Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Courses for 2022

I was at UNSW last week to learn of the updates for courses for 2022 and beyond for our current Class of 2021. These days are exciting as universities are keen to showcase anything new they have introduced: new technology, new buildings, new courses and also insights into industry and future developments in the workforce. All of my notes can be read here so have a look, if UNSW is on your wishlist. 

Here are some highlights that I thought were really interesting from the talk Preparing for Future Careers in a Post-COVID world.

What future trends are UNSW finding out there in which industry?
None of the jobs listed above existed 10 years ago, nor were there qualifications to match. 

These are the skills that are most in demand. Please note, there is no mention of ATARs and grades are mentioned as number 10 in the list of priorities. Soft skills, more than ever, are crucial.

What are employers looking for? 
As always communication is at the top, and not just face to face anymore, but also online communication skills, as a result of COVID.

What are most university graduates lacking?
Students were found to show a lack of understanding about the organisation they were interviewing with. I tell our students to make sure when you interview you have done your homework. Ensure you know about the role, you know about the company, you learn their ethos and what they stand for and that you always have some great questions up your sleeve to showcase that homework and research you have done.

The skills that are all mentioned here can really be honed in the High School setting. This is why I encourage students to work in teams, to volunteer, to get involved, to present and public speak if they have the opportunity. These will all be skills that, whilst being showcased in an interview setting, can land you the job, create a connection with your interviewer or showcase that you would be a great addition to their team. This can be hard to do well if you have not practised.

What events are coming up in the UNSW calendar?

Medicine Information evening: 17 March 2021
Year 10 Information evenings: March 2021 – May 2021
Experience UNSW days: 13 April 2021 – 15 April 2021
LAT Information evening: 6 May 2021
Degrees and Scholarships Information evenings: 15 June 2021 – 17 June 2021
Open Day: 4 September 2021

Career Avenues

This week we were delighted to host Career Avenues which came out to administer the online career testing of all of our Year 10 students. It went smoothly with the technology behaving itself and so all students present will have their data collated. Absent students can now attend online and do their testing at home in their own time this week. Passwords were emailed to them. I look forward to supporting the Year 10s through this process.