Big on Student Employability
Friday, 11 December 2020
At Oxford Brookes Business School we pride ourselves on the employability of our graduates.
Students develop a range of skills and attributes across their studies, and this year we have an enhanced programme of career and employability activities to support our students as they prepare for the world of work. Tim Vorley, PVC and Dean of Oxford Brookes Business School, commented “We are committed to building the employability of our students, with a range of opportunities available to prepare our students for their future careers".
On Saturday 28th November over 650 students on our Business and Management, International Business Management and Business, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship programmes were involved in our first online Assessment Centre as part of the final year module, Managing Careers. 61 final year groups developed and ran Assessment Centre activities for small groups of first year students, observed them, evaluated their performance in a range of competencies such as teamwork and communication, and provided developmental feedback.
For the first time ever this took place entirely on Zoom and ran smoothly due to the work put in by the final years, the support of eight tutors on the day, the administrative assistance from two student module assistants, and the advice and support of our two Digital Media eLearning Developers. Feedback from the first years showed that they found the experience useful and with some students commenting:
'The Assessment Centre assignment was an interesting task which I felt really challenged us, was fun to organise and was very rewarding.'
'The assessment centre allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and it provided a very different way of learning. It built up my confidence as we had to overcome the challenge of doing it virtually which will be hugely beneficial when I apply for jobs in the future.'
The Managing Careers students who developed and ran these activities in the space of three and a half weeks, with the invaluable support and guidance of tutors on the module, can be very proud of what they achieved. In leading the initiative Louisa Lapworth said “the engagement and response of our students has been truly fantastic, not only is it a great part of their leaning as part of the Managing Careers module but is helping develop the employability of their peers"
The Associate Dean for Education and Student Experience, Lindsay Williams, said "This has always been a great employability initiative, one which truly adds value to the learning experience, but to see it succeed online at such scale is truly impressive and testament to our incredible staff and students at Oxford Brookes Business School".
More information for students about career development opportunities at Brookes see: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/business/undergraduate/careers/
More information for employers wanting to work with us and our students is available here: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/business/business-engagement/work-with-our-students/