When you're starting your first year at uni, it can be hard to imagine life after graduation. Organising your classes, meeting new friends and navigating a new city can be overwhelming. The good news? As an eventual UQ graduate, you'll be well on your way to your dream career.
Speaking to Sebastian Hagebaum, Manager of Career Services in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at UQ, and Linh Tran, a recent UQ graduate, you can better understand how to make the most of your studies and what it’s like entering the workforce post graduation.
Extracurricular opportunities
A major part of your university journey will be in the classroom. However, as a UQ student, you will also have access to workshops, professional development and industry sessions to build practical skills alongside your academic studies.
Sebastian explains that students can attend workshops on the Australian labour market, how employers recruit and what they look for in their candidates.
“We also offer professional development or skills building opportunities where industry professionals run master classes,” he says.
There are also courses discussing Australian workplace culture, which may be different to what you’re used to back home. For example, you may find people addressing colleagues by their first names, regardless of title, and the use of casual slang in the workplace.
As an international student, you may also need assistance on understanding any work restrictions and how to explain your visa conditions to employers.
“We run collaborative sessions with the UQ Union on understanding your visa and what conditions mean to your career planning and your communication with future employers,” Sebastian shares.
Networking
Building strong relationships is also foundational to building a career. Connecting with people in your industry while studying can lead to opportunities once you graduate.
Linh, a recent graduate of the Bachelors of Commerce / Economics UQ, said UQ networking events and workshops helped her gain a graduate position as an Associate Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the prestigious Big Four - the largest international accounting and professional services firms, alongside Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young.
“During my studies UQ held workshops focussed on resume building and interviewing skills, which really helped to prepare me for graduate positions. UQ also holds industry connect events where I met professionals within the accounting industry.”
Sebastian also reinforced the value of connecting current students with recruiters and companies.
“It's all about creating networking and connection opportunities. So we get the largest firms and recruiters on campus and create opportunities for students to get directly in front of industry to ask their own questions, build their professional networks, build their profile and work out where they want to go with their degree and understand what they need to do to be successful.”
Work-integrated learning and internships
As part of many degrees at UQ, you will complete work-integrated learning and internships. The program acts as a bridge between your academic studies and career. Depending on your degree, you can participate in an industry consulting project, internship or capstone intensive - a two-week, intensive course for students in their final year, where you solve real and complex problems for an industry partner.
Work-integrated learning adds valuable experience to your resume, and gives you real-world insight into what a career in your chosen field could be like.
Linh said her internship, which she completed as part of her degree, led to a graduate position.
“I did an internship during my third year. And then after that internship, I got offered a graduate position. I graduated in December last year and then started at PricewaterhouseCoopers straight after.”
Investing in your career from the beginning
Sebastian explains that at UQ, you have the opportunity to start investing in your careers from your very first year.
“You don’t want to wait until the final semester to look for a graduate position,” he shares.
“In the bigger businesses and the bigger firms, consultancy, accounting or finance, they have really structured graduate programs and take in a large number of freshly graduated university graduates. They actually recruit far in advance of your graduation, like 12 months plus out from your graduation.”
He says that this is why UQ invests resources from the beginning, to help you understand the timeline and build a resume, practical experience, and a professional network to get ready for your journey after graduating.
Linh said her message to current and future students would be to take advantage of the opportunities at UQ to build networks and make friends.
“My advice would be to get involved as much as they can. I remember when I was a student, I joined many events, volunteered, applied to be a student ambassador, and that really helped me to step out of my comfort zone and connect with more people. The more people that I knew, the more opportunities that I was given after my graduation.”
Ready to start preparing for your future? Check our UQ’s careers and employability resources for more information.
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