Careers Consultant - Dubai Campus

Heriot-Watt University · United Arab Emirates

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Purpose of Role

The Careers Service aims to assist Heriot-Watt University students and graduates to make informed career choices by providing a professional, high-quality career guidance and information service. We work closely with employers and academic Schools to support students by developing the skills they need to maximise their employability. The Careers Service is dynamic, forward-looking and proactive in helping the University enhance the employability of our students. They work with a wide range of organisations across all business sectors to ensure that students and graduates can access a wealth of work experience, internships and graduate opportunities to support their readiness for life once they have completed their studies.

The focus of this role is to contribute to the implementation of the University’s strategic aims by providing a range of professional career education and guidance services to client groups of undergraduate and postgraduate students, and graduates to enhance their employability. The successful candidate will deliver the service alongside other Careers Consultants and work in close collaboration with senior school staff, academic colleagues, , the Employer Liaison Coordinator, alumni team and employers to support students to develop their career potential. They will proactively develop the service to meet client needs linking closely with other  campuses to ensure parity and contribute to the positive impact of the service at the School and University level.

This role will work closely with other teams within the Student Life department, specifically Student Engagement and the Student Council to improve engagement with the service.

This post reports to the Careers and Industry Engagement Manager (Dubai Campus).

Summary of Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide high quality careers information, advice, guidance (CIAG) and coaching to students and graduates to help them fulfil their career potential, operating within the agreed careers guidance model.  This will take account of best practice across the sector, and include a range of different approaches, such as one-to-one sessions, e-guidance, group teaching through career education seminars and group work, coaching and mentoring, working with a wide range of students, including international students and those withdrawing early.
• Deliver a centralised and school-based careers education sessions to a wide range of students and graduates.
• Develop and implement a plan to support graduates who are seeking employment post-graduation to enhance the Graduate Destination Survey outcomes. 
• Contribute to the delivery of existing materials and produce new, innovative and dynamic materials to maximise student engagement with the service.
• Work proactively in support of the Service’s Employer Engagement Strategy. Represent the University at events  such as careers fairs and other events, local, national and international employer networks, gather and analyse high quality labour market intelligence and collaborate with employers in activities such as delivery of career education, career guidance and employability skills. Gather and analyse high quality UAE labour market intelligence and collaborate with employers in activities such as delivery of career education, career guidance and employability skills.
• Through continuous professional development, maintain an in-depth current knowledge of career options, routes, labour market trends and employers as relevant to all areas of the university’s curriculum.
• Work proactively with academic staff in Schools in order to develop specific knowledge to support students and graduates of particular disciplines.
• Work closely with the Careers Service team to plan and develop an Annual Plan of general activities as well as programme specific integrated careers activities. Work closely with the wider student life team to market and deliver integrated services.
• Promote Careers Advisory services generally to ensure that colleagues are aware of what is available and can therefore refer their students appropriately.
• To develop and maintain excellent working relationships with a range of internal and external customers and colleagues; ensure good communication and exchange of ideas/information/ability to develop new initiatives.
• Use information technology to its full potential in delivering, developing and supporting service provision, communicating about the Careers Service, and engaging both staff and students with the work of the service.
• Gather, analyse and use customer feedback evidence to make improvements to the service
• Contribute as appropriate to projects across the university, working groups or initiatives which support the achievement of strategic and operational objectives, and the enhancement of the student experience.
• Designing, writing, and updating material to promote the service to students, academic and support staff and employers. Assisting in writing new materials on specific careers topics for students and other stakeholders, such as employers.
• Contribute to the maintenance of agreed quality standards and external accreditation through on-going review of practices, contributions to the assessment process and the delivery of high quality, measurable outcomes. Proactively contribute to Careers and Graduate Futures strategic planning and innovative              development to ensure the Service’s key objectives are achieved.
• Maintain appropriate statistical records to contribute to the development of the service through effective data management.
• Engage in continuous development of professional practice and engage in developmental activities as guided by the Careers and Industry Engagement Manager and  Head of RAS, Dubai, to maintain and improve knowledge and skills as required within a challenging and ever-changing environment.
• Undertake other duties as appropriate to the grade and content of the post, as directed by the Careers and Industry Engagement Manager This list of duties is therefore not exhaustive.

  Education, Qualifications & Experience:

These are the criteria on which the short-listing and recruitment selection will be made:

  Essential

1. Educated to first degree level or equivalent practical experience in the workplace

2. Minimum of 3 years proven relevant experience of providing effective guidance services with varied individuals and client groups, across a range of settings

3. Up to date knowledge of theories underpinning the practice of careers education, information, advice and guidance/coaching, particularly in relation to graduate provision

4. Up to date knowledge of graduate career paths

5. Ability to empathise with and understand the needs of students from a wide variety of backgrounds

6. Demonstrable ability to work quickly, flexibly and accurately in a dynamic, changing and pressured environment

7. Strong IT skills with the ability to learn new applications and work with databases, report generators, Microsoft Office suites and related software

8. Significant and proven experience of relationship building with a variety of stakeholder groups and audiences

9. Project management experience

10. Strategic thinker

11. A resilient initiative-taker with personal drive, tenacity and results-orientated

12. Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team

13. Excellent written and verbal communication skill

14. Able to prioritise across multiple and complex agendas

15. Able to provide constructive advice, analyse and interpret complex and or specialist issues and translate these into efficient management summaries

Desirable

1. Experience of working in Higher Education

2. Experience of working in careers guidance within a higher education institution

3. Experiencing of developing and using online resources to support career development, including social media

4. Ability to manage budgets

5. Sound knowledge of the Higher Education sector and current issues surrounding employability

Special Factors

  Occasional requirement to work at weekends or out of hours

Heriot-Watt University Values

With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and professionally relevant, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry.

We are a vibrant, forward-looking university, well known for the quality of our degrees with employers actively seeking out our graduates.  Heriot-Watt is also Scotland’s international university with an unsurpassed international in-country presence. We deliver degree programmes to circa 30,000 students in 143 countries around the world, have a further overseas campus in Dubai and boast the largest international student cohort in Scotland.

At Heriot-Watt we’ve created an environment that nurtures innovation and leadership - where our researchers, staff and students can realise their potential and develop their ambitions.

We are proud of our collegiate atmosphere and integrated teaching and research approach which has helped to build a community of committed academics and highly motivated students.  Our focus on careers delivers results and we’ve an excellent reputation for graduate employability.

In addition to the Edinburgh campus, we currently have campuses in  the Scottish Borders, Orkney, Dubai and Malaysia.  For all of our campuses we aim to provide stimulating, supportive environments conducive to effective learning and research, where staff and students can excel. At Heriot-Watt, we have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership, and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities.

Our values describe our deeply held beliefs and our community spirit. They characterise not only how we are as a higher education institution but also frame how we want to be.

Our values are:

• Belong
• Collaborate
• Inspire
• Celebrate

As learning, living and working institution, we use our values as the building blocks of how we go about doing our work and how we each conduct ourselves as members of Heriot-Watt University. They represent what binds us together as a University community and help us to become the best at what we do.

For full details on our University, please view our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/about.htm

‘How to Apply’

Please submit your CV and a cover letter setting out how you meet the criteria for this role.  

Shortlisted candidates may be invited to complete an on-demand-video interview as the first stage of the selection process. Successful candidates will then proceed to in-person formal interviews at our Dubai campus, where you will be asked to deliver a brief presentation on a relevant topic.  Following the formal interview, the preferred candidate will attend a second interview with senior staff at the Dubai campus before a final offer decision is made.

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team. 

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

The appointment is conditional upon successful completion of all Labor and Immigration formalities, and the start date will need to be delayed if the employment visa is not in place.

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