The Worcester Award

The Worcester Award – A Student's Perspective by Alexa-Jane Moore

I first heard about the Worcester Award from a recruiter, at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, who praised the award as a way to collate and reflect on your experiences whilst at University. Knowing how competitive the graduate job market is, I thought it would be a good way to stand out from the crowd as the award is recognised on your degree transcript. I looked into starting the award, in the careers department, and I attended the introductory session. The first thing I noticed was all the opportunities, that I did not know about, that could be used in the different sections of the award. The award entails showing involvement in activities that can aid personal and skills development, show a contribution to society, show that you have learnt how to promote yourself to employers and work experience.

The experiences I chose to use were:

• Bright Futures Society Treasurer
• Student Academic Representative
• Mentor for the charity Mentor Link
• Sales assistant for The Co-operative
• Endsleigh workshop
• 'Finding student placements' workshop

I undertook these activities, during my second year, and I collated my hours in the activities log. When I had completed it, I reflected on my experiences in the personal statement. I learnt that I had strengths such as: good communication skills, problem solving abilities, the ability to build relationships and good time-management skills. I also learnt that my weakness was the ability to work well in a team. This gave me the chance to highlight this weakness and think of ways to improve it. Doing this, has enabled me to come up with answers to those dreaded competencies questions asked by employers! I have a set of examples ready, using the STAR method, that could be used in any interview. I was given the chance to use these in the final panel interview for the Worcester Award. It was a new experience as I have never had an interview with more than one person before.

I would recommend the Worcester Award to any student. It gives you the chance to collate your experiences in a way that can be presented to employers. I think most students are already doing activities that can be used in the award and do not realise you can get recognition for it. You can learn about your strengths and weaknesses and it will definitely get you more involved in student life. This is an excellent way to set yourself apart from other candidates to get your dream job!