The Chester Difference Award

The Chester Difference Award Making our students more employable www.chester.ac.uk/careers/chester-difference-award Careers & Employability

The Chester Difference Award The Chester Difference Award We wish to extend a warm welcome to you as a participant of The Chester Difference Award (CDA). Careers and Employability, and our partners across the wider University, are here to support your success in completing the Award. We hope that you will find participating in The CDA to be personally rewarding and a successful and enriching experience. This handbook contains the essential information to support you whilst completing The CDA. If you require this information in an alternative format, please contact The CDA team on 0144 51066. Contents CDA Team Contacts An Introduction to The Award 4 Award Structure 4 Activities 5-6 Evidencing and Recording Activities 6 Completing the Award 7 Frequently Asked Questions 8

The Chester Difference Award CDA Team Contacts You can contact a member of the Award team any time during office hours using the following contact details. In addition to this, we will also be holding monthly drop-in sessions where a member of the team will be available for you to talk to within the Careers and Employability Centre. Dates and times of these sessions are published on The CDA website here. Name Lisa Rogers Sally Harding Ellen Richards Joanne Forsyth Job Title Career Consultant (Chester Campus) Graduate Futures Team Manager Employer Engagement Co-ordinator Employer Engagement Assistant Contact Details Phone 0144 51066 Email LinkedIn Group Facebook Twitter chesterdifference@chester.ac.uk The Chester Difference Award Chester Difference Award @CDA_Team

The Chester Difference Award 4 An Introduction to The Award The CDA has been created to provide recognition for the many extra-curricular activities that you may be engaged in during your time at the University of Chester. It has also been designed to encourage students to undertake more activities in order to enhance their future employability. Award Structure There are levels to The CDA, which can be achieved by undertaking a range of extra-curricular activities. The activities undertaken are given a points value: Points Gained Award Achieved 10 The Chester Difference Award (CDA) 15 The Chester Difference Plus Award (CDPA) 15 plus final assessment element The Chester Difference Excellence Award (CDEA) What s in it for me? Get involved in a wide range of activities across and outside of the University Gain and develop a wide range of skills useful to employers Enhance your CV Meet new people Gain recognition for additional activities you do

The Chester Difference Award 5 Activities Points can be gained by completing various optional activities. Here is a range of the activities which you can gain recognition for, along with their points value, however this list is not exhaustive. If you are involved with any activities that are not mentioned below, please contact a member of the team to discuss whether they could be used towards your points. Activity Attending a minimum of three employability training sessions (delivered by the Careers team and/or external trainers) Participating in at least one employer engagement activity e.g. information interview, work shadowing visit, employer talk/q&a session Points Value Attending at least one employer-focused event/conference or jobs fair 1 Undertaking additional training courses 1-* Completing the ECDL qualification (15-week programme/development Week) 1 Being a Student Academic Rep (StAR) 1 Being a Student Ambassador 1 Completing a Santander SME Internship or similar Creating a detailed LinkedIn profile 1 Being a UniJob bank member 1 Completing a minimum of 50 hours of part-time work (inc. UniJob) Being a School Mentor (SSD/similar scheme) Being a Peer Mentor 1 Being a Peer Assisted Learning Leader Attending a minimum of two sessions during Development Week 1 Being a Carer for a friend or family member with an illness, disability, mental health problem or an addiction Being a Green T in the Green Chester Campaign, delivering sustainability initiatives through the SU Ethics & Environment Forum, as a Sustainability StAR, through EYE Sustainability Training or any similar activities Completing the UCV Plus Award Completing the UCV Gold Award Completing the UCV Excellence Award 4

The Chester Difference Award 6 Participating in 6 hours of Venture activities (can be a mixture of Create, Collaborate and Accelerate) Participating in 1 hours of Venture activities (can be a mixture of Create, Collaborate and Accelerate) Participating in 18+ hours of Venture activities (can be a mixture of Create, Collaborate and Accelerate) Being an Enterprise Ambassador for an academic year 1 Being an active Club/Society Captain or Chairperson Being an active Club/Society Committee Member other than a Captain or Chairperson Being a Red T-shirt volunteer during Induction Week, assisting at more than different activities throughout the week Being a Hall Warden Being an Assistant Hall Warden 1 1 * Please speak to a member of the CDA team to discuss the course and its points value. Evidencing and Recording Activities Please fill out the activity checklist, which can be found on the website, as you complete each of your associated activities. You will be provided with a CDA folder which you may wish to use in order to create a portfolio of your evidence. Submitting your Activity Checklist: Once you are ready to complete any of the Awards please submit your completed activity checklist to the team, either by email or in person, at the Careers and Employability Centre so that verification checks can be carried out. If you have any queries, please contact the Chester Difference Award team at chesterdifference@ chester.ac.uk or by calling 0144 51066.

The Chester Difference Award 7 Completing the Award Award Points First Stage Second Stage Final Stage CDA 10 Attend guidance appointment with a Career Consultant* CDPA 15 Attend guidance appointment with a Career Consultant/Careers drop-in* CDEA 15 Attend guidance appointment with a Career Consultant/Careers drop-in* Submit Activity Checklist to CDA team Submit Activity Checklist to CDA team Submit Activity Checklist to CDA team N/A N/A Complete Final Assessment *This appointment will give you the opportunity to reflect upon the skills you have acquired, develop an action plan and create an effective CV. If you have already attended a guidance appointment for either the CDA or CDPA, you will not be required to attend another one when completing the next award, instead you will be required to attend a Careers drop-in to have your modified CV reviewed. NB You are not required to complete the awards in any particular order, so you may wish to complete the CDPA or CDEA without completing the previous awards. Final Assessment for the CDEA For the final assessment you will be required to: complete an application form prior to the assessment day participate in a group assessment centre exercise** undertake a mock interview** ** Both of these elements will be co-assessed by the CDA team and an employer. Each participant who completes the final assessment will be provided with feedback on all of the above elements. The final assessment dates will be held on: - Wednesday 1st January 015 - Wednesday 11th March 015 Participants will be sent an application form 4 weeks before the final assessment day is due to take place and will be given weeks to complete and submit it. NB: It is your responsibility to let the CDA team know that you wish to attend the final assessment element by no later than 5 weeks before the assessment date. Before completing the final assessment element and mock interview, you will have the opportunity to attend essential assessment centre training, which will be provided by an external trainer. This will help you to prepare adequately for both activities.

The Chester Difference Award 8 Frequently Asked Questions I completed volunteering/part-time work/ecdl etc. before I started at the University of Chester, can I still use this experience to accumulate my points? Unfortunately we are only able to accept activities that are completed whilst you are a University of Chester student to accumulate towards your CDA points. If you are in your second or third year of study, we are willing to accept activities that you ve completed during previous years of study at the University of Chester. I have completed a summer placement/graduate scheme assessment centre, do these count as employer engagement activities? Yes, if you completed either of the above activities, you could claim the employer engagement point. If you have completed another activity and are unsure as to whether it fits within this category please contact the CDA team to discuss this further.