Graduate careers course

Graduate career planning and success

Learn how to develop career confidence, and jump-start your career with our FREE online course for 2021 Edge Hill University graduates.

Designed to build confidence in graduate career planning, decision making and application and selection success, this course will help you to understand how to:

• Identify your career goals and plan your route.
• Achieve successful applications.
• Build confidence and self-belief.

This is a virtual self-study course with optional live, face-to-face activities and support from your own personal career coach. The course will run 30 August to 16 September 2022.

Course overview

This free online course provides step-by-step support to guide you in your career planning and ability to secure a graduate job or postgraduate course.

• Personalised, professional support, whatever your starting point, or end goal.
• Study anywhere, anytime within the allocated course period.
• Receive individual mentoring and feedback from a dedicated and qualified careers adviser to support your online learning experience.

The course can be studied flexibly with an estimated six hours required to complete online modules, plus an additional 1 hour per week with your career coach.

What you will study?

This course comprises six modules.

To complete the course you will need to complete one core module and three optional modules.

Core module:

Introducing you to the process of career planning, you will be encouraged to reflect on yourself, who you are, what you have to offer and what you want from your career. We’ll share tools and resources to aid your self-exploration and planning for your future.

Optional modules:

To write effective applications you need to understand what recruiters are looking for and be able to articulate your skills to help you stand out. This module will cover application forms, personal statements, CVs, and cover letters and will explore the tools used by employers such as assessment centres and psychometric testing.

Focusing on developing online job search skills and strategies, you’ll know where to look for graduate roles and how to search using ‘Boolean’ techniques. By creating a map of target organisations, you’ll become confident in how to engage with them and have a planned strategy to organise your job search.

Networking and building connections to open career opportunities require confidence. Learn to use tools like LinkedIn to build career-focused connections, as well as look at the skills and attributes required to become an effective networker. Writing your elevator pitch to use when introducing yourself online and in person will give you a powerful tool to build confidence at networking events.

The decision to pursue postgraduate study to support your career path is personal to you. We’ll cover how you should choose a suitable course, how to apply the financial considerations and what a good application looks like, so you’ll be able to evaluate if postgraduate study is for you.

Reflecting on your current level of skills and experience, you’ll develop an action plan to enhance any areas that need work. Exploring volunteering and other personal activities will allow you to evaluate where you can improve your knowledge and gain new skills.

Personal career coaching

A key element of the course is our free dedicated careers guidance and coaching.

You will be matched with a career guidance professional with a wealth of experience in higher education and in the job market today.

You will receive a minimum of one hour a week 1-1 contact time with your career coach, plus dedicated support with your job search and individual feedback on the online course content and exercises.

If you were to have a private coaching session with an external consultant you would expect a cost of between £80 and £120 a session. However, our advice on career planning, the practical support for job searching and applications and the selection process are supplied free of charge to Edge Hill University graduates who graduated in 2021. 

Your personal coach will walk you through the career planning and application process and celebrate your success with you at the end.

How to register

Your place on the course will be confirmed by the Edge Hill Careers team within 5 working days of application and joining instructions and information on how to participate will be sent via the email/telephone number you supply on your application form.