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Quick Links Sign-up For WoW WoW News What is WoW? Upcoming Events Recession Advice Careers Workshops - " Ready For Work " e-Portfolio My Working Day Podcasts Student Resources / Downloads Contact Information

WoW

WoW stands for the “world of work” and it is an initiative which is unique to LJMU which aims to make graduates the most valued by employers.

The WoW initiative aims to ensure that every student is equipped with the skills they need to stand out from the crowd and successfully engage in the world of work, either because they possess skills which are highly valued by employers or because they are well equipped to set themselves up in their own business.

For more information on WoW click here

WoW Boot Camp

Fast-tracking final year and postgraduate students into the World of Work

Completing your course this academic year? Want to stand out from the crowd with a WoW® Certificate?
Or applying for graduate jobs?

The WoW Boot Camp is an intensive one-day programme specifically designed for students who are graduating in July 2010, who are WoW ready but need help to produce a WoW statement and want to develop their skills in writing effective job applications.

You will learn how to write a WoW Gold statement, looking at all 3 WoW Skills areas (Self Awareness, Organisational Awareness and Making Things Happen).
You’ll get detailed explanations of what is required for each skills area, review examples and share ideas for the best way to evidence your skills.
You’ll leave with some sections of your Gold statement already written and everything you need to complete it.

You can then focus on completing your studies in Semester 2, with just the final employer interview to do in order to achieve your WoW certificate.

Here's what one recent attendee said about the day:

"I've really enjoyed the Boot Camp - a lot of useful information packed into one day - great for 3rd year students. Great facilities, lovely lunch and helpful staff. Professional presentations and very useful resources. Thank you."

PLEASE NOTE: To be eligible to attend a WoW Boot Camp, you need to be:

In your final year of study at LJMU, graduating in 2010
Reasonably confident in your WoW skills*

When: This one day programme is running twice in March on the 3rd and 18th
Times: 09:15 – 17:00 (lunch and refreshments provided)
Where: Graduate Development Centre, 1st Floor, Kingsway House, Hatton Garden, Liverpool, L3 2AJ (map)

Click here to book a place

* Not sure if you’re WoW ready? Try our “Check your WoW factor” quiz available in the Overview section of the WoW Process Blackboard module.

So Sign-up for WoW to register on the Blackboard module.

Make the most of this opportunity to get the WoW® factor!

WoW in Conversation with Hill Dickinson

Listen to Hill Dickinson Human Resources Director Andrew Rushworth talk about the graduate recruitment process at a major law firm and why he feels World of Work (WoW) skills are as important as the degree itself.

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Posted by WoW News - 22nd February 2010

WoW in Conversation with Heaney Watson Solicitors

Listen to Heaney Watson Solicitors Managing Director Liza Watson talk about how to impress a potential employer, why she regularly takes on LJMU graduates and why she is backing the World of Work (WoW) initiative.

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Posted by WoW News - 22nd February 2010

'My Working Day' career profiles added

When considering a career, whilst you may have a world of literature at your disposal, sometimes it is just no substitute for hearing “what it’s really like” from someone with first-hand experience of your desired role.

Over 50 detailed 'My Working Day' profiles have been added to 'Case Studies & Resources section of the WoW here

Posted by WoW News - 17th February 2010

Innovation Week at TAE

The Graduate Development Centre worked in partnership with The School of Engineering, Technology and Maritime and Ford to deliver the first Innovation Week. Watch the video to find out what students and staff thought about the week.

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Posted by WoW News - 15th February 2010

Graduate and Undergraduate Internships: AGCAS Announcement

There have been a couple of announcements re graduate and undergraduate internships in the last few days – an expansion of undergraduate internships and some financial support for graduates taking unpaid internships. You can read ths on the AGCAS Website

Posted by WoW News - 18th January 2010

Students quote WoW® as good practice

WoW at LJMU is offered in the National Student Forum Report 2009 as a good example of how universities should approach supporting students to develop their employability skills. Terry Dray, Director of the Graduate Development Centre commented: “This further supports the commitment from LJMU and the Graduate Development Centre to help LJMU students to be competitive in the challenging graduate recruitment market. Students must now take full advantage of what WoW uniquely offers like work related learning, graduate skills and WoW skills via the WoW certificate”.

View Case Study

View Report

Posted by WoW News - 18th January 2010

Graduate Labour Market in 2010

Latest research on 'The Graduate Market in 2010' was published this week.

Terry Dray, Director of the LJMU Graduate Development Centre commented: “While some sectors are reporting that they will be looking for more graduates in 2010 the competition for jobs is still fierce with the class of 2009 and those who have completed internships securing many positions. For LJMU students the need to get the WoW certificate is compelling as the graduates who secure positions will be those who are the most organised, motivated and can provide evidence of possessing employability skills and attributes e.g the WoW certificate”

The research is based on a survey of the organisations featured in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers and a poll of 1,000 student job hunters, conducted in December 2009.

To read the report please click here

Posted by WoW News - 18th January 2010

LJMU students are engaging with the WoW Certificate in increasing numbers.

Terry Dray, Dirctor of the Graduate Development Centre says; "LJMU students are realising that to stand out from the crowd in a very competitive graduate recruitment market, they must make themselves as employable as possible. So far this semester over 2000 students have registered for the WoW certificate and started to develop their self awareness, organisational awareness and making things happen statements. Of course, the GDC team and their Faculty staff are here to support them all the way".

Posted by WoW News - 11th December 2009

Target Jobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards

TargetJobs undergraduate of the year award is now open for applications. More details can be found here

Posted by WoW News - 25th November 2009

WoW an example of “Excellent practice”

WoW at LJMU is featured as an example of excellent practice for supporting student employability in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills publication Higher Ambitions: The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy. See page 50 to read the case study.

Click here to see the publication

Posted by WoW News - 16th November 2009

Naomi Climer, Sony Europe Vice-President, speaks about WoW

Listen to Naomi Climer, Vice-President of Sony Europe talk about why engaging with the WoW Certificate is important for her organisation AND you.

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Posted by WoW News - 5th November 2009

Graduate Talent Pool

With a degree under your belt, you’re in a great position to get ahead and secure a bright future. You might even be on the way already with your chosen career.

The association of graduate recruiters' Time to Get Moving guide, gives students / graduates some great ideas to get you started.

Further information:

For graduates and their parents: http://www.direct.gov.uk/graduates
For employers: http://graduatetalentpool.bis.gov.uk/

Posted by WoW News - 2nd November 2009

Liverpool Graduate Careers Festival

Liverpool Graduate Careerse Festival is a national recruitment event organised by the Liverpool Fairs Partnership. The event provides final year students with an opportunity to make contact with prospective employers offering graduate vacancies.

The festival is taking place on Wednesday October 14th, 10.30am - 3.30pm. It will be help at St. George's Hall, Liverpool.

For more information visit the Liverpool Fairs Website

Posted by WoW News - 7th October 2009

WoW Newspaper launches

LJMU journalism students, in partnership with the Graduate Development Centre have launched the WoW Star newspaper. A work of work news review.

You can view the WoW Star here

You may also download a PDF version here

Posted by WoW News - 29th September 2009

Take a virtual tour of the Graduate Development Centre

The Graduate Development Centre is LJMU’s state of the art facility for enhancing student employability.

We’ve uploaded a sneak-peak of our 3D tour to our YouTube channel. To view it click here

Posted by WoW News - 3rd September 2009

LJMU has recently launched a new Vacancy Service to enable you to access employment opportunities whilst you are studying and once you have graduated. The database advertises the following types of vacancies: LJMU Vacancy website screen-shot

Graduate vacancies and training schemes – where a degree or equivalent qualification is an essential requirement for the job
Sandwich/Industrial placements – for current students to undertake usually for 12 months as part of a student’s course of study
Internships/summer work – full-time placements over the summer holidays, usually 2 or 3 months long
Part-time work that students can undertake around their academic studies
Volunteering projects with a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation

LJMU students and graduates can register on the website and search for vacancies that are relevant to them.

To register click here.

Posted by WoW News - 5th August 2009

The Graduate Development Centre joins Twitter

LJMU’s Graduate Development Centre has joined Twitter. You can find us at http://twitter.com/ljmugdc

Posted by WoW News - 8th July 2009

WoW Boot Camps at the Graduate Development Centre

Are you graduating this summer? Breathing a sigh of relief now that your studies are complete? But have you thought about what happens next and how you can move into your first professional job?

The Graduate Development Centre (GDC) can help. We are offering opportunities to achieve our employer backed WoW® or World of Work certificate that can help you stand out from the crowd and fast track you into the world of work. Although the current economic climate is gloomy, University-leavers who have not secured a job need a clear message: the search for work is far from hopeless!

To succeed on our ‘fast track’ route you will need to have either completed a work placement as part of your course or have got some work experience. This will help you through the process and you could still achieve a WoW® certificate in time for Graduation.

Over the next few weeks, the Graduate Development Centre is running a series of WoW® Boot Camps - intensive, fast track WoW® support days, where you can:
• Do an audit and gap analysis of your existing world of work skills – this will help you with your own job applications!
• Find out what is required for a WoW® Personal Statement (similar to graduate application forms)
• Use the GDC’s facilities and support to draft your statement – careers advisers, trainers and employability advisors will be on hand!
• Get rapid feedback on the day, to allow you to complete your statement.

Why not help yourself get on the inside track and learn the secrets of making successful graduate applications and experience a final interview with a real employer!– and its all free!

Book yourself onto one of our WoW® Boot Camps on 17th or 24th June, plus an extra day on 25th June particularly for International Students.

Ring 0151 231 8099 or visit www.ljmu.ac.uk/WoW for more information and to book a place.

Invest in your future - just a few hours can make a big difference!

GDC Announces 'Recession Buster 09' programme

The Graduate Development Centre has announced ‘Recession Buster 09’ to help graduates fast track themselves into the World of Work with a WoW® certificate.

During May and June 2009, the GDC is running an intensive programme of workshops and support to help final year students through the WoW® process to achieve our employer backed WoW® certificate. The first stage is an online diagnostic interview, followed by development workshops if needed, culminating in the production of a personal statement and final employer interview. Students are assigned a coach to guide them through the process and even those students who have not yet started the process could still achieve certification in time for graduation.

To get started, students can attend a “Getting Started with WoW” workshop at the GDC on 18th, 21st and 29th May and 1st, 10th, 15th and 26th June. To book a place on a “Getting Started with WoW” workshop, click here

Or students can complete the online interview in their own time by going to http://vis.ljmu.ac.uk/ and then the GDC will contact them to guide them through the rest of the process.

Posted by WoW News - 13th May 2009

WoW speaks to Carl Gilleard, CEO Association of Graduate Recruiters

Carl Gilleard, CEO Association of Graduate Recruiters, has recorded a video that includes his reflections on the economy and the job outlook for graduates. He also praises LJMU for the WoW initiative and encourages students, staff and employers to engage with it.

In this excert of the video, Carl introduces AGR and talks about beating the recession.

View video

Posted by WoW News - 13th May 2009

Striding Out - Careers Workshops

Striding out are currently working with Universities across the UK to equip young people with the entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and attributes to secure or create a job!

Their workshops help students to explore their skills and interests, understand how to research the marketplace, present themselves and their ambitions effectively, and help them network with the people they want to know.

For more information visit their website here

Posted by WoW News - 5th May 2009

WoW 'My Working Day'employer case studies launch

My Working Day case studies, give you a taste of what to really expect from your chosen career.

Each profile has been completed by an employee of a key graduate employer, and outlines the highs and lows of the job, as well as what they would have done differently when they were a student.

A selection of 'My Working Day' profiles are available to view now in the Case Studies section of this site. Over coming weeks more profiles will be added to the case studies section, and announced here.

Posted by WoW News - 5th May 2009

Government announces Graduate internship plans

The government has made a long-awaited announcement on its plans for graduate internships. The package of measures, which it hopes will help combat graduate unemployment, will include opportunities for both paid and unpaid work-experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Under the scheme, graduates already claiming Job Seekers' Allowance will be eligible to receive it for up to 13 weeks while on an unpaid placement.

Terry Dray, Director of the GDC commented ‘The GDC are monitoring developments closely and my advice to LJMU graduates is to stay in close contact with us in the coming months’

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has published a brochure containing details of the scheme and set up a Graduate Talent Pool website via which employers can register their interest.

For more information and to download a brochure click here

Posted by WoW News - 5th May 2009

ACCA Commercial Awareness Podcast

Commercial awareness has always been an issue in graduate recruitment and is sometimes cited as one of the reasons why students fail at interview. ACCA has been looking into ways in which we can support students in developing commercial awareness and being able to demonstrate that to employers. As a result we have recorded a series of podcasts that focus on commercial awareness in the different sectors.

There are five podcasts available in this series. The first is available to download on their website The link below will take you through to these resources www.accaglobal.com/graduates/commercial/

As well as the podcasts, students can also download additional articles that focus on elements highlighted in the podcast such as Risk Management.

Posted by WoW News - 27th April 2009

LSU is changing and you could be part of it!

From September Liverpool Students Union will have three new student Forums which will look at creating a Better Union, Better University, and a Better City. We are looking for 3 highly motivated, passionate and innovative students to Chair these three Forums.

These three students with have the opportunity to shape LSU, become Trustees of the union, receive great experience and training for their CV, and gain some brilliant contacts across the UK’s Higher Education sector. For more details click here.

Posted by WoW News - 20th April 2009

WoW speaks to Carl Gilleard, CEO Association of Graduate Recruiters

Posted by WoW News - 7th April 2009

LJMU and WoW® in case study

Terry Dray, Director of the GDC with Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK

LJMU and WoW® is a featured case study in “Future Fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work” produced by the CBI and Universities UK. The publication is intended to publicise best practice and includes case studies from a small number of universities and leading employers. Inclusion in this nationally important publication demonstrates LJMU’s leading position in the university sector for employability and employer engagement.

Terry Dray, Director

Pictured: Terry Dray, Director of the Graduate Development Centre with Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK.

A PDF of the publication can be downloaded here

Posted by WoW News - 7th April 2009

WoW Podcast:'WoW In Conversation With...' FSSC: Jenny Fox

Jenny Fox, Head of Careers and Higher Education at the Financial Services Skills Council shares her personal views on financial careers for graduates at this time of economic downturn. She provides her top tips for success and talks about the value of engaging with WoW® and how as an LJMU graduate you can make yourself more attractive and employable to the financial services sector.

Listen to this Podcast

Subscribe to this Podcast

Posted by WoW News - 27th March 2009

WoW Podcast back online

After a brief technical issue, the WoW Podcast is once again back online.

To subscribe to the regular WoW podcast please click here

Posted by WoW News - 25th March 2009

WoW Podcast down

Unfortunately, due to technical issues with the Podcasting service, subscription to the WoW Podcast has been disabled for the time being. In the meantime you may download the mp3 files contained in the Podcast from the links below.

Posted by WoW News - 24th March 2009

WoW Podcast: 'WoW In Conversation With...' Sellafield Sites (BNFL): Ashley Finlayson

BNFL’s Asley Finlayson gives LJMU students an overview of Sellafield Sites’ graduate training program, and future opportunities.

To download and listen to this Podcast please click here

To subscribe to the regular WoW podcast please click here

Posted by WoW News - 20th March 2009

WoW Podcast: My Working Day – Grosvenor: Guy Butler

Guy Butler - Senior Development Manager at Grosvenor, the company behind the new Liverpool One development, gives us a brief synopsis of his average working day. For more information on Guy’s working day please visit the Grosvenor website.

To download and listen to this Podcast please click here

To subscribe to the regular WoW podcast please click here

Posted by WoW News - 20th March 2009

WoW Podcasts launch

The Graduate Development Centre today launches the WoW Podcast. The WoW Podcast will include:

My Working Day -Regular short profiles from key employers, giving LJMU students a unique insight into a variety of job roles.
‘WoW in Conversation with …’ - Exerts from WoW’s employer presentations, guiding students the key information they need when entering employment in specific job sectors.

To subscribe to the regular podcast please click here

Posted by WoW News - 20th March 2009