#graduateplus

As part of our current module ‘Enterprise’, we have to complete and pass our Graduate Plus Bronze Award. There are over 250 activities to choose from in order to complete the 12 needed to pass this award. 

There are four attributes each of which has three activities that you need to complete in order to gain this attribute and eventually the award. The names of these attributes are; Creative Problem Solvers, Enterprising, Professional and Work Ready and Global Outlook. All of these sections have slightly different meanings to allow you to grow different skills during the week. 

For Creative Problem Solvers, I completed a personality test which was helpful in learning how I work and what is needed for me to be successful. For example: my test showed that I am extremely organised and I need this to be successful when doing work. I also created a LinkedIn account which will help boost collaboration and maybe even enable me to work collaboratively with people globally or locally. The final task that I did for this attribute was a beginners workshop for LinkedIn understanding how to use this effectively. 

The next attribute is Enterprising. The first activity that I completed was a library induction which is where I demonstrated resilience in finding out how to use the digital database and use the numbers and decimals system in order to find where the books are kept within the library. This is a very helpful skill for me to learn especially as I am now doing the Discourse Module. The second activity that I completed was creating a Behance profile. Behance is something that I have used previously in my university experience but you don’t have to have a profile to use it. Therefore for this task, I have set up a profile which will allow me to get the best out of Behance creating mood boards and sharing my work. Finally, I have completed a Graduate Plus Bronze Award Workshop which allowed me to gain a deeper understanding about the award itself and the benefits of doing the Award.

For the global outlook section, I began by doing a book binding workshop which was all about creating a zine from paper itself without the use of glue, thread or staples. Therefore, this is an extremely sustainable way of book binding as it allows the Zine to be recycled easily. It also inspired me to go away from this session and try my own method of binding without staples etc. Another session that I attended was the Eco Gift Giving session where I learnt about cool alternatives for presents that are more sustainable. This also pushed my creativity as the whole session surrounds thinking outside the box to deliver a more sustainable outcome. I also learnt that the UK throws away 227,000 miles of wrapping paper each year which is just short of the distance to the moon. The final task that I completed as a part of Global Outlook is LinkedIn for networking. This helped me to establish what I needed to add onto my profile in order for me to get the full benefits of this platform. Using LinkedIn as an online CV is more sustainable and also allows for a more human interaction- weirdly- as you aren’t just a name on a piece of paper; you can add images of both yourself and your work. I now also understand how I am going to build a network for when I graduate. This session was extremely helpful and probably the most beneficial.

Then, for the final attribute, Professional and Work Ready, was centred around thinking about what I wanted to pursue when I graduated. A pathway that has always intrigued me is teaching. Therefore, I attended the Getting into Teaching session run by two representatives from Getting into Teaching. This session was extremely useful as the company actually has a free advisor for anyone wanting to be a teacher and the advisors are qualified teachers. I am glad I attended this session as it allowed me to see what support was there if I chose to become a teacher after I graduate. The second activity I completed for this was a session named Getting Work Experience this summer. The session detailed the importance of relevant work experience. This is something that I hope to start working towards in my second year; I now understand what steps I need to take in order to be successful at gaining relevant experience. Finally, the last session that I partook was on Freelancing and being Self-employed. This is something that I was curious about as it is a pathway that is available to me once I leave the university.