Held each session, the sole focus of this week is to help our students plan and build their employability by connecting them to internal and external employment experts. Although a student-focused initiative, the content is relevant to everyone and all staff are welcome to register for any of our featured events.

Careers and Employability Week is a cornerstone student event that aligns with the objectives and aspirations detailed in the Draft MQ Employability Strategy.

All faculties are taking a keen interest in making student employability a top priority, and across the University, the week-long event will:

• Demonstrate the Employability and Graduate Success team’s efforts to implement a refreshed and consistent employability journey – both in and out of the classroom
• Showcase the enhanced employability platforms available to enable service delivery to our students as well as employers and industry partners
• Promote a key skills guide that has been developed for students to understand what employers are looking for and how to map, enhance and translate their skills in job applications
• Highlight MQ Student Employment, the program that connects employers with students seeking employment
• Support institutional efforts to progress students’ employability outcomes and success in collaboration with Faculties and through PACE, our Professional and Community Engagement program.

For Professor Dominique Parrish, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), the importance of student employability is clear and cannot be understated.

“As the world of work transforms, demands and pressures on an ever-evolving workforce increase.  Macquarie University remains firmly committed to providing the best possible outcomes for its students, especially when it comes to employability skills and careers,” says Dominique.

Deputy Dean (Education and Employability) for the Faculty of Arts, Professor Panos Vlachopoulos, says Arts is supporting Careers and Employability Week with some specific events and is committed to engaging students in employability and careers activities.

“It’s a great chance for students to explore humanities-based career options and on a practical level, they can drop into the Arts Precinct to get a professional photo taken for LinkedIn and ePortfolio profiles,” says Panos.

Everyone can get involved

We’re keen for everyone to take an active interest in our students’ employability and career journey and you can take a few simple steps to support Macquarie University’s employability agenda:

• Encourage students to get engaged at Careers and Employability Week.
• Connect industry partners and employers through our new MQ Employer Connect
• Hear for yourself about the future of employability by registering on our website to attend sessions in Careers and Employability Week, 7-11 March.

As well as connecting potential employers with students looking for work, MQSE focuses on the skills and development needed to obtain employment, including recruitment and application strategies and resources and tools to ensure students can confidently present themselves to employers. MQSE also collaborates closely with PACE to increase continuity of offers for students.

As a free service funded by the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF), the main priority for MQSE is to connect employers with Macquarie students and recent graduates. In 2021 alone, MQSE has been instrumental in recruiting 20 students to jobs around campus and more than 100 jobs externally. Since its inception, the service has worked on recruiting for 362 jobs and received more than 3400 applications for their services – 1800 of them in the first nine months of this year.

Macquarie’s Career and Employment Service has always actively supported its students to find employment, both on and off campus. MQSE goes one step further with active coaching of students to be job-ready and confident in the recruitment process.

“We help students to refine their resume, market their skills to employers, prepare for interview, build confidence and take constructive feedback if they are unsuccessful,” says Mel Ashby, Student Employment Coordinator in the Employability and Graduate Success Team.

“The number of applications we receive and students we are coaching through the recruitment process is a very solid indicator of the value of the program.”

Thriving young professionals

Annie Renouf is an MQSE success story. Currently in her fourth year of an Arts/Law degree, Annie signed up to the service in her second year, after having a great experience in the Career Accelerator program. Since then, Annie has found employment on campus in a number of different roles, and earlier this year joined the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) team as a Communications Assistant.

“MQSE has provided me with a platform and skills to increase my employability, and boosted my confidence with the recruitment process,” says Annie.

“There is a strong commitment to providing an outcome on an application and next steps in a prompt timeframe. Rather than applying for a role and not getting many updates, MQSE is there at each step of the process.”

Annie says engaging with MQSE has helped her cultivate a mindset that she is ‘not just a student’.  “The service has showed me that I am a thriving young professional with a bank of experience that I can leverage as a graduate.”

Things looking brighter for the job market

Mel Ashby says employment figures for 2020 and 2021 have been erratic across the job market, however numbers are substantially up at the moment. “More employers are now reaching out to us for support to re-establish, grow or enhance their talent pipeline, especially  in the last six months,” says Mel.

When it comes to recruiting students for on-campus roles, Mel says it can’t be overestimated how important this can be to a student’s experience – strengthening retention and giving the University a closer connection to student issues.

“Getting work on campus means students are in an environment with an understanding of the required flexibility for study, and it increases on-campus activity and commitment to Macquarie. This approach supports a more holistic student experience that is geared towards employability skills and graduate outcomes.”

Mel and the team are looking to build on MQSE’s success with enhanced offerings for 2022, including developing a Job Ready Club, forming closer connections with relevant social clubs and societies, and building stronger partnerships to meet the needs of employers.

Find out more

If you know a student who is looking to enhance their job-ready skills and find employment, you can direct them to MQSE’s Student FAQs. If you’re interested in using MQSE to fill a position in your area, visit the Employer FAQs, or contact Mel Ashby directly: mel.ashby@mq.edu.au

I’ve been at Macquarie for…
Three years.

In a nutshell, my job is to…
Prepare students and recent graduates with the world of work outside of university through workshops, career fairs, employer presentations, and other avenues.

The question I hear most often in my work is…
Are you a job placement agency or do you hire for on-campus positions?  (No.)

 The top three things on my to-do list this week are…
1) Securing another partner organisation for our winter business competition Univative.
2) Driving more students to apply for our Univative competition.
3) Talking to some of our employer partners about scheduling workshops and presentations for the next session.

If I could do any other job at Macquarie it would be…
Media and culture professor.

Name a Macquarie staff member that impressed you recently…
My colleague Lena who agreed to take on the next careers fair just days after returning from maternity leave.  Good on her!

If I could have dinner with anyone (living or dead) it would be…
The author, political commentator and professor Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry.

The last great book I read was…
Tar Baby by Toni Morrison.

In 10 years from now, I hope to be…
A published author.