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.
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
