Welcome to the Graduate Toolkit
Personal development planning to maximise your employability
What's it about?
The Graduate Toolkit is designed to help you plan, record and evaluate your personal, academic and professional development throughout your time at university. As you pursue your studies there are many opportunities for development in all these areas. Additionally, you will be gaining experience outside the university; through sports, leisure, volunteering, placements and paid work.
By keeping a record of your progress you'll have all the information you need to start producing impressive CVs and job applications. Use the resources throughout the site and especially the Graduate Toolkit to reflect on what you have learned and build up a picture of your experience, skills and achievements.
You can then use studentfolio to add, build and share this information via web pages - which will give employers a fuller account of your abilities and potential than the traditional CV.
How will this benefit me?
It's no longer realistic to wait until your final year to think about your career after university. From the beginning of your course you should start thinking about gaining the skills and experience that, alongside your qualifications, will impress employers and give them confidence that you're the person for the job.
By using the resources in the Graduate Toolkit and studentfolio you'll be able to:
- analyse and reflect on your learning and development
- capitalise on you success and identify areas for development
- create confidence in yourself and your abilities
- prepare for life after university
Where do I start?
You need to be able to relate your experiences to the key skills that employers require. You will always need to explain how you gained your skills and why you consider these to be valuable to an employer.
On the next page where do I start? we'll give you a framework for recording, reflecting on and evaluating your experience and skills.
