stall' can be found in Kneale, P.E. (1999) Study Skills for Geography Students (Chapter 23) Arnold, London

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