Staffordshire University’s careers service has teamed up with digital platform Unibuddy to offer an innovative new way to support students
Career Coaches will offer peer-to-peer support via the Unibuddy platform
As a response to the pandemic, we have acted swiftly to be the first UK Careers team to use Unibuddy as a chat function. This will help a wider and more diverse audience to engage with Careers.
Usually used for recruitment, peer-to-peer platform Unibuddy connects prospective students with current undergraduates to talk first-hand about their university experiences.
Staffordshire University’s Careers Team saw the potential for the platform to complement their own peer-to-peer offer which sees student ‘Career Coaches’ provide advice and support through blogs, vlogs and more.
The Careers Team has been recognised for this unique approach with a nomination for Best University Employability Strategy in the Target Jobs Awards and hope that Unibuddy will help to make their services even more accessible to those seeking advice about careers or professional development.
Martin Perfect, Head of Careers at Staffordshire University, said: “As a response to the pandemic, we have acted swiftly to be the first UK Careers team to use Unibuddy as a chat function. This will help a wider and more diverse audience to engage with Careers.”
Students on and off campus can use the tool to message the service’s Career Coaches, which makes receiving advice and support easier than ever before. Users are then notified by email, text message, or via their favourite instant messaging app as soon as they receive a reply.
Staffordshire University promises lifelong careers support for its alumni and Unibuddy also offers live chat events which can be used by graduates anywhere in the world.
Unibuddy CEO, Diego Fanara, said: “Our vision has always been to contribute to a world where life's key decisions are never taken alone. Over the last four years we've seen the enormous impact that peer support has on a student's decision about whether and where to go to university.
“Thanks to our partnership with Staffordshire University Careers Team, the first partnership of its kind, we can now bring peer support to the next stage of the Higher Education journey: finding the right career and professional development opportunities for them."