The ‘Harrods’ degree: Gimmick or great idea?

Harrods are introducing a degree in the art of sales. Staff will be able to take a 2-year part-time course while they work at the store. But will it be recognised as a true degree by other employers?

Staff who take the degree, in conjunction with Anglia Ruskin, will pay no tuition fees or any other costs. Other than agree to remain working at Harrods throughout the degree and for a period after completion, there are no other major barriers to gaining the qualification.

photo by raindog

What would other employers think of the degree on a person’s CV?

Lisa Harris teaches online marketing at Southampton and she told me that this type of degree will become more popular. She said, “Two-year degrees look the way of the future to me. They are more attractive to business sponsors and combine work and study”.

Community Manager, Jas Dhaliwal is also positive about these degrees. He said, “I suspect that other firms will continue this trend”.

They may have a point. More degrees like this would be a needed source of income for universities. And with the student population ever growing in diversity, people want greater flexibility in how they can study. Business based degrees are a feasible alternative route.

The Harrods association gives the degree a reason to talk about it. For now, a big brand association is a newsworthy gimmick. I’m sure graduates would state their degree as a BA in Sales from Anglia Ruskin and only make the Harrods link beyond that.

There are already vocational degrees that work with local businesses to produce graduates who are relevant to that workplace. For instance, Bucks New University runs a foundation degree in Business Management for staff at the bed specialist Dreams. Ruth Farwell, vice-chancellor at Bucks New Uni, said: “Whilst we recognise the impetus behind the decision to allow companies such as McDonald’s to award their own qualifications, we believe that it is better for employers to partner with universities in initiatives such as this one.”

The first graduates of the Dreams foundation degree came through in 2009. This type of vocational qualification is, therefore, not new. Over four million vocational qualifications were awarded last year alone. And today is VQ Day, especially for vocational qualifications. There is clearly a big market.

Some of these degrees are not for everyone. Indeed, Harrods and Dreams only offer the degrees to their own staff. However, universities need to diversify and attract business sponsors, as Lisa Harris has mentioned. Interest in alternatives to current degree routes will come from both prospective students and from businesses.

What of the future? These are specialised vocational qualifications. If more businesses took these degrees on, would current graduates need to work toward another degree once in employment? Would any degree be enough, or would we begin to see people in the workplace with several degrees due to obligatory business training?

I don’t think there are any proper answers to those questions yet, but we may need to start thinking about it soon.

Do you see these business degrees gaining in popularity or are you convinced they are still a gimmick?

Look Back, Look Forward: Part 5 – 14 steps to a stress-free future

In the final part of this series of posts on the future after your degree, let’s look at taking the stress out of your plans.

The future is uncertain, mainly because it hasn’t happened yet. Invariably, this can lead to worry. Or panic. Or full-blown hysteria.

If only you could get the future to play by the rules you set. I know that’s never going to happen, but you can use the present to nudge the future into dealing with you more reasonably.

photo by Ranoush.

14 steps to a stress-free future

Plan what can be planned – Just because you don’t have all the information doesn’t mean you can’t start making a rough sketch of the future. You don’t get anywhere fast without a sense of where you are going.
Don’t leave it for later – The more you sit on things, the more you have to do later on.
Expect possibilities, not guarantees – Confidence is good, absolute certainty is not. Expecting the worst isn’t necessary, but it’s wise to be aware that events don’t always go the way you want. Expect nothing in particular, but hope for the best outcome and be prepared for the worst.
Deal with common needs beforehand – Get what you can out of the way. Many matters are best dealt with as you go along. Your CV, where you’ll live, summer plans, and so on, are pretty standard. Very little will surprise you. Get on with these necessary tasks as soon as they arise to keep disruption down to a minimum.
Look at the blank canvas with hope, not fear – I’m still surprised at how people greet creative uncertainty with dread. You have responsibility for what you do with your life and you’re being handed a free shot at what you want. It gets better, because any time you mess up, it’s easy enough to start on another blank canvas. You’re luckier than you think. Stuff like money gets in the way, but a lot of what really blocks us are our own mental blocks.
Consider what you’d like to do and where you want to branch out – Before you get too serious (or before time starts making decisions for you), make an effort to hone in on the life you’d most like to lead. Small steps in the first place can become large strides, so don’t knock them. When you don’t spend enough time on the initial steps, you knock your dreams off course.
Look at job adverts, consult agencies, forums, conferences, job fairs, specific companies – You’ve probably been told this a lot already, but it’s worth mentioning. The more preparation you do, the more you’re prepared…good, huh? Study the jobs and opportunities currently out there, check jobs ads and appointments, view promotional docs from companies in the field you’re looking into. Fairs and events allow for networking, further questions, more ways in, new thoughts that you hadn’t yet considered. If you’re already doing this, keep it up. Don’t give up.
Whatever you feel in the dark about, make it your aim to shed light on the subject.
Work out budgeting needs for the year ahead – You need money. Whether it comes from you, the bank of mum and dad, or a lottery win(!), be sure to budget regardless.
Start a blog and join conversations online – This is especially important if you have a clear career in mind. Start a blog about your chosen field, even if it’s just about finding a job in the first place. It all helps. I know loads of graduates who set up their own website like a CV, but it goes stale and doesn’t mean anything. A blog lets you update, explain, entertain, converse, stay relevant, and stay visible.
Find people associated with the work you want to do on social networks and online forums. There are so many wonderful, helpful, accessible, kind people out there. In time, you can be one of those very people. Get involved and start spreading the love further!
Talk to parents and loved ones about future living arrangements if you’re not renting yourself – Some people are surprised at how much their parents want them to move out quickly, or start paying rent, or make massive change to living arrangements. Get it sorted in advance so you’re not surprised.
Keep scheduling, even when you don’t have a lot going on – Practice your time management by keeping a schedule or diary or to-do list or anything that lets you keep an eye on the day. It not only opens your eyes to the amount you can do when you put your mind to it, but also gives you momentum to achieve more. A lot can be said for the humble to-do list.
Have some down time – Already scheduling like crazy? Have a lot on? Avoid the stress of burnout by scheduling time for yourself too.
Regulate your sleep – Student days are behind you. If you enjoyed the prospect of a day-long lie-in, you need to train yourself out of it. Try waking up at the same time every day. Having no clear sleep pattern can be stressful. The occasional lie-in is fine, so long as it is only occasional!
Don’t waste time doing nothing at all – Losing momentum is a big problem here. From the moment your study comes to an end, start working on the next stage.

Enjoy your life as a graduate. I hope you get the degree result you want and I wish you the best of luck for the future.

TheUniversityBlog isn’t disappearing over the summer months. The focus may not be so much on writing essays and dealing with campus life, but there’s still plenty to deal with, including more on life after uni.

Remember, if there’s anything you’d like to see covered on this site, get in touch!

Look Back, Look Forward: Part 4 – Life after graduation

You’ve been held in a cocoon for several years and now you’re left in limbo. Nice, huh?

After the final exams (and parties), we shed a tear at leaving behind the place of so many great memories. Then it’s over as quickly as it began. You’ve got your mates, your plans, your life outside the student experience…but naturally moving on from university can be jarring. So how do you make the transition feel seamless?

photo by las

Use uni services as much as you can, while you can – It’s great that you’ve got access to a huge range of services, but it comes to an end. Some resources are accessible to graduates, but you need to live nearby and your access will still be reduced compared to that of a student. As for online services, don’t forget to use them while you still can. If you’re uncertain how long you get to log on to university intranet, email and gateways, ask!
Don’t wait for graduation – Some institutions wait months before officially handing out your degree. Don’t treat those months as empty ones. A degree ceremony is a formality. You don’t even have to wait to get your final results. You have the opportunity to crack on RIGHT NOW.
Look at your life as a continuing story – You may be at the end of an era, but there’s no point in dwelling on it. Perhaps you’re relieved to be finished and want a break. If you chill out now, you’ll lose focus and lose chances everyone else starts grabbing up.
Use your network straight away and cover all ground, including academics and tutors who inspired you – You can never be too good at networking. And it’s not just for mates and for finding jobs. The wider you stretch out and find people with similar passions, plans, careers, ideas, and so on, the better. If you want to improve your own game, you can’t do that on your own. And the great thing about networking is that you can help others while you’re at it.
Contact your careers service – With masses of information and advice, you’d be crazy not to make as much use from your careers services while you can. Many graduates stay local to their place of study, so your job shop may be able to help out in that way too. Ask what your careers people have to offer. They can probably help after you graduate too, so find out what ways you can use them to your advantage.
Keep your affairs up to date and organised – Now more than ever, you need to have your wits about you in order to make your moves quickly. Don’t ignore the administrative side of life because it needs doing. If you leave it, the work won’t go away and it’ll become more urgent the longer you let it slip. Getting everything together and looking presentable is more difficult if you leave things until the last minute too. Remember how it was with essay deadlines…
Keep moving – We’ve seen in previous posts how the end of your student experience can be an anti-climax. Rather than feel dispirited, use the opportunity to find new ways of using the time to suit you. Life usually trips from one series of events to another. University may be three or more years of your life, but it’s still just another series of events that comes to an end. Live it, love it, remember it fondly, and dive straight in to the future.

These are just a few random thoughts. There are about a squillion ways of moving on from university positively. The main point is this: the desire to move on and to do so positively can only come from you. Nobody else can tell you to make that transition from one thing to another, but it’s in your best interests to do so.

University gives you the key to an open mind. There’s no need to lock up again when you leave.

Look Back, Look Forward: Part 3 – Best Friends Forever

University is where you make some of your best and closest friends for the rest of your life.

original photo by Incase.

You may be sick to death of hearing stuff like that. But it’s true. I know it’s a cliché, but so many students forge lifetime friendships and make bestest buddies during their uni years. Maybe even bestest westest buddies. It’s that good.

But friendships are strange things. When you go your own ways, many delicate issues that don’t even revolve around the relationship can upset the balance.

Who’d have thought you’d be so concerned about the state of your mates? Let’s explore some of the uncertain questions.

When your student experience comes to a close, how do you keep in touch with everyone after you leave?

Keep as many channels open as possible. Facebook, phone, text, letter, visit, instant messaging…it’s all open for you to use. Don’t feel restricted to one or two methods of contact.
Don’t worry about it. Most relationships sort themselves out without much hassle. Even if you have an overflowing address book and a Facebook profile with enough friends to fill a small stadium, it doesn’t matter. As I discuss below, different types of friends become apparent, if they haven’t already.
Think quality, not quantity. Speaking to someone once in a while isn’t less special than speaking to someone every day. The situation itself is where the goodness comes from. Concentrate on creating wonderful situations, not multiple ones.

What effect does the end of uni have on the relationships you’ve built up?

Distance – Your closest mates can move hundreds of miles away from you. The relationship doesn’t come to an end, but the dynamic does. Distance isn’t a barrier to anything but constant face-to-face banter. And it’s great when you don’t see someone for a year and you meet up again as if it were the next day.
Personal circumstances – Career, family, romance, money…all sorts of things change. The shift from student to graduate brings uncertainty. You’ll find some previously close friends who fade away in the whirl of life outside higher education. Don’t take their personal circumstances personally! Unless it’s obvious there’s a direct reason for the breakdown (i.e. they tell you), it’s rarely because of the friendship itself. Life throws us around. There is more than enough technology available to stay in touch, but personal situations still make it tough to engage with others as much as you’d like.
Casual friendship is exposed – Once you move on, you’ll realise that you don’t know much at all about some mates. You shared the fun, but not the personal details. The question is now whether you naturally lose touch or build things up further in your new situation.

Do you have time to deal with all your contacts now life is moving on?

Be brief, but care with every word. We’re busy people. A few typed words thoughtfully written can be appreciated equally as much as a hand-written essay.
Keep an up to date address book and birthday calendar. Keep physical copies, as well as electronic ones. A book of information in your hands gives you more focus than relying on Facebook or a mobile phone to tell you when it’s someone’s special day. You’ll find it easier to manage all contacts with this information to hand.
Don’t forget about all the amazing people you’ve got to know. There are people I love to bits and haven’t seen in ages. It happens. Their absence doesn’t stop me thinking about them all the time. While the amount of contact changes in a click of the fingers, the strength of your feelings change more slowly and may not fade at all. Don’t be afraid to get in touch and let them know you’re thinking of them…however long it’s been!

How will all those friendships work out? Common groups of friends you’ll end up with include:

Those you continue to share almost everything with – The core group of people that make life worth living, no matter how infrequently you get to see them. Enough said.
Christmas/Birthday card list fodder – People you want to stay in contact with. But due to distance or career or family or a combination of things, contact is rare. You don’t worry if contact breaks once in a while, but you try to make the effort to send cards and the like.
Hardly any contact – You’re happy to check in on an irregular basis, but rarely go beyond that. Don’t be surprised if years go past until you speak again…still happy to catch up though.
Random stumbles through a mutual ‘closer’ friend, or through living in close proximity – Just because you’re no longer in direct contact with a person doesn’t mean you won’t bump into them from time to time. You may talk about uni days, catch up on a more formal basis, or spark a deeper friendship outside the confines of the student experience. Hey, this could be the start of another beautiful friendship!
Fairweather friends – What seemed like a match made in heaven turned out to be a situational convenience. Cut your losses…
Facebook only – Facebook is like a link many past graduates had to go without. Our ability to connect casually can’t get much easier. You don’t need to lose contact with anyone now! Mmm, good thing or bad? You decide.
Instant loss of contact, not even Facebook – Okay, some people do slip through the net and don’t even appear on your Facebook list. Maybe they aren’t on Facebook (WTF? Srsly?) or you never connected that way (yeah, that’s more likely). Once you leave uni and you don’t have a single way of contacting the person, you probably aren’t bothered about making contact now. But if it’s an oversight, you need to do three things. One, call yourself a muppet. Two, ask your mates and Facebook contacts how to get hold of the person. Three, hope one of your other friends can help!

The good news for today’s students is that networking is easier than ever. Many of us are big on networking without noticing we’re doing it. It comes naturally.

Therefore, no matter what graduate life throws at you, you’re in a good position to keep your relationships in great shape.