From Campus to Career
Sessions end with intentions. This one ends with a dated plan
A student who has attended several good sessions can still leave with nothing written down. This is the closing session: each person names a target role, audits what they actually have, and leaves with a week-by-week plan they can be held to.
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Intentions fade quickly. A dated plan is harder to forget.
A good session produces a room full of people who intend to act. Many of them write nothing down, and within a week the intention is often replaced by the next assignment deadline.
This session exists to convert the intent into something specific enough to fail visibly — a target, a list of gaps, and a small number of dated commitments. That is the part most likely to survive contact with a semester.
What each student builds
28 topics across 6 areas. Six steps, done in the room.
Name the TargetOne role, written down.5 topics
Not a field. A role, of the kind a job posting is written for: for example business development executive, HR executive (recruitment), operations executive, accounts executive or digital marketing executive.
- Which role
- Why that one
- What evidence I have for it
- What five current job postings for that role actually ask for, and what repeats across them
- What I am not aiming at, for now
A student who cannot name it has their first task already.
Audit What You Actually HaveHonestly, against that role.5 topics
- Fundamentals of the target function I can explain, such as a sales funnel, a P&L or a hiring process
- Projects I can defend
- Any internship or work experience, and what I personally did in it
- Evidence that is visible to somebody else
- What is on my resume that I could not defend
Name the GapsOnly the ones that matter for the target.4 topics
The point of a target is that most gaps stop mattering. A student aiming at a business development role does not need to close their gap in financial modelling.
- The one fundamental I am weakest in
- The evidence I am missing
- The thing on my resume I need to remove or learn
- The skill the role assumes
Choose Three ThingsNot ten. Three.3 topics
Ninety days realistically holds one project, one revision effort and one visible improvement. A longer list is a way of avoiding all of it.
- One thing to build, such as a work sample, a small analysis or a project
- One thing to revise, such as a weak fundamental
- One thing to improve or publish, such as a resume or a short write-up
Put Dates On ThemA plan without dates is a wish.6 topics
- Week 1–2
- Week 3–6
- Week 7–10
- Week 11–12
- What is due when
- What I will have to show at the end
Decide Who Will AskAccountability that is not self-supplied.5 topics
- A friend doing the same thing
- A senior who will check in
- A faculty member
- A group that meets fortnightly
- When you will report progress
A plan is easier to keep when another person asks about it, which is why the session is run in pairs.
What a finished plan looks like
- One target role, named
- Three commitments, dated
- One thing being built and how it will be published
- One weak fundamental and how it gets revised
- One person who will ask about it
- A date to review the whole thing
Where students usually go wrong
- A list of ten things, which becomes none
- A target so broad it does not narrow anything
- Plans that need somebody else's permission to start
- No dates, so nothing is ever late
- Nobody to report to, so nothing is ever reported
How the session runs
Mostly working time rather than talking. Students draft the plan in the room, in pairs, with practitioners circulating to challenge targets that are too vague and plans that are too long. Each person reads their three commitments aloud, which is the part that makes them real. We recommend that the college keeps a copy of each plan and reviews it at about week six.
What your students leave with
- One target role, named and written down
- An honest audit of what they can currently demonstrate
- The gaps that actually matter for that role
- Three commitments rather than a list of ten
- Dates attached to each of them
- Somebody who will ask how it is going
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Start a conversation
Ask for this session
Tell us who you are and what you have in mind. A person reads it and writes back, usually within two working days.
- Tell us what you need
A topic or a question is enough to start.
- A person replies
Usually within two working days.
- Agree the next step
We work out the details together.
Sessions end with intentions. This one ends with dates.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.