You have already put yourself on the right path to securing a successful career within your chosen industry by choosing a GO Wales placement; these opportunities have assisted students and graduates into exciting and productive careers and are proven to make you more employable.
Graduate level work experience is an excellent way to give your CV extra credibility and allow you to stand out from the crowd. Recruiters seek well-rounded candidates who can clearly articulate and apply the skills they have developed from their degree, their work experience and extra-curricular activities. A recent study of more than 10,000 recruitment advertisements found that the top-ten attributes graduate recruiters valued were:
Throughout the course of your placement you will be developing many of these skills, but for those skills that you may well be lacking in, the Professional Development Award will afford you the opportunity to work on your areas of weakness and allow you to become a more proficient individual within the workplace. GO Wales will be offering you advice and guidance during your placement and will always be on hand to offer feedback when you need it.
Gaining experience of different workplaces will help you to decide which career path is right for you. Your placement may well be within an SME, local and central Government or a large corporation. You will be exposed to greater responsibility and variation than in any other business and this will serve to increase your knowledge of the industry as a whole and to make you a more business aware individual. You will learn to appreciate the interactions between all of the various functions in a firm and see the impact of your actions.
Work experience will help you to gain confidence in your abilities, which is another quality valued by graduate recruiters. You may also meet people during your work-experience placement that could be useful in the future, either as referees, to signpost you should you ever need advice or to alert you to vacancies that may be of interest to you in the future within the organisation.
The Professional Development Award will accredit your work experience and provide you with formal recognition of the knowledge and skills you have gained through your work experience. It allows you to take control of your professional development by providing a framework to develop your work related key skills that employers are seeking.
As well as receiving a recognised City & Guilds Certificate, the Award is useful as it empowers you to take charge of your own self development and highlights your employability skills. Completion of the Award will help you to learn and set your own objectives in the workplace, evaluate your experiences and articulate the benefits gained from a GO Wales placement and how they can give added value to a future employer. In addition to this, you will be encouraged to appraise your performances and skills critically, always seeking to set new aims and objectives for yourself so that you can continually develop your skills and experiences.
In order to achieve a Professional Development Award it is necessary to:
