CommunicationsReportCareersPG

Jessica Fitzgibbon PG Careers Network
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PG Careers Network
Communications Strategy Proposal
Current situation/ background
The Postgraduate Careers Network team (Careers PG) currently utilises multiple
means of communication to engage postgraduate students. Via social media, Careers
PG promotes various events, resources and vacancies of interest to the students.
Postgraduates, as the target audience, are on courses of higher intensity and less
down-time than undergraduate students. As such, communication strategies to
engage the students may need to be organised differently in order to have the most
impact.
This academic year has seen an increase in engagement with all the social
media accounts Careers PG utilises in student engagement (see Figure 1). While all
accounts have seen an increase, the most dramatic surges in followers/likes is seen
in Twitter (144.8%) and Canvas (222.4%). During the academic year, promotions that
included links, for example vacancy, event and article links, were promoted via Twitter.
Facebook was used to promote workshops, events and some vacancies, and the
LinkedIn group, ‘Careers Networking for University of Birmingham Masters Students’,
was used solely for postgraduate vacancy promotions. The use of Canvas was
multifaceted; to present Careers PG resources that were easy to find and follow
through the course, a place for discussion with members of the Careers PG team, and
some promotion of events both on and off campus.

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Social Media Sept. 2015 followers/likes Aug. 2016 followers/likes %
increase
Twitter 310 759 144.8
Facebook 192 232 20.8
LinkedIn 288 443 53.8
Canvas 165 532 222.4
Fig. 1
While the increases for each social media account are a positive sign, the actual
numbers of students engaging with Careers PG through social media are a stark
contrast. The previous academic year of 2014/15 saw 34,160 students enrolled at the
University of Birmingham, 41% of which were postgraduate.1 While numbers of
students enrolled will vary to some extent year to year, estimations of relative figures
for the current academic year of over 10,000 postgraduate students is not
unreasonable. This would mean a minimum of over 90% did not interact with any of
the social media accounts for Careers PG. It should be noted in this estimation that
postgraduate studentship includes PhD courses, and the Canvas course and LinkedIn
group discussed in this report is specifically designed for Masters Students at the
University of Birmingham.
The Careers Network is advertised heavily during the induction period of each
academic year, however the level of awareness postgraduate students has for the
dedicated postgraduate careers team is not fully known. There are also no figures
regarding the extent of awareness of specifically designed resources and events
1
Complete UniversityGuide, ‘Universityof Birmingham’ http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/birmingham
(Last accessed 7th August 2016).

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produced by the Careers PG team. Finally, while there may be an understood
complaint from all students of too many emails from the university, there is no certainty
that this holds true for the specific group of postgraduate students.
In order to understand the effectiveness of current promotions, and the preferred
methods of communication to postgraduate taught students, a small survey was
conducted. The short survey was live for three months (April to June), and was
comprised of three questions;
 ‘What type of communication would you like to receive from the Careers
Network?’
 ‘How would you prefer this communication to be communicated with you?’
 ‘Are you aware/have you utilised any of the following PG Careers Network
resources and events?’
The survey was promoted both via social media and on campus in order to net a range
of postgraduate student interaction with the Careers Network, and not merely focus
on those already engaging with Careers PG social media. The sample itself is small,
only 33 responses were gathered, however this can highlight potential trends, and
allow for some proposed actions until further research is obtained.
Survey Results
Question 1 Responses
The first question of the Careers PG Communications Survey asked ‘What type of
communication would you like to receive from the Careers Network?’. The aim of this
question was to understand the priority students place on specific communications,

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and to potentially highlight areas in which they want information not considered by the
original question. As can be seen in Figure 2, Careers Fairs, Workshops and Job
Vacancies scored the highest with 84.85%, 78.79% and 72.73% respectively. In
comparison, employability articles (42.42%) and information on further study (33.33%)
had the lowest response. This was predicted, as not all PG students plan for further
study, and employability articles are easily found via personal search, only connected
to the Careers Network by subject matter, not author. It is interesting to note that two
responses asked for information on internships, bursaries and placements available
to postgraduate students.
The second question in the survey, ‘How would you prefer this communication to be
communicated with you?’, allows for the respondent to state the method in which they
want information promoted. The overall responses can be seen in Figure 3, which
show a surprising emphasis on email communications in every category. In
Fig. 2
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00%
Promotion of Careers Workshops
Promotion of Employer Events on Campus
Careers Fairs
Links to Employability Articles
Current PG Job Vacancies
Careers Network Resources
Careers Fairs/Events off Campus
Information on Further PG Study
Other (Please Specify)
What type of communicationwould you like to
receive from the Careers Network?

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consideration of the widely accepted complaint from students of too many emails from
the university, it may be necessary to consider that postgraduate students may not
follow this trend.
Isolating the responses that indicated Emails (Figure 4), there seems to be a
relatively even spread across promotions. While it is unlikely that all areas of promotion
can be emailed to postgraduate students, the highest scoring responses for Emails
should be taken into consideration due the extraordinarily high results in comparison
to Canvas and social media. The highest response to promote via email was Careers
Fairs (90.91%), with the second and third highest responses shown in Figure 5 as
Facebook (80.00%) and Twitter (71.43%). The next highest results for email
correspondents were Careers Workshops and Events Off Campus (both at 81.82%).
The results for Events Off Campus (Figure 6) should also be noted as the next highest
result was Canvas, only scoring 45.00%.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Careers
Workshops
Employer
Events on
Campus
Careers Fairs Links to
Employability
Articles
Job Vacancies Careers
Resources
Events Off
Campus
How would you prefer this communication to be
communicated with you?
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Emails Canvas
Fig. 3

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Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Emails
Careers Workshops Employer Events on Campus Careers Fairs
Links to Employability Articles Job Vacancies Careers Resources
Events Off Campus
Careers Fairs

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In terms of other individual promotions (can be seen in Figures 7-10),
respondents showed clearer priorities as a group, however it should be noted that in
all cases, all possible responses were chosen by at least one person. Taking out the
results for email promotions, the highest scoring results of each may indicate the best
platforms in which to engage students, streamlining promotions to a small group of
platforms.
As seen in Figure 7., the highest scoring platforms to promote Careers
Workshops (excepting emails) was via Facebook (75.00%), and Canvas (65.00%).
The same two platforms are indicated to promote Employer Events On Campus
(Figure 8). There was a relatively even split between the top three choices of platforms
to promote external employability articles (Figure 9). Student respondents indicated
that Canvas (60.00%), Emails (54.55%) and Twitter (50.00%) were the most
appropriate forms of communicating these articles.
Events Off Campus
Fig. 6

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Careers Workshops
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Links to Employability Articles
Employer Events on Campus
Fig. 9

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In contrast, there was a clear indication across all but one category of
promotion, LinkedIn scored in the bottom two. The highest score for LinkedIn
promotion was for Job Vacancies at 70.00% (Figure 10), alongside Twitter (78.57%)
and Emails (75.76%) as can be seen in Figure 11. This indicates a strong preference
to use the LinkedIn platform solely for job vacancies, while also promoting these
opportunities on other platforms. Finally, there was also a strong preference to
promote Careers Resources on Canvas (90.00%), with a slight email influence
(69.70%). The Careers Resources responses can be seen in Figure 12.
Fig.
10
Job Vacancies
LinkedIn
Careers Workshops Employer Events on Campus
Careers Fairs Links to Employability Articles
Job Vacancies Careers Resources
Events Off Campus
Fig.
11

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The final question of the survey asked ‘Are you aware/ have you utilised any of the
following PG Careers Network resources and events?’. From the results, found in
Figure 13, it was interesting to note that there was a mixed response in awareness of
the Monthly PG Careers Newsletters. Awareness of Further Study Information does
not appear to be problematic, and the usage of this resource will depend more on the
individual academic motivations of the student. All students reported awareness of the
Careers Fairs, with 75% of respondents having used it occasionally or regularly. This
implies that promotions of the relevance of careers fairs to postgraduate students has
had an impact.
There appeared to be a distinct lack of awareness of multiple Careers PG
resources; Masters Careers Digest (60.61%), Masters Term Planner (42.42%),
Postgraduate Careers Club (42.42%) and international resources (42.42%). In each
resource, there was a notable percentage (18.18-39.39%) of students who were aware
of the Careers PG resource, but not engaging with it.
Fig.
12
Careers Resources

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Proposed action in the next academic year (2016/17)
Twitter
 The highest scores for twitter promotion were Careers Fairs, Links to
Employability Articles and Job Vacancies. Twitter was used in the 2015/16
academic year for job vacancies and Careers Fairs amongst other promotions.
It is therefore proposed that Twitter continues to focus on Job Vacancies and
Careers Fairs, aims to include more postings of current employability articles
relevant to postgraduate students.
 The lowest scoring promotions were Careers Resources and Events Off
Campus, so it is therefore suggested that these are either limited to Twitter, or
coupled with other platforms for maximum student engagement. Alternatively,
Twitter could be used closer to the deadline for applications as a reminder, with
0 5 10 15 20 25
Monthly PG Careers Newsletter
Masters Term Planner
Careers Fairs
Postgraduate Careers Club
Masters Careers Digest
International Resources
Information on Further Study
Are you aware/ have you utilised any of the following
PG Careers Network resources and events?
Never heard of it Aware of it but never used it Use it occasionally Use it regularly
Fig 13

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more prolonged promotions of opportunities happening on other platforms
previous to this.
Facebook
 The highest scores for Facebook promotion were Careers Workshops,
Employer Events on Campus and Careers Fairs. This was a strong preference
over other promotion categories, and Facebook should therefore focus more
on these areas than external links and Careers Resources.
 Facebook had the smaller increase of followers in this academic year. While
Twitter and Canvas engagement increased, Facebook was under-utilised in
initial engagement of students. More promotion of the Facebook group is
needed early in the academic year.
LinkedIn
 There was a strong preference of promoting Job Vacancies on LinkedIn over
any other form of promotion. As this is the current function of LinkedIn, the
proposed action in this case is to increase the job vacancy function, potentially
adding more than one post on an opportunity, or adding more detailed
descriptions.
 LinkedIn was also used this academic year to promote external employability
articles, however as it is the preference of students to use other methods of
promotion for this, it is suggested that these articles are promoted elsewhere.
 If LinkedIn is to be the primary method for vacancy promotion, there needs to
be a higher usage of LinkedIn by the students. Promotion of the LinkedIn group
should be emphasised at the beginning of the academic year, and again at key
points of student application cycles to net a high number of users.

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Emails
 By far, this method of promotion of Careers PG activities and resources was
preferred, contradicting previous complaints regarding the volume of university
emails. This could indicate that postgraduate students do not share an
undergraduate aversion to email communications, however the sample size of
this survey was not large enough to warrant any firm conclusions on the matter.
It is unlikely that emails can be increased dramatically from Careers PG to
students without more in depth research, however it may be possible to target
the email allowance of the team to reflect the preferences of the students.
Careers Fairs are amongst the email communications from the university to
students, however focused emails on Careers Workshops and relevant events
both on and off campus have also been indicated as preferred.
Canvas
 Canvas was the preferred communication method for two areas of promotion,
Links to Employability Articles, and Careers Resources. Careers Resources are
part of the Canvas course, however there should also be an increased use of
Canvas to link and discuss articles relevant to the students. It is suggested that
one ‘master post’ discussion thread may be the best form of presenting these
links, as there is an opportunity to engage students on specific topics mentioned
in the articles, and allow time for students to ask questions specific to how the
article may relate to them. This would also be an opportunity to promote other
resources that Canvas or Careers PG have to offer, particularly if the topics
discussed relate to a frequently asked question, a module on the course, or the
Monthly Digest, for example.

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General proposals
 Regardless of the method of promotion, not enough students are aware of
Careers PG specific resources, such as the Masters Careers Digest or the
Monthly PG Careers Newsletter. Events such as the Postgraduate Careers
Club are not recognised by a relatively large percentage of postgraduate taught
students, of whom these resources are aimed at. The brand of Careers PG
needs to be strengthened outside of the general Careers Network, focusing on
specific events and resources to raise awareness amongst the postgraduate
community. While one-off events may be easily missed by students, the
presence of events series and continually updated resources should be
prioritised in the Careers PG promotion throughout the year.
 While all social media accounts saw a rise in followers/likes this academic year,
this is still a small percentage in comparison to the actual postgraduate student
community at the university of Birmingham. The Careers Network is
recognisable to many students; however, Careers PG should aim to have an
awareness amongst relevant students as the ‘specialist’ careers team tailored
to their interests. Without student engaging with the various social media
platforms, any and all promotions are only seen by this small following. The
base needs to be widened in conjunction with a communications strategy in
order to engage the highest number of students.
 One potential way of widening the pool of students engaging with the careers
network is to tap in the other Careers Network/University social media. This
academic year saw an increase in Twitter communication with Global UoB, the
International Students Careers Network team, the specific college Careers
teams and the wider Careers Network Twitter accounts. The 144% increase in

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Twitter followers for Careers PG is due in part to this dialogue between Careers
teams. This should be increased, with new ways of collaborations across
platforms to be encouraged. Many postgraduate students are international, and
all belong to a specific college, and any students who fit multiple criteria are
likely to find Careers PG through this action. Facebook/LinkedIn groups and
Canvas courses are isolated by nature, but promoting the enrolment links early
in each term could increase awareness.
 This survey only had a small sample of 33 responses. A larger sample would
add credence to the trends noticed in this report, and it is suggested that the
same (or updated) survey be run in the first term to new postgraduate taught
students. This would not only show trends and preferences of a larger sample,
but any contradictory information to this report can be used to alter the
communications strategy before the second term in the academic year.

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