The Employability e-Hub: A Careers Intervention Developed by Welsh Universities
What is the Employability e-Hub?
The Employability e-Hub is an online resource to equip students with the tools and insights necessary to translate academic success into tangible career opportunities. It builds students’ confidence in their skills and employability, helping them to secure graduate-level employment after they leave university. This online resource includes information on the labour market in each region in Wales, signposting to employers, support organisations, and university careers teams, as well as highlighting skills that students are likely to have already developed.
Development of the Employability e-Hub
The nine Welsh universities (including Open University Wales, and recently joined by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai) have worked in partnership to create the Employability e-Hub with funding from Medr (Wales’s Commission for Tertiary Education and Research) through its Targeted Employability Support for Students (TESS) funding stream.
The development of the e-Hub demonstrates how universities can work collectively for the benefit of our students and to support the skills and employability of our future Welsh graduates in our local labour market.
The universities recognised there was a need to ensure that as many students as possible could benefit from the knowledge and resources of the TESS-funded employability teams, even if they did not feel ready to sign up for the individual programmes each careers service was offering. The universities initially explored a printed publication but decided it would be out of date too quickly. We worked with Sgema, a Welsh SME, to instead develop an online platform to provide knowhow and resources to those students least likely to be attending university.
Engagement with student focus groups was instrumental in tailoring the e-Hub’s resources, ensuring the platform met actual student needs and preferences. Close coordination with all Welsh universities facilitated the integration of the e-Hub into existing employability frameworks, enhancing resource availability and visibility. Different universities represent different demographics and regional differences within Wales, which influenced the development of the e-Hub.
Impact of the Employability e-Hub
The Employability e-Hub is the first resource of its kind created by and for Welsh students and career services. It focuses on the employability needs of underrepresented students from all Welsh HE institutions. Harriet Barnes, Director of Research, Innovation & Skills, says: “Universities have worked collaboratively to develop an innovative resource that will empower students to compete in today’s job market. By focusing on career confidence and going beyond traditional employability support, the Employability e-Hub will equip graduates from diverse backgrounds with the support and tools to transition successfully to the workplace.”
Workforce diversification is of particular importance to SMEs, which make up a large proportion of the Welsh labour market. By encouraging students to consider staying in Wales, and specifically wider participation students, we hope to impact on more diversity in hires, which in turn will impact the local economy of rural areas.
The e-Hub promotes the importance of the Welsh language in the labour market, with links to learning resources. In addition, promoting opportunities in Wales is a key aim, and students are welcoming this:
“There are so many companies that I knew about in general but didn’t know had Wales-based locations I could maybe work in!”
Sulaimaan, third-year Physics student at Aberystwyth University
The platform’s content, including work experience opportunities, career coaching, and employer engagement, is tailored to meet diverse student needs and reach those students who might not otherwise engage with their university Careers Services.
“The design of the website is very dyslexia friendly; the choice of font and high-contrast colours make the whole site easy for me to understand.”
Huw, third-year International Politics student at Aberystwyth University
Students are provided with tools via the e-Hub to take control of their own development independently:
“The e-Hub does an amazing job to see what skills employers may be looking at and how that compares with your skills.”
Ren, third-year English student at Aberystwyth University
The e-Hub has contributed to the visibility and recognition of careers and employability professionals in higher education.
The Employability e-Hub – Complimenting Careers Service Activities
The e-Hub highlights the critical role of employability professionals in student success, raising awareness of their valuable contribution to higher education and beyond. Students are directed to the support available from the employability teams in the relevant universities.
The e-Hub supports our commitment at Aberystwyth University to the social mobility of every student and our belief that everyone, regardless of their background should be able to thrive and do well. Our newly launched Employability Strategy 2024-29 outlines 5 priority aims including supporting diversity across our student cohort through a range of employability initiatives including working with key partners and embracing digital technologies.
Student engagement with the Employability e-Hub
The Employability e-Hub offers students an experience that goes beyond traditional employability support. It is designed to be intuitive and in tune with students’ needs, while being adaptable to their schedules.
Since its launch in December 2023, the platform has garnered over 2 million views on social media, with 10,000 clicks to the e-Hub from the target audience, showcasing substantial engagement. To contextualise, the Welsh Universities have funding to support 1,194 students this year. The e-Hub is therefore enabling us to reach a much wider audience.
Testimonials from users underscore the platform’s positive influence on career readiness and confidence:
“As a student who is part of underrepresented groups in the workplace, this support is really valuable. I found resources through the e-Hub, such as different businesses that were offering opportunities to underrepresented groups. It made me more confident in my ability to find work after university.
“The e-Hub highlights the importance of diversity in the workplace and lets underrepresented students explore opportunities with businesses and organisations that are looking to strengthen their workforce through diversity.”
Nathan, third-year Art student at Aberystwyth University
“The additional support is amazing. It is such a deep-knowledge site and is super accessible and I love that it’s all separated and clearly listed to get to the information you need for your specific needs. Business offering is also great! The information really flows and is engaging to read.”
Birte, second-year Psychology student at Aberystwyth University
What next for the Employability e-Hub?
We have undertaken targeted social media campaigns and will continue to use digital platforms to reach and engage with students effectively. And we will continue to seek feedback, to develop the e-Hub further.
We recognised a need to encourage repeat visits to the site, and with this in mind we recently launched a news section featuring articles of interest to students and their employability needs.
Current and future articles include:
Demand for graduates in Wales projected to soar by 2035
Graduate outlook in Wales: A snapshot
Rising salaries and the impact of inflation
The role of ChatGPT in higher education and employment
UK student job market trends in 2024
Crucial role of university for ‘First-in-the-Family’ Graduates
These articles are also an opportunity for us to further promote the Employability e-Hub via social media.
Employability e-Hub Success
The Employability e-Hub’s development and success are testament to the collaborative efforts between Medr, Welsh universities and students. By focusing on inclusivity and accessibility, we have created a community-oriented approach, ensuring the e-Hub serves as a central resource for both students and career professionals in Wales and potentially beyond.
Our work on the Employability e-Hub resulted in Aberystwyth University, on behalf of all the universities in Wales, receiving the Building Effective Partnerships Award at the recent Annual Conference of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS).
