W o W ® – Equipping students for the world of work

1. Paul Evans Director of Business Excellence Liverpool John Moores University WoW® – Equipping students for the world of work

2. LJMU – Who are we? 10th Largest University in the UK 20,000 undergraduate students 4,000 postgraduate students 5 Faculties, 3 main sites and over 40 buildings 6,000 Graduating Students Annually 45% of students coming from the Greater Merseyside area

3. What is WoW® • A unique selling proposition in a highly diverse and competitive Higher Education market • WoW® = World of Work Skills • A partnership with more than 200 graduate employers • Cited by UK Government as best practice

4. Why WoW®? • Diverse Higher Education Market • LJMU needed a differentiator • Traditional market getting smaller, needed to attract more students from outside the immediate region. • Brilliant minds – no work or life skills • Graduate Skills not aligned to the workplace

5. Developing the Concept • Developed in partnership with employers • Eight graduate skills identified: • Analysing and solving problems • Team working and interpersonal skills • Verbal communication • Written communication • Personal planning and organising • Initiative • Numerical reasoning • Information literacy and IT • Now embedded in all 350 academic programmes (Courses)

6. Developing the Concept • Higher-level ‘world of work’ skills identified under the themes: • Self Awareness • Organisational Awareness • Ability to Make Things Happen • Students encouraged to develop these and give themselves an edge in the demanding graduate marketplace.

7. Getting graduates “ready for work” Projects with work-based contracts Work Placements Work-based Simulations Employer-based Case Studies Internships Off-campus work related learning

8. WoW® Stages Bronze: successful self-awareness statement required Silver: successful self-awareness and organisational awareness statement required Gold: successful self-awareness, organisational awareness statement and Making Things Happen Statement required

9. Final Certification Brings Bronze, Sliver and Gold Stages together through….. Facilitated support of Graduate Development Centre leading to….. These skills being evidenced via a persona WoW Skills Statement and….. A 1:1 interview with a real employer

10. The Employer Commitment

11. The Results • LJMU has increased applications from outside of the region • Average starting salary of LJMU Graduates in higher than national average • 20% of students cite WoW as main reason for selecting LJMU • Those completing certification level are being employed directly by the LJMU partner • Concept being adopted under licence from LJMU in Malaysia & Thailand

12. The Future • We were first – others now following • Need to keep ahead of the game • From 2012 intake – WoW Bronze level will be compulsory • Biggest Challenge – Keeping it sustainable at higher levels of demand

13. Paul Evans Director of Business Excellence Liverpool John Moores University WoW® – Equipping students for the world of work