Tips for your on campus session
Careers & Employment (C&E) has lots of contact with students, and as such we receive plenty of feedback from them about what they expect from employer visits.Having a stress-free time on campus
- Arrive at the allocated venue at least 10 minutes prior to your presentation and wait for a Careers & Employment staff member to meet you. The theatre may be in use for a lecture right up until your presentation is due to begin, but sometimes access is available beforehand. Please be patient if we cannot enter the venue straight away.
- Bring your presentation on USB or CD-rom. Preferably stick to PowerPoint presentations.
- Ensure your session does not go over the allotted time.
- C&E staff may introduce your session to the students, so please allow two minutes for us to welcome them.
Format
Student feedback has suggested that they most value the opportunity to meet employers, ask questions and have a chat. We suggest cutting your presentation time to 30 minutes, leaving students a chance for questions and answers and networking afterwards. You may consider providing some light refreshments for evening sessions.
Content
- Please be mindful of the gender/age/cultural diversity of your presenters. Who you bring along to your presentation may have a great impact on who applies for your Graduate Program.
- Be prepared for questions from international students, particularly, "I'm going to be applying for PR after I graduate, so am I eligible for your Graduate Program?" Tell them when they can apply or if they are not eligible. If they are not eligible to apply for your Program then be clear, but don't make this a dead end for them. Remember, these are some of our top students and your potential future colleagues and clients, so you don't want to alienate them.
- Be clear about which disciplines are eligible. There may be students present who would not be suitable for your Graduate Program, so save your time and their's before they submit an application.
- Let students know if your organisation has individual positions for which they can apply and where they can find out about these.
Your audience
- Make your presentation stand out. Students can suffer from information overload. Engage with students through a variety of mediums as you have 30 minutes to make an impression.
- Discuss the recruitment process and what qualities you are looking for in the student.
- Students want you to discuss what are some of the real issues graduates face in the workplace. They don’t want to hear a marketing presentation.
- What will the new graduate be doing in their job, day-to-day? What does 'being a Graduate Accountant' (for example) actually mean? Recently recruited graduates are a good source of this anecdotal evidence - so bring them along.
- How does their study relate to the work they'll be conducting?
- Some company profile information is relevant (e.g. organisational culture, values, areas of business and which units have opportunities for graduates).
- Include some information about professional development opportunities.
- We advise against using acronyms as students may not understand them and feel a little intimidated.
- Ensure they have something to take away with them, which includes your web address, closing date for applications and contact details.
- If providing alcoholic refreshments, please keep in mind that many local and international students feel uncomfortable with the focus on alcohol at University. Many students have negative preconceptions of student alcohol consumption. Some students make the conscious decision to avoid social activities where alcohol is served. (From University’s Culturally Inclusive Social Events Policy)
C&E contacts for enquiries
Australian based employers
Angela Ballard (Ph: 03 8344 0094, E: aballard@unimelb.edu.au )
Katie Bell (Ph: 03 9035 8870, E: kbell@unimelb.edu.au )
Overseas based employers
Qi Sun (Ph: +61 3 9035 6385, E: qis@unimelb.edu.au ).