Employing Words: transferring academic writing skills to the job market

Dr Emily AlderEdinburgh & Lothians Regional Articulation Hub

Edinburgh Napier University

Skills development

Programme of academic skills development

Piloted ‘Employing Words’ to address gap between academic and employable writing skills

Aimed to encourage deep learning to promote transferability...

...and students’ confidence in that transferability

Employing words...

are:

• individual• active• evidencing• specific• powerful• demonstrative• reflective

show:

• experience• ability• responsibility• success• confidence• roles• personal qualities

Reflection

Adapted from Cottrell (2008)

Critiquing faulty examples

Identifying good and bad examples of a personal statement/ competency answer

A: Outstanding B: Very Good C: Good D: Satisfactory

E: Further Work Needed F: Unsatisfactory/ Weak

Excellent A B C D E F Inadequate attempt

Presentation 20%

Neatly written or typed Messy, unstructured

Clear, easy-to-read lay-out Not easy to read

Appropriate length Too long or too short

Content 80%

Appropriate quantity of information and evidence of suitability is provided

Too much or too little information is given

Relevant, specific examples of activities or achievements are used

Irrelevant or vague examples

Relevant strengths, interest, and experience are highlighted

No attempt to highlight relevance to the job

Good use of active language and focus on positive points

Negative language

Gives truthful, authentic impression

Appears clichéd

Free of errors of spelling, typing, grammar, syntax

Many errors

A Excellent statement very likely to be accepted for interview even in a competitive field B Likely to be shortlisted for interview C Could be selected for interview in an uncompetitive field but otherwise unconvincing D Could reach ‘maybe’ pile in an uncompetitive field but unlikely in an area of stiff competition E Very unlikely to be selected even in an uncompetitive field F Destined for the ‘reject’ pile

Evaluation

Adapted from Kumar (2008)

Putting it into practice: writing a good personal statement

Results of student surveys

I feel confident about sitting down to write a really good job application

I know the type of language I should use in a written job application to make myself attractive to employers

Student range

Fee status Level of study Age range

11 Scottish/ UK5 other EU3 non-EU

8 postgraduate (including 1 PhD)

8 undergraduate (graduating 3rd or 4th years)

3 2nd years

21-54 years

Anxious Still anxious, but more confident!Daunted Less daunted slightly confident Nightmare. Always try to delay BetterNervous ConfidentApprehensive! More confidentHesitant but reasonably confident Pretty confident nowSCARED. I know the theory, however, it is very often [hard] to put it into practice

I’ve got a list of words/ phrase that I can use when filling in an application form (and that’s what I was hoping to get), however, I am aware that it takes practice to learn to be concise and to the point. Still not comfortable with that!

Bad Better than before the workshopI find them stressful – I find it tough to strike a balance between selling myself without feeling too brash

Calmer!

Weak FAR BETTERBoring It still seems boring but I have hope that it will

be at least good. Definitely want to try even though I do not look for a job right now.

Concerned about the things to input and those to leave out.

Better equipped!

Nervous, daunting, anxious Much more confident

How would you describe the way you feel now about the prospect of writing job applications?

How would you describe the way you feel about the prospect of writing job applications?

Some limitations

Small student numbers

Student perceptions: not able to measure actual writing skills...

... Nor track future student performance

What next?

Extend workshop programme

Follow-up with online resources

?

Reference list

Boud, D., (1995). Assessment and learning: contradictory or complimentary? In P. Knight (ed) Assessment for Learning in Higher Education (1995) London: Kogan Paul, pp.35-48.

Christie, H., Tett, L., Cree, V., McCune, V., and Hounsell, J., (2008). 'A real rollercoaster of confidence and emotions': learning to be a university student, Studies in Higher Education 33 (5): 567-581.

Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gibbs, G., Rust, C., Jenkins, A., Jacques, D., (1994). Developing Students’ Transferable Skills Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff Development

Hager, P. and Hodkinson, P., (2009). Moving beyond the metaphor of transfer of learning, British Educational Research Journal 35 (4): 619-638.

Kumar, A. 2007. SOARing to Success: Personal, Academic and Career Development in Higher Education London: Routledge

Thank you.

Questions?

Contact me em.alder@napier.ac.uk