Employability Now Part of Australia’s Value Proposition for Indian Students
Mr Gordon Scott1, Mr Vik Singh2
1Successful Graduate Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia, 2AUSTRADE, Sydney, Australia
The new Study Australia Work Readiness Program developed by Austrade and Successful Graduate underscores the critical importance of developing employability skills throughout the student journey. It aims to provide legitimacy, credibility, and authority to messages to this effect. This session introduces the role of AUSTRADE in supporting sector marketing initiatives and the concept behind the Study Australia Digital Employability Hub. An outline of how delegates will utilise information provided to support their student acquisition activities in the Indian market, Australia’s second largest source country will be shared.
Key aspects associated with the Study Australia Work Readiness Program within the Hub, the fundamental learnings that are included in the Program, and the key messages that prospective students will receive about studying with an Australian education provider will also be shared. The Work Readiness Program is a free resource that is available to support student acquisition, student retention and support for existing students of Australian education providers. Delegates will be introduced to the Study Australia Work Readiness Program marketing toolkit that has been produced to support members of the audience with their student acquisition and student support tasks. A QR code will be presented, enabling audience interaction with the marketing toolkit while they are in the session. The toolkit will provide links to pre-prepared social media tiles and an information sheet about the Employability Hub and Work Readiness Program.
Student employability outcomes are the remit of all staff, either directly or indirectly. International students face some additional challenges when it comes to finding employment in Australia. Although the Work Readiness Program has been designed to support student employability regardless of location, it is true that many international students seek work experience while in Australia.
The toolkit is therefore available as a resource for all staff at CRICOS providers in Australia, in all student-facing roles, including staff in marketing, student recruitment, student retention, careers support, academic/teaching, student engagement, student experience, and student connection.
Biography:
Gordon launched the world’s first comprehensive online student employability development resource at www.successfulgraduate.com in 2016. The company now hosts more than a dozen client training solutions that support governments, institutions and students/graduates with the identification of soft skills and training about job applications, career preparation, internship preparation and managing personal finances.
Vik leads various digital transformation projects at Austrade. He has over 15 years of experience in the higher education sector, both in domestic and international leadership roles across business development, recruitment, marketing , data insights and partnerships. Most recently he was heading up the APAC operations for the IDP Connect.