Closing the SussexPlus Blog
We have decided to combine the two Careers and Employability Centre blogs so information about SussexPlus can now be found at C Views and this blog will no longer be updated. We have all the posts from here archived there so nothing will be lost.
We hope that you’ll enjoy reading about SussexPlus at its new blogging home; see you there.
Events for Finalists
Employers’ Top Tip: Personal Statements
A good personal statement is really important to make you stand out from the crowd. Students that can provide evidence of their skills and experience and how they would contribute to a work place are much more likely to be considered.
This is exactly what SussexPlus aims to help YOU to do!
You can find the SussexPlus Webfolio Checklist in your SussexPlus account – just click on Create New > More > Form and select the SussexPlus checklist to check whether you’re on the right track…
Any questions, just email sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk or see www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexplus
Thanks for your Webfolio submissions!
Hope you’re having a great Summer Term so far!
It’s been great to see even more Webfolios coming in this term – they all look great! Remember - if you feel that you’re nearly there, but want an extra bit of help, don’t miss our last three drop-in sessions tomorrow from 11am-12pm, Wednesday 26th May 1-3pm or Tuesday 2nd June 11am-12pm.
If you can’t make any of these sessions, but would like to chat to a Careers Adviser about SussexPlus, book a one-to-one session by calling 01273 678429 from 10am.
Remember, you can also check out our help sheets covering Getting Started with SussexPlus, Technical Basics and How to claim your SussexPlus certificate.
More questions? Email the SussexPlus Team at sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk
Going to study or work abroad? Use SussexPlus to record and reflect on your experiences…
Hi!
I’m Jane Wilders, a Careers Adviser at the Careers and Employability Centre. You might have met me recently at the briefing session for second year students going abroad next year, where I introduced SussexPlus and spoke to you about how you can use the skills and experiences that you gain from your year abroad to shape your career path.
It’s easy to underestimate the value of your experiences during your year abroad, but remember: not only are you improving your language skills, you’re also developing a deep cultural awareness and understanding, as well as a wealth of other skills that will be valued by future employers such as decison making, problem solving, team work and resourcefulness.
Using SussexPlus is a fantastic way to document your development of these skills and create a resource that you can use when applying for jobs in the future. For some ideas to help you get started, have a look the Personal Profile for Year Abroad Students which you can download here or access via the Year Abroad gateway inside the SussexPlus system. This will help you to identify the skills you will be developing during your year abroad and record examples of where you have developed these skills. You can then use these reflections when you start to build your webfolio.
Remember, for help getting started with SussexPlus, you can view our lastest handouts which can be downloaded directly from the blog.
If your want more help with this, or anything related to how you can improve your employability skills during your time abroad, contact me by commenting on the blog or e-mail me at jw258@sussex.ac.uk
For general SussexPlus enquiries, email sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk
New Webfolio Submission Deadline
We’ve had some fantastic student webfolios submitted so far, but we’ve been hearing from a lot of students who’d like just a bit more time to work on theirs – that’s why we’ve extended the webfolio submission deadline to:
Friday 21st May 2010
Remember, if you feel like you need a bit more help with your webfolio, we’re running weekly drop in sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Arts C169. Sign up at our Events Listing.
If you’ve got any questions about SussexPlus, visit our website or email the SussexPlus team on sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk
If you’re not sure whether your webfolio is ready to send to the Careers & Employability Centre, or you’ve sent it already and been asked to resubmit, follow our ‘Steps to a Successful Webfolio’ to help you produce a webfolio to be proud of and claim your SussexPlus certificate!
STEP 1 – IDENTIFY & RECORD EVIDENCE OF YOUR SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
In order to claim your SussexPlus certificate, we’re asking you to identify and record evidence of the skills, knowledge & experience you have gathered during your time at the University of Sussex in three main areas:
- Academic Experience
- Work Experience
- Extra-Curricular Experience
So, what’s the best way to do this? A great starting point for your Academic Experience is your subject’s Skillcloud. You can view your Skillcloud by logging into SussexDirect and selecting ‘Skillclouds’ from the drop-down menu on the ‘study’ tab. This will present you with a list of all the skills you should be developing during the course of your degree programme, where you have practised this skill and how to demonstrate this skill on a CV (or in a webfolio). You’ll also find a helpful list of key words you can use to describe this skill effectively.
This is a great way to use real-life examples from your degree programme as evidence of your skills, knowledge and experience.
In terms of your work experience and extra-curricular activities, try making a list of everything you’ve done and thinking about which skills you developed along the way. If you’re involved in team sports for example, this is often a fantastic way of building teamworking and leadership skills. It also shows great self-motivation and dedication. All of these are skills that employers will value.
You can present your evidence in any way you like – create headings for each skill or for each activity you’ve undertaken. As long as your evidence is presented clearly and in suitable English, you can be as creative as you want to! An important point to remember is that you can create as many webfolios as you like, depending on what you want to use them for.
If you’re still feeling a bit stuck when it comes to identifying your skills, that’s what the Careers & Employability Centre is here for! Book an appointment to chat to one of our Careers Advisers by giving us a ring on 01273 678429 from 10am on the day you’d like to come in. Alternatively, you can email the SussexPlus team on sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk or come along to one of our drop-in sessions on campus during the Summer Term.
SussexPlus Drop-Ins: Get help with your webfolio!
SussexPlus Drop-In sessions are back for the Summer Term!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re just getting started with SussexPlus or have already started putting together your webfolio – if you need any help with technical issues or just want to chat about what to put into your webfolio, come along and speak to the SussexPlus team at one (or all!) of these sessions.
You don’t even need to have registered with SussexPlus to attend, we can talk you through the sign-up process in the sessions.
Please note that although this session is being run as a drop-in, we are asking students to sign-up via the Careers & Employability Centre Events Listing to give us an idea of numbers. If we don’t receive any sign-ups, we can’t guarantee that the sessions will be running.
SussexPlus Drop-In Sessions Times & Dates
- Tuesday 20th April, 11am – 12pm
- Tuesday 27th April, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 28th April, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 5th May, 11am – 12pm
- Tuesday 11th May, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 12th May, 11am - 12pm
- Tuesday 18th May, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 19th May, 11am – 12pm
- Tuesday 25th May, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 26th May, 11am – 12pm
- Wednesday 2nd June, 11am – 12pm
To sign up for SussexPlus, visit the SussexPlus Website - remember, you’ll need your ITS username and password.
If you’re a postgraduate student wishing to sign up for SussexPlus, or if you have any questions, email: sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk
SussexPlus awards first certificate of 2010!
Cherry Sutton was the first Sussex student to complete a webfolio
The Careers & Employability Centre awarded the first SussexPlus certificate of the year to Cherry Sutton, a first year Law undergraduate.
Cherry was the first student from the SussexPlus 2009/10 pilot groups to send her completed webfolio, showcasing her academic, extra-curricular and work experience, to the SussexPlus team.
Cherry said: “I’m going to continue to build upon my webfolio and I can see the areas where I need to develop and strengthen. By the end of my degree course I hope to have a webfolio to be proud of and use it when looking for employment. I hope that by having a webfolio prepared when I leave Sussex I will be more employable, and the early planning is good preparation.”
As well as her certificate, Cherry also received a £20 retail voucher of her choice.
When can I submit my webfolio? Now’s the time to submit your Webfolio and claim your SussexPlus Certificate! Webfolio submissions are open NOW until 28th April 2010. Remember – the TWO best webfolios EACH WEEK will be awarded a £20 retail voucher.
Still feel like you need a little extra help? Book a one-to-one with a Careers Adviser by calling 01273 678429 from 10am on the day you want to come in. Come to our weekly webfolio drop-in every Wednesday from 1-3pm in the Careers and Employability Centre, 1st Floor, Falmer House.
For SussexPlus help, info and support: www.sussexplus.wordpress.com
For content ideas and resources: www.sussex.ac.uk/careers
Logged into SussexPlus but aren’t sure what to do next?
If you’ve registered for SussexPlus and logged in but aren’t sure what to do now, here’s a brief refresher…
1. The first time you log in, you’ll have 1 ‘asset’ in your asset store: This is a webfolio with three pages (Academic Experience, Work Experience, Extra-Curricular Experience) containing some handy examples, tips and links get you started. Read Help Sheet 1: Getting Started with SussexPlus to find out more.
2. Copy, customise and put content into your webfolio: Select the webfolio asset that you already have, then click on ‘more options…’ and ‘copy’. Now, you have 2 assets in your asset store – the SussexPlus Webfolio Share and ‘SussexPlus Webfolio Share (Copy)’. Select the webfolio copy, then click ‘edit this asset. Using the screen on the right, enter a new title for your webfolio (e.g. Sue’s SussexPlus Webfolio) then tag it as anything you like (tags help you to organise your assets into categories). You may wish to write a short description of your webfolio too. As you move through the numbered sections at the bottom of the pad, you will be able to customise your webfolio and add pictures, videos, text and colour. Check out this blog post for a short video simulation about creating webfolios.
3. Find out about assets: To make the most of SussexPlus, you’ll need to build up a good collection of assets. Assets is just a word to describe anything that you upload to or save in SussexPlus (e.g. pictures, files, webfiolios etc.) In SussexPlus, you’ll find a number of asset ‘wizards’ which help make it easier to record and gather information and evidence which you can link to your webfolio. If you click here, you’ll find a couple of really useful videos about creating assets in SussexPlus. You can also see Help Sheet 2: Technical Basics for more information.
4. How do you I know what to put into my webfolio? Keep an eye on the Careers & Employability Centre Events Listing, which is regularly updated. All events that would be great to include in your webfolio are indicated. Alternatively, become a fan of the Careers & Employability Centre of Facebook, where all SussexPlus events are marked with a zebra. For a suggestion of how you can record the Careers Events you attend, see our blog post about how to get the most from our events.
5. Get further help with your webfolip: Book a one-to-one session with a Careers Adviser by ringing 01273 678429 (ext: 8429) from 10am on the day you’d like to come in. You can also come to one of our SussexPlus Drop-in sessions at the Careers & Employability Centre from 1-3pm on Wednesdays (during term-time). More questions? Email the SussexPlus Team at: sussexplus@sussex.ac.uk
