Advice to Young Graduates
"How do I get the experience?" is the cry of the graduate. The answer is work integrated learning.
A passive approach to job seeking just doesn't work particularly in a tight employment market. When I speak with young graduates I hear the difficulties they face in getting an interview, that they don't even receive feedback on their applications, that work experience is the single most important element required by employers – but how do you get the work experience. Sadly a creative approach to preparation for the work front isn't taught in most tertiary environments.
The basis of maximising the opportunities for job placement starts with the combination of subject choice followed by a focus on presentation and communication skills. With students who have English as a second language getting an honest appraisal of how others rate your fluency can be a good gauge of how, in the interview , you will perform. The number of brilliant technical graduates still looking for jobs and convinced that there are no jobs is really telling us that without communication skills of a high order, there are only a few opportunities.
I feel real compassion for those struggling with the finesse of Australian English as I have children living in Europe trying to learn the local language even for general communications.
Rehearsal of interviews should be a key ingredient of every under graduate course. The ACS Foundation provides scholarships for students in IT faculties. The basis is work integration with studies. Places are limited to those meeting the needs of donor companies which include large corporations and medium sized companies. Their needs are about ability, and attitude plus experience of life that indicates adaptability and free flowing communication skills. Many applicants for scholarships miss out at interview. Their communication skills are typically less advanced than those who were selected. As a volunteer Director of the ACS Foundation I designed and ran a Interview Skills Course assisted by other colleagues we conducted role plays showing real situations for each to practise in a less stressful environment than a real interview. Active listening and the ability to present what one can do is essential. Employers say that they want two years experience. "How do I get the experience?" is the cry of the graduate. Tthe answer is work integrated learning.
Students who have relevant work experience on graduation will have a better choice of positions and most likely progress faster in their careers. They will have learned the unspoken communications that are about how people in organisations communicate and how one is judged for contribution and effectiveness. Group work at University is a great start but doesn't normally provide the reality of the work situation and the diversity of people with different education and expectations. How to judge the culture of an organisation can be a process of osmosis – hard to learn by reading. If a degree takes another year because you have incorporated real work experience in the environment of where you may be employed….grab the opportunity.
In a career spanning 30 years, John Price developed three Human Resource Management Businesses: The Focus Group, JSP Associates and SI Resources, and negotiated exits via trade sales. For his final full time corporate operations role, John served as Vice President and Countries Head of NIIT Technologies in Australia and New Zealand. John is the longest serving board member and immediate past chair of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). H e was a member of the NSW Government Information Industry Advisory Council (IIAC) which was responsible for instigating the Master of Technology Management program at UTS. John is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Directors (FAID). He is an advocate for the development of the industry as a major growth factor in the Australian economy and contributor to the broader society.
