The development of Career Management skills is now considered an important part of the higher education experience to prepare graduates for lifelong career decision-making. Lifetime careers in one organisation are being replaced by multiple careers in several organisation. Even within the same organisation, a graduate can expect to have many roles, many different responsibilities, and many different opportunities. To survive, and to thrive, in this challenging and changing work environment, graduates will need to take responsibility for their own career and personal development and be able to manage the relationship between work and learning throughout all stages of their working life.
It is very important that students are provided with opportunities to develop the key skills which will enhance their employability throughout their lifelong careers. This applies to: students preparing for Cooperative Education, final year students preparing for graduate employment or postgraduate study, anyone interested in the career development process.
We have put together resource material designed to introduce students to the key concepts relating to career choice and development. This material is presented as part of an online Career Development module which will enable students to:
This online Career Development module is being offered to students in selected courses as an elective module. We invite all students, however, to browse the site and pick and choose the sections of interest. To check out this resource, simply click here.
The Cooperative Education experience provides UL students with an opportunity to develop key employability skills in a real work environment. There is scope, however, for better integration of this experience into the curriculum to maximise the learning potential of the work placement. The Cooperative Education & Careers Division can work with academic departments to ensure that students are well prepared to benefit from the CoOp experience, and also to help them assimilate their learning on completion of the placement.
This is a series of seminars designed for specific groups of students, which covers the career planning process, from self-assessment to interview skills. The overall objective is to equip students with the intellectual framework and skills necessary to make fulfilling and realistic career choices throughout their working lives. To this end the course will:
Any course leader interested in discussing this option for a particular group of students should contact Mary Sweeney.
Regular workshops are available to students to help them in the self-assessment and career planning process. These are based on Prospect Planner, a computer-aided careers questionnaire which is on the campus network.
These seminars focus on the range of career opportunities suitable for graduates in particular disciplines with a panel of recent graduates relating their own experiences.
During the Spring semester, we will organise a Postgraduate Study Fair which will be attended by representatives of all the Irish universities. This will also provide an opportunity for academic departments to promote various postgraduate study options, both taught and research. Prior to this event, we will also organise a seminar on postgradaute study overseas.