CAPOD’s Employability Boost for Alumni
The working world for a graduate is a competitive and potentially intimidating prospect. To ensure that our alumni have every chance at success, CAPOD (The Centre for Academic, Professional and Organisational Development) have released a programme for recent graduates, to boost employability and furnish them with the desired skills and competencies to help them land their perfect position. Rebecca Wilson, Student Developer at CAPOD, told us a bit more about the Professional Skills Curriculum and just how it is helping our alumni.
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What is the Professional Skills Curriculum?
The original Professional Skills Curriculum (PSC) is a programme open to all University of St Andrews students, which focuses on the top 11 skills graduate employers value. These skills include: communication, organisation and leadership. A certificate can be achieved through attending 8 of the online workshops, lectures and practical skills sessions. The certificate is recognised on a student’s transcript.
What is the PSC Alumni programme?
For the graduating class of 2018, the ‘PSC Alumni’ is a new strand of CAPOD’s Professional Skills Curriculum aimed at recent graduates of St Andrews who did not complete the PSC while at university. This programme will suit those looking to boost their professional skills in the workplace or someone who is still looking to get their ideal graduate job. Applying the same principles as the ‘PSC’, the ‘PSC Alumni’ gives you the chance to improve your graduate skills. You may have graduated from St Andrews but CAPOD is still here to support you.
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How does it work?
PSC Alumni offers you the chance to engage in professional skills at your own pace through online workshops. A unique aspect of the PSC Alumni programme is that you will first complete a DiSC workplace preference profile (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness). This will allow you to understand your personality and behaviour which will help you to choose the graduate skills you would like to develop. You will be paired with a coach and have up to 6 virtual meetings with them to help steer you towards your employability goals. To gain the PSC Alumni award you will have to complete 8 online workshops and write a short reflective essay about how the programme has developed you.
What do you gain?
By taking part in the PSC Alumni programme you will gain knowledge in the skills you choose to work on. Which will lead you to feeling more confident about how to apply these skills in the workplace or talk about them in applications and interviews. Your coach will help you set achievable goals for you development.
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The PSC Alumni programme is a watertight solution to greatly increase your employability and your confidence in job applications. Even better news is that it is completely free of charge. Above all, it is reassuring to know that CAPOD, alongside the rest of the University of St Andrews, is there for you after graduation.
If you graduated in 2018 or will be graduating this winter and would like to apply, please write a short application outlining why you think you would benefit from the programme, and what your career aspirations are, and send to [email protected]
More information can be found at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/careermatters/professionalskills/alumni/#d.en.2151863