On Wednesday 6 September, the UofG Careers Service won the AGCAS Awards for Student Engagement. This national award was in recognition of their innovative and creative activities, resulting in an overall increase in student engagement. The winning award bid highlighted the bold use of technology, collaborative projects and accessibility of services.

The judges were impressed with the use of technology, highlighting the launch of ‘The Network Snapchat Takeover Series’ which offers a unique platform to raise awareness of various career paths and bring to life our alumni mentors. The first takeover attracted an audience of over 62,000 and was showcased at the Council for Advancement & Support of Education Conference in March as an example of a fresh, creative way of engaging students.

The Careers Service’s collaborative strengths were acknowledged for their university-wide partnerships and use of cross promotion on social media platforms. These partnerships resulted in a measurable increase in student attendance; the University Library live streamed the ‘First Tuesday Club’ speaker series with the BBC’s Kirsty Wark increasing the overall audience by 25%.

Their creativity also formed part of the winning bid with the introduction of ‘Auntie Dot’ in January. The tongue-in-cheek on and off-line campaign was devised by the Careers Service to increase student traffic to their service system ‘Glasgow Careers’ after the Christmas break. The quirky and to-the-point messages helped grab student attention and increase log-ins by 39%.

The focus on a creative, collaborative student engagement strategy resulted in a 37% increase in attendance at recruitment fairs and student attendance at Careers Manager seminars rose by 29%.

Judges comments 
“Amazing use of digital communications to engage students. It is really innovative and clear to see the impact. Great stakeholder feedback.” 
“This was an excellent example of engaging students through a digital campaign. I’m particularly very impressed with how they utilised Snapchat so effectively.”

The Careers Service said they were "thrilled" to have received this recognition for their commitment to providing an excellent and engaging student experience. Linda Murdoch, the Careers Service Director, said: "This is a fine achievement by my team of hugely creative and hard-working staff. Great work.”

The win comes after a successful year of being shortlisted for the National Undergraduate Employability Awards for ‘Best Placement Service’ and ‘Best University Careers Service’, and the Targetjobs Awards for ‘Best Employability Strategy’.

Image of the Careers Service award winning team

First published: 18 September 2017

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