2020: How UOW gets you ready for your dream career - 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app 鈥� UOW

Striding through BlueScope's bustling 榴莲视频app steelworks, it's hard to believe that Joel Coelho was once so shy, he'd rather walk alone to uni than catch the free UOW bus.

Joel: My name is Joel. I'm from Mumbai, India and I'm a 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app Graduate. As a child, I always wanted to be an astronaut. So, mechanical engineering is my pathway to getting there.

Kaiyang: My name is Kaiyang. I鈥檓 from China and I鈥檓 a 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app graduate. I feel like it鈥檚 a very good 榴莲视频app, especially in the computer science, telecommunications, engineering field. And today I鈥檓 a data scientist at one of the biggest supermarkets in Australia.

Joel: The opportunity to get work after university was a massive factor for me when coming to Australia. The 榴莲视频app鈥檚 Careers Central is really amazing. They run a lot of workshops to get you job-ready.

Kaiyang: The 榴莲视频app provided a free course to get me prepared for the job market. I studied a lot of interview techniques, I got prepared for the behavioural questions. Carrying vegetables was my first part-time job, and then later on I actually found a job at the 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app doing the 3D modelling.

Joel: While volunteering and working on campus, I created a lot of networks, and through my networks, I found a job at BlueScope, because they connected me to the people out in industry.

Martin: It鈥檚 that sort of human connection 鈥� underpinned by your studies 鈥� that鈥檚 the stuff that makes you employable. One of the great things about being somewhere like the 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app is that there are lots of great ways to network and get to know the place, and really, that can lead to ways into such businesses.

Joe: The degrees that the graduates from the 榴莲视频app of 榴莲视频app have are recognised across the globe. The level of talent in the students we鈥檝e seen come from the 榴莲视频app has been very good. But it鈥檚 the individual person that鈥檚 come through. So the 榴莲视频app has provided a fantastic foundation for you to go and achieve things. But it鈥檚 then for you to go and leap frog into the next part of your working life.

Joel: For other international students who have considered coming, what I would say is just take that leap of faith.

Kaiyang: Be brave to embrace the challenges, and do the hard work.

Martin: Challenge yourself, meet new people, go for it.

"I was really afraid", recalls Joel. "But I also knew nothing would be handed to me. I had to make the most of the opportunities and put myself out there."

Originally from Mumbai, India, Joel was then a mechanical engineering student at UOW, with quietly held dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. Starting with volunteering, and later, the help of UOW Careers Central, Joel slowly started to gain confidence and diversify his experience outside the lecture theatre.

"One of the things we are looking for in students, or potential employees, is that they are curious and they're willing to ask questions,' says BlueScope's Digital and Social Media Marketing Advisor, Martin Field. "Sure, you need to have knowledge from your university studies, but as the economy changes, as the industry revolutionizes, we want to know if you have the language and the interpersonal skills to solve problems and move the industry forward generally."

This is a sentiment of which Joel McLaren - APAC Account Manager at FDM Group - agrees.

"We are always looking for people that have skills, whether that be through internships, work experience, university, team projects... Our employability criteria is not a set of bullet points on a job description, we're really looking for the person and what they possess, the skills that they can bring to a work environment and what potential they have."

Now working with FDM group, UOW Engineering graduate Kaiyang Li is testament to UOW's unique career-ready approach.

"High marks are not the be all and end all. For example, volunteering says a lot about who you are and personally, it gave me different skills and enriched my experience. You need to have stories to share. This was my key learning to get me prepared for my working life" says Kaiyang.

For Joel, his role working at BlueScope is now part of his narrative, with a journey to space no longer such a distant dream.

"For other international students, I would say there are a lot of opportunities, but it's up to you to make it happen."

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