Dublin City University CAREERS REPORT ON
DESTINATIONS® COMMUNITY GRANT
Project Manager:
Head of Service:
Denise McMorrow, Careers Advisor
Muireann NiDhuigneain, DCU Careers
INTRODUCTION
The overall project aim of the DCU Destinations® Community Development Grant
was to customise the Destinations website for DCU Careers Service. In DCU, the
Destinations® product is one of the best careers websites available and is a vital
resource to the delivery of our services. The project involved the inclusion of more
relevant and up to date links and resources, where necessary. Considerable time
was spent on updating the site with DCU resources and involved adding, rewriting
and removing sections to replace University of Reading and University of Limerick
content as appropriate. The project was made possible through the successful
awarding of Destinations® funding. As DCU is a university which is constantly
increasing its capacity and will double its student numbers in the coming years, this
has put an increased emphasis on using careers web resources. As a result of
completing this project we are better placed to ensure that larger numbers of
students can be reached. The product is available on the DCU Careers website and
provides flexible 24/7 access to comprehensive careers information. Using their
novel user name and password, DCU students, staff and graduates can avail of the
software at their discretion, at a time and place suitable to their needs.
The work undertaken for this project involved a joint approach by DCU Information
Support Systems (ISS) and the Careers Service to organise and schedule tasks and
resources. A student intern was recruited by the Careers Service to report to the
project manager and tasked with the customisation of the software and related
duties. Students from the Multimedia programme and Marketing are also involved in
providing technical input on the requirements for producing podcasts, increasing
student traffic on the site and generally letting students know about its benefits.
The Destinations® software has become an integral part of the careers education
programmes which are embedded in many programmes across the curriculum.
Students use Destinations® in completion of their portfolios. Both staff and students
have commented on the positive impact of the software and we are now better
placed to promote the resource since it has been updated and localised to DCU.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
As a result of receiving the Destinations® grant, the work carried out on the
Destinations software involved hiring a student intern as well as working with an EResources Marketing Assistant and multimedia students to complete the following:
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Meeting with ISS personnel to plan, initiate and progress the customisation
project. The format of the change requests were agreed and delivered on.
Proof-reading of all content on Destinations® 2 and including four additional
modules included in the Destinations 3 new releases.
Identifying spelling and grammatical errors and writing corrections for
insertion by DCU ISS.
Identifying pages containing University of Reading content and rewriting it for
the Irish context. Sourcing reference material to replace UK funding and
company structures information within an Irish context.
Identifying University of Limerick content and rewriting it with DCU content.
Sourcing reference material and resources for listing in the Further
Information and References sections.
Identifying and listing navigation bugs for repair by DCU ISS.
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Reviewing and evaluating all podcasts on Destinations® and identify those
needing to be replaced with more relevant podcasts.
Listing topics and speakers required for new podcasts. Directing a multimedia
student to record live podcasts tailored specifically to DCU.
Meeting students of the Multimedia programme to plan the recording of
podcasts.
Meeting regularly with Denise McMorrow as project manager to report
progress.
Networked collaboratively with other career services through GCI to promote
best practice to integrate Destinations® software more centrally.
Received feedback from students on the impact of Destinations® software on
student action and interaction and made the necessary adjustments.
Promoting the usage of the Destinations® extensively through DCU
publications and online through the development of Facebook/Twitter.
Ensuring flexibility and a quality service through the provision of a 24/7
careers web site for use as desired by students and graduates as
appropriate. Using their novel user name and password, DCU students and
graduates can avail of the software at their discretion, at a time and place
suitable to their needs.
During 1:1 interventions with careers advisers, students and graduates can
be directed to topics of specific interest on the Destinations® site
On a group basis with students the resource can be availed of in order to
critically evaluate options and career directions and assist them to develop a
career management strategy and plan of action.
Development and use for careers portfolios in the class room, where careers
advisers are working with the academic staff to deliver developmental career
management education which is both integrated into the curriculum and
accredited within the assessment procedure.
With students, graduates and staff attending the stand alone Careers Service
Seminars and/or Workshop Series where Destinations® software is used to
illustrate and support the topics presented.
DCU Academic, Administrative staff and Employers can refer to the
Destinations® software when making presentations in DCU. The resource
can now be used with students and graduates, to illustrate an excellent
resource to help students in their job search strategy and preparation for the
world of work.
CONCLUSION
The outcome of the work is that Destinations® is now customised for DCU students,
academics, alumni and employers. It has been tailored to the DCU audience to
include relevant links and references to meet the careers needs of Irish and
international students. A list of required podcasts has been drawn up and these will
be recorded by the Multimedia students on 9th March 2011 which will be added to
Destinations® Product. It is acknowledged that the Destinations® Software needs to
be updated regularly and additions can now be made through our ISS team to reflect
the extensive content and manage its input.
Destinations® is heavily promoted in all the class work undertaken by Careers
Advisers and during the one-to-one career consultations with students as well as
through our communication channels with academics and administrative staff within
DCU. An online publicity campaign is underway to encourage students and
academics to use Destinations® to its full potential. Weekly emails via our Careers enewsletter encourage an increased number of users to benefit from Destinations®.
As part of the on-going development of our resources Facebook and Twitter will also
have links to the DCU Destinations® Product.
The project undertaken has been very worthwhile and has ensured a collaborative
approach between DCU Careers and other key stakeholders including students,
academics, employers as well as third level educational providers. The opportunity
for the on-going development of this resource exists and there is great excitement
and energy to embrace it as a reliable, dynamic and up-to-date careers resource. In
DCU Careers Service, we are very happy to be part of the Destinations® Community
and look forward to its continued success.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On behalf of DCU Careers Service, Denise McMorrow, Project Manager for DCU
Destinations Community Development Grant would like to thank David Stanbury and
the Destinations® team for making this project possible through funding.
A very special thanks to Muireann NiDhuigneain, Head of DCU Careers who has
supported this project.
Thanks to Yvonne McLoughlin, Careers Advisor for her inputs and advice with this
project.
Declan Delamere the student Intern who delivered on many aspects of the project as
well as DCU ISS and the Multimedia and Marketing students who have shown great
commitment and diligence to the project.
Finally, a word of appreciation to all members of DCU Careers Team, Student
Support & Development, our employers and students who have made the time
available to learn more about the Destinations® Software and use it as a reliable
careers resource.
Denise McMorrow, Careers Advisor, DCU Careers Service, Student Support &
Development’ Glasnevin, Dublin 9
denise.mcmorrow@dcu.ie
31/01/2011