The Computer Science Department’s employability strategy provides a framework for planning, coordinating and managing (i) placements, (ii) internships, (iii) alumni relations, (iv) industrial liaisons and (v) graduate opportunities. The Departmental Employability Strategic Framework (DESF) is designed in a way that can be adopted/adapted across the School or even provide a platform for cross-School collaboration for career services at Middlesex University.
A number of shared resources are in place, supporting the department’s employability efforts:
- Module Handbook – students on placement receive a module handbook containing all necessary information regarding placement responsibilities, administration tasks, assessment criteria, etc.
- Placement visit templates – placement tutors report on visit findings in a consistent way based on a set of carefully designed forms.
- Awareness emails – employability advisers send emails to selected cohorts regarding employability opportunities ranging from placements and internships, to specific projects and career service support.
- Skills improvement workshops – a range of workshops based on brief presentations followed by interactive sessions and Q&A are available in a variety of topics including (i) CV writing, (ii) mock interviews, (iii) communications, (iv) self management, and (v) job searching.
- Employability web page – a dedicated tab provides access to employability resources through the CSD website.
- LinkedIn CSD student network – a professional network to include graduates of CSD programmes is available.
- Employability repository – a repository including information on (i) placement contacts, (ii) placement students, (iii) alumni, (iv) employers and (v) graduates is maintained.
Departmental Employability Strategic Framework (DESF)
The framework is based on three employability pillars, namely (i) Student, (ii) Service, (iii) Stakeholder. The scope is to align the three pillars in providing the most effective employability support at a departmental level with the ability to provide a scalable, adaptable and sustainable strategy for future deployment at School level. The DESF is based on stakeholders invoking employability services that are geared towards certain student classifications. Emphasis is given on:
- Stakeholders providing well defined requirements and documented requests.
- Services from the employability centre will be aligned to the provided requirements.
- Students who are more suitable for the task will be assigned to the task and receive support.
