Students and the workplace - what skills do they really need?

1. Fiona Phoenix, Rob Wilson, Kim Jervis, Douglas Muzawazi Students and the workplace - what skills do they really need?

2. Question… • What job do you think a Sport and Leisure Management graduate will do?

3. Size and Scale of the industry

4. Project background and rationale • Sport is one of the fastest expanding and popular disciplines in HE • Sport is a significant social and economic phenomenon, and as such needs to be managed using a variety of academic and business disciplines. • It can be a difficult balancing act to provide students with the required level of academic rigour whilst also equipping them with skills for the workplace.

5. The point of this… • Research suggests that students do not appreciate the importance/relevance of the skills that they develop, consequently they cannot articulate their transferable skills to the employer. • To establish whether the BSc (Hons) Sport Management/Sport and Leisure Management courses sufficiently equips students for employment in the sport and leisure industry

6. Project Process • Project outline • Bidding process • Project expansion • Additional multi media angle • Research Outputs

7. How we did it

8. Research

9. Results

10. Do students intend to work in the sport industry?

11. Has the course prepared you for a career in the Sport Industry? Graduate perspective: “I believe that the skills I have and are taught on the course are core skills for all industry”

12. Has the course prepared you for a career in the non sport industry? Student perspective: “Most of the modules are based on basic business tools like marketing, human resources and finance so you can adapt outside sport even facility management can be adapted in some way outside sport”

13. Actual percentage of graduates that gain employment within the sport industry

14. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of Time Management skills Student perspective: “......you have got to be on top of things at university, so it is really important to get things done on time and not fall behind”

15. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of Team work skills Student perspective: “I think we have been put into a lot of group situations that can help with our interaction, communication and organising skills” Staff perspective: “Group work is very important as within the industry, it will be necessary to work in groups within the workplace and with external clients and the curriculum is built around making the students employable at the end of the degree”

16. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of independent working skills

17. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of Report Writing and IT Skills

18. Student and graduate perspectives on the inclusion of a work placement within the degree Student perspective: “We haven’t had any work experience which means we haven’t been to put what have learnt into practice in the industry....because employers look for experience when you go to apply for a job” Employer perspective: “It is essential to have a bit of “real world” experience (especially in well respected practices or companies) to start anyone off in the professional world. However,any good employer will actively employ fresh talent to ensure they mould those people to work to their ethics and intentions, to become the true model of the business”

19. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of working with clients and customers Student perspective: “......it teaches you to be professionals because you are working with external clients you have to like learn the correct mannerisms and stuff for when you have to discuss how they are going to help put on your event. I think that has helped develop a lot of people rather than just pretend companies”

20. Has the course prepared you for recognising career opportunities? Student perspective: “I think a lot of people have got fear of failure because you can end somewhere in the industry and get it all wrong and falling flat on your face with nowhere to go. A lot have got that fear of getting it wrong”

21. Has the course prepared you to complete application forms? Student perspective: “I don’t think we get much advice on the application to job process as well. I mean we write CV’s at the start of every year and they tell us we have to hand them in but anybody does and there is no deadline to it” Staff perspective: “I don’t think is appropriate for us to go through that as part of their degree, because the degree is in SLM/SM and that’s what they come here to learn. We can go through interview techniques from a management perspective that they could possibly pick things up from but the responsibility of interview techniques and writing CV’s the student will need to go to the careers service. I have got no problem with them integrating and working together but I think the careers service needs to initiate it with the academics to start the process up. The students need to be aware that it is their responsibility to get the interview techniques”

22. Student and graduate perspectives on the delivery of interview skills Student perspective: “If we did a work placement and you had to actually apply for it yourself like when people do placement years and you will go through the interview process but it’s a practice but in the real world. Maybe before that you will have a seminar or workshop of how to go about it”

23. Students and graduates were asked if they had used the careers and employment services Student perspective: “....there is awareness of how we can go about the career service because obviously it’s there but I don’t know exactly what they provide for students” Graduate perspective: “I didn't find the careers service very useful, except for CV checking.  In terms of knowledge of graduate routes, how to prepare for these assessments, matching skills with career paths etc. I thought they were weak.  Having worked in a couple of organisations since leaving and leading the graduate recruitment I am continuously horrified at the quality of applications.  The careers service should be at the forefront of the university”

24. Recommendations and Future Direction • Industry Audit • Work Placement • Careers Services • Career Planning Module • Progress Files • Feedback to Level 5 Students • Proactive students. • ‘Employability Skills Awareness’ workshops. • Employer involvement in developing modules.