Connecting students & employers at Life Sciences Employability Week 2022-23

Posted on: 8 February 2023 by Jack Harte in Connections in action

November saw the welcome return of Life Sciences Employability Week – a now well-established annual activity that sees the School of Life Sciences clear its students’ timetable to accommodate the event.

The event is a collaboration between the School, and colleagues from Careers & Employability’s Employer Connections and Health & Life Sciences Faculty Teams. The Employability Week represents just one of the engagement activities that makes up part of the University of Liverpool’s new approach to supporting employers in attracting talent during 2022-23 – a student-first approach that aims to provide employers with effective & impactful solutions to attract the best talent.

The Life Sciences Employability Week is designed to help students explore their career options, develop skills in high demand in the graduate labour market, and to make valuable connections with employers, alumni, and their peers. This year’s event comprised a Monday focused on exploring career options and reflecting on skills and a Tuesday in which options for postgraduate study were showcased. Wednesday provided a focus on opportunities to get hired, before Thursday focused on providing insights into enterprise experiences. Friday was all about showcasing students’ skills and gaining a competitive edge in the jobs market.

For the Employer Connections Team, the central part of Life Sciences Employability Week was the ‘Get Hired’ day, which featured six industry-insight panels across a range of topics: ecology, conservation, and animal behaviour; postgraduate qualifications; scientific & medical communications; careers with SMEs; alternative careers for Life Sciences students; and careers in the pharmaceutical sector. The team were looking forward to welcoming employer-representatives to campus for the day’s sessions, but – amidst the prospect of industrial action affecting the rail travel – a decision was ultimately made to switch to an online format. We’re well versed in supporting online sessions however, and our 24 employer-representatives were able to join the ‘Get Hired’ panels remotely to showcase their organisation and opportunities and to take questions from the students.

Student engagement across the week overall was excellent, with ‘Get Hired’ day in particular proving a real success. Students attendance across the six panel sessions reached over a thousand connections, with a number of individual sessions playing host to over two-hundred student observers. The sessions were hosted via Zoom’s webinar function, enabling students to put questions to the panel of employer-representatives. Our Life Sciences students proved well-engaged, raising questions on a wide range of topics – these included: industry insights; prior experience required; application deadlines & process; future career prospects; postgraduate study considerations, and many more. Their feedback suggested that the sessions had been insightful & enjoyable experiences:

  • “It was really helpful hearing about the opportunities available to us after graduating, and what they look for when hiring”
  • “This made me aware of lots of opportunities that I didn’t know about previously. Thank you”

We were delighted to be able to host representatives of 24 employers as part of ‘Get Hired’ day and employer feedback was excellent, with 92% confirming that the event met their expectations and 100% confirming that they’d like to attend a similar event once again in the future. In the employers’ own words:

  • “The event exceeded my expectations. Excellent organisation and support from staff members and fantastic engagement from students with over 190 on the call at one time”
  • “I was really impressed by the attendance and engagement levels. The event was extremely well facilitated in terms of structure and organisation”
  • “We enjoyed being part of the panel. The team facilitating it were very friendly, clear on the purpose and objectives and helpful through the process. The questions from the participants were relevant and thoughtful”
  • “Great conversations / questions raised by the students / well attended event - both industry reps and students”
  • “My experience has been fantastic. Staff have been well organised, friendly, efficient and supportive”

It’s been great to see the well-established Life Sciences Employability Week continue its success this year, even despite the late shift to virtual ‘Get Hired’ panels. The week represents an excellent example of Careers & Employability working closely with academic colleagues to bring employability interventions & employer insights into proximity with the curriculum.

If you would like to get involved in similar activities, we’re always keen to discuss your attraction & recruitment needs with you and to explore how we can connect you with our talented & ambitious students.  

Contact us via employerconnections@liverpool.ac.uk to find out more.