Serene Lin-Stephens

1. Being a capable career decision-maker across the lifespan is crucial for individuals to navigate the changing world of work. More than ever, workers are compelled to adapt in a labour market dis...

Graduate outcomes are a key indicator of university performance, yet the progression of students in career preparation during university is ill-understood. The Career Registration Methodology (CRM) addresses this gap by tracking students’ career planning and participation in employability and professional experiences (EPEs) throughout their university enrolment. This research used CRM to monitor students’ employability development and career readiness, assessing their impact on graduate outcomes. By analysing longitudinal CRM data and Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) results from 1653 students, this study examined how EPEs and career readiness influenced full-time employment, job offers, the perceived value of qualifications, and perceptions of overqualification. Correlation and trend analyses revealed positive associations between career readiness over time and employment outcomes, with regression analyses identifying EPEs as the most significant factor. Practical implications of the findings highlight CRM’s value in aiding higher education institutions, especially Work Integrated Learning (WIL) and Career Development Learning (CDL) educators, to identify trends and tailor support whilst students are still in the university. As the first CRM study in Australia based on the first available cohort, the exploratory nature of this research is acknowledged along with recommendations to refine periodic, non-intrusive measurements such as CRM for enhanced validity and reliability.

While narrative approaches flourish in contemporary career guidance, insufficient attention has been paid to the sensory input of narrative construction. This study concerns supporting narrative construction with visual stimuli. We examined whether image-supported storytelling preparation improved interview anxiety and performance. Using within-subject repeated measures, we found that although interview anxieties conceived by interviewees and perceived by assessors were negatively associated with interview performance, an image-supported intervention improved performance rating, appearance anxiety and assessor-perceived interviewee anxiety. Combined with practice, the intervention also alleviated other dimensions of interview anxiety, showing the value of visual input in narrative interventions.

Purpose: Stories of employability are told in employment and educational settings, notably the selection interviews. A popular training approach guiding higher education students to construct employability stories has been the past-behaviour storytelling method. However, insufficient research exists regarding the method's effectiveness and optimisation. This study examines whether the method (1) increases the quantity and quality of interview narratives in story forms and (2) can be enhanced by image stimuli.Design/methodology/approach: In a double-blind randomised control trial with repeated measures, participants submitted four weekly interview narratives. After receiving past-behaviour serious storytelling training in Week 3, they were randomly allocated to an exposure group using images and a control group using keywords as a placebo to continue producing interview narratives. The interview narratives were assessed based on the number of stories and quality ratings of narrative conformity, relevance and conciseness. Results before and after the training, and with and without the image stimuli, were analysed.Findings: Training increased the number of stories. Training and repeated practice also increased narrative quality ratings. However, the image-based intervention was the strongest predictor of improved quality ratings (effect size 2.47 points on the observed scale of 0–10, p < 0.01, 95% CI [1.46, 3.47]).Practical implications: A pre-existing ability to tell employability stories cannot be assumed. Training is necessary, and intervention is required for enhancement. Multi-sensory narrative interventions may be considered.Originality/value: This study is the first known double-blind randomised control trial with repeated measures evaluating if storytelling training and image stimuli improve interview narratives.

Serious storytelling as a media genre has the potential to accentuate the benefits of narrative interventions in health and education. To inform its application, it is necessary to identify effects of sensory inputs. Here, we focus on visual stimuli and observe their effects on an anxiety condition. We examine whether serious storytelling incorporating images, a type of basic visual stimuli, may reduce interview performance anxiety. In a double-blind randomised control trial, 69 participants with matched levels of anxiety received serious storytelling interview training and were allocated to exposure (image-based preparation) and control (standard preparation) groups. A week later, participants attended individual interviews with two independent interviewers and reported their interview anxiety. Analyses revealed a positive relationship between generalised anxiety and some dimensions of interview anxiety, but serious storytelling with images predicted a reduction in interview performance anxiety (effect size at the median value of covariates on a visual analogue scale with the range 0–100: -36.7, 95% CI [−54.7, −2.5]). Low participation burden in the brief intervention was confirmed through a deductive thematic analysis. The images were analysed based on format type and origin to inform further inquiries. This study yielded empirical findings with implications of media and technology development for serious storytelling. Seeing images of experiences during interview preparation was associated with a relief of interviewees’ anxiety towards interview performance, but further studies are necessary to consolidate the evidence for visual narrative applications in health and education.

A visual narrative intervention -Serious Storytelling with Images- was proposed to manage interview anxiety and performance. Its ability to evocate significant incidents and enhance narratives construction was evaluated ideographically in two case studies. The findings suggest varying levels of sophistication in interviewee actions, challenges encountered, and perceived roles of images. Counselors can refer to the hierarchical concepts when tailoring interview training and coaching. Further investigation is highly recommended to confirm and measure intervention effects.

Background: Visual stimuli are frequently incorporated into interventions that use narratives to meet counseling, therapy, education, and clinical needs. However, the treatment efficacy of visual stimuli is unclear. This systematic review synthesizes and evaluates visual narrative interventions addressing anxiety. Methods: Databases (n = 9) and extended reference searches identified 13 original studies using visual artifacts in narrative interventions for adult anxiety. The visual stimulations were analyzed based on artifact origin, user interactivity, and functions of the stimuli. Results: Three types of visual artifacts- virtual reality (VR) (n = 4), videos (n = 4), and drawings (n = 5) were found. Dichotomous patterns of artifact origin (native vs. foreign) and interactivity (participatory vs. non-participatory) characterized the applications. A hierarchy of functions- engage, externalize, internalize, and rescript was observed. Most studies confirmed the positive effects on the varied anxiety conditions; however, unclear risk of bias and extraneous factors was present. Conclusions: Future visual narrative studies addressing adult anxiety are recommended to strengthen the current body of knowledge by using double-blinded randomized control trials with robust anxiety measures, incorporating artifact origin and user interactivity in intervention designs, considering alternative stimuli with high accessibility, such as images, and including employment-related anxiety conditions.

Given that graduate employment is a clear outcome of education success, there is an urgent need to conceptualize course design strategically to maximize students’ chances of employment. In this paper, we present an Australian case study in which we used a structured career information literacy learning approach to build employability in a biological sciences capstone course, through collaboration between the university library, academics, and career service. We report the context, method, measurement, outcomes of collaboration, and roles of contributors in this partnership. This case study lends itself to potential ways of incorporating career information literacy into an academic context.