What employers say about the Exeter Award

Employer testimony

The Exeter award is an amazing opportunity for students to drastically improve their employability skills. This award will be seen as highly valuable by employers across a range of different sectors.

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Employability skills are so important, especially when trying to secure a graduate job and succeed  in the interview process. I would encourage all students to take this opportunity as it is a great chance to build your competitive advantage early on!

At a time when students need to stand out against the competition, the Exeter Award will demonstrate that participants have developed a broad range of both transferable and specific employability skills. This will be of great benefit to employers as they will be able to recognise students that are committed and driven to enhancing their career prospects.

There is no doubt that the graduate recruitment market is becoming increasingly more competitive and academic excellence is no longer enough for most employers. With large volumes of applications being received for graduate schemes every year, we are all looking for ways in which to differentiate the talent and the Exeter Award is a fantastic opportunity for students to do just that. It demonstrates to employers your commitment to developing the employability skills that we all place such a value on and makes you much more rounded candidates which is important to every graduate recruiter.

Charityworks are pleased to support The Exeter Award as a great opportunity for students to improve their skills and stand out from the crowd when starting their career. Taking responsibility for your own development is an essential part of any career, and this Award allows students to demonstrate their ability to do that.

CIMA are delighted to endorse the Exeter Award. Anything that students can do to enhance their employability skills will certainly benefit them when it comes to searching for their future Career.  Activities such as this can be the deciding factor at final interview stage so we definitely recommend students to get involved.

Aspiring to work for an SME (Small or Medium sized Enterprise) is becoming increasingly popular with graduates, as they recognise the direct impact they can make to a business and the breadth of work experience that can be gained. In this competitive market, the Exeter Award and Exeter Leaders Award are excellent tools to help students develop the skills they need to become the enterprising employees that today's small businesses require.

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The Exeter Award is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain the hard and soft skills they need to move into graduate employment. It's about setting themselves apart from the next candidate - having the Exeter Award on their CV demonstrates key skills and competencies that employers look for, such as work experience, teamwork skills and practical interview skills, which will help deliver better interviews for us the employers.

Having the Exeter award would certainly look favourable on any candidate's application form in terms of improving their employability. Employers are looking for so much more than just academics in such a competitive market place now. We want candidates who have started to develop other skills, such as leadership, and have got involved in non-academic activities to support this. The Exeter award could be that difference for a candidate in terms of making them stand out from the rest.

The Exeter Award ensures that students have all the tools they need to give them the very best possible start to their career hunt.

The Exeter Award is a really valuable accolade for students wanting to differentiate themselves from their peers. To employers it demonstrates a student's initiative to really make the most of the plethora of opportunities that are available to them at Exeter University and it prepares them for life inside the workplace.

Differentiating yourself in a competitive graduate employment market is essential in taking your next step after university and The Exeter Award is one way that students are able to achieve this. As a business The PageGroup looks for commercial, driven and motivated students to join our Internship and Graduate programmes, and students with the Exeter Award have already gone some of the way to proving this to us - the award will be recognised by employers and could open doors for you!

Being fully recognised for all your achievements at University is valuable to both students and employers. The steps in The Exeter Award are designed so that you are continually building your soft skills, these are core to increasing your employability whilst you are gaining your academic qualifications. The Award will also demonstrate you are motivated to give yourself the best chance of success as you embark on your graduate career.

The Exeter Award is an excellent initiative. It cannot but help students in a difficult employment market by enhancing individual skills, raising self-awareness, adding substance to a CV and giving guidance for the job application and interview process.

The Exeter Award is a fantastic achievement to work towards. As students, you can develop a range of new skills which should help you stand out from the crowd when you start to apply for jobs. It's great to be able to experience lots of different employer events, to help point you in the right direction for when your studies are finished. Plus, having relevant work experience outside of your course shows prospective employers you're committed to your career path.

The Exeter Award is a great way for students to showcase their skills to future employers. It shows a commitment to hard work and a desire to stand out from the crowd; these are qualities that employers are keen to see on their application forms.

We consider the Exeter Award to be an excellent opportunity for students to develop their employability and career ambitions, by identifying the sector, role and organisation size and structure that they will flourish in, and gain the fullest possible range of experiences in their work placements and wider skills development throughout their studies. The Exeter Award will help students to encounter and articulate a full raft of experiences and develop the full range of skills necessary to thrive at graduate level and beyond.

The Exeter Award is a fantastic opportunity for students to enhance their employability skills. The skills which students will learn by working towards this award are highly valuable for all employers. Graduate positions are highly competitive and this award increases the chance of students standing out of the crowd when applying for graduate positions.

The components set out above are to be viewed as an indication of the criteria and level of commitment required to complete The Exeter Award and Leaders Award. The University, Students' Guild and Students' Union reserve the right to change this structure in part or full at any point without prior warning.