Employability Resource Pack by Paul Chin, Della Grice and Tina Overton  Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Phy

1. Employability Resource Pack by Paul Chin, Della Grice and Tina Overton Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Physical Sciences 2004

2. Resources designed to help students of the physical sciences develop skills for employment • The pack is a structured resource that can be used as a complete module or as individual exercises to support other career-based activities. The aim is to provide academics with a range of easy to implement activities that develop undergraduate key skills in an employment context. • The resources have been designed specifically for the physical sciences community. The direct relevance of the activities to the physical sciences enables students to relate their skill development to their studies and see the links to future employment.

3. Tutor’s Guide • outlines the aim and nature of the relevant student activity • where applicable, a suggested assessment scheme is included Student activity sheets • clearly set out what is required • contain any relevant additional information as handouts

4. The activities are divided into five main categories: • Considering career options and which skills employers are looking for • The skills that are needed to obtain interviews and secure employment, i.e. CV writing and interview technique • Developing communication and presentation skills • Getting the most benefit from careers services and recruitment fairs • Thinking ahead in a professional way

5. These relate to the five sections of the resource pack • Starting out • Skills development • Achieving results • Finding information • Looking forward and maintaining professionalism

6. Overview of the resource pack

7. A summary of the main skills developed in each activity

8. Starting Out • Activity 1 Employability Quiz • Activity 2 Card Sort Exercise • Activity 3 Career Quiz • Activity 4 Skills Audit

9. Developing Skills • Activity 5 Evaluating Visual Aids • Activity 6 One Minute Presentation • Activity 7 Five or Ten Minute Presentation • Activity 8 Press Release Exercise

10. Achieving Results • Activity 9 CV Evaluation • Activity 10 Compiling your CV and Application Forms • Activity 11 Interview Preparation Exercise • Activity 12 Interview Scenarios • Activity 13 Graduate Vacancy Application

11. Looking forward and maintaining professionalism • Activity 14 An Ethical Dilemma • Activity 15 Professional Bodies and Your Future • Activity 16 Reflective Log

12. Finding information • Activity 17 Take away Guide

13. Employability Quiz Q1 Do you have a specific career in mind? (a) Definitely; (b) Some idea but still unsure (c) No idea at all Q4 Do you want to remain within the discipline of your degree? (a) Definitely, I really enjoy this discipline/subject; (b) I enjoy some aspects of it but I’m not sure whether I would like to continue in it; (c) No, I want to do something different Q6 Have you already had an appointment at your careers service? (a) Yes; (b) No, but I intend to make an appointment in my final year/soon; (c) I don’t think the careers service can help me in deciding what I want to do

14. Card Sort Exercise Students are asked to • Identify 3 cards in “very urgent” category • Write half a page on steps to be taken to achieve the aims

15. Activity 5 Evaluating Visual Aids – Slide 1 • 1.2 Interactions of microwaves with liquids • Microwaves interact with non-magnetic liquids by induction of polarization by the oscillating electric field of the electromagnetic wave. Polarisation is due to the orientation of the permanent dipoles of the molecules through molecular rotation, the distortion of the electron distribution within the molecules and, for conducting liquids, movement of free charge carriers. Microwave spectra are normally represented as plots of the dielectric constant e’ and the dielectric loss e’’ as a function of frequency. The dielectric loss e’’ is the imaginary component of the complex dielectric constant and is a measure of how efficiently the sample can convert the energy of electromagnetic radiation into heat. The real component, e’, describes the ability of the molecule to be polarised by the electric field1,20-25. Both e’ and e’’ are dimensionless quantities; the absolute values are obtained by multiplying the values by the permittivity of free space efs which is equal to 8.854 x 10-12 C2 J-1 m-1.

16. Activity 5 Evaluating Visual Aids – Slide 2

17. Activity 5, Slide 3

18. Activity 5, Slide 4 Wavelength and Reflection of Microwaves • The frequency 2.45 GHz coresponds to a wavelength of 12.2 cm assuming the microwaves are travelling in a vacum. • In water 2.45 GHz coresponds to a wavelength of 1.87 cm. • When microwaves are incident on the sample surface, a fraction is reflected and the remainder is transmitid into the sample. • Transmitid intensity decays exponentially with distance though the sample as energy is absorbed.

19. Activity 5 Slide 5

20. Activity 8. Press Release Number 4 • A solar powered anti bacterial reverse osmosis water filter, particularly suitable for use in third world countries, has been developed. The new filter uses cartridges that last for a year without needing to be cleaned or replaced, an advantage over the traditional ones that needed replacing every month. • The use of solar power offers access to previously unreachable water sources. The anti bacterial filter offers widescreen protection against a range of common water borne bacteria found in the tropical climates of many of the third world countries. •  You played an important role in the development of this product and have been asked to prepare a brief statement to give to a government official who is considering financing the implementation of the filter for a trial period. • Prepare a statement that will be used to promote the benefits of this product.

21. Activity 12 Interview Videos Four scenarios provided • Over-confident interviewee • Interviewee lacking in confidence • Technical interview • Oral presentation (at interview or any setting)

22. Video pictures

23. Graduate Physicist We are a healthcare company at the cutting edge of clinical development. We believe in putting patients first by producing quality medicines and pushing the development of novel products to the forefront of clinical design. We are currently seeking a Physicist for our state-of-the-art laboratories based in Hepplesworth. We have a number of opportunities based in the Medical Devices Section. The vacancies cover a range of areas including fibre optics, lasers, magnets and sensors development. At this stage we are not seeking specialised knowledge on these specific areas, but looking for graduates with a comprehensive understanding of physics…

24. Activity 13. Graduate Vacancy Application Figure 1. An overview of the application process. Each of the four Groups shown applies for a vacancy advertised by a different group.

25. Activity 13. Graduate Vacancy Application Figure 2. An overview of the interviewing process. Each of the four groups shown interviews a different group to the one they were interviewed by.

26. Help Sheet - Common Questions Asked During Interviews

27. Ethical dilemmas • You are responsible for the quality control testing of the raw materials for a particular product line. Your supervisor is pressurising you to pass a batch of material that is below standard, because the new batch was late arriving and the production process has had to stop as a result. • You discover that a senior medical representative you are working with is falsifying his sales returns, and as a result the figures on which his bonus are based are grossly inflated. What are you going to do? • A colleague is going to be promoted on the strength of work that you did, but that he is taking the credit for. • A team member is really patronising and offensive towards you, but not in front of other team members, and is spreading A team member is really patronising and offensive towards you, but not in front of other team members, and is spreading malicious rumours about you.

28. Professional bodies and your future Whatever profession you ultimately move into it may be desirable, or you may be required, to join the professional body for that discipline. If you remain within your subject area the three relevant professional bodies are the Institute of Physics (IOP), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). • Does the society have separate activities for younger members? • Can you join as a student or do you need to obtain your degree first? • Does the society advertise relevant job vacancies? • Is there a newsletter magazine produced by the society, if so how regularly is it produced and what is it called? • Is careers advice available?

29. Activity 16: Reflective log You could consider: • The range of skills you feel you have developed • What you felt your weakest area was and why • The steps you took to improve • Why you feel that area has improved • What steps you will continue to take to ensure you continue to develop this area in the future • How your awareness of the needs of employers has developed

30. Take Away Guide • Do you know the dates of Careers Fairs at your University? • Have you made an appointment at your Careers Service? • Are you thinking about which areas / companies interest you? • Have you planned any work experience for the summer vacation? • Try to avoid leaving everything until the last minute. • Don’t feel pressured if your friends are getting offers or seem to know which direction they want to go into.

31. Useful websites Prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk  Milkround Online http://www.milkround.com/s4/jobseekers/  Job Doctor http://www.gti.co.uk  Graduate Recruitment Bureau http://www.grb.uk.com/index.php

32. http://www.physsci.heacademy.ac.uk/Home/ • Talk presented by Dr Mary Masson at Forum on Employability: Developing the College Teaching & Learning Strategy, Monday 20th December 2004, College of Physical Sciences, University of Aberdeen.