Surrey campus is all quiet with the students having finished for the year, and many of the students our office have spent the year helping find a placement are beginning to start their year of work. However, a new module has started for me so it’s back to study…
Last month I attended the three-day residential for the compulsory CEIGHE module Challenges of Careers Work in Higher Education. This module looks at an overview of the wider context of where Higher Education careers work takes place. At the residential we looked at a range of topics, from stakeholders, to personal challenges in our roles, to student expectations, as well as wider external factors of labour market and policy influences, and of course economic and political changes (it goes without saying that Brexit unknowns got a mention). It was interesting to look at both the internal and external influencers of challenges myself and my colleagues face in our roles, and how we might look to respond and change to try to keep delivering our services effectively.
There were a mix of people from different Universities at the residential, in a variety of roles, such as Careers Advisors, and staff from areas of Placements and Employer Engagement. Having a chance to connect with others is a great benefit I have found from these residentials so far. You have the opportunity to share best practice and to reflect a bit more on how you, and your place of work, are supporting students. It enables you to sit outside of your own University bubble for a few days and listen to different perspectives. I have also found that it is good for approaching the distance studying, as it helps you to assess and reflect on what you do know and understand already, but also what topics you are less familiar with so that you can place a focus on those areas when it comes to the module reading.
With this being the third module for me now, I do feel it has become less daunting to work out how to approach the studying. I am able to look ahead at what is required for that module, in terms of volume of reading and assignment questions, and begin to plan a little schedule of study. This hasn’t come without some trial and error to begin with, when working out how much time is needed for reading and draft writing. However, I realise this is part of the learning curve of returning to study, and I am proud to be nearing the mid-way point now of my diploma.
So assuming this glorious sunshine doesn’t make my brain too useless, I am aiming in July to get ahead on plans for assignment number three!
About the author
Rose Leek is a paid blogger for CLL.
I relocated back near my hometown last year in Surrey, after a decade living near the sea in East Kent. I work in a University Employability & Careers Centre, assisting engineering and science students onto a placement year as part of their degree, and providing administrative support to their academic tutors.
I started the Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Education, Information and Guidance in Higher Education (CEIGHE) in October 2017 and am looking forward to developing a wider awareness of the service I work within, and increasing my confidence and understanding.
I have experienced a year with lots of change, and it is both exciting and daunting to be adding studying back into my life. I have never written a blog and my reasoning for doing so is the hope that it will help me to better reflect on, and share, my experience as a CEIGHE student. My course is mainly distance taught, with a few residential workshops per year. I wanted to also try to share the perspective of being a distance student, and how I will (hopefully!) learn to juggle the balance of study, work and home.
I look forward to the journey ahead!
And if all else fails, maybe the cat can do some of my studying for me?
Lifelong Learning at Warwick 