Planning for employability

By developing further skills students will become more rounded graduates and enhance their employability prospects.

Session checklist

You are not expected to provide careers advice - see the summary of key activities and services offered by Careers, developed for supervisors. Daily bookable one-to-one appointments are available with the Careers service.

• Encourage students to look at their employability skills early on to help them to start planning and taking responsibility for their future employability.
• Provide references while students are at York and for a reasonable period after they have left. Use the Writing References - guide for supervisors (PDF , 679kb) developed by the Careers Service.
• Your Department Careers Liaison Officer can offer you and your supervisee careers support.
• Encourage your supervisees to use Handshake, the University's volunteering, internship and employment vacancies database, and the work, volunteering and career planning web pages.
• Remind students to attend briefings on industrial placements, if they are offered by your department, and Professional Network Connect and other careers events.
• Encourage students to apply for the York Award, the University's employability certificate that provides a portfolio of recognised skills and experience.
• Help your supervisee understand the breadth of ways they can gain experience and valuable transferable skills, including:
  • Work experience, including internships
  • Volunteering and charity work
  • York Students in Schools (YSIS)
  • Part-time work
  • Student representation through York Students' Union, Colleges or Departments
• If your supervisees would benefit from, or are looking for international experience, find out more from the Global Opportunities office.

Outcomes

By encouraging students to regularly consider their future employment prospects as part of your supervisory session you will be helping them to achieve the following outcomes:

• By developing further skills and exploring extra-curricular activities, students become a more rounded and capable graduate, enhancing their employability prospects.
• By discussing opportunities to gain experience and develop personal skills, you will be helping students to consider their full range of options. This makes it more likely they will find something suited to them, or even consider something they didn’t know was an option to them, such as studying abroad. (See also Discussing progress and Promoting activities).
• If your supervisee completes the York Award programme, they will leave with a portfolio of recognised skills and experience and a certificate from an award winning scheme - all of which will help them to stand out from the crowd when employers are recruiting.
• By building a relationship over time, your supervisees will trust you know them and can provide a genuine reference or recommendation. This reflects well on both you and the University.