The BCU Student Employability Award
The Birmingham City University Student Employability Award gives you the opportunity to gain formal recognition for extra-curricular activities and personal development undertaken during your time at University.
In today’s competitive job market, graduate recruiters look for a good degree, but increasingly expect applicants to demonstrate a range of employability skills in addition to any academic achievements. The Student Employability Award can help you stand out from the crowd by providing you with a framework through which personal development activity can be officially recognised.
About the Award
The Student Employability Award is an extra-curricular, non-accredited Award, undertaken over a period of 6 months from October 2011 to April 2012. The Award is achieved through completion of activities in Moodle, with support and guidance available from the Award team during this time. It is open to all Birmingham City University students on full and part time courses.
To achieve the Award, students are required to undertake the following activities:
• Develop a skills-assessment action plan
• Complete a minimum of 50 hours of hours of work experience or employment in the academic year; either part time, voluntary or placement work activity
• Attend a range of Career Development and Academic Success workshops
• Submit a Mahara Profile and CV, which reflects the experience gained and skills developed during the Award.
Benefits of the Award
By undertaking and completing the Award you will:
• Boost your career prospects and maximise your chances of gaining a graduate level job
• Gain an improved self-awareness of your skills, enabling you to confidently articulate your competencies to a prospective employer
• Achieve formal recognition for your personal and professional development
• Become more confident with career planning and applying for jobs
• Be recognised for work experience, student union involvement, skills development and more!
Comments from Students who have completed the Award:
“I feel more confident to apply for a graduate job. Taking part in the award truly helped me realise the skills and experience I have developed over the years, which I could easily have missed to put on my CV.”
“It has improved my confidence and makes my CV stand out from the crowd”
“It really focussed me in terms of where I want to be and what I need to do to achieve my goals”
“I would definitely recommend the Award . It’s a great thing to put on your CV and talk about in interviews”
“It’s benefited me in a variety of ways. It’s helped me identify my skills and show employers that I have these skills.”
How do I enrol?
To express your interest for the 2011/2012 Student Employability Award, please click here
You will then be invited to attend an Information session, where you can find out more about the Award and receive guidance on using Mahara and Moodle. If you decide to participate in the Award, you can enrol at the end of the session.
Please note: you must attend an Information Session in order to enrol on the Award.
There will be a number of Information Sessions running at City North, City South, Gosta Green and Millennium Point campuses in October and November. Times and dates will be emailed to you once you have filled in the form below.
The deadline to register your interest is 30th of November 2011
Not able to complete the Award this year?
If you are not able to join the Award, we would still encourage you to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by Birmingham City University to develop your skills and employability.
Useful links
Students Union – A wide variety of extra-curricular activities for you to get involved in
Careers and Job Prospects – for information on Job vacancies, career workshops and career advice
Centre for Academic Success – to help you to achieve your full potential, the Centre for Academic Success is available to give you advice on study skills and help you achieve and suceed