What ELSIE means to our students

Bernadette Kavanagh (First year student)
"ELSIE has helped me to develop skills that are both relevant for success in my academic studies, and transferable to the career I intend to enter once I have completed my degree. The ELSIE class helps to bring focus to future career prospects in a manner that has encouraged me to consider the importance of using my time at university to develop skills necessary to make me a stronger candidate for future prospective employers."

Anonymous (First year student)
"I have found it beneficial, because it has allowed me to fully realise my own personal (transferable) skills."

Anonymous (First year student)
"ELSIE has inspired me to work harder and has shown me that it is possible to achieve what you want [...] there are a lot of opportunities out there and the ELSIE module shows us what we have to look forward to. It has also made me a lot more confident in myself."

Elizabeth Prinou (First year student)
"While attending the ELSIE module I was encouraged to use the Prospects Planner and visit the careers service from year one, which helped me find out what career choice would be better for me and what steps I should take in order to achieve my goal quickly and successfully."

Lisa Crigg (A first year student who presented at the European First Year Experience conference)
"The ELSIE module has been very beneficial. It has made me understand my potential, see what skills I already have and what skills I am able to gain."

Sebastian Kozbial (A first year student who presented at the European First Year Experience conference)
"People say it is useful to know our strengths and weaknesses; for me it's essential. ELSIE gives us an opportunity to realize which areas we need to improve in order to become more attractive to future employers and to make the most of our time at university."

Belinda Mellor (A student who helped organise an ELSIE event)
My tutor asked for volunteers from our group to help organise a drinks reception for ELSIE students, external employers and UCLan staff. The event was aimed at promoting the ELSIE ethos of embedding employability into the English Language curriculum. I remembered being advised to take part in extra-curricular activities during the first-year course so I volunteered along with four other classmates.

We met weekly to project manage the event; the meetings involved taking minutes, delegating responsibilities, volunteering for tasks and making decisions. I also attended a careers fair and made contact with several employers to whom we sent invitations.

The event was a great success with good staff, student, employer interaction and, as a result of developing my networking skills, I was invited to work on a voluntary basis with an employer, helping job seekers to create and update their cv's.

During one discussion at the event an employer was asked what it was that made a CV go on the short list rather than in the waste paper basket. The reply was a CV which explained how someone had gone the extra mile, not necessarily by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro but by volunteering in some way, by giving something extra.

By giving up some of my own time to volunteer I have discovered that I have a more skills than I realised such as using my own initiative and networking. For me, being at UCLan is about more than attending lectures, it is about developing personal skills and thereby enhancing my employability.