Sustainable Employability in Higher Education: Career Development Outside of the Curriculum

Abstract

Sustainable employability includes an ability to market oneself (prepare cover letters and résumés, manage an online presence, and perform in interviews) and whole-self development for long-term employability. This chapter explores the success of three different career programs in developing a sense of sustainable employability for students. The programs discussed are the Career Accelerator Program, which provides students with a week of networking sessions with corporate employers in their offices; the Mock Interview and Assessment Centre Day for actuarial student society members with mock interviews and an assessment centre with actuarial alumni; and the Undergraduate Research Scholarships Scheme linking undergraduate students with academics to participate in current research projects for up to 100 h over a period of 6–9 months. Each of these three case studies leads to the conclusion that career programs outside the curriculum deliver opportunities for students to practise, develop and apply their employability skills in realistic environments.