“Job Ready made me realise that work experience in other domains can be beneficial for developing transferrable skills.”
Navigating the swings and roundabouts of the Australian job market is a challenging endeavour at the best of times. But it’s a real jump in the deep end when you dive in as an international student who hasn’t grown up with family and friends working in Australia that can share some light on the mysteries of the Australian job world.
When Dave decided to study a Master of Data Science at the University of Melbourne in 2019, he had the challenge of moving away from his home country, his family and everything he was familiar with. Dave had no idea about the Australian job market and little idea of job searching in general.
This might be enough to paralyse you so you give up, but not for Dave. Dave has always been driven to tackle challenges and find solutions to practical problems. After studying hard-core problem solving through data-mining and machine learning in his undergraduate degree, Dave was well equipped for a challenge.
In Dave’s Master of Data Science classes he learnt about advanced statistics and the latest computer science techniques. Alongside his masters, Dave enrolled in an employability short course to unearth the secrets of the Australian job market and better prepare himself to enter the workforce in Australia.
The employability course, Job Ready, helped Dave discover tips and tricks to improve his CV and cover letter to align with Australian expectations. Like many Job Ready students, Dave appreciated the interactive nature of the program. Job Ready classes are activities-based, encouraging students to work together, help each other and ask questions.
“Job Ready covered many topics and you could always ask questions if you had any.”
Most of all, Dave appreciates the information about the hidden job market, transferable skills, resumés and LinkedIn, and he can’t imagine living without this knowledge.
“I would highly recommend international students to take this course and ask as many questions as they can. Most of the advertised jobs require a permanent visa, so it's crucial to gain information about networking and the hidden job market.”
As a postgrad student, Dave knew he wanted to be a Data Scientist, however, Job Ready helped him realise that work experience in other areas is invaluable for fostering transferrable skills. This realisation prompted Dave to apply for Live Projects, an opportunity for internationals students to partake in a short term industry consulting project, not necessarily related to their degree.
Drawing on Job Ready experiences Dave successfully navigated the interview and application process and was accepted into a project with an improvisation training company. The three-week project involved working in a small team to create a social marketing strategy for the company. Dave and his team had to research social media marketing trends, analyse visitor traffic on the company's social media pages, and prepare a report.
Although it was a marketing project, Dave was able to draw on his data science experience to analyse web traffic on the company’s webpages and could then add the experience to his CV where it stands as a concrete example of transferable skills. Not to mention, the client was pleased with the work of Dave and his team.
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