London Met implements sector leading student careers software in record-breaking time, with two Postgraduate students having an integral role in the installation process
Date: 24 January 2019
London Metropolitan University has installed a brand new jobs listing system, making it as quick and simple as possible for students to find, apply and connect with employers from around the country.
The new system has been named MyCareer and is supplied by GTI Media. It serves as an online space where students are able to find jobs listings from a range external employers, and request specialist services and employment support from the University’s employability teams.
The system is used by 68 Higher Education institutions throughout the country and the installation process can be quite a lengthy one. Yet, London Met was the institution with the second fastest installation time, taking place over the past summer.
Neelam Thapar, Head of Careers and Employability, said:
“We introduced the new system for Employment Outcomes teams with a goal to create the simplest, most effective way for students and graduates to find jobs listings, connect directly with employers and gain support from specialist careers and employability and work related learning staff.
“TARGET connect launched in June and since then we’ve seen over 1000 employers post jobs listings onto the system. They’ve posted a wide variety of job types, including part-time and volunteering work jobs, available for all current students and recent graduates to apply for. The system is self-service, making it easy for both students and employers to use.”
To support with the complex implementation process, Mandy Miller and Laura Holley were hired on to the implementation team, two Postgraduate students who were, at the time, both studying MSc Data Analytics at London Metropolitan University. Both played an instrumental part in the project, where they cleansed and structured the data of all students into the new system. This helped the rest of the project team tremendously to install the system, as they had deal with over 80,000 student records.
Laura Holley had this to say on the installation project:
“It was great to apply the skills and knowledge gained from studying my Masters to a real-life working environment. We overcame challenges and found the best ways to get the work done in a small time frame. The outcome of the project was good, and it will help the University staff make business decisions that will benefit the students.”
Mandy Miller, who worked alongside Laura Holley, said:
“Completing my studies and managing concurrent project deadlines certainly helped to
focus my attention, and it was great that my colleague Laura was in the same position, as we were both finishing our dissertations at the time. It was a lifesaver to be able to brainstorm and compare notes. I’m pleased that I’ve contributed to a project that has positively benefitted the University; it feels like a full circle from when I enrolled on my Master’s degree a couple of years ago.”
Paul Gradidge also played an instrumental role during the project. Paul acted as Business Analyst, ensuring that the requirements of the students were met on all levels, and that University staff were properly trained.
Since the system has gone live, 1102 organisations have advertised jobs, with a total of 2134 jobs listings, showing great engagement from the student body.
Ben Titford, Senior Account Manager at GTI Media, commented on the University’s implementation of TARGETconnect:
“London Metropolitan University is the type of institution that GTI Media relishes working with. The institution is forward thinking and dynamic, and we have enjoyed a good, long standing relationship with the University. Across all levels, the teams at London Metropolitan have been a pleasure to work with because they know exactly what they need from their systems and the best way to approach implementing them.”
“We have been extremely impressed with the pace of progression at each stage of the project, from commercial sign off, to requirements scoping and finally the deployment of the system to deliver world-class graduate outcomes. Project managers Alan Fleming and Paul Gradidge were key figures throughout the installation, as well as Neelam Thapar. Neelam was clear on her ambitions for the platform and carefully planned the roll out to staff. On a number of occasions we delivered onsite training with the careers team and again, we were impressed by how quickly the staff picked up the skills taught during the sessions.”
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