Leaving university behind and jumping into the job world can feel like a leap of faith into the unknown. Especially if your first full-time job is in a field completely different to your study background.
This is what happened to Master of Biotechnology student, Rumjhum. After graduating, she received a job offer at Octopus Energy, a company that offers web development and customer support services for businesses. Not quite the place you would expect to find a Biotechnology student!
However, that didn’t dampen Rumjhum’s spirits! A passionate science and technology “innovator” who is keen to help make our world a better place, Rumjhum is excited to explore a new industry and see where it takes her.
“I am curious to see where my career journey takes me, now that I am out in the real world.”
Rumjhum feels she in an unfamiliar position with little background knowledge so she knows she will have to work hard to understand her role and responsibilities and perform them well.
Despite her lack of background knowledge, Rumjhum is well-placed to embark into unfamiliar territory. She has a wealth of experience and skills under her belt from various internships and an employability course she completed during her studies.
Rumjhum worked as a technical intern at two very different organisations: PPG industry, a global paint supplier, and the Australian Water Quality Centre (AWQC). At PPG, Rumjhum was assigned a detailed project in a large-scale industrial environment. At AWQC, she worked in a small-scale quality control bacteriology lab, performing the same repetitive tasks each day, and following strict protocols.
Rumjhum found the biggest challenge of her internships was being accountable for her own work and results.
“[The internship] is a taste of the real world, where I am not performing tasks and doing my work because I wish to receive a good grade.”
Rather than labouring away with the sole aim of good marks, work-life comes with accountability and responsibility. So as well as a shift in daily schedule and environment, there’s a large shift in mindset when moving from university to industry.
With training, dedication and a willingness to learn, Rumjhum successfully completed both her internships.
Rumjhum completed the Job Ready employability course in 2018 to improve her resumé and answers to job applications. Job Ready’s interactive classes helped Rumjhum in applying and interviewing for internships and increased her confidence in her skills.
Rumjhum particularly enjoyed a public speaking activity where she gave a spontaneous talk about her sister. She found the activity was a unique way to challenge herself in a supportive environment and receive constructive feedback.
“Everyone in the class was very supportive and were great listeners.”
Job Ready has helped Rumjhum become more open-minded and willing to apply for opportunities outside her comfort-zone.
A key takeaway from the program was making her resumé and job applications as clear and simple as possible. Understanding the recruiter’s perspective has helped her avoid over-complicating her answers.
“I have learnt that I need to make the life of a recruiter easier, so I am very straight-forward with my resume and highlight key aspects of my experience instead of long story-telling experience.”
Rumjhum also stresses the importance of maintaining your LinkedIn profile and using LinkedIn to source job opportunities.
“I made my LinkedIn account during a job-ready program workshop, and since then I have been using it religiously and really value it.”
She used LinkedIn to connect with the talent acquisition and HR coordinators from PPG which helped her secure the internship.
In addition, she applied for her full-time position at Octopus through LinkedIn with her CV and cover letter before going through three rounds of interviews.
Rumjhum’s take-home message is that all skills tie up together. Her LinkedIn profile is one example of how presentation, communication and confidence all come together and can help get a job.
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