“EMPLOYABILITY”?

1. “EMPLOYABILITY”?

2. What is “employability” The skills and experience you have developed The evidence you have for the above Your ability to communicate all of this to employers in a job winning way

3. Employers are looking for… • People who can do the job • People who fit into the organisation • People who can go beyond the job

4. Your dissertation could help by… • Providing evidence of your skills • Allow you to gain new ones • Showing you’re capable of adding value to an external organisation

5. Things to Think About Now… • What sort of dissertation would be of most use to me? • How can I make the most of this opportunity? • How could this fit into my future plans? • How could I use this to prove my skills to potential employers? • What skills do I want to prove I have • What skills do you need to brush up on? • What skills do you need to develop? • How will I make myself stand out from everyone else doing a dissertation? • How could I use my dissertation to help me get a job? • To help me get valuable contacts? • To help me find out whether I really enjoy a particular role?

6. Things to think about now.. • How can you extend the value and use of your dissertation? E.g. could you get it published? Could it be of value to other organisations? • Integrate you dissertation into your plans for your future! If you don’t have any or you don’t know what to do then use your dissertation to help you decide. • How can you use it to network? • What areas do you need to improve upon? • Any gaps in your evidence you need to sort out?

7. Suggestion • Treat your dissertation as part of your career not as another academic exercise (unless that’s the career you’re going for)

8. Remember….. • What employers are looking for • What evidence can you collect • What value can you add • Have a purpose for your dissertation – make it part of your plan

9. Contact Details j.buglass@lancs.ac.uk FASS Building B22