2nd & 3rd Stage Research Underway

Just a quick update for the moment.

With a flurry of activity the GlasgowSAVE project is very much gaining momentum. Upon returning from a successful visit to various Russell Group universities in England, we delivered against our first research objective, a review of alumni volunteering activity across the sector. The project team discussed the report produced from the research trip at our 2nd project meeting last Monday and agreed on some initial recommendations for the focus of our resources:

International Alumni Ambassadors programme
Building on existing alumni associations
Producing a searchable online framework of alumni profiles to aid international recruitment
case studies/ profiles
Identify Alumni Leaders to organise networks of alumni fully for recruitment, events and increasing the awareness of UOG overseas

Careers Network
A mentoring pilot to inform procedure & identify alumni to utilize in wider mentoring scheme post pilot
Alumni work placements
Guest speakers on employability or/and industry specific lectures for Schools
Alumni Profiles

Events & Benefits to Alumni & Students
A student - alumni networking society
A networking dinner event as a benefit to alumni and students
Consider an alumni jobs board

We are investigating how deliverable these recommedations will be and the outcome will also be shaped further by our second and third stage of research:

- A comprehensive internal audit of existing alumni activity at the University of Glasgow
- Gaining alumni and student perspective

Both stages of research are now running together as we are keen to progress the project. To this end, this afternoon I have the opportunity to attend a student workshop and networking session organised by the universities Career Service: The Mock Interview Workshop with Employers

The workshop will host 9 companies offering 27 students the invaluable opportunity to gain some first hand interview practice with employers, give them an insight into the recruitment process and help students develop their self promotion skills.

The project team have pulled together a short questionnaire, hoping to identify how students feel alumni could contribute to enhancing their career development, which I will be handing out to the group this afternoon. I am interested to hear our students opinions about the potential Alumni Volunteering Programme for the first time and I have been invited to attend the post workshop networking session where I intend to pick the brains of the students and perhaps even identify some Glasgow Uni Alumni amongst the employers.

Updates will follow.