SKILLS WEBSITE QUESTIONNAIRE FEEDBACK
Home Page (HP)
Summary: All participants gave accurate assessments of how to use this website and
generally believed this was clear from the introduction however suggested not to use
terms like ‘employer speak’. Participants suggested using a more eye catching
design with pictures to entice viewers further.
















Not clear how to navigate this site, should indicate that the 6 tiles on top of page
are ‘generic attributes’
Should have a title ‘home’ linked to main page
Introduction should be more appealing, bigger fonts etc.
Intro generally clear but I didn’t realise it was science focused from homepageneed more emphasis that this is for science students
Might want to make HP more interesting eg picture of someone in an interview
Home page clear but perhaps make it more eye catching
Aims clearly stated, icons attractive, gave an idea of aspects of skills
Should start with a question ‘going for an interview’ to entice interest
Extremely clear how to use site from introduction
A short introduction on our situation as students to the relatively different situation
as an employee would be an improvement
Is the term ‘employer speak’ common? I’d never heard it before and it confused
me a bit.
A more concise heading could make the subject immediately clear
Introduction clear but the point may be a little hard to understand for some as they
use words that some may be unfamiliar with e.g ‘employer speak’. Introduction in
a paragraph may work better.
The points are clearly stated in the index page
Not really clear on how to use this site in HP. The idea is clear but the language
isn’t. Don’t talk about the site, talk about the user.
The introduction is clear enough but some people may not bother to read it.
Generic Attributes Page
Summary: Only a couple of participants correctly defined generic attribute as
general traits, or general skills. Most left the definition blank, however, nearly all
participants listed some generic attributes from the webpage. Nearly all participants
believed the information was easy to find, made sense and was useful but also
believed the definitions were vague and abstract and the page needed to relate more
to employability.





Information easy to find, made sense. Examples helped at lot esp when lots of
abstract terms are used.
Information made sense but not useful. The information provided is more like a
cliché. The information should be more instructive.
Why is it all written in the third person? What is a good world citizen?
Add a photo or two to this page of a person in the workplace.
Page easy to find. I appreciated the set diagram easy to visualise and see which
categories one falls in.


























Useful but please, no definitions of generic attributes –too much jargon for me.
Couldn’t really find a definition of generic attributes
Information made sense esp with added sentence describing each of the attributes
under subheadings
Very interested to know what employers are looking for now so I can start
developing these skills
Can improve with more pictures
I thought it was very useful having each attribute explained fully
Unclear language, vein diagram good concept
Repetitious eg communication listed twice
Not really useful in terms of jobs, abstract explanations. Go straight into attributes,
no wordy explanations
Should have a definition of Generic Attributes first up.
Generally clear, thought there was a lot of it.
Information on this page is a bit vague and abstract – examples helped make it
concrete
The page was easy to find and made sense but the information bordered on trivia.
No links are given to how one might ACTUALLY obtain such skills.
Vague definitions of terms are not really useful. Practical methods of obtaining
good oral skills say might be.
Information useful, formalises what most people know as common sense.
Citizenship should be with a capital C. Nice diagrams but be consistent with the
use of capital letters.
Back to top links are unnecessary.
Definition of generic attributes wasn’t easy to find.
Venn diagram not really necessary. Better place skills in one group rather than 3.
Make clear that more specific skills are described in links.
Each attribute was well explained with examples and detailed explanations of these
examples available
The information sounds as if they are definitions. They do make sense but does not
change me in terms of employability.
Information makes sense although I question the use of the word ‘attributes’, it’s
too vague
The separation of the three aattributes is clear and it give the students a target, but
it’s not clear how it’s directly related to employment.
Give some concrete examples at this stage.
Information easy to find made sense. They are attributes often looked at by
employers and not only for science graduates but also students for other fields.
Skills Pages –(Communication)
Summary: Only 5 participants correctly identified the background communication
skills. The rest answered oral, verbal, non-verbal. This extra level of skill division
seemed to be lost and created confusion. Nearly all participants believed the skill
page(s) made sense and the information was useful but the majority believed the
current delivery, through definitions, was not very useful and the language quite
‘wordy’.

Avoid creating another category ‘Background Skills’ –confusing






















Information makes sense but not useful. The information is too broad and seems to
cliché’.
Information should be more instructive
I like the pink pages, start with a question.
Too many categories. Useful to those who are unsure of their strengths but on the
whole rather basic.
You’ve divided skills into oral, written, non-verbal. Yet background skills cover
each of these groups. Why not define skills eg. ‘presentation skills’ under ‘oral’?
Information useful however I can already get an idea of which skills I already
possess
Is a little boring looking at a long section of writing. Also examples were a bit too
lengthy and boring.
Bright box links at top are easy to follow.
Information useful makes sense, but could elaborate on 3 aspects better rather than
just defining them. E.g. give and example of how a graduate could present their
competency in a resume.
Examples too wordy! Frightening! Not clear where to click eg. Links
Could be more succinct, definition. Clear idea of what each aspect is.
Generally makes sense. Hard to convey what good and bad body language is in
words. Information useful especially examples. Bad examples can be as helpful as
good ones.
Definitions border on trivia
Page not particularly easy to find –only found it by exploring other skills.
Specified aspects of communication clearly
More useful than generic attributes page, remove back to tops
Clearly outlines the areas which they cover, perhaps suggest places to go/ ways to
help to improve the skills they are lacking
Info makes sense, allows newbies to be exposed to all areas of communication
Generally made sense although I thought some of the examples didn’t really match
the information given.
Clearly summarises what is needed in the science graduate. Check the examples
against the skills descriptions. Put links to the examples at the bottom of the page.
Allow for interactivity in the examples.
How about listening skill? Good listener can be a good speaker.
Good guideline for communication.
Portfolio –Building a Portfolio page
Generally most participants found the information easy to find however a few
students could not find this page at all. Navigation seemed to be an issue in the
portfolio section. Participants found the information contained here one of the
more useful parts of the website and suggested that more specific examples would
improve it.





Information made sense although not easy to find, wasn’t clear what the first step
was, had to guess.
Couldn’t find a template.
There are sensible suggestions as to how to build a portfolio.
This information is much more useful that the previous pages
Information easy to find, construct a portfolio page was concise.














Good use of examples
Very easy to find thanks to common sense links.
Makes sense but too general: ‘activities’ is such a general topic. Needs more
specifics eg. Leadership activities, sporting etc
Information useful particularly the template (in theory) but I wouldn’t fill in a
template for all my activities, or even the important ones (in practice).
Might want to make the page a bit more interesting eg a picture of someone in an
interview.
Numbered steps make it easy. Examples made it clear, information useful , could
easily come up in an interview.
More examples would be useful.
Information easy to find, the page wasn’t cluttered.
Diagram makes it simple.
I could not find this page. Only found an intro of what a portfolio is. Made sense
but could be made clearer by putting in point form (too wordy).
Under Portfolio –Collection of Records para 4 line1 ‘Even If..’ should be a lower
case i. Information useful.
Very concise – it explained why you need a portfolio, very useful.
I find this one of the most useful segments. Students will find them more relating
to imminent job search.
Useful especially for me cause I don’t have portfolio before [sic]
Portfolio – Refection Page
Participants correctly identified the ways in which to reflect on their skills although
many had trouble getting to this page. Most participants found the information
made sense and was useful but suggested including examples of how to gain skills
in areas of identified weakness.














I may not have noticed the link for this page was there if I didn’t have to answer
this question.
Perhaps suggest activities that Jane could do to improve her information
management skills.
The skills table was a good idea and should perhaps be available for print (as a
blank).
This page not easy to find, was lost in a pile of words.
The activity template was great, very clear, very useful.
The language is simple, and descriptions are simple.
Looking at ads is a good idea, include links to employment ads.
Information useful, examples very good.
Table showed ideas being conveyed.
Useful but not so much on how to get skills. Might provide links here in the table
to each skill and possible ways of gaining them.
Makes sense in theory. In practice, I’m not sure if I would bother to fill such a
table out.
Make it easier for students to analyse themselves – provide a sample table that we
can print out and tick, or even an on-line form.
Pretty straight forward, logical way to identify weaknesses.
Table is a good way for organising the recorded information.







Less trivial than the generic skills and communications page. Can improve by
using practical suggestions as to how such skills can be obtained.
Not really easy to find, had to look for it.
This information would not make sense for first years
Not really useful too brief, cite real examples.
Page not easy to find, as there was not direct link to it from the page on keeping
records
Section on job ads didn’t give any explanation on how to match the criteria with
skills.
More ways to reflect would be useful, as would be advice on how to plan activities
to fill in gaps in your skills. More advice and explanation.
Portfolio –Putting in together
Participants had trouble finding the example CV and Portfolio. This is further
demonstrated by a significant proportion of participant answers mistaking the first
list of activities you can put in your portfolio for Jane’s Portfolio. After searching
for the example CV it is most likely only then, did they come across Jane’s portfolio.
Participants on the whole found the examples extremely useful and wanted more
than one.

















If I didn’t have to answer this question I don’t think I would have found the links.
It was good to see what had been explained in the website as and actual final
product.
It was a good way of guiding students to create their own portfolio.
The portfolio example and CV were easy to access. It was useful to see how a
portfolio and a CV can/should look, perhaps you could have two portfolios and
CVs so you can see where a personal touch has been put in.
Easy to find, downloading time quick. More annotations/explanations on why this
sample is good.
Information makes sense, nothing difficult to understand. It’s a good example of a
typical portfolio.
Example portfolio and CV hard to find. Only because I didn’t realise a portfolio
complemented a resume and I was looking for a resume link.
The portfolio was the most interesting part of the website.
Would have been easier to find on the ‘portfolio’ level.
A wider range of example CVs would be useful to cater for more students.
Extremely useful – we all have to write a portfolio at some stage.
Information made sense but confused about whether we just use an activity
template or construct a portfolio separately.
Might be useful to show more headings, in the portfolio, and also want to know
about how to show evidence for assignments at uni – should I attach a marked
copy?
It makes sense even though I’ve never heard of including a portfolio with a CV.
Not very useful – I wouldn’t base my CV on yours, I’d have more academic
qualifications, more referees for each job and less ‘other’ stuff. Why include a
poster presentation? Some people do several a year.
Useful reference. Have more examples/graphics etc.
Example portfolio integrates all the information into one easy to understand
information.




Provides a sensible example CV etc.
It seemed realistic, something people can relate to.
Somewhat easy to access. Should take more of a centre stage role.
Shows various necessary attributes, allows novice to use as a template, more
realistic one.
 It is only possible to reach this page by going back, and why the portfolio/ CV
open in a new window which make it easy to compare but difficult to return from.
 The information is not really useful – all it does is show how to summarise the
records. It would be helpful to have a lot more detail on how to set out a portfolio
and how to use it to get employment.
 The example portfolio is really useful. It shows how we can build our own
portfolio.