Pearson HE Co-Lab: How to prepare students for the world of work

What do employers want from graduates?

The first speaker of the day was Peter Matthews - A senior Partner and former Global Head of People at EY.

His role included recruitment, training, exiting of talent and their alumni network , so, he was well placed to give his insights into the types of skills, attributes and qualities a global company looks for in their graduates and as employees continue to develop through their careers.

The talk was packed with useful tips and advice which provoked a lively discussion in the question and answer session. P

articipants asked for advice with engaging their students, creating the right culture in the classroom that will give graduates the right characteristics to succeed in a company like EY and how to increase “buy in” for employability skills.

Putting employability at the centre 

“My world is changing, and we are changing and adapting all the time. We’ve got to keep ahead of everything.” 

Explaining that everyone within an institution is accountable and responsible for employability, Jo shared some of the things LJMU has put in place to create students that are ready to start their careers. 

She added: “We have to pay it forward. This is what we do every day, we take our collective knowledge and experience and we pay it forward.” 

Jo gave some invaluable insight while answering questions from the floor on everything from outlining LJMU’s top three KPIs, details of a bespoke careers website the institution has created for students as well as her work overseas helping develop employability in institutions in other countries.

How to future proof your career

The final speaker for this Co-Lab event was Meji Abidoye who studied at the University of Buckingham and now works for Google. While at the University of Buckingham, he co-wrote a book with Sir Anthony Seldon called “The Fourth Education Revolution” which delves into the impact AI could have on the next generation of workers.

For this session, participants were invited to log onto an app on their phone or laptop to ask questions which appeared on the screen at the front in real time.

Meji shared some tips with the educators present including the idea of creating mouldable students who he called “workplace putty”. By creating graduates that are prepared to continue learning throughout their careers, universities will help graduates “future proof” their careers.

Using the example of coding language Python, Meji said that if a person was to focus too closely on that one skill then they could find themselves unemployable if that particular language becomes defunct. Rather than listing skills in relation to software, graduates should aim to become more rounded and adept at “rapid retooling” to adapt to the ever-changing workplace.

He explained: “If you create a graduate you would not be comfortable hiring within the university then that is how you see whether or not you’ve been successful.” Essentially, asking attendees ‘would you buy your own product?’

Oliver Latham, host of the HE Co-lab network and UK HE Sales Director, said of the event: “We are building a community which focuses on teaching and learning challenges faced across higher education. We seek to bring a range of people together; including academics and professional service representatives to discuss and debate topics.

“Most importantly, we want attendees to go away with a clear action for their university. Something they can do the next week. If the events do not help prompt action and change, they do not meet their objective.”