Employer Engagement and Employability

Working with businesses

At Croydon College we put a real focus on employability and making sure our students leave College not only with a top qualification, but work ready and equipped with the skills employers really want. In order to do this the College works closely with local, regional and National businesses to gather valuable expert advice to inform our teaching and curriculum and to provide our students with the opportunity to interact with some of the best employers in the country gaining valuable experience of work.

Some of the ways we work with businesses include:

• Employer aligned to curriculum or skill area to help keep staff and managers up to date with employer requirements and industry standards and to advise on curriculum and courses.
• Employers participating in “Learning walks” at the College to experience skills, techniques and workplace priorities.
• Managers and staff taking part in ‘Employment walks’ with businesses to refresh skills and commercial expertise.
• Staff undertaking commercial upskilling work shadowing in relevant organisations to set agreed objectives.
• Students participate in ‘live projects’ negotiated with employers.
• Engaging in G.O.A.L (Go Out And Listen) with employers to gather student feedback and opinion.
• Workplace visits or placements.
• Internships.
• Employers engaging in talks/ mock interviews. Over 140 employers took part in an Employability Week in March 2015.
• Negotiating in house work placements for vulnerable students.
• Employers engaged in Croydon College Mentoring Scheme.
• Volunteering: A rich avenue of developing key employability skills via the UNICEF Pledge.

Our focus on employability was recognised as being particularly good by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in their review of the university provision at the College:

“There is a strong evidence of the development of employability skills, which are firmly embedded in the higher education provision.“

Ofsted also noted, during their 2014 inspection of the college provision, that:

“The college has an extremely strong focus on the very good development of students’ personal and employability skills through its outstanding volunteering initiatives and many other projects, which have a significant impact on the local communities in which the students reside.”

“Initiatives introduced by the college to develop students’ employability skills have been successful in exposing students to the world of work in a number of different ways, including through imaginative projects and live briefs.”

Some of the employers we work with include:

• Gatwick Airport
• Westfield Hammerson
• Croydon Tech City
• Marks and Spencer
• Wates
• Interserve
• Malcolm John
• University of Sussex
• Estée Lauder
• John Lewis

We are continually working to maintain and improve these relationships and to work with new employers to ensure our students leave us with the skills they need, and employers want.