SSPS Edinburgh Awards Input 1 - Aspiring Professionalism in Community Engagement Professionalism in Public Engagement Digital Content Creation
Input 1 Aspiring T W O T H R E E O N E
The Award Journey Activities and Inputs Part 1: Professional Development Series Part 2: Impact Activities Award Confirmed Input 1 Input 2 Input 3
Input One: Aspiring Identifying what it means to excel In this first stage, you will be asked to identify and understand the skills and abilities you will need to succeed in your chosen activity. What does it mean to excel in your activity? What does this mean for you personally? What are your own priorities? How do you plan on achieving these? You ll refine these down to three main priorities, which you ll aim to develop for the duration of your time on the Edinburgh Award. You might also start thinking about where you could have impact, and how you plan on achieving this.
Session Outline Plan for Today Employability Group discussion 1 Excellence in engagement Graduate Attributes Group discussion 2 Your Edinburgh Award Selecting your three core skills Impact Activities Q&A
Employability What it is What is employability? The ability to search for a relevant job, to perform competently in your workplace and to be a lifelong learner. European University Association We see employability as a hybrid term, bringing together people s competencies, professional skills and academic knowledge in combination with labor market needs. Education International 1.Matching skills with sector requirements (blend of academic and professional skills) 2.Being an active contributor 3.Embracing new skills Employers are often looking for potential the candidate with the most work experience/qualifications may not always be the right person for the role Your employability will differ from job to job but a solid foundation in soft (sometimes called transferable ) skills will help you to make an impact Try and picture the ideal candidate from the employer s perspective - what is vital, what can be learned, what type of person are they looking for?
Job Descriptions (from current positions) Skills requirements HE Sector (communication, interpersonal, leadership, self-reflection, time and project management) High level of oral and written communication skills. Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to develop effective relationships with staff and external stakeholders, and a collegial and customer focused approach to the delivery of services. Demonstrate good time management skills and the ability to organise a variety of tasks across a broad portfolio and to meet priorities and deadlines agreed with senior staff. 3rd Sector (communication, time management, interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving) You must have excellent written communication skills and be comfortable working in a fast paced environment You will demonstrate the ability to manage and prioritise a varied workload as well as meet tight deadlines too You will also be effective at building relationships and working as part of a cooperative team Government (interpersonal skills, problem solving, time management, interpersonal skills, team work, leadership, communication, analytical thinking) Proven organisational skills with strong attention to detail Ability to deal appropriately with a wide range of people at all levels A flexible approach to work, including the ability to work to tight deadlines and to deal with changing priorities. Good oral and written communication skills Must be proactive in approach to work
Think Tank (communication, interpersonal skills, time and project management, self-awareness, leadership, creativity, team work, situational awareness) Excellent and versatile communication, relationship-building and interpersonal skills Excellent organisational and project management skills Ability to work both independently and as part of a team Ability to absorb and process new information quickly Public Sector (time management, creativity and problem solving, communication, interpersonal skills) We are looking for enthusiastic individuals able to work flexibly and deliver outstanding results within tight timescales. Your communication and customer care skills must be of the highest standard. Private Sector (interpersonal skills, communication, creativity, self-awareness, independent learning and development) A can-do attitude, and an engaging and friendly approach will put you in good stead. We re looking for graduates who share in our passion for outstanding customer service. You ll enjoy engaging with key stakeholders across our business and building valuable relationships. We ll also look to you to bring your technical and - most importantly - people skills, which are essential in this job.
Activity 1 Employability In groups of 6: Compile a list of the top 5 qualities you believe employers value most (5 minutes) (Briefly!) present your list to the wider group On your own use Chart 1 (in the pack) to record the top three qualities that you believe employers value most (5 minutes)
Excellence in Engagement What does this mean? The quality of being outstanding or extremely good OED Excellence will differ from person to person and from situation to situation Excellence may not always be achievable (or necessary) Timescales, remit, resource limitations, return on investment Better to try and understand excellence as a contextual measurement SSPS Edinburgh Awards: excellence = IMPACT Impact making a positive societal contribution through engagement with different audiences How to measure impact? How do you know if your work has been successful? Set in place early on how you will measure impact and use this to focus your activities Could be attendance at an event, negotiating and implementing change in the University, influencing a project/vision/analysis, building strong communities think broadly
UoE Graduate Attributes What and Why? Attributes are a set of mindsets and skills common to all UoE graduates The non-academic skills that you develop throughout your time at Edinburgh University The way you are taught The way you learn The way you respond and interact with others Developed throughout your University experiences in your degree and beyond Through your academic training, extra-curricular activities, experiences interacting with different specialisms/people/cultures, awareness of the bigger picture It is how you (as an Edinburgh graduate) understand, process and respond
Graduate Attributes Skills Communication Personal & Intellectual Autonomy Personal Effectiveness Research & Enquiry
Activity 2 Skills for excellence In your groups: Think of as many skills as you can that will enable you to achieve excellence in engagement and deliver impact (across the four attributes). Write a post-it note for each skill.
Graduate Attributes Skills Communication (How you convey information and interact with others) Think of as many skills as you can that will enable you to achieve excellence in engagement and deliver impact (across the four attributes). Write a post-it note for each skill. Personal & Intellectual Autonomy (Awareness of your role and position in a situation) Personal Effectiveness (How you achieve success) Research & Enquiry (How you acquire and process information)
Graduate Attribute Skill Definition Inter-personal skills Use of appropriate and effective communication skills while demonstrating empathy to others Verbal Communication and Ability to orally communicate complex ideas and arguments using a range of media (involves listening, questioning, persuading and articulating) presentation Cross-cultural communication Sensitivity and understanding to diversity in people and in different situations Communication Written communications Ability to clearly articulate complex ideas and arguments using a range of media Personal & Intellectual Autonomy Personal Effectiveness Influencing Social Media Ethics and Social responsibility Self-awareness and reflection Independent learning and development Creativity Decision making Leadership Time Management Professional/Situational Awareness Effective Team working Assertiveness Critical Thinking Ability to negotiate and persuade others while demonstrating relationships building skills and emotional intelligence Awareness of different forms of social media and how best to communicate using these tools Awareness of ethical dimensions and responsibilities to others. Ability to recognise ethical dilemmas, social responsibility and sustainability and applying ethical research practices to different situations. Ability to be critically self-aware, self-reflective and to self-manage to fully maximise potential Development of lifelong learning skills through independent thinking, personal judgement and ability to take initiative in rapidly changing workplaces Adaptability, curiosity, reasoning and ability to 'think outside the box' Ability to analyse facts and identify, communicate and implement solutions Ability to work with people from different backgrounds and selecting an appropriate leadership style (including setting objectives, motivating, monitoring performance and mentoring) Ability to plan, prioritise and achieve goals while demonstrating resilience to setbacks Ability to work collaboratively with range of internal and external colleagues and understanding the key drivers of success in different contexts Effective performance within team environments including ability to recognise and utilise different skills and experience Recognising when to provide leadership and when to follow others. Ability to confidently and effectively give direction to tasks and people. Ability to identify assumptions, evaluate evidence, detect false logic or reasoning, identify implicit values, define terms adaquately and generalise appropriately Research & Enquiry Knowledge integration and application Numeracy and Big Data Independent research Ability to use information and knowledge effectively in order to abstract meaning from information and to share knowledge Proficiency, competence and confidence to work with large volumes of data Conduct research and enquiry into relevant issues through research design; collection, analysis, synthesise and reporting of data (both quantitative and qualitative) Analytical Thinking Problem Solving Ability to analyse, synthesise and critically appraise thought and processes Ability to ask questions; create, identify and evaluate options; and analyse facts to develop appropriate solutions
Activity 2 continued Mapping against the Graduate Attributes Now try and match each of your skills to the Graduate Attributes framework. Do you have any skills not listed on the framework? Where do you think these belong? Put the post-it notes on the appropriate attribute sheets at the front.
Graduate Attribute Skill Inter-personal skills Verbal Communication and presentation Personal Ranking (1= poor; 2= fair ; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5= excellent) Please mark your three selected skills Cross-cultural communication Communication Written communications Influencing Social Media Ethics and Social responsibility Self-awareness and reflection Personal & Intellectual Autonomy Independent learning and development Creativity Decision making Leadership Time Management Personal Effectiveness Professional/Situational Awareness Effective Team working Assertiveness Critical Thinking Research & Enquiry Knowledge integration and application Numeracy and Big Data Independent research Analytical Thinking Problem Solving
Your Edinburgh Award Skills and Impact Think about your career plans what skills and experience do you already have? What skills are most valued by your sector? Where do your strengths lie and where could you make improvements? Look again at the employability skills we discussed today why did you select those three skills? How confident do you feel about your current abilities in those three skills? (You don t have to select these for your Award) Look at current job adverts in relevant sectors what skills do they value most? How high is your personal ranking against those skills? How do you intend to create impact for part 2 of the Award? What skills would be most valuable? Select three skills (from the blue column) to form the basis of your Award. SUBMIT by 12 noon 24 th October ssps.student-development@ed.ac.uk A self-rating against the full list of skills in the blue column (we will send a template) A reflective summary detailing the three skills you have chosen to form the basis of your Award Reflection should answer why you have chosen the three skills and the steps you intend to take to develop the three skills (250 words - word doc)
Community Engagement & UG Public Engagement Digital Content Creation Input 2 (17 January 2-4pm) Input 3 (28 March 2-4pm) PG Public Engagement Input 2 (14 March 2-4pm) Input 3 (11 July 2-4pm) Future Input Sessions 2018 Attendance Required
Student Development Office Shian Holt and Kirsty Brown ssps.student-development@ed.ac.uk www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/student_development/edinburgh_award