Kickstart Your Career: Three Keys to Employability
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Presentation Transcript
Kickstart 2010 Transition to Further Study
Three Keys • Careers advisors are now focusing upon eight keys to employability; • Initiative and enterprise, Learning, Self-management, Communication, Teamwork, Problem-solving, Planning and organisation, and Technology. • I like to keep things relatively simple, so I will bring this down to three. • Focusing upon; • Attitudes • Abilities • Skills.
Strengths and weaknesses • Just as each person is different, they will have different attitudes, abilities and skills. • It is important to know what yours are and where your strengths and weaknesses lye. • Just as you should rely upon your strengths, you should compensate for your weaknesses.
Resume and Interview • Whether in your Resume or in a job interview, you should seek to reveal good attitudes, abilities and skills, which will show the employer that you are worth hiring.
Three examples • We will focus upon three examples: • Attitude – Confidence. • Ability – Communication. • Skill – Information Technology.
Attitude • An attitude is the way one presents oneself to others or the way one approaches a task. • Attitudes can be momentary or define a person’s whole life. • Attitudes are a complex of emotions and moods, behaviours and beliefs.
Confidence • Show that you are comfortable with who you are, what you want and how you handle yourself. • An employer will appreciate someone who is able to take responsibility and get things done.
Demonstrate Confidence • You can develop the attitude of confidence by taking on challenges. • Involve yourself in social and \ or political groups and clubs. • Take the opportunity to speak publicly – the more times you do it the more comfortable you become. • At University, classroom presentations can be used to improve and demonstrate this positive attitude. • In the job interview you can demonstrate confidence by asking questions – interview the interviewers about what the job involves.
Ability • An ability is something you are able to do. • We all have numerous abilities and some we are good at and some we are not so good at or cannot do at all. • Abilities can be improved or compensated for.
Communication • Show that you can listen and respond thoughtfully and speak and write with clarity. • Your resume should highlight the latter (written communication) and the interview is an opportunity to display the former (spoken communication).
Demonstrate Communication • University and TAFE studies provide the perfect opportunity to improve your communication. • Reading and writing and asking questions all lead to the betterment of your ability to communicate. • Your education results are a clear indication of your ability to communicate.
Skill • A skill, like an ability is something we are able to do. • The difference between a skill and an ability is that with skills we have actually received training to be able to do them. • A skill requires knowledge and practice.
Information Technology • Highlight that you can use technology and software programs effectively. • The vast majority of work in the modern world involves the use of computers.
Demonstrate IT Knowledge • Studying with a vision impairment often means that you have learnt to use Computers and specialist software packages efficiently. • Make sure to include this in your Resume and you can even offer to demonstrate your computer skills in the interview.
Disability and employment • People with disability now represent a significant minority of both the Australian population and work force. • Yet studies have shown graduates with disability experience a greater level of unemployment than those without. • In addition they are more likely to be under-employed or in an area outside their desired career, be working part-time or self employed.
Positives • The good news is evidence suggests that once in employment, they are equally if not more productive, take fewer sick days and remain in the job longer than their able-bodied colleagues. • This contradicts many negative stereotypes about disability in employment and shows there is a strong business case for employing graduates with disability.
Qualifications and employability • All the evidence shows that those with qualifications will have more employment opportunities and higher salaries than those without.
Vision impairment • Of those people with a disability in tertiary study, the data shows that students who are blind or have low vision do much better. • This may sound surprising as most educators believe that study is fundamentally visual. • The truth is that study is fundamentally about rationality and the use of language. • I believe that Braille in particular greatly enhances one’s concentration and care with language.
Contacts • Campuses have Careers Advisors. You should not wait till the end of your course to contact them, they can help you think ahead and choose appropriate subjects. • The websites; http://www.myfuture.edu.au/The%20Facts.aspxhttp://www.graduatecareers.com.au/ have lots of information (accessibility is questionable). • The Melbourne Career Information Centre provides free careers advice. Phone: 1800 048 525. Email: cic.melbourne@centrelink.gov.au • And Vision Australia also supplies an Employment service http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=585.
