Transcript Slide 1

QUT Careers and Employment
www.careers.qut.edu.au
Marketing your Masters
Dr Nikki Penhaligon
Postgraduate Career Counsellor
QUT Careers and Employment
Today’s agenda
• Why are we here?
• Where do we want to go?
• How do I market my masters to get that job?!
Why are we here?
• What are you hoping to
achieve out of today?
• What do you want to know?
• Person bingo
How do we market ourselves?
• Spend two minutes thinking about what you think are the
most important things to do when marketing
yourself for employment?
• Write your response on the post its provided.
Tips to effectively market yourself
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Self Reflect
Define your brand
Develop key statement(s)
Do not wait to be noticed
Present a professional image
Cultivate people skills
Have a vision
Enact your strategy!
(Karalis, 2007)
1. Self reflect
• Ask yourself:
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What motivated you to start your masters?
Where did you hope it would lead?
What challenges are you facing?
Has anything changed since you first
enrolled?
• Activity: Write them down in your booklet
Self reflect: Skills
• Start looking at your skills:
– What skills are you developing through your
Masters?
– What skills have you developed previously?
Activity: brainstorm as many skills as you
can that you have developed during your
program. Also consider the evidence (ie
specifically where you developed these
skills).
Valued skills
• Interpersonal/communication
skills (written and oral)
• Drive and commitment/industry
knowledge
• Critical reasoning and analytical
skills/technical skills
• Calibre of academic results
• Cultural alignment/values fit
• Work experience
• Teamwork skills
• Emotional intelligence
(including self-awareness,
confidence, motivation)
• Leadership
• Activities (including intra and
extracurricular)
Where might you have developed these skills???
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Data from 2011 survey of over 350 Australian employers. For more information see
www.graduatecareers.com.au.
Postgraduate Capabilities
• Critical, creative and analytical thinking, and effective
problem-solving
• Effective communication in a variety of contexts and
modes
• The capacity for life-long learning
• The ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Social and ethical responsibility and an understanding of
indigenous and international perspectives
• Characteristics of self-reliance and leadership
PLUS: Advanced knowledge and understanding in your field!
What do employers consider as most
important when hiring?
• Competence?
– Technical skills &
softer skills
• Fit?
– Role &organisation
• Potential?
– Willingness and speed
of learning
Source: Hudson Report 2005
2. Define Your Brand
• How do you stand
out from the crowd?
• What makes you
different from the
other applicants?
• How do you add
value?
Think Outside the Box
• The goal of the puzzle is to link all 9 dots
using four straight lines or less, without
lifting the pen.
One Solution
How do you self manage, market and
promote your skills?
• Features versus benefits
• Feature = distinctive element: an attribute, characteristic,
mark, peculiarity, property, quality or trait.
• Benefit = Something that promotes or enhances well-being;
an advantage; Something that contributes to an
organization (i.e., enhanced profitability, better efficiency, or
reduced risk); Something that reduces hassles or
inconvenience
Employers buy benefits, not features
Features vs Benefits
Workbook activity: What are my
features?
How are they benefits?
3. Develop key statements
Have an elevator speech.
A concise 30-60 sec summary of you and your degree.
Write it in your workbook.
Pitching your qualification
Pitching yourself
• Describe what it is
• Describe who you are
• Highlight specialist
knowledge and features
• Why you will be a benefit
to the organisation?
• Apply the subject matter
to the organisation
• Why are you relevant to
the role?
Remember!
• Who is your audience? Identify them:
– Academia?
– Industry?
– Colleagues?
– Peer?
– Supervisor?
• Adapt your language and message to
suit
4. Do not wait to be noticed
• The one who gets noticed is the
one who makes sure people
know about their work and what
they can do.
• Let people know when you are
ready for the next challenge. The
more people you talk to about it,
the more likely you are to hear
about opportunities as they arise.
How can you be noticed?
• Step out of your comfort zone into a
new and unfamiliar area
• Always accept additional responsibilities
that can build and diversify your
curriculum vitae
• If there is a vacancy or assignment you
want, ask for it
• Be proactive and look for opportunities!
Make connections
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Attend conferences
LinkedIn
Join professional associations
Attend events or engage in
professional development
• Network with others
Volunteer!
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Speak at conferences/seminars/organisations
Organise conferences/symposiums
Actively participate in professional organisations
Contribute to a blog
Serve on university committees
Do work experience
Get a mentor
Volunteer outside of QUT
– Volunteering Qld http://www.volunteeringqld.org.au/web/
– seek.com.au http://www.volunteer.com.au/
Activity: In your work book make a note a different ways
you can get noticed!
BREAK
5. Present a professional image
• First impressions are crucial
• Consider your online
presence
– FaceBook
– MySpace
– LinkedIn
• Dress for success
6. Cultivate people skills
• Good communication and
interpersonal skills are crucial
• They can enable us to advance at a
much faster pace than others with
more experience
• They help us form positive first
impressions
What are good people skills?
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Smile
Eye contact
Listen to understand
Call people by their name
Being open and confident
Being positive
Activity: Networking cards
Activity: Team building
• What skills are important in teamwork??
7. Have a vision
• Have a broadly defined goal or a
career vision
• It may be a bit unclear, but having
some direction will keep you
moving ahead.
• Activity: Think about where you
want to be in:
– 3yrs?
– 5yrs?
– 10yrs?
Write it in your workbook
How do I get to where I want to go?
• Have an overall vision of where
you want to go
• Break your vision down into
manageable steps
• Look for opportunities
• Record your progress and reward
each achievement
• Revisit, evaluate and revise as you
go
Be persistent!
If you don’t succeed get some feedback and work
out what you can do differently for next time
8. Enact your strategy – Goal setting
activity
S = SPECIFIC
• Who is involved?
• What do you want to accomplish?
• Where? - Identify a location.
• When? – Establish a time frame.
• Why? – Specific reason, purpose, or benefits of achieving a goal.
M = MEASUREABLE
Helps you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience achievement.
A = ATTAINABLE
Break it down into steps - each step should move you closer to that goal.
R = REALISTIC
Personal and situational factors which may influence your ability to reach your goal.
T = TIMEBOUND
Define start points and end points to your goal and maintain commitment to these
deadlines.
Writing an effective goal statement
• Use clear, specific language.
• Start your goal statement with
TO + a VERB
• Write your goal statement
using SMART Goal Criteria
• Avoid using negative language.
Think positive!
Activity: Let’s now give it a go!
Questions?
Contact Careers and Employment
LOCATION
PHONE
Gardens Point:
07 3138 2649
Kelvin Grove:
07 3138 3488
Level 2, X Block
Reception: Room X226
Caboolture
07 5316 7400
Kelvin Grove Campus:
EMAIL
Level 4, C Block
(Above the Refectory)
[email protected]
Gardens Point Campus:
Caboolture Campus:
Student Centre - J Block
WEBSITE
www.careers.qut.edu.au