What Skills Can History Graduates Promote to Employers?

1. What Skills Can History Graduates Promote to Employers?

2. Promoting History Graduates to Employers • By the end of this seminar you will: • understand the skills which employers want graduates to have • identify the skills which you are developing through your course • identify additional skills and attributes developed through other activities • know how to create an effective CV which highlights these skills

3. Skills employers want in graduates • Communication – written, verbal, graphic • Teamwork • Leadership • Motivating others • Empathy for others • Integrity • Personal effectiveness • Information gathering • Analytical thinking • Problem solving • Creativity • Planning and implementing plans

4. Skills from your course • A graduate in History should be able to: • appreciate the complexity and diversity of situations and events • understand a range of viewpoints • read and use texts and other source materials critically • gather, sift, select, organise and synthesise large quantities of evidence • appreciate the problems involved in interpreting complex, ambiguous, conflicting and often incomplete material • recognise that statements are not all of equal validity and be able to test them by critical evaluation • formulate appropriate questions and provide answers using valid, relevant evidence and argument • write with structure, coherence, clarity and fluency

5. Other sources of skills development • What other roles do you have in life? • Personal: parent, family member, friend, carer • Work: employee, supervisor, team leader, team member, self-employed, volunteer, active in family business • Interests: creative arts + crafts, individual and team sports, musical + drama performance, current affairs, community service, religion, • environment, travel

6. Additional skills developed outside study • Through life experience you can gain skills in: • Self-reliance • Negotiation • Practical problem solving • Multi-tasking • Organising other people • Dealing with people with different / conflicting views • Financial management • Using initiative

7. Options to enhance your profile • GOALS / Summer Academy– linking students & pupils • http://www.strath.ac.uk/apu/jobopportunities/ • http://www.strath.ac.uk/summeracademy/mentorrecruitment/ • Museum/heritage volunteers – City Council, National Trust for Scotland, Friends of Glasgow Cathedral • http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Visitors/MuseumsGalleries/ • http://www.nts.org.uk/Support/volunteers_home.php • info@glasgowcathedral.org.uk • Archives volunteers – Society of Archivists • http://www.archives.org.uk/ • Information work – Glasgow City Council, Erskine Hospital lil@cls.glasgow.gov.uk and www.erskine.org.uk

8. Options to enhance your profile • CACTUS – Community Action at U. of Strathclyde • cactus @ theunion.strath.ac.uk • Nightline, Samaritans, Childline - counselling • www.strathstudents.com/display/strathclydeadvice/Nightline • http://www.samaritans.org/support/volunteer.shtm • http://www.childline.org.uk/Volunteercounselling.asp • SACRO, Victim Support – links to legal + penal systems • http://www.sacro.org.uk/index.html • http://www.victimsupportsco.demon.co.uk/main/volunteer.html

9. Options to enhance your profile • AIESEC and SIFE [Students in Free Enterprise] • - understanding business and entrepreneurship • http://www.aiesec.co.uk/stud/membership_how.asp?id=22 • Strathclyde Telegraph, hospital radio, volunteer publicity officer – media involvement • telegraph@theunion.strath.ac.uk • http://www.shrs.org.uk/hbs/index.html • Study or summer job abroad • www.strath.ac.uk/igo/informationabout/studyabroadopportunities/ • http://www.careers.strath.ac.uk/ses/student/swabroad.htm

10. Presenting your skills in a CV • Content of a good CV • Personal details – name + contact points • Personal statement/career goal [optional] • Education [reverse order] • Career history/work experience • Relevant skills/qualities • Positions of responsibility/achievements • Interests • Referees

11. Presenting your skills in a CV • Option 1: Degree related skills • Research, written communication and IT skills, work in groups • Option 2: Degree related skills • Excellent research skills, from initial design to final implementation • Analysis of official statistics and reports • In-depth qualitative interviewing • Ability to summarise complex issues in concise language • Competent user of SPSS, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel, email and the Internet • Individual and team projects demanded strong organisational, planning and team skills alongside the capacity to manage several tasks simultaneously

12. Presenting your skills in a CV • Option 1: Work related skills • Call centre agent • Responding to calls about accounts – enquiries and complaints • Option 2: Work related skills • Call Centre Agent – Credit Management • Take inbound calls from customers dealing mainly with enquiries regarding pre-payment accounts. • Listen to customer and identify the main cause of their complaint before explaining the company position together with a proposed method for resolving the issue. • Work as part of a team that has to maintain a set call ratio together with targets for calling customers back after more detailed investigation of their issue.

13. Presenting your skills in a CV • Option 1: Leisure interests • Current affairs, reading, writing, travel, music, sport, meeting friends • Option 2: Leisure interests • I am very interested in societal and current affairs and I like to keep up to date with these through various newspapers and magazines. This interest also led to me writing many articles for the student newspaper, Strathclyde Telegraph, which I enjoyed very much. • I enjoy travelling and visiting new countries and I have spent considerable time travelling through Spain and central Europe. I found this challenging and character building. • I enjoy going to the cinema regularly, listening to music and reading. I also enjoy football, squash and socialising.

14. Help from the Careers Service • Careers guidance interview Helps to identify your skills and match • - ring 548-4320 them to suitable careers. • Student Employment Service Opportunities for part-time, vacation • - rooms L5.26 & 5.27 paid and unpaid work – UK, overseas • - vacancies on website • Resource centre – L5.01 Files, books on vacation and voluntary work ; study abroad; CVs • CV advice Drop in sessions • - Tues. 1-4 p.m. • - Thurs. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.