Overview
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This free badged course, Returning to STEM, offers useful skills and solutions to help you get back into a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).
Syllabus
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- Introduction and guidance
- Introduction and guidance
- What is a badged course?
- How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: The story so far
- Introduction
- 1 What this course can offer you
- 1.1 Why STEM?
- 2 Reflections on your working life
- 2.1 Your career lifeline
- 2.2 Telling your story
- 3 Identifying your career drivers and values
- 4 Managing your digital footprint
- 5 Strategies for returning
- 5.1 Foot in the door
- 5.2 Networking
- 5.3 Retraining
- 5.4 Helping hand
- 5.5 Back to basics
- 6 What do you want to get out of this course?
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Presenting yourself
- Introduction
- 1 Presenting yourself online: LinkedIn
- 1.1 Why LinkedIn for STEM?
- 1.2 About LinkedIn
- Privacy and security
- 2 Making the most of LinkedIn
- 3 Creating your online profile
- 3.1 Your profile
- 3.2 Unpaid or voluntary work
- 3.3 Expanding your voluntary work
- 4 Creating a network
- 4.1 Building connections
- 4.2 Expanding your LinkedIn reach
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: What’s going on in your sector?
- Introduction
- 1 Employment trends in STEM
- 2 Skills shortage – where will the jobs be?
- 2.1 Eight great technologies
- 2.2 STEM occupations and skills
- 2.3 Update your skills or study for another qualification
- 3 Creating a CV
- 4 Good places for women to work
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: New ways of working
- Introduction
- 1 What is a career?
- 2 Being flexible: what it means in the workplace
- 2.1 Part-time working
- 2.2 Job share
- 2.3 Making a flexible working request
- 2.4 Remote working: when home is your workplace
- 3 Working for yourself
- 4 Flexible working: the employer perspective
- 4.1 Steps to returning
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Work-life balance
- Introduction
- 1 Changing priorities: the ABC model
- 2 Where does your time go?
- 3 Creating the work–life balance you want
- 3.1 Time
- 3.2 Location
- 3.3 Childcare and other caring responsibilities
- Caring for elderly or other dependants
- 3.4 Money
- 3.5 Balancing work with the rest of your life
- 3.6 What does it feel like? Coping with conflicting roles
- 4 There are only so many hours in a day
- 4.1 Time management
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- Further Reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Getting support
- Introduction
- 1 Getting back your confidence
- 2 Mentoring
- 2.1 How can a mentor help you?
- 3 Networking
- 3.1 Exploring your personal networks
- 3.2 Networking using LinkedIn
- 3.3 Developing your face-to-face networking skills
- 4 This week’s quiz
- Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: Finding your STEM opportunity
- Introduction
- 1 What’s out there? Finding job vacancies
- 1.1 Job hunting online
- 1.2 Job vacancy sites
- 1.3 Job seeking using LinkedIn
- 1.4 Using recruitment agencies
- 2 Getting the job
- 2.1 Improving your CV
- 2.2 Your amended CV
- 3 Covering letters and speculative letters
- 3.1 Speculative applications
- Drafting a speculative letter
- 4 Interview confidence and preparation
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week8Week 8: Planning your next steps
- Introduction
- 1 Strategies for returning to STEM
- 1.1 Reviewing your progress
- 2 Where next?
- 2.1 Update your skills or study for another qualification
- 2.2 Volunteering and returnships
- 3 Setting your goals
- 4 Creating your action plan
- 4.1 Goals as SMART objectives
- 4.2 What if I don’t succeed?
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- Tell us what you think
- Take the next step
- References
- Acknowledgements
