Language of employability

[Developing Employability]

Language of employability topic for HERDSA17

[Dawn Bennett]

Employability is the means to create and sustain a meaningful life and work for the benefit of oneself and others

[Colin Jevons]

Employability is NOT:

– a job
– a piece of paper
– something that arrives magically at graduation
– a destination (it’s a journey)

[suzanneknuiman]

IRU definition of employability by Jess Vanderlelie IRU Research Fellow:

Activities and experiences that support the development of knowledge, professional skills and personal capabilities to enhance a graduate’s lifelong professional success.

This overarching def. draws together all aspects of the student experience at University and facilitates the development of a mutual partnership in the learning journey.

[Colin Jevons]

Employability is the means to create and sustain meaningful work across the career lifespan and in multiple contexts

Please note these are not my ideas I am taking dictation from Dawn!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Colin Jevons.

[Doug Cole]

I like this. We have previously taken a slightly different angle and chosen to define ’embedding employability’ as providing the opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, experiences, attitude and behaviours to enable graduates to make successful transitions and contributions, benefitting them, the economy and their communities.
I like that you have added life in the new definition because this is about looking beyond the boundaries of a job, work and career. This should be about developing the whole person. Learning for life ?

[Colin Jevons]

Must be done in partnership between careers professionals and academic staff

[Colin Jevons]

There is no single answer but we should distil some common threads

[Narissa Lewis]

Regarding partnerships mentioned above, need to ensure that we’re working in partnership with students as the whole person… I’m thnknig about first in family students here, making their families aware of extra/co curricular activities that might enhance students employability and how they might be able to support them to take part in these activities etc

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Narissa Lewis.

[Colin Jevons]

Employability is a composite word. Employ and ability. The “ability” part is the more important.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Colin Jevons.

[Colin Jevons]

“work” is not necessarily “jobs”. entrepreneurs are just one example; the gig economy can often be another.

[Colin Jevons]

Victorian State govt statement – VET-based, and too skills-based as opposed to person-based, (says Dawn, remember, this is not me being clever)

Employability skills
Employability skills are the “key skills and personal attributes you need to enter, operate
and thrive in the new world of work.” These are the transferable skills that we take with us
from one work situation to another, just like a tradesperson carries their toolbox.
Key skills are:
• communication;
• team work;
• problem solving;
• initiative and enterprise;
• planning and organising;
• self-management;
• learning skills; and
• technology.

[Colin Jevons]

Employability is also NOT necessarily about good grades at uni.

[Dawn Bennett]

http://imgur.com/lt50CDWLiteracies for life Right click to open image

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Dawn Bennett.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Dawn Bennett.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Dawn Bennett.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Dawn Bennett.

[Doug Cole]

It is also not just:

About WIL
The responsibility of the Careers service alone
Solely the responsibility of your employability champions or leads
Something you leave until the final year of studies
Not something that conflicts with what all academics would hope to see in good students

There is a positive flip side to all of this but we do need to bust some myths to engage people from the outset.

[Doug Cole]

[suzanneknuiman]

employability is an active partnership between the student and the entire university learning community

[Colin Jevons]

I love Doug’s example of the cake recipe, and Dawn’s comment that actual quantities only appeared in recipes until the 1950s (constraining creativity)… here’s the quote from the nauseating song from the 1960s or 70s

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh no!

Read more: Richard Harris – Macarthur Park Lyrics | MetroLyrics

(Wikipedia says: “MacArthur Park” has been called the worst song ever written.[2] Its flowery lyrics and metaphors (notoriously likening lost love to a cake left out in the rain) have been described as “bloated” and “loopy.”[1]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Park_(song)

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