Grow Your Future

Posted on: 1 July 2021 in Connections in action

Environmental Sciences Virtual Employability Week

Grow Your Future was a week-long, virtual, employability event designed specifically for students from the School of Environmental Sciences during April 2021. It was partially timetabled into the student’s academic calendar ensuring the event was accessible to all years of study across the school which led to high levels of engagement from students.

Sessions

The week consisted of various activities which were delivered co-curricular for the students to attend. There were skills sessions delivered by our Science and Engineering faculty team which focused on effective articulation of skills. The replacement of virtual fieldwork left many students feeling distressed about their level of skills. The ‘Extracting Your Value: Virtual Fieldwork Storytelling’ session, encouraged students to recognise the employability value of virtual fieldwork and other digital experiences, by acknowledging the skills used and expressing this across various platforms. 

Industry Led Sessions

The industry led sessions involved over 20 organisations sourced by the Employer Connections Team taking part in six different panel sessions. The representatives gave the students insight into their organisation and the sector plus any internship, placement and graduate opportunities available at their organisations. Following this, students were offered the opportunity to connect with employers through an informal Q&A. The panels included Career Opportunities in Renewable Energy, Alternative Career Routes and Careers in Geology and Geophysics. Employers involved included – The Environment Agency, Delta-Simons, CGG, Fleetsolve, Teach First and Royal Town Planning Institute.

Further Action

It had been recognised that due to the pandemic, students were facing additional obstacles when it came to securing work experience. As a result, we organised the Transform Society Challenge: Our Planet, Your Campus and the Mapathon Challenge to offer collaborative, experiential learning opportunities that would noticeably enhance the employability of our students.

Winners

The winning Team from the Transform Society Challege, which saw groups of students come up with an idea of how they could regenerate areas of the University Campus, will now see their idea come to life over the coming months thanks to financial support from departments across the University of Liverpool. The winning idea was an eco-friendly garden which encourages regeneration and conservation of an area of the University of Liverpool campus that was unused and run down. The students have so far bought, to be installed, a compost bin, recycle bin, eco-friendly bird feeders and a bird-box camera.

With over 300 students attending, the success of Grow Your Future is a result of collaboration between Careers and Employability (Science and Engineering Faculty Team and Employer Connections Team), academic employability leads; Iris Verhagen and Nicoletta Leonardi, industry partners, student societies and the School of Environmental Sciences Student Experience Team. 

As a result of the week’s success, we will be looking to introduce this kind of initiative across other schools and academic departments in 2021/22 as an innovative and exciting way to connect students with employers.

Testimonials

“The Transform Society Challenged brought me onto the area of public service and Teach First, I have now received a confirmed offer to start work with Teach First in September” - Giorgio Leonard, BSc Geography Student

“A huge congratulations to all those that completed the Transform Society Challenge, the commitment shown, and the quality of ideas led to impressive presentations that far exceeded my expectations.  The transferable skills developed over the challenge will benefit all the students for years to come, and I would love to receive job applications from any of them!” James Darley, CEO Transform Society

"The 'Transform Society Challenge' was a fantastic opportunity to enhance students' employability skills while proposing innovative solutions to regenerate campus and support the University commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. It was great to hear students proposal and we are very excited to see students' ideas becoming reality thanks to the financial help from the School of Environmental Sciences, Careers & Employability and Management Services!" Nicoletta Leonardi, Senior Lecturer, Geography and Planning

“After cancellation of the School’s Careers Fair in 2020, it was great to have a whole week of online careers activities this year organised by the School of Environmental Sciences and Careers & Employability Services. The activities included workshops with employers from different sectors, skill sessions, and activities like the Transform Challenge and Mapathon. The Mapathon was organised by students from LUMOS and the Herdman Society. It provided the opportunity for student teams to contribute to the Missing Maps Project: joining a global community of volunteers who, by interpreting satellite images, ensure accurate maps are available to first responders to natural and man-made disasters. Literally ‘putting people on the map’!” Iris Verhagen, Lecturer, Earth and Ocean Sciences