Careers
Claire Pech – Careers Advisor
Careers Day
Last week I went to the Annual Careers Advisors day, a compulsory day for all careers advisors in NSW to gain valuable professional development and attend talks relevant to our students. I attended the Tech Start Up talk about the greater need for entrepreneurial flare and skill within the workforce and how tech industries are growing at such a rapid rate. I also enjoyed learning about the ever-changing careers space, and the conversations students need to have to take ownership of their own career path.
Tech Talk highlights:
- The highest impact areas are with tech start-ups.
- $42bn has been invested globally across 2645 deals with start-ups.
- There are the roles of the ‘Hacker’, ‘Hustler’ and ‘Hipster’ in a typical startup. The Hacker sees the big picture and is the coder and the techie. The Hustler is the business person, doing the deals and schmoozing and the Hipster is the one with creative input.
- The quality of the relationships of the start-up entrepreneurs from school and university prove to be the best indicator of the success of the start-up.
- Sydney is now ranked in the top 20 areas for start-ups in the world.
- Women are growing in terms of entrepreneurial participation, but in the world of computer science only 18% of students are female.
Jane Caro (TV presenter and author, pictured opposite) was the keynote speaker at the conference and spoke a lot about what you learn at school and the skills you acquire versus the content you learn. She was able to paraphrase one quote from King Lear, which she cited as the only thing she can remember from her school years, but it was the skills, the social interactions and her interpersonal skills that have been so invaluable to her throughout her career that have enabled her to engage with her audience.
Engagement was a key theme in her presentation. Jane has spent 35 years in advertising, written seven novels, been a panellist on many shows, a journalist and a social commentator. The key takeaway was that if you can engage with people you can be successful in your career and in life. Everything else can be learned.
Her message struck a chord for me, especially as I am constantly talking to students about trying to upskill in this area – join teams, lead teams, start initiatives, run activities at school, and get involved in general. I find these activities really help students work well in teams and these people skills can be seen first-hand in interviews, where technical skills and intellect can be difficult to gauge.
Notices
How to beat examination stress
Check out the tips – http://this.deakin.edu.au/study/how-to-beat-exam-stress-and-anxiety
Tech Girls Movement
The Tech Girls Movement aims to get more women and girls interested in technology and involved in STEM careers. Find out about the movement on the website.
Visit their inspiring videos page – www.techgirlsmovement.org/inspring-videos/
What to do if you don’t get into your first preference
You might be a bit worried about getting a lower ATAR than you hoped. Read these two articles for some tips of what to do next.
https://theconversation.com/so-you-didnt-get-a-great-atar-its-not-the-end-of-the-world-35361
MedEntry
Attention medicine hopefuls! MedEntry will be conducting an intensive Medical Interview Training workshop in all major cities in Australia and New Zealand from November to January. The sessions are conducted by Doctors for Doctors-to-be and are specific to the university/course for which you are applying. Due to popularity of this unique program, classes have already started to fill up. Places are strictly limited. Details at: http://www.medentry.edu.au/
UTS Nursing Discovery Session – 15 November
Discover a career in nursing at the University of Technology, Sydney, and learn about the Bachelor of Nursing, talk to students and academics and meet their robotic patients.
Register at:
www.uts.edu.au/future-students/health/why-health-uts/events-and-brochures/discover-sessions