The main aim of Harrison College is to prepare young people for the world of work
Each student will engage with a supported internship that is linked to their own Career Development Plan. Once the placement is agreed we ensure that regular visits take place so that we can assess progress against key employability skills.
We focus on Skills Builder, assessing students progress against the 8 essential skills for work and we are members of the CDI and NCW Ambassadors.
Employability Skills
- Communication – People with strong communication skills can build relationships (from the initial building rapport through to a longer-term relationship), listen well, and vary their communication to suit the circumstances.
- Making Decisions – Valued by employers for many reasons, being able to make decisions is key to getting on in life. Sometimes the actual decision doesn’t even matter; what matters is that you have made one and moved on.
- Self Motivation – People who are self-motivated get on by themselves. They don’t need close supervision and they are good to work with because they are generally positive about life and can be counted upon to keep going. It also helps to work on your personal resilience and adaptability to change.
- Leadership Skills – These are the set of soft skills that we least expect someone to develop by themselves. There are many leadership training courses available and much has been written about how to develop your leadership skills.
- Teamwork Skills – Like leadership skills, there are many training courses to teach you how to work well in a team. However, there is also plenty of thinking to suggest that good communication skills, particularly good listening skills, together with an ability to build rapport will go a long way to support your ability to work well in a team.
- Creativity and Problem Solving Skills – Creativity and problem-solving skills are highly valued because they are hard to develop. There are many people who believe that creative thinkers are born, not made, and there are certainly some people who find these skills much easier.
- Time Management and Working Under Pressure – Many would say that these two skills, which often go hand-in-hand, are more an attitude than a skill. However they can also be developed and honed, which is why we include them as skills. Highly valued by employers, they are also very useful for organising a family or a team, and for making sure that the job gets done.
In addition to the work placement, all students will have a business mentor that guides them through the process of searching and applying for employment. To ensure that our students are ready for this, we cover work and employment skills as part of our academic curriculum.
We also engage with Doncaster Chamber to ensure that our students receive independent careers advice and also access as many industry visits as possible.
Careers Entitlement Statement
Harrison College students receive unbiased, high quality, up to date and locally relevant careers information and guidance, with multiple opportunities for good quality, meaningful encounters with the world of work.
Our careers programme is modelled around the current best-practice for careers guidance and the eight Gatsby Benchmarks have been at the heart of our careers work.
Harrison College Careers Programme
Harrison College Ltd Careers Advice and Guidance Policy
Careers Lead – Becky Barber r.barber@harrisoncollege.co.uk
Chief Commercial Officer – Mike Peebles mpeebles@harrisoncollege.co.uk
Harrison College Start Profile Gatsby Benchmarks
Student Employability Skills Development Tools
We are working with U-Explore to ensure that our students can access the best careers guidance and can track their own careers education to support with writing their CV and personal statements. Students and parents can click the link below to access their personal accounts.
National Careers Week: Empowering positive change through careers education
We recognise that a lot of young people and families are experiencing feelings of worry or uncertainty around future careers. You and your family, like most of us, have perhaps wondered if career opportunities will be effected by the pandemic, and what that might mean for the future of young people.
We want to encourage students and their families to have conversations about careers and the future, especially this year in these challenging times.
Opportunities Doncaster LIVE – Doncaster Chamber (doncaster-chamber.co.uk)
Harrison College NCW 2024 Highlights
- 14 industry led workshops
- 7 visits to regional businesses
- 2 Harrison College students representing Polypipe at OD Live (careers event for over 3,000 young people)
- 2 editorial products designed and produced
- 260 meaningful encounters with employers