Stand out from the crowd

Josh Mackenzie, graduate development specialist and director of Development Beyond Learning

In 2002, as a brand new graduate at a professional services firm a successful leader of the organisation passed on some invaluable career advice.

“Josh, you’re smart, switched on and ambitious” he said.

“We like you a lot but you need to know something. You will never achieve your career goals, nor have the career you aspire to.

“But the person you will become will achieve your career goals. Continuous learning is key.”

It clicked. While I had landed myself a prestigious graduate program this was just the beginning.

I needed to continue to developing my skills and learn from those around with more experience if I was to stand out from the crowd.

The same message applies to the graduates of today particularly when a tougher employment market means it’s that much harder to even land a job in the first place.

Of 158,000 students completing their undergraduate degrees in Australia, 70% will be eligible for local graduate programs.

Consider that it is likely that you will have a number of jobs, careers and employers throughout your lifetime. Consider that the job you will hold in 2030 may not yet exist.

Graduate employers in Australia face the challenge of knowing what type of graduate to recruit for the future and in this job market, why they should invest in you above anyone else.

To successfully land a graduate role you will need to convince an employer that you are worth investing time and money into.

So what does this mean for you?

Top tips for job hunting grads:

1) Research the skills that make graduates stand out from the crowd, realising that you might not have studied these skills at university and there could be areas for growth and development. 2) Pick five of these skills and think about specific situations, preferably outside of university, that you can describe in job interviews where you have displayed these skills, what you did and what the positive outcomes were.
3) Be humble and plan what you can do to develop each of these five skills even further between now and when you start your graduate role.

Josh Mackenzie is a Graduate Development Specialist and Director of Development, Beyond Learning.