Case study: Alumni@Work
Student Careers and Skills secured funding from the Science Faculty Employability Forum to travel to 10 alumni workplaces and record interviews with Warwick STEM alumni on-site. We asked them questions ranging from “can you describe a typical day at work?” to “what aspects of your Warwick experience helped you get the job”. The footage was edited down to 3 minute videos that now feature on our Warwick Careers YouTube Playlists. Some jobs featured include Clinical Psychologist, Patent Attorney, Process Development Chemist and Analyst Programmer. We are currently bidding for more funding to record more videos.
Department(s) / colleagues involved
Student Careers and Skills, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine
Our aim was to …
Our primary aim was to give STEM students the opportunity to find out about the wide range of roles open to them and access footage of alumni talking about their jobs. We also wanted students to hear the “alumni voice” and some important messages – i.e. there are many jobs out there to consider, you may not find the perfect job straight away and that’s OK, extra-curricular activities are really important.
What we did …
We secured £2,460 from the Science Faculty Employability Forum to film alumni from Science Faculty departments. We used an external video company to edit most of the footage and internal Warwick Camera Operators to film and edit some of the footage. Careers Consultants organised the visits and in some cases set up the cameras to film different angle shots.
The outcome has been …
We now have 10 x 3 minute videos of alumni from different courses talking about the work they do. These videos have been promoted to students in different departments. We use these videos in career development learning, induction sessions and at Open Days. Another outcome has been closer collaboration with the University Marketing Team who are themselves using some of the alumni profiles in recruitment.
The benefit/impact has been …
Students are better able to visualise what different roles might feel like. Students can connect with alumni and gain information and advice in their own time (as opposed to having to attend an event). The Careers Consultants have learned more about alumni workplaces which helps advice and guidance. We have also developed a closer relationship with University Marketing Team.
This supports the Education Strategy by …
Providing a way for students to engage with alumni and in turn providing an e-learning resource that engages students with our service (Priority 1). This supports employability by showcasing alumni in different roles who speak with confidence about the potential students have with their degrees (priority 8). As the videos profile student from a range of degrees and background, the resource supports widening participation and inclusivity (priority 9).
The response of students / staff has been …
Students in the Chemistry Year One Synthesise Your Career Module fed back that they found the videos useful to understand how they might use their degree in the future. One of the videos has received 734 views, others between 100-300 views. The Marketing Team here has also used some of the footage for their own videos and the idea will be used to support student recruitment.
Our next steps will be …
We will continue to feature the current videos in promotions, workshops and open days. We are about to bid for a further sum of money from the Science, Engineering and Medicine Faculty Employability forum to expand the range of videos we have on our playlist.
To find out more, you can contact …
Charlie Cunningham, Senior Careers Consultant – c dot cunningham at warwick dot ac dot uk
All the videos are viewable at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC5ZVOnetS_yFM0L_Aiks_5LxGww6sAD5