How you shape Careers Network services?

Making it happen - your opinion shapes the university experienceCareers Network (CN) is constantly changing and developing its services to meet the needs and requirements of students and employers.

Following student feedback, received after appointments and events, as well as through the Birmingham Student Survey (BSS) and the National Student Survey (NSS) we have implemented the following improvements and enhancements to our services.

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Campus to Career

At last year’s Campus to Career event at the Guild of Students, the LinkedIn and Career Planning Café sessions were fully booked and you told us you were disappointed you couldn’t all attend. This year we will be running two LinkedIn and two Career Planning Café sessions so more students will have the opportunity to go.

Regional Opportunities

You told us you wanted to know more about local opportunities in the West Midlands. We have created a regional opportunities page on our graduate website and we are currently working to create one for undergraduate students as well.

Apply Yourself to...Preparing for Psychometric Tests

You told us this event was very popular and some students were turned away. As a result of your feedback, we have increased the number of these sessions that we run.

Advice and Guidance Appointments

You told us that it would be helpful if, ahead of the appointment, you could let us know what you want to discuss with our advisers. We are currently looking at whether this is possible and we’ll keep you posted.

Emails

You told us we were sending too many emails that weren’t always relevant. We have streamlined the number of emails that we send out to students, and at the same time we have improved the targeting of our emails. We are also using other avenues to promote Careers Network, including social media and presentations at induction talks.

Where possible, we send you information about the sectors you have said you are interested in and that are relevant to your year group or College and we are still working to further enhance this.

It's best to keep your areas of interest updated on Careers Connect by logging in and amending your profile as your career plans evolve. 

Appointments

Some students are having difficulty booking appointments with our careers advisers. We know there is high demand for appointments, especially during the autumn term, and this is something we are continuing to work on. In the autumn term we now run Twilight CV Drop-In Sessions (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 17:00 to 19:00), where you can turn up for a one to one appointment with an adviser.

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Did you know?

Our Information Team host Careers Network drop-ins in the Main Library, where you can get your CV checked. Our Apply Yourself Workshops and Top Tips sessions cover frequently asked questions on CVs, applications and the recruitment process. 

Information about opportunities not linked to your degree subject

You told us you wanted more information about opportunities that are not directly linked to your degree subject. Careers Network will be moving the sector specific ‘Insight into guides' from College Canvas resources to the intranet, to increase accessibility and provide greater support to students wanting to explore careers outside of their discipline. 

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Opportunities for Arts Students

You wanted more information about opportunities for Arts students.

CN has introduced Insight Guides online across popular career routes for Arts students. We are also running a series of events called ‘Insight Into' where you can hear from professionals from a range of sectors via speaker panels, Q&A sessions and networking events, covering sectors including public service and teaching, HR, law, creative arts and design, marketing and digital communications, advertising and PR, non-profit and charity organisations.

We need your feedback so that we can shape our services

When you attend an appointment or an event please look out for the automated request for feedback and let us know what you think and we will let you know what changes we have made. 

If you have an issue that you wish to raise which requires a more formal response, then please read Careers Network complaints policy for further information.

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Professional Services