Enhancing Alumni Employability

McGuire, W. (2017) Enhancing Alumni Employability. Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference: SERA 2017, Ayr, UK, 22-24 Nov 2017.

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Abstract

Aims: This paper reports on the initial findings of a pilot, Enhancing Alumni Employability, which used Glasgow University’s alumni webpage, The Network, as a resource to enhance the employability of former students. It aimed to prepare student teachers, who were about to complete their probationary period, for profession-specific interview by: interacting with the online support materials; working with peer mentors to review job interview question types and typical responses and by accessing tutor mentors for mock interviews and feedback. The medium used to provide this support,TeachingJobs, is an online platform which is part of an alumni system called The Network. Methods: Respondents who had used the resource either as mentors or as consumers were invited to attend a focus group designed to explore the extent to which key aspects of the platform were helpful, unhelpful and to consider how it could be improved for future participants. Sixteen people participated in the pilot and four agreed to participate. Main findings: Respondents drew distinctions between the medium and the message. As a platform, The Network has the key aim of maintaining contact with alumni and encouraging networking. Our purpose was more specific. As such respondents praised not only the attempt to communicate with former students in a pragmatic manner, but also the quality of the resources available. So, while the content was deemed to be helpful, access to it was felt to be less so as a consequence of the design characteristics of the platform. Conclusions: The need to create more accessible ways of locating specific topics was the key adaptation identified.

Item Type:Conference or Workshop Item
Keywords:Alumni, employability, transitions, professions
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McGuire, Professor Willie
Authors: McGuire, W.
Subjects:L Education > L Education (General)
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Pedagogy Policy and Practice
College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Pedagogy, Praxis & Faith
Research Group:PPP

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