Thomas Lancaster Thursday, 11 July 2013

1. Developing Student Employability Through The Creation Of Online Professional IdentitiesUsing Learning Technologies to Develop Employability Skills Workshop Thomas Lancaster Thursday, 11 July 2013

2. Employability In Context

3. Why I’m Interested In Employability • Thomas Lancaster • Senior Lecturer in Computing at Birmingham City University • Programme Leader BSc Computer Science • Teach Professional/Employability Skills • HEA TDG Funded Research “Improving Industrial Sandwich Year Placements For Computing Students” • Developed and Delivered HEA Employability and Online Professional Identity Workshops • Social Media Advocate

4. Not Just Computing! • Online Professionalism is equally valid for all academic subjects • Students should be expected to be fully computer literate in order to gain professional employment • An Online Professional Identity is one of the clearest methods through which a student can demonstrate their computer literacy

5. The Difference Maker?

6. How Do Students Become Employed? • Traditionally, they showcase their skills and perform well during an employment selection process

7. Like This? • http://www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/graduate-programmes/apply/index.shtml

8. The Problem • The student has done little to set themselves apart from their competition • The “so what…” factor

9. We Can Help Our Students Show More • Work Experience • Assignments Simulating Industry • Industrial Sandwich Year Placements • Participation In Student Competitions • Portfolio Of Work • Interest In Their Subject Outside The Classroom • Evidence Of Entrepreneurship • Project or Dissertation Tailored Towards Employment

10. Applications Are Dead http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173031991814896.html

11. Social Media Provides Jobs • 1 in 6 American job seekers found their most recent job through social media • 40% attributed this to LinkedIn • 78% to Facebook • 42% to Twitter “I wasn't scouted. I involved myself in a brand's Facebook page and a company which works with that brand took an interest in me and offered me a job.” Zachary Chastain http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/16/social-recruiting

12. Online Identity Is Important

13. Employers Know About Online Identities http://mashable.com/2011/10/23/how-recruiters-use-social-networks-to-screen-candidates-infographic

14. Students Need To Showcase Their Brand http://www.ashleyksmith.com

15. Some More http://www.adamtsmith.co.uk http://www.alaurentiu.com http://ayeshaprofessionalpresence.webnode.com

16. The Technical Side • This looks difficult • But, setting up an online professional identity is well within the technical ability of most students • No web design experience needed

17. Third Party Services http://www.linkedin.com/in/rizhwan http://portfolio.bcu.ac.uk/user/view.php?id=59163

18. To Include • Minimally • Professional Email Address • Google Account • LinkedIn • Facebook • Twitter • Ideally • Own Website

19. Control What Other People See

21. Direct Control http://thomaslancaster.co.uk http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

22. A Few Others… http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/ctn/our-staff/thomas-lancaster http://www.youtube.com/user/DrThomasLancaster http://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

23. How I Get Students Involved

24. I Teach And Assess This • Professional Practice UG2 (over 2012-2013 year) • Level 5 (Year 2) module taken as part of BSc Computer Science and BSc Business Information Technology • Approximately 120 students • Including Direct Entry students • 15 credits • Taught over 20 weeks (19 teaching weeks) • Module covers employability and project/research skills

25. Employability Content

26. Assessment • Create a Professional Online Presence (using your own website or one other delivery platform of your choice) • This should support placement and job applications (encourage real life use) • This should show creativity (and answer the “so what?” question) • The Professional Online Presence should include: • Appropriate information to present you in a positive light • CV • 2 year Personal Development Plan

27. Does It Work?

28. Some Findings • Students generally seem appreciative of the practical approach to employability incorporated into the module • Many seem shocked that employers and academics know about social media (their secret home) • Highest take up is with using LinkedIn, which few students had a profile on before teaching

29. Some Challenges • Difficult to encourage involvement from international students • Some students remove their Online Professional Identities after assessment, or do not wish to engage with employability • Need to encourage teaching staff to “lead by example” • Getting students to actively market themselves requires an approach across more than one module

30. To Find Out More

31. Slides And Resources • HEA Computing Workshops • “Enhancing The Employability Of Computing Students Through An Online Professional Presence” (slides and teaching resources) • http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/events/previous-events/employability-workshop • “Professional Presences for Academics” • http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2013/9-May-Birmingham-STEM • Other External Sessions • HEA STEM Conferences 2012 (Workshop) and 2013 (Paper and Talk)British Computer Society – Cheltenham and Gloucester Branch (Talk)

32. Contact Details • Thomas Lancaster: • http://thomaslancaster.co.uk • thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk • Or Tweet Me: • @DrLancaster • Slides Available At: • http://slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster