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Introduction to the award

The Wolverhampton Enterprise and Employability Award is a great way for students to gain reward and recognition for their skills and experiences. 

Through the award you can also develop and demonstrate new skills to present to employers or to help you plan, set up and run your own business.   

By completing the award you will become more aware and develop a better understanding of how to successfully present and market yourself. You will have a greater understanding of the opportunities available to you. You will undertake work experience and you will be able to reflect on those experiences in order to help you with your career planning, to set and achieve career goals.

To date, the award has benefited many students by supporting them to gain a better understanding of the workplace that they will enter upon graduating, to build plans to tackle the transition between studying and work and to build the work experience and skills required to prove to employers that they are employable.

Structure of the Wolverhampton Enterprise and Employability Award

The award is offered at three different levels:  Bronze, Silver and Gold:

To achieve this level, you will work through an online Canvas course which provides instruction on six key employability topics and includes quizzes to assess your understanding. Once you have achieved at least 80% for each quiz, you will be awarded a Bronze certificate. You can access this course at any time through your Canvas dashboard. 

To achieve the silver level, you will need to complete the following three employability tasks through your university course. The themes of these tasks are:

  • Self-awareness
  • Industry awareness
  • Self-promotion

Embedded in your course

The Silver level has been embedded into all university undergraduate courses, so at some point during your studies you will complete these tasks within your course. The specific point at which you will do this depends on your particular course:  for some courses silver award elements are embedded at level 4 whereas for others they are embedded at level 5 or 6. 

If you are unsure how the Silver level is embedded into your course, please speak to your course leader or email careers@wlv.ac.uk

Completing the Silver level independently from your course

However, you might like to complete the Silver award independently from your course.

For instance, maybe you want to obtain the award at your own pace rather than waiting for the opportunity through your course.

Or maybe you did the silver award elements early on in your course and you would like to revisit them because your career ideas and plans have moved on. It might also be the case that you did not manage to achieve the Silver level through your course for example, if you switch course mid-way through.

If you would like to do this level of the award independently, you can do this via this Canvas course. 

You can find full instructions, guidance and resources for each task in the Silver award section

You can also submit your work to us through a dedicated submission folder

*If you choose to complete the Silver level independently, you will still need to complete the tasks which have been embedded in your course

This level of the award is extra- curricular. To achieve the Gold level, you will complete the following three employability tasks separately from your course:

  • 100 hours of work experience
  • A work based reflection
  • An employability presentation

You can start working on your Gold WEEA tasks at any point during your university studies. However, you will not be able to gain the Gold certificate until you have passed the Silver level

If you would like top up to the gold level, you can do this via this Canvas course. 

Here you can find full instructions, guidance and resources for each task in the Gold level section

You can also submit your work to us. via a dedicated submission folder

If you are unsure about how to approach any of the gold tasks, or if you feel you are achieving these tasks within your course (for example through a sandwich placement year) please email careers@wlv.ac.uk for further guidance.

Silver and Gold WEEA Summary

Here is a summary of the Silver and Gold tasks; along with the learning objectives you will need to meet for each task:

Silver WEEA 

Task name

Learning objectives
  • Self- awareness

LO 1) Identify personal attributes to increase self-awareness

LO 2) Analyse your personal attributes in relation to your personal and career development

LO 3) Understand the relevance of self-awareness when career planning
  • Industry awareness

LO 1) Identify an area of interest relating to your career

 

LO 2) Research the area of interest using relevant resources

 

LO 3)  Produce a written or verbal account of your research
  • Self- promotion

LO 1) Recognise what makes a  good written account of your employability

 

LO 2) Articulate your employability through a targeted written account

Gold WEEA 

Task name

Learning objectives
  • Work experience

LO 1) Demonstrate the ability to find and obtain 100 hours of work experience

 

LO 2) Develop relevant industry knowledge and gain transferable skills in a professional setting (a minimum of 30 hours of the work experience must relate to your career goals)
  • Work-based reflection

LO 1) Describe the nature of your work experience and the role you undertook.

 

LO 2)  Evaluate both the positive and challenging aspects of your work experience

 

LO 3) Conclude the learning gained from undertaking your work experience and how it has impacted on your future career plans
  • Employability presentation

LO 1) Prepare a structured presentation which outlines your future career plans

 

LO 2) Summarise your key strengths in relation to your future career plans

 

LO 3) Demonstrate measurable steps to achieving your goals

 

LO 4) Deliver your presentation to a high standard in front of an audience.