Achieving significant career milestones is crucial for future success, complementing the academic excellence of an MBA. Whether you’re aiming to climb the corporate ladder, switch careers or launch your own business, the personalised career support you receive during your UQ MBA and beyond will be instrumental in the future world of work.
Studying an MBA at UQ exposes you to the teaching of proven business experts who’ll ignite innovative thinking and inspire your professional growth. But you’ll also gain lifelong access to personalised career support designed to build resilience for the unknown.
Dedicated career support designed to evolve with you
This access to one-on-one career strategy is just the start. Developed exclusively for MBA students and alumni, the Career Milestones Program will provide you with clarity around your career goals and the tools to strategically accelerate towards achieving them.
The Career Milestones Program consists of 5 optional modules packed with career development activities and resources that build on each other you can use to upskill at your own pace in parallel with your MBA studies or as an alum after graduation.
Underpinning the self-work and activities you’ll complete depending on where you are in your career and what you want to achieve is the personalised guidance and support of our dedicated career development consultants. They’re available throughout the journey to offer one-on-one advice and help you build your brand to anticipate opportunities and reverse market yourself into a growth industry.
The support you’ll receive will help you select the courses you study and empower you to reach new heights in your professional journey. By combining career milestones with academic achievements, you can unlock unparalleled opportunities, build resilience to manage unexpected events and ensure long-term success.
Now, let’s dive in further to explore what you’ll gain from completing each of the 5 modules.
5 milestones to unlock career success
1. Awareness: unpack your current career strategy
Where do you currently stand in your career and where do you want to go? These are questions you’ll address in this module. Through self-reflection and by working closely with a career consultant, you’ll create your own unique career strategy. You’ll identify actionable steps to achieve your goals, craft a professional elevator pitch showcasing your unique strengths and capabilities, and get feedback on how to best optimise your resume using the AI-powered platform VMock, exclusively available to you via the MBA.
Whether you're looking to transition into a new industry, get a promotion or start your own business, this module will help you clarify the best path to take. It will also help you make informed decisions about what courses to study as part of your MBA.
With options to complete a research pathway, pursue innovative projects in the UQ MBA Impact Academy or get creative with electives, this module will help you align your customisable MBA with your career aspirations right from the start. By completing this stage early, you’ll be able to make better subject decisions, based on your established strategic direction.
Completing the first milestone module will unlock the additional modules, access to dedicated career consultants, and other career development resources.
2. Exploration: explore new career opportunities
Following on from module 1, this module will help you explore different career pathways, researching industries and roles that align with your aspirations. The goal is to broaden your understanding of what's possible and identify the skills and connections you need to succeed. You’ll do this through:
- conducting your own industry research
- attending networking events and employer mixers
- creating a new value proposition
- reflecting on your learnings and comparing them to your career plan in class
- identifying skill gaps you’ll need to address to reach your target
- participating in mentoring programs.
From module 2 on, the advice and resources are tailored to different career tracks or goals you want to achieve. The tracks available are entrepreneur, promotion, career transition, boards and governance, and ‘custom’, for those pursuing a combination of different career milestones.
3. Prototyping: validate your ideas
Put your ideas to the test by validating your career strategy and refining it based on real experience. Some of the different activities and resources you’ll be encouraged to complete include:
- an internship or job shadowing, if your goal is to transition careers
- attending relevant Executive Education Masterclasses
- consulting with career coaches
- building your reverse marketing strategy.
4. Implementation: execute your plan
Now you have a solid plan in place, this milestone focuses on executing your strategy. You’ll actively pursue job opportunities, engage in interviews, and apply the skills and knowledge you’ve gained to move closer to your career goals.
Don’t forget – you’ll have the dedicated support of our MBA career counsellors backing you all the way.
5. Leadership: champion others’ development
If you’re interested in solidifying what you’ve learned and enhancing your leadership capabilities, this module helps you explore leadership pathways and growth opportunities. You’ll be coached through designing a 5-year career strategy for your team or business. On completion, you’ll earn a Career Leadership digital credential that can be displayed on your LinkedIn profile.
If you’re serious about achieving the next step in your career, these custom-designed modules and the lifelong access to personalised advice you’ll have during your MBA and beyond will support in making your goals a reality. Beyond that, the self-reflection, relationships and resources you’ll gain will provide immeasurable value beyond the classroom.
