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Career Development Education in Politics and International Relations. Matthew Wyman and Sarah Longwell. Context. Estimated 1 million unemployed under 25s by September 5.5% drop in the number of graduate vacancies this year
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Career Development Education in Politics and International Relations Matthew Wyman and Sarah Longwell
Context • Estimated 1 million unemployed under 25s by September • 5.5% drop in the number of graduate vacancies this year • Tendency among many students to postpone thinking about life after university until graduation • Lack of basic transition skills among politics and IR graduates
Response • Level 2 option module on ‘The Practice of Politics’ which we’ve run for 3 years (If it’s not in the curriculum it won’t be done properly) • I focus on the development of political skills – currently public speaking, campaigning, leadership and people skills • Sarah leads a section which is explicitly career development education • Development of resources for the module funded by the politics subject centre, and Keele innovation award to develop relations with alumni
Curriculum 1(Assessment) • Skills analysis and the identification of personal values and priorities (reflective diary) • The graduate labour market and politics-related opportunities (career profile) • Political campaigns and campaigning • Political leadership (leadership profile) • Career decision making and the art of application forms (prospects planner exercise and application form segments) • The political speech (reflection on public speaking, analysis of classic speech)
Curriculum 2 (Assessment) • Writing effective CVs and interview success (CV) • People Skills I: developing affinity, rapport and trust (reflection) • People skills II: skilful listening, assertiveness and negotiation, building successful teams (reflection) • Assessment centres and psychometric testing • Planning for the future; happiness at work; the way careers develop, general tidy up • Political debating and question time + n.b. Exclusively electronic submission – staggered over whole module
Outcomes • For each of the three years, leadership study marks a class and a half higher than career development related work • Particular problems in articulating skills and in self-reflection generally • ‘Brilliant to have a module which adequately prepares me for life after university’ • ‘Outside speakers – brilliant idea even if sometimes I felt they weren’t relevant to me for my career, but they did provide a valuable insight into the workplace as a whole’
Outcomes • ‘Learning skills we need for after uni. for example writing our CV, interview skills and job searches’ • ‘The topics discussed and covered are relevant for the stage we are at in our lives...’ • ‘Enabled me to get a full understanding of what it would mean to work in the political field and how to get involved.’ • ‘Because I was forced to evaluate myself and my potential career I now know what I would like to pursue as a career’