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New research launched to develop e-guidance software for all HE Careers Services
Britain's graduates are turning to the internet in droves for careers advice and guidance, delegates were told at the 'Services for Graduates' conference, which marked the conclusion of the three-year, CSU (Higher Education Careers Services Unit) funded project which explored new ways to provide careers advice and guidance for graduates.
And to build on the success of the 'Services for Graduates' project, CSU has established an e-guidance team to develop further activities to help graduates with their career planning post graduation. New services will include a range of online self-assessment exercises and resources; an extension of the role of live chatrooms so that graduate recruiters and careers advisors can deliver live employer presentations and workshops; a wider range of case histories and role model information; and an extension of the Regional Graduate Services section in prospects.ac.uk to include a national gateway for local and regional careers information.
Established by CSU in conjunction with AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services), the 'Services for Graduates' project comprised a web based interactive careers development service integrated into leading student and graduate career guidance website, prospects.ac.uk.
One of the most popular features was Graduate Question Time, an email advice facility enabling graduates to email their questions to a team of careers advisers and receive an email response within three days.
This service generated over 1,000 careers queries a month and CSU is running a twelve-month research project to develop this facility further through a customised web based e-guidance management and administration software package for HE Careers Services to deliver, manage and monitor their own e-guidance service for students and graduates.
Another popular feature was Graduate CV Surgery, a facility enabling graduates to email their CVs for checking by a career adviser. Nearly 10,000 CVs have been checked since the service was launched with nearly nine out of ten users, 88 per cent, claiming they made amendments to their CV as a result of the advice they received. Nearly all, 91 per cent, of users claimed that their 'virtual adviser' provided 'constructive feedback which was useful to them'. Users of this particular service tended to be recent graduates in their first year or two following graduation.
Graduate Forum, another popular service, averaged 550 registrations per month with on average 300 posted messages. The most popular discussion subjects are 'how to get your ideal job'; 'jobs, what's out there?'; and 'ideas for further study'.
''Services for Graduates' also ran live careers chats with subjects spanning individual business sectors, postgraduate study and self-employment.
The site also carried a 'Frequently Asked Questions' service which has attracted over 35,000 accesses to date. The most frequently asked questions are: 'I'm not sure what kind of job I want'; 'I'm a graduate, unemployed and need a job. What should I be doing?'; and 'What can I expect to earn in my first job?'.
Much of the success of the 'Services for Graduates' project is attributed to its ability to provide a forum for sharing views:
'Graduates who are looking to find a first position or change jobs can often feel isolated once they move away from campus,' explained CSU's chief executive, Mike Hill. 'Online facilities such as these enable them to share experiences and get some moral support which all job seekers need from time to time.'
Other 'Services for Graduates' facilities include Regional Graduate Services highlighting local graduate careers advice and guidance facilities; 'Test Yourself', which provides online access to a wide range of psychometric tests, assessments and online careers development tools; and graduate case studies.
In addition to the central service, ten local graduate development initiatives delivered by higher education Careers Services to build on existing provision and tailored to local needs have been initiated. These have included Portsmouth Graduates Online, West of Scotland Graduate Careers Email Service, and Graduates to Merseyside.
'Services for Graduates' exceeded all expectations by delivering a highly successful central careers guidance facility and local web based initiatives. The volume of traffic to the sites and the comments of users have highlighted core requirements which will now be extended to other avenues including HE Careers Services,' said Mike Hill.
The 'Services for Graduates' services will continue to be available to graduates on www.prospects.ac.uk
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