What are Skills Sessions?
The Bristol PLUS Award is proud to have a variety of Endorsing Organisations, who work directly with the PLUS Award team to organise bespoke events for our PLUS Award students!
These organisations all see the value of connecting directly with our engaged PLUS Award students, who demonstrate commitment to continuous development of their employability skills. This term, almost 50 students have attended interactive sessions with AlphaSights, Enterprise, and Tutor The Nation.
Each of the sessions allowed students to develop their core skills of working well as part of a team, communicating confidently and appropriately, and developing and maintaining healthy relationships. These are 3 of the 27 skills on My Skills, the University’s skills development profile.
AlphaSights
Our first Skills Session ‘Negotiation and Persuasion’ was with the global information services experts, AlphaSights.
Starting with the 3 principles of negotiation and the 3 principles of persuasion, students worked together to role play a rent dispute and implement their learnings.
The students then walked through ‘A day in the life as an Associate of AlphaSights’, the steps it takes to get there, and the interview process. They found this unique opportunity for company insights particularly useful, felt more confident, and enjoyed this interactive and engaging session!
We extend our thanks to Tara and Cammie from AlphaSights for running this excellent session.
Enterprise Mobility
Next, Enterprise Mobility looked at ‘Business Problem Solving for a Sustainable Future’.
This session focussed on engaging positively with global issues, and adapting to changing and challenging environments. Students worked together in groups to research and present their solutions to some of the environmental business challenges that a worldwide company like Enterprise Mobility faces. It was a great opportunity for students to strengthen their presentation and teamworking skills, whilst implementing a sustainable perspective.
Students reflected on the session, saying “it was a good opportunity to develop their collaboration skills”, and were happy to get to practice skills in a hands on approach!
Our thanks go to Ryan and Thomas from Enterprise Mobility!
Tutor The Nation
Finally, our Skills Session with Tutor The Nation offered students insight into working in the charity sector and the niche issues faced by small charities. They were introduced to the charity and posed the brief: “Design a comprehensive volunteer retention plan that addresses the key challenges faced by our tutors, promotes sustained engagement, and enhances their overall experience with our organisation”.
Participants demonstrated innovative thinking and effective collaboration, working with peers they had never met before. Sophia from Tutor The Nation was impressed by the unique perspective brought by each team to solve a very real problem that the charity is facing.
As well as professional development, it was great to see new relationships being formed, with one table remarking “we didn’t know each other before, but now we’re all friends”.
Don’t miss out!
Keep an eye out for upcoming Skills Sessions with our PLUS Award Endorsing Organisations here.
There are a range of sessions scheduled in TB2, which are a great way to gain your experience hours for your PLUS Award, whilst hearing from leading industry experts, and developing a range of key employability skills!
Follow the University of Bristol Careers Service LinkedIn to see posts from our Endorsing Organisation activities, and connect with your peers!
What next?
- Use the Bristol PLUS Award guide to find out more
- Register for the Award on the registration pathway
- Book onto an Introductory talk.