Graduate Jobs – Orren Prunckun

Recruited Graduate Case Study – Suriyna Sivashanker

Orren Prunckun — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 06:22:06 +0000

Suriyna Sivashanker studied a three year Bachelor of Media at the University of Adelaide. Originally she studied a combined degree of Bachelor of Media and a Bachelor of Arts, but after some introspection she decided to drop the Arts degree to specialize in media.

Originally she chose the Bachelor of to learn the art of script writing, but that no longer had the flair compared to her interest in CGI visual effects used in Televisions and Film. Her love of media came from her love for Televisions serials.

Approximate read time: 5 minutes

Suriyna knew there was going to be more graduates that jobs available and she wanted to get into the industry anyway possible, so she started to identify and seek out skill that would be valuable and make the transition from graduation to professional easier.

One of these first things she did was join the Adelaide University Media Association and the Adelaide University Film Society in her first year of study. Students further along in their degrees gave her some valuable advice. Once of the most memorable pieces was to be proactive and do not wait till her last year. Their advice had weight; they were in their last year and were desperate and not qualified enough for graduation.

At a careers night, Suriyna got the similar advice about gaining as much work experience as possible to get her foot in the door of the industry. Realising that her degree was more focused on critical thinking skills rather than hands on film production skills needed in the industry, Suriyna contacted the relevant industry support organisations including the Media Resource Centre to volunteering as a production runner on the set of a short film where she learnt key skills involved on the set of a film.

Suriyna tried cold calling like any graduates do for paid work related to her degree, but after a few weeks she got no response. Instead of flogging a dead horse, she did what most graduates do not do and that was to start doing volunteer work to experience and network.

A large Australian news channel contacted the university asking for volunteers for a campaign they were running and Suriyna saw the opportunity to build her resume where most other did not. Again another local service provider in her industry contacted the Association asking for interns and decided to contact the service provider herself. She was offered a 1 month unpaid internship, and then was offered a paid assistant role because the service provider was impressed by work ethic.

Suriyna treated all her volunteer work differently than others; she put in 110% effort, whereas others do not because they are not getting paid. The more volunteering she did, the more responsibilities she received and the more experience she got. The lesson is; if you put effort into everything you do, do not know what will come out of it. It does not hurt to put in effort as you do not know what opportunities will present in the future. Based on this attitude Suriyna is now the president of Adelaide University Media Association and a committee member of Adelaide University Film Society.

Suriyna feels like she is in much better place career-wise than if she had not done any of this. She has got paid work related to her degree, responsibilities, a portfolio, contacts and network and referrals. Most importantly, she is doing real hands on work such as writing transcripts, mock scripts, short films and going to client meetings that could never be learnt during a degree.

In Suriyna’s words “it may not be glamourous, but if you know where want to go and are determined to get there, taking an alternative approach to graduate job hunting is well worth the effort.”

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Recruited Graduate Case Study – Luke Holtham

Orren Prunckun — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 06:20:09 +0000

Luke Holtham studied a Bachelor of Biotechnology at Flinders University and completed his PhD in Biotechnology at Adelaide University in 2009 and 2015 respectively. In Luke’s view everyone finishes with the same piece of paper so your ability to get a job quickly comes down to everything else you have been doing whilst you have been studying.

Approximate read time: 5 minutes

To position himself for a job, Luke regularly did the following during his final year of his undergraduate degree:

Attended networking events;
Got to know all of the key players in the industry;
Volunteered for organisations which would give me skills, credibility and relationships which would lead to a job;
A small amount of social volunteer work (this is important for many companies. Luke coached a children’s basketball team); and
Attempted to be the top of his class (which he was a University Medal recipient.)

Knowing what he knows now Luke says he would have started this all from day one from day 1 of his degree. Why? Because every job Luke has ever had has been through relationships. As they say it is always “who you know” not “what you know.” But Luke admits that this is a long term game not a short term one. Of course there were many moments when it felt like he might end up unemployed when he finished his degree but this just spurred him on to keep working harder.

Luke was fortunate enough to skip cold emailing resumes and cover letters. He never fell into the random application process as many do. The reason was two-fold: first, he had good advice from family and mentors, and second, the field he was about to enter was very specialised so there are not many jobs you can just send random CVs out to every day.

Luke started to network and built relationships first. He tried to provide value to the people he wanted to intern for & volunteer with, whether it be providing connections or sending a useful article he thought might be of interest to them. This was rapport building. Then he simply asked if he could come do some work for them on a project.

At Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics Luke started with a summer scholarship doing lab work which led to a paid casual job, a full time contract, and then a PhD scholarship offering. At South Australian BioAngels he assisted at board meetings and helping to get drinks and food sorted, although maybe not exciting work, this lead to lasting high level industry contacts and work referrals. At AusBiotech, Luke organised and coordinated events which lead to contacts and networks, more work referrals. Finally his stint at UniQuest was doing project based internship work. One of the positive of working for free here was again substantial work experience, contacts, and again a full time job. Further the non-job related volunteering provided referees to help provide credibility for securing jobs.

Among the other advantages, Luke recommends the approach of job related volunteering to get your foot in the door, get to know people, get to know the internal processes and build relationships with the team. By doing this you are miles ahead of anyone who would then be trying to apply for a job cold externally. Even if there is not a job available, sometimes they will make a new position just to keep you or they will keep you on a casual basis until one is. Luke is certain every graduate will benefit from this different type of approach, even in industries that are hell bent on graduate intakes and grad programs such as accounting.”

Luke’s niche field a good example why this approach is worthwhile. A colleague of his also studied a PhD and has been looking for a job for more than one year after finishing his degree. Although he finished his PhD a little faster than Luke, Luke had 2 years work experience advantage. In Luke’s words “clearly this approach puts you much further ahead and sets you up with a huge career advantage.”

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Recruited Graduate Case Study – Jon Allen

Orren Prunckun — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 06:16:59 +0000

Jon Allen studied a Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) at Adelaide University graduating in 2012. Upon graduation, Jon did what most graduates do he sent out hundreds ofout resumes to potential employers. Due to the lack of responses, he then started to send out resumes with cover letters. Admittedly he said “I was pretty lucky to learn early on that just doing that doesn’t get results.” His next move was to cold call employers he wanted to work at and asked for entry level positions. “I got a lot of rejections – a LOT,” says Jon.

Approximate read time: 6 minutes

This process went on for 4-5 months and he was not getting anywhere fast, only rejections or being completely ignored. Jon’s outlook on graduate job prospecting at this point was that “it felt like there was a wall without a door on it into these organisations – and it was being guarded heavily by armed soldiers trained to say no to everyone!”

Jon was a bit shocked, particularly because he had moved to Melbourne (a bigger city) from Adelaide and expected there to be more jobs available: he I got pretty down for a little while, but did not really have any other choice except keep trying he had just moved to a new city and things were getting desperate.

Jon began by asking for asking specifically for internships, work experience, volunteer roles, as a way in. Through this change of approach, Jon ended up working for The Amazing Race Television show for 2-3 weeks and it was even paid. In order to land this, he showed knowledge of the industry, general interest and asked if there was anything he could do, paid or unpaid, to get involved. In retrospect Jon says most places like that approach, and that he knew what he was talking about despite having no experience. The research he did helped.

This type of approach has many advantages for graduates looking for work. Jon explains “generally approaching an employer showing a willingness to work on the basis of genuine interest rather than money allows you to slide a foot into the door way.

It’s soft, unassuming, and provides the business with value, essentially for nothing other than introducing themselves and finding a desk for you, and you ask for nothing in return. They get something for free. If nothing else it puts your name in their heads, automatically making you a frontrunner for new jobs, particularly if they really liked you and/or don’t want to go through the recruitment process officially.”

The type of person who would benefit from this different type of approach for getting paid graduate work is “anyone trying to get into a difficult industry, which these days is pretty much all of them. As well as anyone with no or little experience, even if they have a degree.”

The Amazing Race job got Jon nowhere particular, but it showed him that approaching businesses differently actually works. Through the The Amazing Race Jon received an interview with a media buying group which ended up not being a good fit for him, however they recommended he try creative advertising as a career path due to his interest in the creative process. Based on this Jon started researching everything about advertising and learning the lingo so he knew what sort of positions to ask for and how to talk the talk. He decided to look up the Managing Director’s contact details, and email him directly with a resume and a perfectly written cover letter that painted him as someone wanting to work for free, incorporating the approach he had learnt to get his foot-in-the-door previously.

The Managing Director’s personal assistant called Jon a week later and invited him in for chat. A week later Jon had a follow up meeting with a Group Director, who offered him another internship for 3 months – paid. Although, Jon knew all the work they had done, he later realised this company was the 8th ranked agency in the world – George Patterson Y&R. After finishing the role, he left for green pastures. In Jon’s words, “a lot of my later career I can attribute to those 3 months. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, but it gave me the experience to gain my later university positions.”

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Recruited Graduate Case Study – Aainaa Rahman

Orren Prunckun — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 06:15:53 +0000

Aainaa Rahman studied a Bachelor of Psychological Science, graduating from University of South Australia in 2011. Upon graduation, Aainaa did what most graduates do – send out hundreds of resumes to potential employers. She was dejected, depressed and house bound for several months through this process. She was at low point, partially because nothing was working and because she is naturally hard worker and likes working. She knew she needed to get out of the house and get a graduate job.

Approximate read time: 6 minutes

Through her partner’s sister, Aainaa was able to get a role at a roofing company helping in the call centre and with sales and administration work. Although not ideal nor a graduate job, for her it was better than staying at home and doing nothing. She wanted to give it ago even if nothing came more than income came from it it was a low risk. During the next year at the company she began networking with various people who worked as external contractors as part of her role. Suddenly, the company shut down and she was again s on the search for a graduate role and was sending out resumes to potential employers.

However, through the networking she did prior to the company closing, two of those individuals went on to start a business, Majoran and invited her to work as intern due to the great work they saw her do previously. Aaaina, saw a great opportunity to get some skills and add some value in a newly company, so she agreed to do part time marketing and content related jobs initially. She fumbled along and figured out what they needed and what skills she had that would match.

Due to the nature of this role and company, she made more contacts quickly, and offered to volunteer at other organizations such as TEDx Adelaide, Yelp and Oz Harvest, where she was eagerly accepted, due to the reputation she had built. These three internships were in events and event management and they helped her realise and solidify her love for that type of role – something she had done for multiple family dinners growing up over the years in Malaysia and ultimately move away from pursuing Psychological Science related work.

She then moved on to project management work with Majoran including organizing a national business conference, South Start, workshops and smaller events. After about 6 months of part time work, she helped generate enough revenue that she was able to be paid. She had created her paid job from scratch. After a year she then transitioned into the Managing Director role of the company, all starting as an unpaid un-paid intern!

This type of approach has many advantages for graduates looking for work including a paid job, lots of experience and networks, as illustrated I Aainaa’s example. A big advantage for Aainaa was the work community she is now involved in. “It’s more than strict office job, which I didn’t know existed. It has a different attitude and way of doing things which is far different than a big corporate. I don’t complain about work like a lot of others do, which is pretty cool.”

Based on this, she now feels like she is in a far greater place career-wise than emailing resumes. To explain, when Aainaa returned home to Malaysia recently, her friends and family could tell the stark difference in her compared to 2012 when she was stuck at home. She was looking far better and far happier.

The type of person who would benefit from this different type of approach for getting paid graduate work is who is willing to put in effort beyond others, (which is not much admits Aainaa) even if they receive nothing directly in return. “Realize that employers don’t look at resumes. Employers want to get to know you and they like hiring someone they know and like, not what is written on a piece of paper. They don’t want to take a risk on what you maybe like if they hire you. They want to know first.”

This type of approach has many advantages for graduates looking for work. “You need to approach this with no expectation and that is where the magic happens. You may not getting anything, but it’s a small risk – appreciate the relationships and people meet you there. They will introduce you to work in ways you cannot imagine.”

In Aainaa’s words, “I’m much further ahead in my career because of this. I love my work, and I am on the path to achieving my goal of running a business over the next two years.”

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How To Demonstrate Your Skills Without A Resume

Orren Prunckun — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 23:30:20 +0000

Download the worksheet that goes along with this video. (Right click and choose “Save Link As”)

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5 Common Mistakes Recent Grads Make When Looking For Work

Orren Prunckun — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:30:29 +0000

We all make mistakes; it’s human. Through trial and error, we learn what to do and what not to do. In some cases, this slow method is okay, but when it comes to searching for work, the mistakes we make prove very painful.

Approximate read time: 8 minutes

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