Sports: An Easy And Fun Way To Connect In A New Country

Posted on May 26, 2021May 27, 2021 by spc@outcome.life

Sports: An Easy And Fun Way To Connect In A New Country

How I Grew My Community And Met New People Thanks To Polocrosse

I am an international student from Germany. Like most international students, I didn’t have family or a big number of friends in Australia when I first came here. I knew a few backpackers from travelling the country, but eventually they all returned to their homes overseas.

There I was – in a great, big, strange country and to make it even harder, I was 230 kilometers away from the next town. So how was I going to meet people and make friends? My Australian boyfriend had the answer: Polocrosse. I’d never even heard of polocrosse before I met him – an Australian team sport combining polo and lacrosse and played on horseback. Luckily, I used to ride horses in Germany and I love horses, so I decided to give it a go.

In the dry season, we drove to Darwin almost every weekend to play polocrosse. I was very nervous about meeting new people when we drove to polocrosse for the first time. But once we got there and everyone welcomed me with open arms, I was very relieved and so happy!

Now, four polocrosse seasons later, I consider myself part of the amazing Northern Territory polocrosse family! Because that’s how they are, like a great big caring family!

How You Can Become Part Of A Sports Community

Most likely, you have done some kind of sport in your home country. Maybe basketball, soccer, tennis, yoga, or belly dancing. If you live in a city, it’s very likely you will find a club doing your sport somewhere nearby. You may have to catch a train to get to an outer suburb, but most likely, there will be others practicing your sport.

And if you haven’t done any sport before? Well, it’s never too late! You may want to try something typically Australian, like cricket, netball, Australian rules football, or polocrosse like me. If sports aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other clubs you can join, like music or art groups. There will always be a community that shares your interests!

If you’re living remotely? Here is your opportunity: While there might not be a club for your sport exactly, there might be a different sport that is similar enough! And when you’re living remotely, people understand the struggle of feeling alone and will include you even quicker!

Just make the first step and go see them. Sometimes you don’t even have to participate – you’ll start talking and get to know new people just by being there and watching. Go to the sports ground (most likely, you will be able to enter for free). If not, your $5 will be invested very well!

Why Is It Easier To Get To Know People Playing Sports?

You will find that it is a lot easier to get to know people when playing sports together than it is to connect with new people at work or at a party. The reason for this is that you share a common interest. You are simply having fun together, so why wouldn’t someone be friendly and welcoming? People switch off and relax when they are exercising, especially when doing team sports. They will see you as part of a positive experience.

After training, people like to have a drink together. Just ask if you can join! There is no reason why they wouldn’t let you. Are you still nervous after getting rid of some energy? Have a glass of beer. It can be easier to start a conversation after a sip of beer or when you’re holding a drink.

You’ll find that you will make new friends in no time!

How Your New Connections Can Help You Find A Job

As you might know, something special about the Australian work landscape is the hidden job market. A lot of jobs are not advertised and therefore not visible for someone searching for a job on the web. Some companies might not even know they are going to create a new job and employ someone new the next day until they meet the perfect person.

By becoming active in a sports club, getting to know people and volunteering where possible, you are not just making new friends. You are creating and spreading your personal brand. You are extending your network in a fun way! A senior player might be the CEO of your future company. Don’t stress yourself out about this. Just relax, be yourself, and enjoy! That’s the only way to make true friends. And it also is the only way to find a job that you will enjoy doing.

Get Out There And Find Your New Sports Family!

If you are feeling lonely in Australia because your friends and family are far away, I can relate. I warmly recommend that you join a sports club. You may find the ideal club is two suburbs away from you, but I promise the drive will be worth it!

Get on the field and make some really good friends! I know I have.

Leonie Schaefer is a Social Media Marketing Intern at Outcome.Life where she helps create content to empower better employability outcomes for international students and provide host companies with diverse and passionate interns. An international student herself, Leonie is a bilingual content creator who also enjoys playing the Australian sport, polocrosse (a mix of polo and lacrosse).

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Why Companies Are Desperate For Data

Posted on May 19, 2021June 28, 2021 by spc@outcome.life

Why Companies Are Desperate For Data

Your business has a data-related gap just waiting to be filled

We are now in an age where data and automation are king. While many manual labour jobs are continuing to be replaced by machinery and software at a rapid rate, new roles and an increase of current roles in data automation are happening in tandem. Now we don’t need “just the job done” but people who monitor, maintain, control, and interpret what machinery and AI are doing to get the job done.

Roles like data analyst, data scientist, data engineer, project manager, marketing analyst, IT analyst, and data architect are all in high demand in today’s data economy. In fact, if you browse the 100 Jobs of the Future as predicted by Ford Australia, Deakin University, and Griffith University in 2019, you’ll find that at least 10% of roles are data-related.

But with so many companies desperate for data, how can small and medium businesses keep up with demand? How can you ensure you’re staying current, maximising efficiency, and optimising your customer relationships, revenue, software, and communications?

The answer is interns. Our FairWork complaint unpaid internships allow emerging professionals to gain hands-on industry experience, build their network, and make a difference in your business. Let us show you how.

Data Analysis

Data analyst interns process and interpret data to give you meaningful insights. For example, analysing data from your past and current operations to make your business more efficient, fine-tuning your customer offering, and investing in the right initiatives to scale. This may look like market research, interpreting software or operational data, process mapping, or predicting future trends based on existing data. They can give recommendations to optimise your business and improve efficiency and revenue.

Business Analysis

Data analysis can be broken down more specifically into industry-specific analysis, such as business analysis. This niche area of data analysis offers actionable insights based more closely on the area you’re wanting to improve. A business analyst will look at data with the view to solve business problems and meet business needs.

Marketing Analysis

With the internet giving anyone with a WiFi connection access to free or cheap marketing tools, competition is fierce and authentic, high quality marketing is needed more than ever. A marketing analysis intern can give your marketing team or marketing intern more insight into what’s working well, what needs improving, and where opportunities exist to better capitalise on customer growth and retention.

Data Science

While data analysis focuses on solving problems you know about, data science interns ask questions that aren’t being asked and look for gaps in your operations, product, service, or offering. They may generate and demonstrate correlations between different sets of data and explain how one relates to the other. For example, what level of impact good customer service has on customer satisfaction and retention.

You could say that data science interns look at the big picture to future-proof the problems of tomorrow.

The Solution To Your Problems

Every business has a data-related gap just waiting to be filled. As the internship provider of choice, we work with tertiary institutions globally to bring talent to your business. This gives you access to emerging talent at no cost and offers the opportunity for you to empower our next generation of industry experts and leaders with hands-on experience.

Signing up for a data intern with Outcome.Life is completely free. Our interns are tertiary qualified or very near finishing their formal education. Data interns will typically work two to three days per week for twelve weeks and provide personalised analysis and recommendations to suit your businesses needs.

Getting meaningful insights and recommendations has never been easier! Register your expression of interest today.

Anja Goedhart is the Marketing Manager at Outcome.Life where she creates content to empower better employability outcomes for international students and provide host companies with diverse and passionate interns. A storyteller at heart, Anja is passionate about using words to create connections and communities. When she’s not working, you can find her drinking hot chocolates, reading books, and hanging with cats.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

How Can You Get A Job? Industry Experts Explain

Posted on May 12, 2021June 28, 2021 by spc@outcome.life

How Can You Get a job? industry experts explain

wish this blog post was a video? click here.

Any student can scroll through SEEK day after day looking for new employment opportunities, but how does one set themselves apart and truly stand out?

In the current climate, jobs are even harder to come by. COVID-19 has made the market more competitive than ever, so it’s imperative to go beyond that mentality of searching and hoping. By going with the flow, students are looking like any other job seeker.

So what active steps can be taken?

1. Upskilling

Firstly, upskill! Upskill all the time. Do not wait for universities to teach you new software. Sit at home and teach yourself. Practice Excel or Google Sheets. Learn the basics and be able to demonstrate that you have those skills. And be sure to sell those skills. If you learn a new software, list it on your LinkedIn profile, list in on your resume!

2. Find Your Niche

Second, do what you can to find a niche. Identify your skills and what you have to offer that others do not and find an area or market that you fit into in a way that others do not. Be flexible and keep reinventing yourself. Learn, keep progressing, and build that return on your time investment.

3. Think Creatively

Third, think outside the square in how you might meet that future employer. Play the hidden job market. Go to industry events and talk to anyone and everyone. If companies are not actively looking for staff, they are on the cusp of it. High quality companies are always looking for a knowledge base and by meeting these companies at events and presenting yourself in the right light, anything could be just around the corner. Always carry your work with you. Save your portfolio on your mobile, even a few images or documents. Display your work, display your skills, display you, and watch the opportunities roll in!

Use Self-Learning To Reinvent Yourself

But don’t just take our word for it. Adam Crow, CTO of GADA Technology, sums it up nicely when he says, “Meet these people and blow their socks off. All right? Show them what you’ve done. Because we’re not just after staff, we’re also after knowledge, a knowledge base. So you bring with you things that you have done that we think, ‘hey, we would like that.’”

Dom Saporito, Co-Founder of Outcome.Life, explores the concept of constantly reinventing yourself. He says, “Don’t hook yourself to the one wagon, but keep reinventing yourself. They say that millennials are going to have twenty odd jobs and five careers and that’s going to be the same for engineering, I.T., accounting, and marketing.” This is of course something everyone needs to keep in mind when pursuing opportunities. It is imperative to have flexibility and to embrace a multitude of options.

Finding The Right Opportunity

Dom also talks about the importance of expanding your knowledge set and knowing your field’s latest software. “Google the contemporary software in your field,” he says. “Find out what the contemporary software is. I’ve said it a hundred times. It is not up to the university to teach you the most contemporary up to date software because there’s just too many and they change too fast. It’s your responsibility.”

From what Adam and Dom say, the message is clear. Show enthusiasm, aim to impress, keep your ideas and processes fresh, and inevitably, the right opportunity will present itself.

Check out our free employability events for more tips on how to make yourself employable and land a job.

Giovanna Cowling is part of the placement team at Outcome.Life in which she talks to new students and host companies every day about the importance of work-integrated learning. Having studied journalism in Brazil, she is passionate about connecting with international students and sharing success stories of people who have found amazing employability outcomes in Australia after coming from another country. She’s always up for a chat and a good brownie!

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life