paper CV. This helps students differentiate themselves from their peers in meaningful ways and
emphasise skills which can be difficult to communicate during the traditional application process.
Once the participants have an idea of the qualities which they want to put across it is a fairly
straightforward process to write out a list of questions which can draw these responses out in a
question and answer style video interview. This allows students to review their responses seeing
themselves as potential employers would and, through multiple iterations, allows them to hone and
improve their performance. Filming is completed on mobile phones in pairs with one participant
asking the other questions and then changing places. Finally, as a plenary activity, we return to the
elevator pitch. By revisiting this pitch we aim to demonstrate to the participants how much they
have achieved in a short space of time. At this stage students are typically much better equipped
to attempt this and the repetition offers a simple and effective way of demonstrating the value of
the workshop to the participant. From here, we encourage students to revisit their videos and use
them to reflect on the skills they need to develop. We also point participants in the direction of
additional resources to help them with recording and editing should they choose to add a
professional veneer eit her to the videos which they have made or any which they choose to make
in the future.
Since then we have run workshops within Loughborough University. The workshop has also been
embedded into credit bearing employability modules at Loughborough and earlier this year was
delivered to groups of undergraduate and masters students across the Politics, History and
International Relations department and the Business School. To conclude, we feel we have created
is a simple idea which can have a substantial impact on the employability of those who participate.
The workshop is low cost, easy to run and, by utilising reflective learning, places an effective tool
in the hands of students. This not only improves confidence and employability, but also retains its
usefulness well beyond the search for employment.
Tom Goodacre
Email: [email protected]
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