Give your business the WoW factor

Could your business benefit from the WoW® factor?

Liverpool John Moores University has launched a unique employability skills initiative – WoW®, or World of Work – which places employer engagement, work -related learning, graduate and  world of work skills development at the heart of all its degrees.

Based upon consultations with an advisory board of leading employers, who identified the skills that today’s graduates need, the aim is to produce graduates who are both academically qualified and ready for the world of work.

Terry Dray, Director of the LJMU Graduate Development Centre, says: “WoW is LJMU’s response to both a series of influential reports advocating the need for universities to take more seriously the employability of students for the benefit of the local, regional and national economy, and to detailed conversations with the employers with whom we have a relationship.”

The university is appealing to businesses in Merseyside to get involved. There are a number of ways in which businesses can do so, including taking part in interviews or group discussions, being a guest speaker, delivering a masterclass on business, providing case study material or taking part in online forums.

LJMU, which has more than 20,000 undergraduate students and 4,000 postgraduate students, is keen to hear from employers who can offer work placements or work shadowing opportunities.

In return, businesses can benefit by tapping into an excellent graduate talent pipeline and from having a fresh perspective on their business and a new set of skills, for example to undertake a particular project. Businesses can use LJMU facilities and take advantage of staff training and development opportunities. They can build financially supported Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) with the university and can also receive support in developing their own approaches to talent attraction and recruitment.

A new vacancy website is also being launched which will be free to all businesses and will provide direct access to thousand of graduates.

To find out more about how WoW® can help your business please contact the LJMU brokerage team, telephone 0151 231 8099, or email Brokerage@ljmu.ac.uk. Or go to http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/WoW/employers/index.htm