Phoenix, November 2023: The Future of Work

ISSUE 169 NOVEMBER 2023

THE FUTURE OF WORK Elevating career readiness through virtual internships What does AI mean for careers practitioners?

Preparing for a successful transition in a changing world

Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

November 2023

CONTENTS THE FUTURE OF WORK

06 DEADLINES, DECISIONS AND DRAMA: THE FUTUREREADY SKILLS FOR LEADERS PROGRAMME Queen’s University Belfast

20 WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS SAYING ABOUT GRADUATES AND HYBRID WORKING? University of Edinburgh

08 FROM EARLY TALENT TO TOTAL TALENT Institute of Student Employers

22 SHIFTING THE DIAL: HUMANISING AI IN EMPLOYABILITY EDUCATION University of Exeter

10 THE CASE FOR GENERATIVE AI UPSKILLING AND POLICY IN HE Coventry University London 12 ELEVATING CAREER READINESS THROUGH VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS University of Sussex and Virtual Internships 14 SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS: HOW UNIVERSITIES ARE PREPARING GRADUATES FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK Universities UK 15 EXPLORING AI’S GLOBAL IMPACT ON INDUSTRY AND STUDENT CAREERS University of London 16 PREPARING FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION IN A CHANGING WORLD University of Nottingham

23 AI INTEGRATION: TIPS FOR CAREERS SERVICES AND STUDENTS University of Bedfordshire

24 FROM POWER GAPS TO PROGRESS University of Chester

26 THE BANI FRAMEWORK: HELPING MAKE SENSE OF THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE Coventry University

28

WHAT DOES AI MEAN FOR CAREERS PRACTITIONERS? University of Bradford

18 VR AND AI-ENHANCED EXPERIENCES AT SCALE: A CASE STUDY University of Liverpool

PLUS 31 BOOK REVIEW: GET INTO LAW BPP 32 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT: ADDRESSING THE POST-PANDEMIC DROP-OFF Lancaster University

34 REFLECTING ON RETIREMENT: THE AGCAS ALUMNI COMMUNITY AGCAS Research and Knowledge Committee

35 WHAT DO GRADUATES DO? Jisc and Prospects services 36 RESEARCHER'S DIGEST

Phoenix is the digital journal of AGCAS, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. It is published three times a year.

To find out more about AGCAS, see www.agcas.org.uk Created in-house by AGCAS, based on an original design by Marcom www.mar-com.net

PHOENIX EDITORIAL GROUP Rish Baruah University of Stirling Sarah Brown Bath Spa University Wendy Browne University College London Holly Delafield University of Bristol Lisa McWilliams Keele University Claire Merriman Aston University Louise Ogle Royal Holloway, University of London Nathan Olsen Queen Mary, University of London Craig Reoch University of Dundee Kaz Scattergood University of Liverpool Sara Tsompanidi University of Edinburgh Nicola Varley Nottingham Trent University

PAGE 04

message from the

EDITOR In this issue of Phoenix, we profile how member services are preparing students and graduates for careers of the future. Recent research from UUK shows that by 2035, 88% of new jobs will be at graduate level.

Demand for graduates is strong, but the workplace they will be entering is evolving at pace. This issue demonstrates how careers professionals are responding to this evolution.

The pandemic brought a significant shift to the concept of the workplace, with flexible and hybrid working now significantly more common than it was five years ago. In addition to benefits, this brings complexities for new graduates who are embarking on new roles remotely with limited experience of workplace communications and professional etiquette. In this issue, read how member services are working with students and graduates to prepare them to join the hybrid workplace with confidence.

Members are also working with employers to understand their expectations and support arrangements around hybrid work, so students know the right questions to ask when approaching potential employers.

Over the following pages, you can read about some innovative challenge projects to get students thinking about real-world global problems. Through working in multidisciplinary groups, or undertaking virtual internships based in companies across the world, students are provided with opportunities to think creatively to propose solutions. With constant change inherent in the projects, these are giving students real insight into the evolving and globalised workplace and developing skills to prepare.

And it wouldn’t be a future of work issue without addressing one of the big topics in higher education right now: generative artificial intelligence.

Careers services all over the UK are currently grappling with how to harness this new technology to improve their students’ job prospects, and to free up time to focus on the activities that add the most value. In this issue, you will read about services at different stages in their AI journeys, taking different approaches. Read about how virtual reality is being used to enhance student interview performance, and how AI can be used to provide specialised guidance tailored to individual student expectations.

You can also gain tips in encouraging students to get the best out of different AI platforms, and learn how careers services are contributing to university-wide AI strategies.

A theme that resonates throughout all of the AI articles – and in fact all of the articles in this issue – is the overwhelming continuing need for the human input in delivering careers and employability education. AI is a useful tool but it can only go so far – students and graduates will always need expert and well-informed support. It is the job of the sector to teach students to use this technology in an ethical and transparent way, while continuing to teach those softer skills that are so essential for students entering the changing world of work in all sectors.

And with recent research from UUK revealing the need for 11 million extra graduates by 2035, the role of the careers professional is only becoming more important. In this issue Dame Sally Mapstone, President of UUK, shares research into jobs of the future and argues for the continuing need for universities, fighting back against the ‘rip-off degree’ rhetoric prevalent in the current government and enflamed by some parts of the media.

We also have a piece from Stephen Isherwood at the Institute of Student Employers, arguing how changes to labour market supply will mean employers will have to take a different approach to recruiting and retaining talent. These insights will be valuable in your discussions with employers on their changing requirements as their workplaces evolve.

The impact of all of this change on careers professionals is also a key facet of this issue. We have research-based articles on how careers services can use this period of change to innovate, and how futurist theory could inform career development work in an increasingly uncertain world.

I hope you get a lot from this issue. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. If you have any comments on this issue or wish to suggest a future theme, please get in touch.

Lucy Begley, Editor

PAGE 05

Deadlines, decisions and drama:

THE FUTUREREADY SKILLS FOR LEADERS PROGRAMME THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE

EMMA LENNOX, Careers Consultant at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), highlights how the FutureReady Skills for Leaders programme combines staff, students, employers and disruption to prepare students for the everchanging world of work.

The FutureReady Skills for Leaders programme was established over 15 years ago to support students juggling heavy timetables who needed a practical outlet to acquire hands-on, real-world experience in gaining employability skills. The three-day initiative has evolved every year and unites students from all disciplines and levels to identify, develop and practice the transversal skills employers are seeking in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous future world of work.

Participants work in teams of between five and eight students to navigate a series of challenges, with each team mentored by a local employer. The programme is fast-paced and tightly timed across multiple venues, so the ability to work under pressure and manage time is key. Each year requires up to eight employers, six careers staff, three guest speakers, four QUB facilitators and 2,000 sandwiches to support up to 60 students to complete the programme and gain the university skills award.

The creativity, innovation and ingenuity increase every year PAGE 06

Building on the international focus of the future world of work, the central exercise is the two-day Global Challenge. This uses design thinking processes to develop solutions to real problems based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students must identify a workable solution to present at the Innovation Fair, marked by external judges for real prizes. Teams must identify a problem, allocate a budget, design a marketing strategy, build a prototype, manage limited resources and deliver a sales presentation. This can be a disaster if the students do not get themselves organised. The competition is fierce but the creativity, innovation and ingenuity increase every year. Students have created adaptive tools for disabled public transport users, food storage solutions for communities with unreliable power and education interventions to support literacy.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY The programme welcomes undergraduate and postgraduate students from various disciplines. We’ve had drama students working beside engineers, and first-year law students making joint decisions with PhD pharmacy researchers. This collaboration between diverse student groups provides real-world experience of learning from different mindsets and approaches to problem solving. These essential skills are needed in the increasingly connected future world of work.

The condensed timetable during the Easter break appeals to postgraduates, mid-career professionals and lifelong learners who can struggle to find time for longer employability development. The midweek timing also accommodates part-time jobs. A mixture of home and international students brings different perspectives on leadership and management, developing cultural awareness. The programme also accommodates different career stages, providing exposure to and practice of new skills through experiential learning. This is key whether students have clear goals or are exploring new horizons for action as the future of work requires continual personal skill development.

THE ROLE OF DISRUPTION As per the standard workplace, the teams are constantly interrupted, given new information, deadlines are changed and resources ‘get delayed’. As anticipated, this clearly delights them.

Students, and their employer mentors, become skilled at solving problems, communicating and developing commercial acumen.

During the Innovation Fair, students must bid for a table. When a mystery bidder leaves a group empty-handed, the team must persuade the mystery bidder to sell the table, leading to creative negotiation tactics such as selling shares or proposing collaborations. This real-life situation tests students' negotiation and influencing skills, dealing with the unexpected to release the table.

THE ROLE OF THE EMPLOYER Each group has an employer mentor from a local company who has graduated in the past few years and are often QUB alumni.

While they cannot tell the students what to do (a challenge for some mentors), they encourage, coach and support their group to manage resources and conflict. Mentors become as competitive as the students and build strong networks, keeping in touch after the course and continuing to support career development. Local employers see the calibre of students and the diverse skillset offered by subjects they wouldn’t normally recruit from, and how different skills will feed into the future world of work.

What are the students’ favourite sessions?

“The theatre session! It was an entirely new perspective of how we present ourselves.”

MSc Accounting and Finance “The trading and negotiation session, convincing the team how to invest then finding we’d made a profit. I loved that exercise!”

BA (Hons) Politics What do the students think of the programme?

“The thought process behind every activity and task was so engaging that I almost forgot to look at my phone for eight hours for three days.”

MSc International Business “It has given me the skills I need to face challenges in my future job.”

MSc Biology

THE WILDCARD SESSIONS

THE FUTURE FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK

Guest speakers support throughout the programme, again disrupting the workflow and causing the students to adapt quickly to new tasks. Leaders from private and public sector, charity CEOs and entrepreneurs have shared their experiences and advice to encourage students to consider employment options. Other university colleagues get roped in – our estates team deliver a twohour environmental case study and the enterprise team facilitate design thinking training. The keynote wildcard is when we invite an academic from the drama department to deliver a session of theatre games to increase confidence and highlight non-verbal communication. Every year we get asked for future creative sessions, especially from the STEM students.

This programme has evolved with each new staff lead, involving hundreds of students over the years and achieving a 100% recommendation rate from completers. Students have leveraged employer connections for job introductions and considered alternative career paths after experiencing new skills.

Future evolutions anticipate AI integration, embracing digital skills and more employer speakers from the diverse world of work.

And definitely more disruption.

e.lennox@qub.ac.uk Connect with Emma on LinkedIn

Employer mentors build strong networks, keeping in touch after the course and continuing to support career development

PAGE 07

DEMOGRAPHIC DEFICIT

From early talent

TO TOTAL TALENT

STEPHEN ISHERWOOD, Joint CEO of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), argues that lifelong learning and career management are set to become the two core pillars of employer engagement strategies, and explains how employers will be forced to take a radically different approach to recruiting, retaining, and redeploying talent.

The UK population is ageing, but not just because we are living longer. In 2022 there were 124,000 fewer births than in 2012, a decline of 17%. To put this into long-term context, in 1964, 875,000 babies were born; in 2022, the figure was 605,000. As a result, there are 16% fewer people aged 20-29 than 50-59. The UK’s population profile is no longer a pyramid. From 2030, the UK population of 18-year-olds will go into long-term decline. Fewer students will join apprenticeships or join a graduate programme.

SHORTAGE OF HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS The UK needs more managers, more scientists, more people in professional roles, not less. By 2035, the economy will need an estimated 2.6 million more people in work and 2.5 million of those will need to be in higher-skilled roles. But by 2035, the UK’s working age population is going to increase by only around 1 million. UUK estimated that the UK will need to produce 11 million more graduates by 2035.

The UK skills debate is often based on a misconception that too many people go to university. Across the workforce, the OECD reports that 14% of people in the UK are in fact overqualified for their work. But the same analysis shows that 27.7% of the workforce are underqualified for the work that they do. The UK has a problem when it comes to developing skills that the economy requires.

FROM ‘EARLY TALENT’ TO ‘TOTAL TALENT’ Over the last two decades, graduate recruitment teams have morphed into early career teams. Many employers no longer focus solely on graduates to fill junior talent pipelines. The apprentice levy has partly caused this shift. But before it was introduced, some employers had already invested in school-leaver programmes.

ISE predicts that two macro forces will cause employers to expand their definition of early talent even further over the coming decade:

Much of the policy debate – productivity, lifelong learning entitlement (LLE), education funding, immigration, vocational pathways – stems from the UK’s struggles to solve its productivity problem. ISE’s view is that employer practices will develop on three fronts:

Employers will need to create innovative resourcing strategies as there will not be enough supply in the labour market to meet their increasing needs for a skilled workforce.

The UK population is not only living longer, but birth rates are falling, leading to fewer young people entering the workforce.

A broader definition of early talent programmes that focuses less on a person’s age or education exit point, and more on training and developing people without direct experience.

A greater emphasis on internal mobility, retraining and redeploying people, and less reliance on external experienced hires.

A shift back towards managed internal career pathways.

Employers who hire for potential and develop capability across a range of programmes will have a broader pool of potential employees to tap into. Employers who invest long-term in early talent as part of a broader talent growth and retention strategy are more likely to have access to the talent essential to their success.

The total talent approach means that training programmes will become more accessible to career changers and older workers.

Internal structures will offer flexible career progression. The internal internship, retraining courses and multidisciplinary project opportunities could all form part of HR strategy.

For the total talent model to work, employers will need to provide more careers support PAGE 08

BARRIERS TO CHANGE There are many barriers to change. Firstly, when focused on hereand-now business pressures, teams lack the time and headspace to work through what a different approach might look like. Workforce planning is often focused on short-to-medium-term operational needs, and less able to address uncertainty and long-term structural issues.

Technology is often seen as an enabler of change. But many HR systems are disjointed and unable to offer firm-wide solutions. For a total talent model to work, organisations need to understand the skills of the current workforce and predict future skills needs.

Recruitment systems need to facilitate internal mobility as well as manage external candidates.

A business investing in the systems and structures that facilitate a total talent model requires a certain leap of faith as the return-oninvestment case is not easy to prove. Finally, a total talent approach requires a culture change. Line managers need to be open to hiring career changers and school-leavers as well as graduates, and to releasing people on their teams on internal secondments.

CAREERS SUPPORT IMPLICATIONS In its Future of Jobs Report 2020, the World Economic Forum identified self-management as a skill that employers will require more of. This is no doubt true, but the idea implies that employers will expect people to self-manage their careers. For the total talent model to work, employers will need to take less of a laissez-faire approach to employee careers and provide more support.

This isn’t an argument for a return to the Japanese Salaryman concept of a highly structured career. To facilitate internal mobility, employers will need to build career mentoring and coaching capabilities into support structures. PwC have developed internal careers support where ‘in-house career and guidance specialists provide services ranging from 1:1 coaching for mock interviews and CV writing to advising on internal career moves’. HR tech will play a part with employers using platforms like Gloat to identify skills and internal jobs markets.

If the LLE creates less reliance on the three-year-degree, and if our education system shifts to offer more short-term courses and enable the older learner to retrain, then careers support within institutions will need to evolve accordingly.

The UK’s skills and demographic problems pre-date the pandemic; they are structural and require long-term solutions. The UK has a shortage of workers and those in work don’t always have the right skills. Those who work with, recruit and train students have many of the solutions to solve the UK’s productivity crisis.

Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn

PAGE 09

The case for generative AI

UPSKILLING AND POLICY IN HE

Students are expressing a strong desire for support or structured training in AI

AI USAGE FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT 75.3% are already harnessing the power of AI for their career development, reflecting the growing importance and influence of AI technologies in today's world. One student aptly shared:

DANNY MIRZA, Lead Consultant Talent Team at Coventry University London Campuses, explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and career development in the UK's higher education sector.

Drawing from student feedback and the challenges faced by careers service professionals, he underscores the transformative potential of AI in shaping the future of career guidance.

"Last month, I used an AI-powered platform to revamp my CV. It was like having 24/7 access to the careers team.’’

In this exploration, I delve into the dynamic intersection of AI and career development within the UK's higher education sector. My journey begins with a comprehensive survey, capturing the voices of students from diverse regions and disciplines, highlighting their experiences with AI. Their feedback, gathered from both conventional and informal channels, offers a wealth of insights into the current AI landscape. But the narrative doesn't stop with the students. By juxtaposing their perspective with the challenges faced by careers service professionals, I aim to shed light on the pressing concerns and the transformative solutions AI can offer.

Concluding with a roadmap for the future, I underscore the pivotal role of university leadership in harnessing AI's transformative potential for the benefit of all stakeholders.

AI USAGE FREQUENCY 38.8% use AI weekly, a student fondly shared:

THE STUDENT CASE In my endeavour to understand the role of AI in career development among UK students, I surveyed students in summer 2023, receiving 87 responses. The most-represented regions in the survey were the midlands (where 25.9% of responding students were based) and London (23.5%).

Utilising informal channels like LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and student-centric Facebook groups, alongside my direct interactions in the higher education sector, I was able to delve deep into disciplines such as Computing, Medicine and Law. It's pivotal to highlight that international students played a considerable role in this study, comprising a significant 62.4% of the total respondents, offering a comprehensive insight into the evolving dynamics of AI's impact on career development. Here are the results categorised into themes:

PAGE 10

TRAINING NEEDS 64.7% of students express a strong desire for support or structured training in AI. One eager student said: "If our uni could host a workshop series—maybe call it 'AI 101 for Graduate Job Seekers'—I'd be the first to sign up."

"Every Sunday, like clockwork, I sip my chai and explore job tracker on this AI app I found (Teal).

It's become a ritual!"

ACCESS TO AI POLICY 85.9% of students admitted they lack access to any AI policy or guidelines. One student recounted: "It's a wild west out there with AI. I once stumbled upon an app that felt... sketchy. Really wish we had a guidebook or something like that" AI’S ROLE IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT 35.3% feel that AI cannot single-handedly cater to all career development needs. One amused student recounted: “AI suggested I become a lion-tamer based on my love for cats! Really?!, but also why I still swing by the careers service."

RELEVANCE OF CAREERS SERVICES The future of traditional career services remains promising, even in this digital age. 44.7% of students affirm their continued relevance.

THE CAREERS SERVICE CASE

THE SOLUTION

Over the past few months, I've had the unique opportunity to traverse the UK, delivering workshops to career professionals in institutions both large and small. These interactions, whether through formal interviews or casual chats over a cup of tea, have painted a vivid picture of the current landscape of career services and the palpable need for innovation. Here are the pressing concerns I found and how generative AI can assist:

The data paints a clear picture: students are actively using AI tools for career development and are vocal about their need for structured training and a comprehensive AI policy. Concurrently, career services professionals, having witnessed the transformative potential of generative technologies firsthand, also underscore the necessity for these innovations. Universities can harness the full potential of AI, ensuring that all stakeholders benefit.

1. Limitation of responsibility: The redundancy dilemma

This leads us to an inescapable conclusion: university leadership must take decisive action. This isn't merely about staying abreast with technological advancements; it's about equipping both students and staff with the tools, knowledge and framework to harness AI's potential responsibly and effectively.

Generative AI, with its ability to automate and refine processes, can alleviate the burden of basic admin tasks allowing professionals to focus on more nuanced and impactful aspects of their roles.

Imagine a system that can (soon) autonomously and intelligently handle the mundane, freeing up time and resources for more meaningful student engagement.

2. Limitation of scalability: The volume challenge During a workshop in the midlands, a senior careers professional highlighted "With growing student numbers, our current infrastructure and methods just can't keep up. The demand far outstrips our capacity." Generative AI tools, with their scalability, offer a solution. They democratise careers for students, allowing them access to careers information 24/7.

3. Limitation of Specialism: The Expertise Conundrum In a quiet corner of a London university, a seasoned career consultant reflected "While we pride ourselves on our expertise, the vast array of industries and roles today means we can't be specialists in everything." Generative technologies can bridge this gap. By drawing on vast databases of industry insights, trends, and requirements, these tools can provide specialised guidance tailored to individual student aspirations.

AI can free up time and resources for more meaningful student engagement A multi-pronged approach is the way forward. University leadership should begin by investing in comprehensive training programmes for their staff, ensuring they are well-versed with the nuances of AI in the context of career development. In parallel, crafting a robust and forward-thinking AI policy is paramount. This policy would serve as the bedrock, guiding all AI-related initiatives within the institution.

Once these foundational elements are in place, pilot programmes can be initiated – testing, refining and optimizing the integration of AI within careers services. And, as the capstone, this refined knowledge and infrastructure can then be extended to students, ensuring they are not just passive consumers of AI but informed and empowered users.

Danny.mirza@coventry.ac.uk Connect with Danny on LinkedIn

PAGE 11

Elevating career readiness through

VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS

SHAUN BUTCHER, Global Head of Partnership Development at Virtual Internships and EMILY HUNS, Head of Careers and Entrepreneurship at the University of Sussex outline how the University of Sussex Online Global Summer Internship Programme has supported over 330 students from underrepresented groups to gain real-world work experience to boost their employability.

The University of Sussex Online Global Summer Internship Programme, funded by the university and delivered in partnership with the EdTech company Virtual Internships, provides real-world, global work experience to students from underrepresented groups through remote internships. It includes a short-term project-based work experience of four weeks (120 hours) as well as wraparound employability support delivered by Virtual Internships. This support includes an online platform enabling students to build a portfolio of weekly reflections, a self-paced online career readiness curriculum, one-to-one coaching sessions at key points during the programme, and fortnightly employability webinars.

A GLOBAL EXPERIENCE Virtual Internships have a network of host companies around the world. Students can select from 18 career fields and are matched with companies who are able to offer project-based work experience. In the past four years, the programme has placed 331 students in companies based across 54 different countries, including Kenya, Barbados, South Korea and Uruguay.

PAGE 12

The programme provides students with real-world work experience that mirrors working life whilst also creating graduates who are equipped to excel in an increasingly digital, remote and distributed work environment. The global nature of remote internships has allowed us to achieve that aim, and the international exposure enriches students' understanding of modern global workplace dynamics, a critical aspect of career readiness in the 21st century.

Predominantly supporting students from underrepresented groups, and providing a stipend commensurate with the Living Wage, the programme aligns with the university's commitment to ensuring that all students have access to career-building opportunities.

PREPARING FOR A FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE It is likely that students will gain graduate employment within an organisation that requires some form of remote work. It is also highly likely that students from underrepresented groups may encounter unique challenges in obtaining work experience, for example financial or mobility barriers, low confidence or limited networks. Meanwhile, employers are increasingly seeking graduates who are not only academically strong but also adaptable, tech-savvy and capable of effective collaboration and communication in digital spaces. Transversal skills are essential for students entering tomorrow's labour market.

With this backdrop, it is important that the university equips students with the skills to thrive in an increasingly dynamic work environment. Through this programme, we've not only provided students with the opportunity to develop experience of remote working, but we’ve also assessed their perceived growth in career readiness as well as their overall view of the programme.

We hope to continue leading the way in preparing students for a digitally-driven, global job market

EMBRACING REMOTE INTERNSHIPS Remote or online internships can be high-impact programmes that support student preparedness, but it is important to marry the pedagogy around internships with the theory and practice of online learning. Simply shifting internships online, as occurred during the pandemic, fails to acknowledge the unique requirements of online internships. They are a specific form of experiential learning delivered via online modalities and, therefore, require specific programme design.

Data from our post-programme evaluation of Sussex students (n=255) is revealing: 84% of participants agreed that completing an online internship increased their ability to work remotely. We've observed remarkable growth in students, not only in their ability to work online but also in their confidence in post-graduation employment: 76% of students stated that the programme increased their confidence in securing a job after graduation.

Moreover, 82% of participants agreed that they considered the programme to be a quality learning experience. This suggests that students not only adapted to the virtual internship model but thrived within it. Online internships can be a high-impact and transformative experiential learning opportunity if they are intentionally designed.

PERCEPTIONS OF CAREER READINESS In addition to a post-programme evaluation that measures overall satisfaction and outcomes, we also collect self-evaluations on perceptions of skills at the pre- and post-stage of the internships.

This allows us to measure students’ self-perception of skills gained.

These data provide invaluable insights into the tangible improvements in students' perceived readiness for the job market.

We measure across eight career readiness competencies. The top three skills that students develop are: 1. Critical thinking (from 45% of students claiming competence to 91% post-programme, an increase of 46%) 2. Communication (from 36% of students claiming competence to 77%, an increase of 41%) and 3. Teamwork (from 45% of students claiming competence to 80%, an increase of 36%).

Other skills increased too: Technology (up 34%), Leadership (up 30%), Professionalism (up 32%), Career and self-development (up 30%) and Global/Intercultural fluency (up 16%).

Virtual internships are impactful, transformative experiences for students EMPLOYABILITY OUTCOMES Overall, our data reveals that virtual internships are impactful, transformative experiences for students with strong employability outcomes and a great way to boost student career readiness.

93% of students were satisfied with their virtual internship and 84% agreed that they gained value and learned from this internship experience.

Importantly, 34% of students reported that they were offered an extension to their internship at their host company with 8% of students being offered a paid extension of employment through internships, contractual work, or even part or full-time positions.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK Through this programme, we've seen students and graduates become more adaptable, tech-savvy and confident. The data indicates that we are on the right track. The programme has offered students a unique platform to enhance their readiness for the increasingly global and remote job market, with a substantial number of them having secured paid employment through these experiences.

As we extend our programme through to 2026, we hope to continue leading the way in preparing students for a digitally-driven, global job market. Our commitment to empowering students and providing equitable access to these career-building opportunities remains unwavering.

shaun@virtualinternships.com e.huns@sussex.ac.uk Connect with Shaun on LinkedIn Connect with Emily on LinkedIn

Skills to pay the bills:

PREPARING GRADUATES FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK PROFESSOR DAME SALLY MAPSTONE DBE FRSE, President of Universities UK and Vice Chancellor at the University of St Andrews, outlines how higher education is preparing students to become the workforce for the future.

The past three years have presented fast-paced challenges for employers. From hybrid working to the continued adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), the work environment has transformed in a short space of time. This rapid pace of change has led some to claim that the traditional route of higher education to employment is now past its use-by date. Recent rhetoric from the UK government, amplified on occasion by mainstream media, has done little to dispel this myth. It’s time to set the record straight.

GRADUATE SKILLS The reality is that having a degree increases your job prospects, with businesses continuing to hire graduates over non-graduates, and signs show that this trend is set to continue. In our recent report ‘Jobs of the Future’ we found that STEM, health, education and business services are among the fastest-growing occupations for graduates, with each needing 1 million new workers by 2035.

The research also revealed that more than 11 million extra graduates will be needed to fill jobs in the UK over that period, in addition to the 15 million graduates currently in the UK workforce.

As part of this study, we also surveyed 100 senior figures and talent acquisition specialists at the UK’s FTSE 350 listed companies, to find out what types of employees will be needed over the next decade.

More than half (51%) of respondents said that graduates with critical thinking skills would be more important to the workforce than ever as automation takes hold. Another of our recent reports, on the ‘value of going to university’, found that 71% of business leaders believe that going to university enables graduates to build crucial transferable skills. In fact, 78% of UK graduates said the support they received at university helped them gain employment.

Careers support provided by universities can range from online tools to improve interview skills to networking events with potential employers. In the study, 97% of business leaders polled also revealed that graduates reach managerial positions faster as a result of going to university.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Another narrative developed by university critics is that there has been a rise in ‘mickey mouse’ or ‘rip-off’ degrees’. The assumption is that some graduates won’t see a return on investment as their courses generally lead to low paying jobs and skills not needed by employers. Even the UK government’s graduate labour market statistics show that overall those who attend university are more likely to be in employment and on average over £100,000 better off across their lifetime – even after taxes and student loan repayments are taken into account.

There is also a highly disputable belief that employers primarily require graduates from STEM subjects. Valuable as STEM degrees are, as we move into a more varied work environment, businesses will require skills that are just as varied. Creativity and flexibility are key. From our survey with FTSE 350 business leaders, half of the respondents believed arts and humanities graduates will be crucial to helping businesses get the most out of AI tools.

DEVELOPING PRACTICAL SKILLS Our research into the jobs of the future was motivated by the need to highlight the importance of going to university for job success and developing skills sought by employers. Many of the higher education sector’s detractors often point to the lack of practical skills being taught at university level, overlooking the fact that universities are responsible for training the next generation of engineers, nurses, and computer programmers. They can also disregard the growing popularity of degree apprenticeships. Initially set up in 2015 under the UK government’s plans to bring together the best of higher and vocational education, degree apprenticeships offer an optimal combination of paid work and learning at university to give students the opportunity to ‘earn while they learn’.

With universities of today now offering a wealth of new skill sets, it’s no wonder that 88% of new jobs are projected to be at graduate level by 2035. Those who criticise based on slight evidence and the fun of hopping on a bandwagon fail to grasp the full benefits of going to university, the transferable skills that are taught, the unique experience of student life and the doors it can open to career opportunities and prestigious professions. It’s my great hope that our findings will reassure career professionals and graduates alike and will start to change the narrative in other quarters.

president@universitiesuk.ac.uk

PAGE 14

EXPLORING AI’S GLOBAL IMPACT ON INDUSTRY AND STUDENT CAREERS TANYEL KAZIM, Employer Engagement Consultant and ABBY UNDERWOOD, Student Collaboration and Engagement Coordinator at the University of London Careers Service share their strategy for empowering global distance and flexible learners to navigate a world changed by artificial intelligence (AI).

In a landscape where AI is transforming industry and the international labour market, rapid adaptation becomes crucial.

How can we empower our global distance and flexible learners to navigate an ever-evolving employability landscape?

Global Careers Calls is a podcast featuring conversations between employers, University of London alumni, current students, and a member of our team. For our summer 2023 series, we responded to student feedback to theme the topic on the future of work. This series ran in parallel with an industry panel event series on the same theme. We wanted to explore the perspectives of international alumni, industry experts and thought leaders, on two key areas: How can we advance the employability prospects of a cohort of distance and flexible learners at different career stages*?

How do we do this during an unpredictable labour market impacted by rapid technology innovation, macroeconomic pressure, and geopolitical tension?

EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO USE AI We are exploring how AI influences the career journeys of our students and graduates across the world. The rapid pace of change in this space can be daunting, but our series and the discussions it has generated has played a key part in our mission to ensure that students feel empowered rather than intimidated by AI, and that they use it effectively. To help achieve this goal, we have implemented the themes and podcast content from the series into a new transdisciplinary workshop series, led by our careers consultant team, exploring the impact of AI on industries and future careers. The workshops have proven successful thus far with participating students reporting that the sessions are engaging, interactive and that they would recommend them to a friend.

COLLABORATIVE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Our Future of Industries conversations educated listeners on how AI technology is being implemented in the working world. A cybersecurity director spoke about how the implementation of robotics and big data ensures factory floor safety in real-time during steel manufacturing. Students aspiring to work in marketing heard from a fintech CEO who highlighted the role of AI in delivering prompt engineering training to upskill her team.

We have also established a careers feedback panel of students from a range of academic programmes, career stages and locations, to explore the use of AI-enabled career tools in an effective way. We emphasise that these tools should aid, not replace, the effort students invest in their career development. It is not about copy and paste, but comprehending how AI can assist in achieving specific career objectives. During the initial implementation phase, the panel’s input demonstrated the student perspective, understanding potential use cases in their respective job markets, and suitability of the tools. These insights help us to honour our commitment to a forward-looking careers service, improve resources and introduce innovative AI tools for career planning.

Discussions on the Future of Skills explored the inevitable rising demand for digital skills, with 500 million apps in development and 1.5 million job openings expected across Europe within five years.

Less predictably, the overarching theme across all the interviews was that in a working world with an apparent diminishing role for humanity, more durable soft skills, like emotional intelligence, storytelling and understanding how to avert crisis remain pivotal.

From our ongoing work with employers, alumni and students, we believe the most effective way to contemplate the future of AI and its impact is to foster open and informed dialogue with students, alumni and employer contacts. As AI continues to evolve, we look forward to further collaboration to deepen our collective understanding of this ever-changing landscape and help support students in the future.

Thanks to the generosity and expertise of our alumni and employer guests, we responded to these questions.

KEY LEARNINGS

We worked with student co-hosts who offered their perspectives on current needs and future expectations of a multi-generational workforce. The podcast equipped students with the tools and knowledge required to futureproof their careers and thrive in the workplace of tomorrow. This work highlighted the global significance of AI, especially within our diverse international student community, and is paramount.

*Read more about the University of London Careers Service Career Stage Framework in Phoenix issue 164 Tanyel.kazim@london.ac.uk Connect with Tanyel on LinkedIn Connect with Abby on LinkedIn

PAGE 15

Preparing for a successful transition

IN A CHANGING WORLD

PAULINE MADEN, Director of Careers and Employability, HANNAH WOOLLEY, Professional Service Partnerships Careers and Employability Consultant and PAUL CHARMAN, Deputy Director of the Careers and Employability Service at the University of Nottingham share their journey to establishing work readiness support for students in our changing times.

Over the last ten years, we have seen real changes to the world of work and the way we work. From the rapid shift in remote working of the Covid pandemic to generative artificial intelligence (AI) bursting on to the scene in late 2022, we have speculated, prepared for and anticipated great transformations. In amongst these developments, we have all supported our students and graduates to understand and navigate what is a changing picture in the important transition from study to the workplace. This is particularly important as we work in parallel to understand the changes in graduates' mental health as they make that transition, work inspired and informed by the Student Minds Graduate Wellbeing report of 2017.

STARTING THE JOURNEY To build our understanding of graduate transitions in a changing world, we looked to those involved in the process: our students, employer partners and our alumni. Getting feedback from returning placement students, analysing employer reports and speaking to alumni involved in graduate recruitment and talent development helped us round out those challenges and behaviours that sit alongside the transition to work. This feedback also helped us identify the specific skills and experience required to successfully get there. This was really reinforced by the research of Helen Hughes which looked at the impact of starting your career in the pandemic.

PAGE 16

The result of this consultation and research was our definition of work readiness (see diagram). Key to it is an understanding of the habits and behaviours that support work readiness – the idea that it's never finished and the importance of wellbeing and self-worth alongside those ‘learnable’ skills associated with feeling effective and confident in the workplace.

PUTTING LEARNING INTO PRACTICE Building on our model of work readiness, we developed a range of resources and activities that would support our students to explore both ‘Capability and Knowledge Awareness’ and ‘Confidence and Comfort’.

Our Navigating the Workplace webpages were designed to offer helpful advice from careers staff alongside pearls of wisdom from alumni. The content focuses on supporting students and graduates to thrive in the workplace, from avoiding a first day ‘false start’ to settling in and finding their groove.

“I have found the content really insightful and helpful. I tried to apply knowledge I have acquired from it and I could really feel the difference.”

MSc Finance and Investment Student

Similarly, our Career Wellbeing resource can be accessed via Moodle at any time, and currently has 400+ participants. Blog articles, interactive learning objects and forums offer students an opportunity to engage constructively with common career challenges and build confidence. Topics include coping with pressure from others when making decisions, dealing with rejection and identifying strategies to overcome imposter syndrome.

“You created a very welcoming and safe space for everyone to be honest and vulnerable - it felt like a little community even though we did not really know much about each other. ”

Final year BSc Zoology Student For students who want a ‘deep dive’, we offer a Nottingham Advantage Award module called Transitioning into the Workplace.

Students work together to explore approaches to managing change, grapple with the concept of workplace culture, and undertake strengths profiling to explore how they can be their best self at work.

For time-poor students, our Essential Workplace Skills Series offers short ‘How to...’ workshops that focus on specific workplace tasks, for example managing a workload, working with colleagues or contributing to meetings. Students are introduced to practical techniques and given the opportunity to experiment with these in a ‘safe space’. Their ‘takeaways’ are helpful strategies to use from day one at work.

For finalists, our one-day CPD Future Leaders event is an opportunity to develop self-leadership and growth mindset techniques. Offered in collaboration with the Alumni Relations team, it's also a ‘gateway’ to our alumni community and features a question and answer session with recent graduates who are willing to share their experiences of making the leap from university to employment. ‘Stupid’ questions (which are, of course, not stupid at all) are encouraged, real insight is shared and future career contacts are made.

Students engage constructively with common career challenges and build confidence

NEXT STEPS Whilst we are delighted with the feedback from students and the take up of our offer, we recognise that what has got us to this point is listening to all those that play a role in the transition from study to the workplace. Going forward, we will continue to spend time being curious and asking students, graduates, alumni and employers questions about what they’re seeing and hearing on the ground, or in their virtual space. This will help us to spot emerging themes and evolving practices in the changing world of work as they appear.

We’re also particularly interested in focusing on the experiences of specific groups of students, including care experienced, mature, ethnic minority and LGBTQIA+ students, and to further developing tailored support and resources.

To achieve this, we’ve connected with a variety of student communities to seek and explore authentic lived experience.

We will continue to work closely with colleagues from other professional services such as our Support and Wellbeing and Widening Participation teams to share insights and increase our shared understanding and collaborative offer.

Hannah.Woolley@nottingham.ac.uk Pauline.Maden@nottingham.ac.uk Paul.Charman@nottingham.ac.uk

PAGE 17

VR and AI-enhanced experiences at scale:

A CASE STUDY

JASON STEERS, Digital Officer at University of Liverpool, MATT JONES, Lead Career Consultant at University of Liverpool and LAURA HEATH, Customer Success Manager at Bodyswaps share how virtual reality (VR) with generative artificial intelligence (AI) integrations can enhance digital fluency and confidence at scale.

In 2021, the University of Liverpool partnered with Bodyswaps VR to bring a new suite of immersive experiences to students with a focus on building confidence through employability-focused simulations and public speaking scenarios. We launched the VR Confidence Lab and piloted the use of VR on 100 students.

VR became significantly more mainstream when a new headset was released in 2019 at a price more in line with a budget mobile phone, which subsequently made it easier to experiment with applications of VR as an immersive learning tool.

AN AI-ENHANCED EXPERIENCE Developing innovative learning experiences using VR provides a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between theory and practice in a safe and non-judgmental virtual environment. Bodyswaps leverages this to empower learners to develop essential soft skills in total autonomy, with AI and tracking technology embedded to invite learners to experience how they come across from another person’s perspective, along with receiving personalised feedback on their performance. Using generative AI and AI-powered virtual humans within Bodyswaps’ modules, user experience has been taken to the next level with feedback and model answers based upon learner responses.

PAGE 18

The benefits of using VR for practice and preparation are clear.

One of the initial studies conducted on VR revealed that individuals have an improved capacity to retain information when it is delivered within a virtual environment. Findings from Bodyswaps’ research, which encompassed 1,000 students using VR worldwide, demonstrated that even a single session within the Job Interview Simulator instils a heightened sense of readiness and confidence. 80% of students report being more self-aware of ways to improve their skills, 78% feel more confident to apply those skills and 86% would recommend the experience to peers.

Of the University of Liverpool students surveyed between 1 January 2022 to present, 95.7% reported an increased understanding of the skills covered, that they had identified areas to improve on and that they would recommend the training to others. Additionally, we found that student interview performance was enhanced when VR was used ahead of an actual interview.

One student said: “Just knowing how to prepare for and how to address interview questions really boosted my confidence to communicate.”

While VR provides an immersive learning environment simulating realistic scenarios and lets students learn at their own speed and level, Bodyswaps have furthered the accessibility of this training by offering a cross-platform solution extending to PC and mobile devices.

“Technology is at its most powerful in education when used with true pedagogical purpose and there is enormous potential for the application of VR and AI. AI is a crucial component of our framework and thanks to the integration of generative AI in our Job Interview Simulator, we can provide a new level of personalisation. Soon, we will see this evolve to real time questions and responses from the 'virtual humans' when presenting and interviewing.”

Laura Heath, Bodyswaps

VR AND AI IN THE CURRICULUM With generative AI integrations now a part of the experience, the University of Liverpool has evolved VR usage and has incorporated the technology into digital assessment within its Embedded Employability Model to support the confidence of learners. This academic year, for the first time, we have embedded Bodyswaps’ ‘Public Speaking and Presentation Skills’ module into a compulsory, assessed academic skills and methods module for 300 first-year undergraduate Politics students. This element of module assessment is weighted at 10% and is currently awarded on a pass/fail basis.

Public speaking has been identified as a vital skill for the future of work and a key area in which students would benefit from developing their confidence. Facilitating a VR experience using a digital platform enables us to bring something new and experiential to an academic module, which can be delivered at scale. The activity frames how utilising AI is quickly becoming part of daily and working lives, and that it is a valuable tool for students to learn to use effectively in a professional environment.

In an age of digital transformation, the need to equip students with critical, creative, reflective and agile capabilities continues to grow.

The public speaking VR/AI-assessed activity meets this need, while helping achieve the new AI Literacy principles set out by the Russell Group.

We are experimenting with applications of VR as an immersive learning tool

Student interview performance is enhanced by VR practice

FACILITATED AUTONOMOUS LEARNING As part of this embedded activity, students are provided with an introduction to the technology, via casting, with a live demonstration of the software and user experience. Students are then invited to familiarise themselves with the platform independently in 2D using personal devices, and subsequently complete the authentic assessment using VR headsets in bookable slots aligning with the module timetable.

Each one-hour time slot allows a group of nine learners to complete the assessment simultaneously over three weeks. Participants access a customised journey of pre-selected chapters through automatic enrolment using their university email address. Independent reflection is built into the experience in the form of a ‘body swap’ where students become avatars and can review their public speaking performance after watching their recording.

A personalised report with suggestions for improvement is provided as feedback, and completion of a post-experience survey is encouraged to compare learners’ thoughts with a pre-experience survey completed during the VR introduction. The activity concluded in mid-November and is already being scoped as a digitally advanced confidence-boosting solution for students studying various disciplines at all levels.

Participant responses have been extremely positive. After completing their assessment, the proportion of respondents that felt very or extremely confident in their ability to navigate and interact within a virtual environment using VR increased from 15% to 75%. Further to this, 90% of respondents identified that VR enhanced their understanding and engagement with the assessed public speaking task. Students commented that they developed confidence in a judgement-free environment, and they benefited from the ability to record and listen back to their speech with personalised reporting on tonality and body language. They found the activity an “interactive and more interesting” alternative to traditional assessments, contributing to their immersive learning experience.

careers@liverpool.ac.uk laura@bodyswaps.co

PAGE 19

WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS SAYING ABOUT GRADUATES AND HYBRID WORKING?

WHAT DID EMPLOYERS SAY?

LAURA REID, Employer Engagement Coordinator at the University of Edinburgh Careers Service outlines a recent research project undertaken by a summer intern which gathered employer perspectives into hybrid working and how we can help students prepare.

When we recently surveyed the employers we work with, we wanted to find out how the pandemic has changed the working world. Many students have asked about employer expectations regarding hybrid working. For some, this is because they want to work remotely, for others because they want to be on-site. Students have also asked what support will be available in terms of equipment and training, and how flexible different organisations or roles will be, as this can be a key factor in career-decision making.

As we know from wider labour market reports, opportunities with flexible or hybrid working practices are often seen as more attractive (CIPD, 2023). We wanted to find out if these flexible options are available for recent graduates and what skills they will require to thrive in a hybrid environment.

The survey was promoted to all the organisations on our vacancies and events platform, MyCareerHub, over 3 weeks in July 2023.

We incentivised responses with a prize draw to win free advertising and received 112 responses from a broad range of sectors. We sent targeted emails to specific sectors we felt were less represented to encourage them to share their views.

PAGE 20

As we suspected, hybrid working is the most common way of working now (47% of employers), meaning many students are likely to work in hybrid environments at some point in their careers.

This was followed by 35% fully in-person, with fully remote roles being the least available (3%). The remaining employers offered roles which fit into a variety of categories.

We asked those who only offer fully in-person roles to explain their reasoning. 61% responded that this is due to the nature of the job.

Different sectors, and roles, will be limited in how flexible they can be, but it was particularly notable that only 13% answered that it was because they found it easier to measure performance. 23% said it was better for team communication and 3% said it was due to a lack of IT resources to support hybrid working.

We are encouraging students to think about the questions posed around hybrid working Interestingly, whilst 81% of the employers allowed their new graduate employees to work in a hybrid way from the start of their contract, there was anecdotal feedback that it is crucial to be in the office in the first two to three months. Both employers and the graduates we interviewed saw this extended induction period as important to understand the role, meet co-workers and understand the work culture. There were no obvious sector trends to this, so it seems to be more aligned to different organisational cultures.

We also found that 86% of employers stated in their job adverts the level of hybrid working they were offering for each role. This is encouraging in the context of how we ask employers to be fully transparent through the AGCAS Work Experience Standard.

STUDENT SKILLS AND EXPECTATIONS

We need to make employers aware of the ways they can support new graduates starting work

WHAT SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE? When asked what equipment new graduates would be given for hybrid working, 74% responded that they provide essential IT equipment such as laptop, mobile phone, keyboard, mouse and headset, whereas only 5% provided necessary furniture such as a chair or desk. The remaining 6% did not provide any equipment. Digital poverty and further inequalities are considerations across universities, and students can be supported in many ways during their education to succeed.

However, in the working environment, this may not always be taken into consideration. We need to ensure that we make employers aware of these societal issues and the ways they can support new graduates starting work.

However, even when employers do provide the necessary equipment for hybrid work, graduates still need to be conscious of whether they have appropriate home spaces for a productive working environment and the implications this can have on work/life balance and mental health. With regards to pastoral support available to graduates, we found that larger organisations focused more on wellbeing and mental health, whereas SME organisations were more aware of social and networking opportunities. All of these are factors students may want to consider when deciding which roles to apply for and are useful questions to ask potential future employers.

Firstly, and importantly, 93% of employers said graduates were always, or mostly, meeting expectations in terms of professional etiquette. Communication and low confidence were identified by employers as the top two challenges facing new graduates. Some employers went further to explain they believed this was due to missed opportunities during the pandemic.

Navigating communication in hybrid work can be a challenge; for example, when it is appropriate to send a message via MS Teams versus email, with additional nuances for individual organisational cultures. At the University of Edinburgh, we are running campaigns to spotlight opportunities for students to develop these soft skills during their time here, including student employment on campus, internships and volunteering. We are also looking to develop part-time or micro-internships, as well as partnerships with academics, to better embed these skills into the curriculum.

Students should also be empowered to ask about working styles and communication processes when starting work and ask for guidance where appropriate.

COMMUNICATING FINDINGS Our student-facing staff wanted to be fully equipped with this knowledge, so we hosted an information session to communicate findings, and provided links to our reporting and data. We also shared this directly with students via our blog platform and social media. Written by our student intern to help ensure the tone and messaging was accessible for students, these posts encouraged students to think about the questions posed around hybrid working.

The world of work has certainly shifted post-pandemic and starting a graduate role can be a daunting and anxious experience. My hope is that these conversations and resources for students will help them feel more empowered and confident in approaching this new world of work.

Laura.reid1@ed.ac.uk Connect with Laura on LinkedIn

PAGE 21

Shifting the dial:

HUMANISING AI IN EMPLOYABILITY EDUCATION

LEANNE BISATT, Employability and Placements Advisor, SIMON ALLINGTON, Employability and Careers Consultant and OLIVER LAITY, Careers Information Manager from the University of Exeter careers team present the case for an empathetic take on embracing artificial intelligence (AI) for best use within careers and employability learning and development.

In May 2023, Cibyl identified that as many as 70% of students surveyed would either use or consider using AI as part of an application process. At a recent GTI Breakfast News, members of the student panel identified that even if they don’t want to use AI, it can feel like they’re immediately putting themselves at a disadvantage by not using it to apply for jobs.

We know that students are using AI at all stages of their journey into graduate employment, but how should we embrace these changes in a way that feels accessible and practical? And how will that change our service delivery?

TAKING A HUMAN APPROACH In the Student Employability and Academic Success division at the University of Exeter, our aim is to take a human approach to AI. We want to build students' confidence with AI, and to reassure them that in a world with AI, there is still a place for them. However, we can't do that without informed and confident staff. Staff have taken part in an experiential workshop designed to create a baseline awareness of how students are using AI, share their thoughts and experiences, and explore the effective use of ChatGPT by using an adapted version of the CLEAR prompting model. This model was piloted by the AGCAS Student and Graduate Engagement Task Group at Annual Conference in June 2023, and reshared in September via a member webinar.

We created a service-wide AI Careers Working Group, with the aim of aligning the careers service with university-wide strategies and enhancing AI literacy among staff. The group also aims to ensure policy-aligned messaging, stay current with AI recruitment methods and evaluate our existing AI tool usage to ensure effective use. The group has collaborated with other teams to gain employer perspectives on AI in recruitment and fed into university-wide policy and support with the academic approach to AI use.

DEVELOPING SKILLS Keeping up with fast-paced advances in AI can spark trepidation.

Yet as career development professionals, we must remember that it also reinforces the continued importance of many things we already do, the deeper, human-centred aspects of our work. Our focus must be on helping students develop their self-awareness, to recognise blind spots, to think critically, to build relationships, to be courageous and curious in their career exploration, and to develop lifelong career management skills of resilience and adaptability.

Our existing careers advice and guidance portfolio emphasises the importance of these skills, supported by insights from the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2023 and the Institute of Student Employers Development Survey 2023. We use first-year employability programmes to reinforce for students the need for human skills, such as communication, self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

With this continued emphasis on career management skills, we have incorporated AI into advice and guidance delivery in a lighttouch and accessible way. We acknowledge the use of tools like ChatGPT as a useful starting point, encouraging staff and students to think of them as an addition to their knowledge and experience, rather than a replacement. Aside from its inability to generate finelytuned applications on its own, a reliance on ChatGPT can also mean that the essential reflection of whether an opportunity aligns with one's values, motivations and strengths may be skipped over.

SHIFTING THE BALANCE We predict that by empowering staff and students to confidently use AI as a tool in the early stages of the decision-making, research and application process, less staff contact time will be spent supporting students on creating initial documents such as CVs and cover letters.

This will give staff additional time to support students to develop their career management skills, identify relevant opportunities and create tailored applications. This will be especially valuable if, as the data from Cibyl suggests, employers are becoming increasingly aware of AI’s impact on the early careers market.

By upskilling staff, we are teaching students to engage critically and thoughtfully with AI, to embrace new technologies and to see changes to study and work environments as opportunities. At Exeter, we will continue to adjust our approach and policies as the use of AI in early careers develops at a rapid rate, taking an evidencebased approach through our working group and confident, empowered staff.

Connect with Leanne on LinkedIn Connect with Simon on LinkedIn Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn

AI Integration:

TIPS FOR CAREERS SERVICES AND STUDENTS SULAMAN SUNNY, Employability Adviser at the University of Bedfordshire shares tips on using AI, discusses the integration of AI tools and emphasises the importance of transparency and ethical practice.

In recent months, the Careers and Employability service at the University of Bedfordshire has integrated artificial intelligence into some of its regular activities with students, including CV, interview and cover letter support. Students and graduates have been positive about this development, and analytics show that more and more students are engaging with our AI systems each day.

Embracing AI has significantly reduced the time and effort required for crafting applications, thanks to features like the AI CV builder and checker. This has streamlined processes for students and staff, allowing them to work more effectively on applications. Integrating AI tools into the curriculum has also proven popular, offering tailored support to enhance students' readiness for their future careers.

A challenge we have faced is the occasional unpredictability of AI responses. This has underlined the importance of clear communication with AI systems and led to valuable learning points such as giving specific commands and actively guiding AI interactions to promote a sense of control and privacy for students.

THE QUESTION OF ETHICS In my practice, I emphasise the importance of transparency in all AI-driven approaches. Applications must be truthful and precise, avoiding any false claims or exaggerations. My process involves personalisation using AI to align with job requirements, but I follow it up with a thorough review and careful editing to ensure a perfect match with the job in question. Ultimately, the responsibility for accuracy rests with the user. I also stress the significance of avoiding plagiarism, adhering to application guidelines and prioritising privacy and ethical AI practices. By doing so, applicants can distinguish themselves from the competition.

TIPS FOR CAREERS STAFF As mitigating bias is a core element in careers practice, I continually work to minimize any AI-driven biases, ensuring that students receive fair and equitable guidance regardless of the level of AI use.

I use personalised tailoring advice to each student. I strongly encourage candidates to seek human feedback on their applications to ensure that their applications are accurate, effective and ethically sound.

To maintain the highest standards of ethical AI use, I emphasise the necessity of human oversight. Career staff should review AIgenerated applications to guarantee that the final output aligns with the student's aspirations and complies with ethical guidelines. I have undertaken internal university training on AI ethics and best practice which has been valuable. Staying up to speed with the latest AI developments is key to upholding fairness and transparency in career guidance.

GUIDING STUDENTS Students can make the most of AI by understanding its nature and behaviour. AI learns from vast amounts of online data and provides responses based on it. It is essential to know that you cannot anticipate its exact responses in advance, even when using the same input. When using AI, students must understand that they retain control over the process. If at any point, the AI seems to struggle or is not generating the information they require, students should steer it towards a different approach.

The key principle is to have AI serve their specific needs and objectives in creating effective and tailored application materials.

Experimenting with various AI models, seeking clarity, specifying needs and guiding the conversation with AI are the most valuable strategies. These practices help students make the most of AI's capabilities for effective career development while ensuring privacy and achieving tailored application materials.

STAYING INFORMED The adoption of AI tools has brought about significant advantages in streamlining the application process and enhancing students' career readiness. Challenges have prompted valuable learning points. Emphasising transparency and ethical AI practices is crucial for all AI users, ensuring fairness and accuracy in the AI-driven career support process.

Ultimately, understanding and effectively utilizing AI tools have become essential for students to excel in their career development while safeguarding their privacy and tailoring application materials for success. At the University of Bedfordshire, we are dedicated to keeping students updated with the fast-paced developments in the world of AI, ensuring via regular webinars that they stay informed about its potential impact on their professional progression. sulaman.sunny@beds.ac.uk Connect with Sulaman on LinkedIn

PAGE 23

FROM POWER GAPS TO PROGRESS INNOVATION AND POWER GAPS

HOLLY MCLOUGHLIN RCDP, Career Consultant at the University of Chester and Director of Evolving Careers, discusses the power gaps faced by career development practitioners when applying innovative practices in higher education.

Innovative practices have the potential to meet the demands of the evolving future of work, and power gaps can undermine our professionalism.

It can seem like change is the only constant in higher education, and careers services, practitioners and their stakeholders currently stand at a critical juncture. This is a period of significant change, and at such times, innovation is both more likely to occur and more likely to remain, for better or worse, for a long time.

Careers services are challenged with increasing engagement, evolving technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) labour markets, and scaling for 'lifelong' career services. This is all within a backdrop of stretched resources, the cost-of-living crisis, emergence from a global pandemic which radically transformed workplaces, political changes on the horizon, and rising global instability.

As a practitioner, I have often found myself wondering how can we do this? How can we ethically and usefully change to meet the targeted outcomes within institutional constraints and the needs of students for the changing world of work? If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results, a quote widely credited to Albert Einstein, then doing things differently than we have done before is crucial.

Making changes requires practitioners to have the power to shape the service they work in PAGE 24

Innovation is a process for getting different results, and in this article, it can be taken to mean the creative process of putting ideas into action. My work with one university examined the process of innovation with a small group of practitioners. It found that they faced ‘power gaps’ for doing their jobs effectively. A power gap is the difference in amounts of power that individuals or groups have. It’s a disconnect between the experiences, expectations, intentions and sometimes interests between different stakeholders.

The result of the power gaps was that practitioners were constructing their own empowerment, through advocacy with stakeholders and learners. In other words, they were set targets and not always enabled to meet them effectively and manage the risks of change.

Trying to solve complex problems to meet targeted outcomes whilst invisible strings constrict ideas is how power gaps present. Power gaps were evident in practitioners' interactions with academic staff, captured by expressions such as ‘it’s a constant battle’, indicating a profound ‘chasm between [us]’ and the feeling that ‘we’re seen as inferior in every way’.

Practitioners required power for three reasons: 1.To shape the student citizen experience with the careers service This is through defining the purpose of innovative solutions, shared and understood language between all stakeholders, choice and design of place (real and virtual), and image of the service held by others.

2. To advocate for social justice improvements By designing innovative solutions, measuring their impact and quality, networking for out of sector ideas, and using evidencebased information to inform decisions.

3.To enable useful and ethical innovation Practitioners only actioned ideas they perceived as achievable. This was based upon personal motivations, their value and place in hierarchy, the resources available and targets they have.

The opportunity to innovate depends on developing ‘power with’ that grows out of collaboration and relationships built around mutual goals, ‘power to’ which enables all involved to share and shape their worlds, and ‘power within’ which focuses on perceptions of capacity and self-worth. This is what makes innovation happen.

STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS Group career guidance is one example of innovation explored with the practitioners in interviews. While Carl Rogers is well known for his one-to-one ideas of unconditional positive regard, his ‘group encounters’ (also applied by Egan in 1970) are rarely known. Both notable figures emphasised the potency of changes in attitude and behaviour that could be achieved in a group of 6-8 students meeting intensively, with the group determining the contract for their time together.

Despite evidence of improved citizenship outcomes, career adaptability and improved graduate outcomes, there is little widespread uptake. Opinions in research had suggested that there was ‘resistance and scepticism’ from practitioners for guidance outside of the one-to-one model, and practitioner ‘risk and anxiety’ with reflexive learning.

This study revealed a more complex story; there is an assumption that practitioners alone have the power to make such changes when they do not. Group guidance is a change in the norms of the sector where services usually offer one-to-one guidance with only careers education in groups. The cause of resistance was more related to institutional power structures than to individual practitioners.

Confusions in language, purpose, lack of time, resources, social acceptance and training all compounded the perception that this change was not achievable.

Introducing such a change requires practitioners to have the power to shape the service they work in. That power is formed with others and could be a clarion call for leadership to empower the potential of their highly creative careers teams. Ultimately, practitioners faced power gaps that constrained their ability to find creative solutions to implementing their ideas.

THE ROAD AHEAD Power gaps are a barrier to meeting the modern careers context.

Exploring where your power gaps are is useful for those who want to make change happen. Though a small study, the findings may be transferable where the context is similar. As the hierarchical structure of your institution may differ, and its priorities too, a free reflective workbook is offered for considering where you may have power gaps, and how to address them.

Reflecting on and debating the social norms of practice and your service could enhance and encourage innovation, resolve confusing language, and improve perceptions of the sector.

By innovating through this lens, you could pave the way for the future of work. The full research study and workbook can be found at the website below.

Innovation Resources holly@evolving.careers Connect with Holly on LinkedIn

To meet challenges, doing things differently than we have done before is crucial

The BANI Framework:

HELPING MAKE SENSE OF THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE

STEVE MOWFORTH, Knowledge and Diversity Specialist at Coventry University Talent Team, describes Jamais Cascio’s BANI framework, exploring how it might inform career development work in an increasingly chaotic world.

Many careers and recruitment professionals will be familiar with the VUCA framework, which describes broad characteristics of the world in late modernity: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Around 2018, futurist Jamais Cascio had a realisation that VUCA does not convey what it feels like to inhabit today’s chaotic world. He wanted to move beyond VUCA, to present a framework that would focus on humans and feelings. The result was BANI: Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible. The author outlined his framework in a 2020 article, Facing the Age of Chaos, and describes it in detail in this 2022 YouTube video.

Summarising each of the BANI descriptors in turn, I will interpret them from a CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) perspective and explore how the framework might be useful in careers work.

BRITTLE Systems and social structures assumed to be robust and immutable (what Cascio calls illusionary strength) can crumble under unexpected impact. Consider, for instance, confidence in generally affordable food, fuel and housing costs a decade ago, contrasted with today’s cost-of-living crisis, along with its complex and globally interconnected causes.

I think Cascio is saying that when seemingly robust systems shatter, we can lose a sense of how we think the world ought to be: the world we thought we knew now seems illusionary. In his 2020 article, Cascio acknowledges that brittleness is not unique to late modernity:

PAGE 26

“In the past, the consequences of catastrophic failures… were more or less regionally limited. In today’s geopolitically, economically, and technologically interconnected world a catastrophic breakdown in one country can cause a ripple effect around the planet.

Moreover, we’re seeing brittleness manifest in new and surprising ways.”

In the world of work, pre-Covid conceptions of workplace attendance were grounded in an assumption that, left to their own devices, workers would necessarily be less productive. This quasiuniversal assumption was brought into question during the pandemic.

For certain office workers, new remote working policies proved a boon, but also required mental effort to reorientate to unfamiliar circumstances. This paradigm shift gives rise to novel questions and issues (Westerman 2021) for recruiters, career professionals and the clients they work with (career-makers).

ANXIOUS A sense that what is familiar is melting away, to be replaced by novel challenges and options, contributes to a growing sense of anxiety. Cascio uses the term malinformation to encompass fake news, misinformation and disinformation.

In today’s chaotic world, it can be difficult to decide which options are for the best when all seem potentially to have some negative consequence. As Cascio says: “In an anxious world, every choice appears to be potentially disastrous”, giving rise to a sense of helplessness.

Thinking about CEIAG, environmentally conscious job seekers want to understand the green credential claims of potential employers, including issues around green washing and green hushing. When your higher purpose and values are directly linked to your choice of employer, personal stakes may be high. A plethora of options, where each appears to have a downside and is grounded in uncertain information, may manifest as decision avoidance for some career-makers.

NONLINEAR Both climate change and technological progress exemplify the phenomenon of nonlinearity - think of the hockey stick graph (climate change) or Moore’s Law (computing power). Cascio states that: “In a nonlinear world, cause and effect are seemingly disconnected or disproportionate”. An increasingly accelerating pace of change is characteristic of our late modern age.

It is not only technical and physical processes that are subject to acceleration but also social processes, as advanced by sociologist Hartmut Rosa. Applying his concept of social acceleration to career development, there is pressure on career-makers to continually adapt and develop to maintain job market competitiveness to a degree that was not so prevalent in earlier times. Companies are subject to the same acceleration phenomenon which internally filters down to employees.

INCOMPREHENSIBLE We and our clients may struggle to make sense of today’s brittle, anxiety-producing and nonlinear world, especially when events appear illogical, senseless or absurd. For example, in 2021 a large international study identifying high levels of climate anxiety in young people also highlighted feelings of betrayal at perceived inadequate governmental responses to climate change. There is a collective presumption that governments will take appropriate action to address threats to their citizens (the social contract).

In CEIAG, there are concerns about algorithmic bias in AI recruitment systems. Since we are familiar with the direct cause-and-effect ‘mechanics’ of standard computer programming, we tend to assume that incidents of bias produced by the algorithm will be decipherable. It appears that often this is not the case, with AI experts portraying the ‘reasoning’ of the system as an incomprehensible black box. It may be problematic, then, for recruiters to explain how the system arrived at a particular applicant's (de-)selection decision.

BANI has potential to inform how we adapt and develop our practice for the uncertainties to come

THE FUTURE OF WORK AND CAREERS I’ve presented a few examples from the career development world which, to my mind, fit into the four BANI characteristics. At the same time, I am proposing a more holistic application of BANI: we can use the term empathically as a shorthand to express how it feels to be a career-maker in late modernity. I believe that BANI has potential to inform how we adapt and develop our practice for the uncertainties to come. Contextually unpacking the BANI framework may be a way to help individual clients and groups make sense of the rapid and chaotic changes we are experiencing.

BANI is a relatively new model. I can see potential for its application in our field and hope it will become a topic of discussion in our community of practice.

s.mowforth@coventry.ac.uk Connect with Steve on LinkedIn

PAGE 27

What does AI mean

FOR CAREERS PRACTITIONERS?

ChatGPT is certainly a helpful starting point for the less eloquent writers amongst us. This support can only improve the future provision in our service. However, do students need to know we’re getting help from AI? We are currently drawing up a careers and employability AI policy to make sure our work is clear and transparent. While plenty of careers services have made a conscious and valued effort to mention their use of AI, none seem to have policy around its use. This is an area where support from AGCAS could be valuable, helping services to be transparent and explain the growing role AI is playing in their service delivery.

PREPARING GRADUATES ALEX PROCTOR, Career Consultant for the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences at the University of Bradford, outlines how careers professionals and practitioners can utilise AI as part of their work – and how we can prepare our students and graduates for AI recruitment techniques.

The University of Bradford is embracing AI to change up our guidance practice and enhance the way we support our students.

Our Bradford Graduate Talent team have created various learning paths in Abintegro to support graduates in a range of ways e.g. searching for a professional job or finding graduate schemes.

We use AI platforms such as ‘CV360’ and ‘Interview360’ and ChatGPT helps us to search for mock interview questions and career-planning information more quickly than on a typical search engine. AI is making research quick and easy too. For a recent appointment, I was able to find ample information regarding marine biology companies in Japan, resulting in a happy client.

But what does this mean for the future of careers experts – and how much can we really rely on AI for this support?

We are responding to the rising progress of AI platforms and their impact on recruitment and selection processes WHY IS AI SO USEFUL? AI improves customer service levels, while supporting the drive to engage with hard-to-reach students. Using ChatGPT has helped define some of the components of our attendance and no-show policy, as well as shaping our advice to students about using AI platforms in a career-focused capacity.

PAGE 28

To prepare students and soon-to-be graduates, the University of Bradford have devised a curriculum around ‘future focused learning’, which responds to the rising progress of AI platforms and their impact on recruitment and selection processes.

I recently met with a Business Analytics lecturer whose team were looking at the future of AI platforms for employability purposes. He said that while AI recruiter algorithms might find hard, technical skills such as Excel easier to pick up on, recruiters still value both soft and hard skills. The team found that equipping students with a range of soft skills during their course of study will be crucial to ensure graduates entering the labour market are ready to thrive.

The School of Management are therefore shaping their curriculum plans to ensure all graduates leave with a technical and soft skill employability toolkit which will put them in a good position against AI-driven recruitment practices, while still appealing to the real experts behind the recruitment.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? While AI platforms have obvious strengths, they cannot be totally relied on and should be used with expert support. For example, I recently found parts of AI advice about routes into teaching were incorrect and minimal in detail – and therefore needed the input of an expert.

We should continue to be mindful that AI platforms should only act as an aid, but don’t replace the human element of our core information, advice and guidance work that we may undertake as career practitioners. While AI is useful as a starting point, an expert eye is still essential. AI is a powerful tool to assist and enhance the expertise of our careers professionals – but it absolutely cannot replace them.

A.J.Proctor2@bradford.ac.uk Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

AGCAS Learning

YOUR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Learn, hone and augment your knowledge and skills, while extending your professional network.

For the entrant, with 0–2 years’ experience, we have Challenges of Careers Work in HE and Employability Advice as well as our Introductions series, which covers: Advice Guidance Interviewing Employer Engagement andData.

For the established, with 2–5 years’ experience, expand your knowledge, confidence and toolkit with courses including: Work-Related Learning in HE Recruitment Practices and Talent Management: Bridging the Gap Group Work Career Coaching (Information, Advice and Guidance) and Employability and Career Development Learning.

And for the experienced, with 5 years and more, consider: Guidance Refresher Leadership Refresher Management of HE Careers and Employability Services and Guidance Skills (Advanced).

We also have cross-cutting courses which are relevant to ANYONE, however long you have been in your role. Join: Writing for Impact Technology-Based Career Learning and Provision and keep an eye out for Workshops.

With prices for Full Members starting at £40, you’ll find training wherever you are on your Professional Pathway, wherever you want to go. For further details, view AGCAS Training and Conferences.

Pursue your Postgraduate Qualification in Career Education, Information and Guidance (CEIGHE) delivered by the University of Warwick and AGCAS.

BOOK REVIEW TAMMY GOLDFELD, Head of Careers at BPP reviews Get Into Law: Make Your Leap from Student to Solicitor by Meera Patel, a BPP alumna. It is a short, practical guide designed to help and empower any student aspiring to a career in law. It is based on the author’s own personal journey to a successful career in law, through the lens of being a female and an ethnic minority.

Get Into Law: Make Your Leap from Student to Solicitor

by Meera Patel is an essential guide for any student aspiring to become a solicitor. It is packed with top tips and helpful advice to help students make a successful transition from university and into the competitive legal sector. Patel’s writing style is encouraging and empathetic, reflecting the fact that she has served as a mentor to many students.

The book helps students understand the importance of knowing oneself, having a positive mindset, building a professional network, developing commercial awareness and making winning applications to law firms. For students who lack personal and professional networks, there is great advice on how to make connections and break into the corporate world.

Much of the advice Patel offers was learned through trial and tribulation and she openly shares her vulnerabilities along the way.

She describes her journey as one of personal development and continuous learning which made her very resilient. She says:

“I wrote the book for a few reasons: to inspire students and accelerate their employability as well as to encourage diversity in law, specifically women and ethnic minorities entering the legal profession. I also believe there is a formula to getting a legal role and have distilled this formula into 10 clear steps. It is super joyful to share this and see students apply these steps on their own unique career journeys.”

BRIDGING THE GAP The book has been endorsed by legal recruiters, demonstrating that it neatly bridges the gap between academia and the working world. Natalie Thomas, Director of TAP Search Legal Recruitment said:

“Get Into Law is a candid, open book on how to understand what is important to you when applying for a training contract, staying true to yourself, and stepping away from linear thinking. Notable highlights include a 3step methodology on Commercial Awareness, which everyone could benefit from, the importance of networking and the final invaluable chapter on futureproofing one’s career, especially in today’s rapidly changing society.

Although the target audience is law students, the principles discussed may be applied to any professional during their early career years."

HOW CAN IT BE USED? Get Into Law is relevant to any student; but what is special about it is that it is very personal and authentic as Patel weaves in her own journey to a successful career in law as a woman from an ethnic minority who was first in her family to go to university. She decided to enter the legal profession to empower herself and create positive change in the world, which resonates throughout the book.

It can be used as part of careers workshops and employability modules. Gemma Kenyon, Director, Careers and Employability, City University said:

"This book is a practical, jargon free guide for helping students considering careers in law. Meera’s tone and confidence building messages are particularly great for students from backgrounds underrepresented in the legal sector. Highly recommended!"

Finally, as career professionals, we all love a good action plan.

The book finishes with an excellent companion workbook with clear actions for students to follow. This inspiring book is very accessible and encouraging and would be an excellent addition to any careers library, reading list or careers module.

PAGE 31

Student engagement:

ADDRESSING THE POST-PANDEMIC DROP-OFF

RESEARCHING CAREER THINKING

DIANE RICHARDSON, Student Engagement and Quality Manager at Lancaster University, reflects on the outcomes of a Jisc funded research project looking at the changing attitudes of students towards their career plans following the Covid pandemic.

During the pandemic, engagement with the careers service at Lancaster University was high. With students having more time on their hands due to ongoing lockdown restrictions, and the additional need for support in such an unknown and unsettling situation, March 2020 through to September 2021 was one of the busiest periods we had experienced.

Becoming accustomed to this increased engagement, it was a surprise when the picture started to change in October 2021, with the service experiencing a sudden downward trend in the number of students accessing our extracurricular provision.

In March 2022, amidst our growing engagement concerns, we saw the call for submissions for the JISC Careers Research Grant.

Our successful funding bid provided a valuable opportunity to undertake research focusing on: understanding the changing attitudes of undergraduate students towards their career readiness and career planning; identifying what employability support current students were seeking.

We opted for a mixed method approach, utilising our existing service usage and Career Thinking Data collected at the point of registration, as well as conducting focus groups. The latter enabled us to look beyond the quantitative data, to explore career-related topics directly from the student perspective.

Analysis of six years of Career Thinking Data showed a decline in the number of students ready to compete in the graduate recruitment market by the start of their final year. In 2017/18, 41% of final year students were ready to begin competing for opportunities, whereas by 2022/23, this figure had decreased to 25%. Despite this, students were not necessarily turning to the careers service for support; in fact, many were more likely to turn to their peers for advice instead.

We have reviewed our annual calendar of engagement, to offer increased provision during vacation periods

PAGE 32

PEER SUPPORT The impact of peers on students’ career thinking was a fascinating aspect of the research. Students appeared to be influenced in the following ways: Seeing others struggle with recruitment processes and consequently feeling demotivated themselves.

Hearing about the types of jobs that others were applying for and being inspired.

Asking friends for support with applications because they had first-hand experience of the process.

Peer influence can be a powerful communication technique

ANALYSING THE CHALLENGES

A student summed this up by saying:

Analysis of our post-pandemic engagement drop-off led us to three possible reasons:

“For me, I think the biggest influence is friends because I can ask them for advice and also seeing them apply for jobs makes me want to apply for stuff.”

1. After having their student experience restricted for nearly two years, understandably some wanted to make up for lost time and enjoy the social side of university life, meaning career planning was not a priority.

While peer-to-peer advice isn’t always perfect, given the engagement challenges we were facing, we decided to recruit four Careers Student Ambassadors to create a new channel of student communication. The recruits have been enthusiastic and committed, with very clear, forthright views on how to engage with students. However, whilst we can see from the research that peer influence can be a powerful communication technique, it has still proved challenging to develop the job duties of the ambassadors.

Currently this is very much trial and error as we work out what does and doesn’t work.

SUMMER ENGAGEMENT Evident through our analysis of service usage data was that whilst there was a decline in engagement overall, there was an upward trend in engagement specifically during the summer vacation. This started during the height of the pandemic and remains today. The number of logins to our CRM over the summer vacation has nearly doubled over the past six years.

To capitalise on this, we trialled an intensive week of workshops in September (the Horizon Programme) primarily aimed at penultimate year students, to support them in moving to the ‘competing phase’ of career planning by the start of their final year.

This programme proved more popular than we could have hoped with 269 bookings. This has led us to review our annual calendar of engagement, to offer increased provision during vacation periods, rather than concentrating support during term time as has historically been the case.

2. For other students, little work experience resulted in a lack of confidence and awareness of opportunities, and they too were postponing engaging with the careers service and making career decisions.

3. As the service was less visible to students during the pandemic, they seemed to find reassurance in turning to peers for support instead.

With our new summer Horizon Programme, we are providing students who have postponed their career thinking with a further opportunity to engage with us, at a time that suits them.

Recruiting four Careers Student Ambassadors as a way of promoting our service through peer-to-peer interaction is being trialled, with the intention of expanding upon this if successful.

We are collecting data on the numbers of students engaging with us, the value they attribute to the service provided and their behavioural intentions as a result of the interaction. Using this information in combination with our Careers Thinking and Graduate Outcomes data, will hopefully provide us with an understanding of whether our new provision is contributing to greater engagement and ultimately, increased positive outcomes for graduates.

d.richardson1@lancaster.ac.uk

PAGE 33

Reflecting on retirement:

THE AGCAS ALUMNI COMMUNITY TANIA LYDEN, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick and member of the AGCAS Research and Knowledge Committee, shares thoughts from the alumni community on preparing for retirement.

I had the privilege of attending the recent AGCAS Alumni annual meeting in Bristol. This group share a passion for careers work and for AGCAS. Many have been active alumni for decades, though their lives have evolved in so many ways upon leaving the sector.

The group is keen to better support AGCAS members as they move towards retirement (or semi-retirement).

PUBLIC SERVICE The group shared a strong sense of public service throughout their careers as well as in the ‘disengagement’ stage (Super, 1953). One member was volunteering for the Citizens Advice Bureau and others for organisations including churches, local schools, galleries and museums and gardens, as well as taking on important community roles often promoted via u3a. Some used local organisations e.g.

Probus, to attend lectures and talks, while some were travelling, embracing hobbies or getting involved in consultancy work. These activities provide a sense of purpose, structure and social interaction.

Researchers have identified how important a sense of purpose is when it comes to retirement and good (physical and mental) health (Pinquart, 2002; Kim and Moen, 2002).

The room agreed that careers professionals develop useful skills in their working life that are highly valuable on retirement. They can chair meetings, communicate well and empathise, manage all kinds of (including some difficult) people and are organised and committed to serve. These skills and attributes are well worth applying to our society and communities.

STEPPING AWAY The group shared how hard it can be to disengage from work. Some spoke optimistically about being able to focus more on family and friendships. The literature describes retirement as a multi-dimensional process where retirees adapt to both the loss of a work role and the social ties of working, so developing both can lead to a more positive retirement (van Solinge and Henkens, 2008).

PAGE 34

Several spoke of the urge to ‘cling on’ to the sector. Often this seemed to be for those whose retirement was not planned or expected. Researchers have found that those who had less control around retirement often had a more challenging transition (van Solinge & Henkins, 2008). Some reported that their institutions had handled this transition poorly and that this negativity could colour the initial experience of retirement and subsequent self-identity.

There were clearly emotions alive in the room. The fear of being forgotten and not mattering had been experienced by many. One alumnus had been advised by a colleague to ‘take all you are offered because in six months’ time they’ll have forgotten you’.

Many had experienced feelings of invisibility, but conversely, there was a sense of freedom that often came with this. Retirement was linked to fear but also to the challenge of reinventing oneself.

(Froidevaux, Hirshi & Wang 2016).

RESILIENCE AND EVOLUTION There were some difficult messages too. How many institutions offered retirement training was explored and whether this had been taken up or not. Despite this, some spoke of how the best-laid plans may need to be put to one side if health issues or bereavement left them reassessing their lives. Several spoke about the dependents they were now supporting, both older parents and grandchildren. It struck me that although many of us have the privilege of retiring and designing how we want our lives to be in retirement (Savickas, 2012), some do not. We cannot guarantee our plans will fully come to fruition. Resilience and adaptability are key and ‘make the most of it’ was an overriding theme.

The group were so engaged. Retirement for many was described as a new chapter in a book, an opportunity to reinvent yourself, your career, your life. The group had an overriding feeling of wanting to share their challenges and to tell more of their stories over the coming months to share with career professionals who are approaching retirement to engender some early planning and reflection. Just listening to their discussion has started the process for me. If you are about to retire, explore the AGCAS Alumni Network and learn about retirement from those who have gone through it.

AGCAS Alumni Network Martinpen@btinternet.com

What do graduates do?

SAM BRESLIN, Student Services Head of Portfolio at Jisc, shares findings from What do graduates do? 2023/24.

This issue demonstrates the value of a degree, with the class of Covid experiencing extraordinary employment outcomes.

For more than two decades, Prospects has worked collaboratively with AGCAS to produce What do graduates do? Analysing HESA Graduate Outcomes data, it digests graduate destinations by subject along with expert insight in an easy-to-read format making it a must read for career professionals.

The current issue is among the most insightful as it charts the destinations of the 2020/21 graduating cohort 15 months after leaving university – a group who completed their studies in the pandemic and graduated just as restrictions lifted. Lockdown meant that they had little opportunity to prepare for work. They entered a labour market rife with shortages and embracing a new hybrid way of working. Their employment outcomes tell us a great deal about graduates as well as the impact a degree has on the labour market and career prospects.

EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES Despite experiencing a rare level of disruption to their career paths, this cohort had some of the best employment outcomes after 15 months in the short history of the Graduate Outcomes survey. The majority (81%) of the cohort were employed either full-time or parttime, with full-time employment up 3.1 percentage points on the previous year, to 59.6%.

Meanwhile, 19% of the cohort were in further study, and of those, nearly half (44%) were taking a Masters. A quarter of the ‘work and further study’ group were taking professional qualifications while employed, such as legal or accountancy qualifications.

With lockdown lifting and the jobs market improving, further study numbers were down on the previous cohort by 1.4 percentage points. Just 5.0% were unemployed at the time of the survey, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous year, a very substantial fall for this figure over one year.

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES The skilled nature of graduates meant that the large majority of those working were in professional-level employment. Skills demand reflected the changing environment. With the pandemic abating, there were fewer graduates going into health while booming demand in business, HR and finance meant an impressive 1.3 percentage points increase. Engineering, IT and the arts also saw healthy rises.

The analysis demonstrates that graduates are a skilled, adaptable and resilient bunch. These are sought after attributes under any circumstances, but more so now as the workplace evolves to different ways of working from remote practices to AI.

CAREERS DATA Our latest series of roadshows, which take our labour market information to careers services, are underway. It's great to meet so many colleagues and hear about trends, needs and challenges.

We'll be revising the format for 2024 to bring more insight and expertise.

If you're planning to undertake your own research that develops best practice or advances knowledge in the sector, you may be eligible for a grant from Jisc. Open to all HE and FE Jisc members, the Jisc Careers Research Grant is designed to support careers practitioners' research, help disseminate findings and improve practices, with up to £5,000 available for each project.

A recent project includes International students in the UK: perspectives from Chinese employers and alumni from the University of Sheffield and How do career development practitioners innovate in HE? from the University of Chester.

Applications for the next round open on 3 January 2024 and close on 5 April 2024. You can find more information on Prospects Luminate.

Prospects Luminate Prospects

PAGE 35

RESEARCHER'S DIGEST DR JULIA YATES, Associate Professor in Organisational Psychology at City, University of London, shares her latest digest of careers-related research.

01 THE SAILBOAT MODEL Demirtaş-Zorbaz, S., Korkut-Owen, F., Arıcı-Şahin, F. & Mutlu, T. (2023) Career sailboat: a model for enhancing career decision-making self-efficacy among job-seekers.

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 51:2, 284-297, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2023.2177615 This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of a careers intervention based on the Career Sailboat Model. I hadn’t come across this model before, but I like the metaphor. The idea is that students are sailing towards their career goal, in a boat made up of social, personal and systemic factors, navigating the choppy waters of chance. There have been some small-scale evaluations of Career Sailboat Model interventions in the past, which suggest that clients find the model easy to understand and engaging. This study looked at final year university students, and although the sample size was small, it was a well-designed study with a control group. The intervention consisted of a five-week programme of 60-90 minute career workshops, which covered the key aspects of the model (the influences of social, personal and systemic factors and chance) and the findings indicated that it did have a significant positive impact on the students’ confidence in their own abilities to make a career choice. Find out more about the Career Sailboat Model.

PAGE 36

02 THE BENEFITS OF A PROACTIVE PERSONALITY Le, S. T., & Lin, S. P. (2023). Proactive personality and the job search outcomes: the mediating role of networking behaviour. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 51(1), 29-45.

This is one of those studies whose findings will come as no great surprise, but I’m including it because it’s always useful to have some concrete empirical evidence to support our assumptions. This substantial study looked at 773 graduates to identify the factors that seem to lead to a successful job hunt. It found that having a proactive personality is definitely an advantage, leading to more invitations to interview and more job offers. The first specific finding was that proactive people (defined here as people who have personal initiative and change-orientated behaviour) are likely to have clearer career goals. The authors explain that proactive people generally engage in more exploratory activities, and these experiences allow them to identify their own career goals. Proactive people also put effort into building their networks. These two things – clearer goals and more networking – result in more invitations to interview and more job offers. A proactive personality is a fairly stable trait and a difficult one to change, but whilst we can’t make people more proactive, we can make it easier for them to access opportunities.

The authors suggest we should work with clients to encourage them to identify and take advantage of opportunities. Getting involved in more activities will help them to refine their career goals, and helping clients to work out how they can build and capitalise on their networks can help them improve their chances of job search success.

03

04

DEVELOPING ASYNCHRONOUS INTERVIEW SKILLS

PERCEIVED EMPLOYABILITY

Roulin, N., & Bourdage, J. S. (2023). Ready? Camera rolling… action! Examining interviewee training and practice opportunities in asynchronous video interviews.

Journal of Vocational Behavior, 145, 103912.

Asynchronous video interviews are becoming more and more common. For organisations, this approach has considerable financial benefits, but we know that applicants are less enthusiastic.

Organisations often offer applicants access to resources, including training videos and the opportunity to practice and watch their own recordings, to help to mitigate the negative effects of this approach.

This study was looking at whether these resources make a difference. I was surprised to read that the authors found that there was no benefit to having the opportunity to practice – this didn’t improve candidates’ interview performance at all. But watching a training video was positively related both to perceptions of fairness and interview performance. Applicants who had watched the training videos ended up giving longer and more structured answers which contributed to a better performance. Therefore, the advice to our students facing asynchronous video interviews is to watch some training videos – either those provided by the organisations themselves, or those they can find on YouTube, and to give full and structured responses.

Grosemans, I., De Cuyper, N., Forrier, A., & Vansteenkiste, S. (2023). Graduation is not the end, it is just the beginning: Change in perceived employability in the transition associated with graduation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 145, 103915.

There is a bit of interest in the literature at the moment about the differences between notions of graduate and work employability.

The two strands of research seem to have developed quite independently and only now are researchers starting to link them up. This paper looks at graduates’ perceptions of their own levels of employability through their time at university and then again a year after they have graduated. The authors identified three typical patterns. One group of graduates had high levels of perceived employability when they started their academic courses, and these levels remained high throughout their time at university, rising slightly after graduation. Then there were some whose levels started at a medium level and also increased slightly after they graduated. Finally, there were those whose levels started low and never improved. They arrived at university thinking they didn’t have a bright future, and felt the same a year after graduation. The authors seem pleased and a little surprised to find that graduates’ perceptions of their own levels of employability do not decrease after graduation; they anticipated that entering the ‘real world’ might make them feel that their chances of success are not as great as they imagined. What does concern them is the group of graduates who feel pessimistic about their chances of getting a job whilst they are students and just as pessimistic about it once they are working. The authors suggest that we should try and identify this group whilst they are still at university and offer some interventions to boost their confidence and optimism.

julia.yates.1@city.ac.uk

PAGE 37

VIEW PHOENIX THEMES AND ISSUES

next issue OF PHOENIX

MARCH 2024

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AGCAS MEMBERS AT THE FOLLOWING SERVICES:

BPP University

University of Bradford

University of Liverpool

Coventry University

University of Chester

University of London

Lancaster University

University of Edinburgh

University of Nottingham

Queen’s University Belfast

University of Exeter

University of Sussex

University of Bedfordshire