The University Careers and Recruitment website has won first prize at the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) Excellence Awards.
The site beat eight other universities to be short-listed together with the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham but it was Portsmouth who came out on top in the category of ‘Best Web-site.’ As well as positive feedback from users, a first prize win required the site to demonstrate good design, high quality content, interactivity and sustainability.
The site was created to respond to an increasing student demand and to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for employability, linking to the Portsmouth Centre for Enterprise, Faculty Placement Offices, Research and Knowledge Transfer Services and Student Finance. Since its launch in March 2011, statistics reveal a significant increase in traffic to the site and feedback from students suggests they appreciate having a central place for careers resources.
Head of Employability, Julia Hughes, said that the site was designed to respond to an increasing demand to deliver engaging and accessible content to meet the needs of students and graduates who require ‘twenty-four-seven’ access to information and advice on career and employability issues.
She said: “This new resource, with a focus on the knowledge and skills essential for roles in the global workforce, contributes to the University’s philosophy of placing the student experience at the centre of its strategic plan.”
The site was the result of a collaborative project by Employability, Marketing and the Department of Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (DCQE) and Julia Hughes said that the success was a credit to all three departments working together.
DCQE was responsible for the design and graphics which give the site its overall visual look and feel. Alana Aldred, who worked on the project, said that the main aim had been to make it more attractive, dynamic and inviting while being a useful repository of information which students would find easy to use.
She said: “The website’s design is based around a flexible homepage designed to keep it up-to-date and topical which includes nine quick link tiles which take visitors directly to popular areas of the site that can be easily changed to reflect key sections of the site throughout the year. Key messages and event promotions are displayed in the slideshow with the latest headline news and updates displayed in a scrolling window.
“Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The awards panel consisted of members of the AGCAS Board of Directors and Heads of Service of previous winners. The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services is the professional association for higher education (HE) careers practitioners and those involved in the provision of careers and employability education, information, advice and guidance to current or prospective HE students and graduates.
