Careers & Employability

4,193+ Total student engagements

The Careers and Employability portfolio helps students learn and develop the skills and knowledge required for lifelong career management. The focus of the portfolio is to support students in building their capacity to attain relevant and meaningful careers upon graduation and includes career planning, gaining hands on work experience, and developing employability skills in preparation for the transition into the professional working world.

A focus of 2022 in the Careers and Employability portfolio remained to continually research and develop new ways to engage students with knowledge and experiences that supported their longterm goals. This included enhancing our volunteering programs and linking students to opportunities to gain professional experience. The largest of these were the Job Skills services which bounced back strongly after years of disruptions. New Responsible Service of Alcohol, Responsible Service of Gaming, and Food Handling courses were trialled as well as the expanded provision of First Aid and CPR courses. Together these services constituted a 581% annual increase in certifications gained, which has been an encouraging result to both students and Griffith University academic partners relying on these courses to undertake casual work and academic placements as part of their degrees.

The most impressive bounce back from a COVID-19 impacted event was the Careers and Employability Week which reached maturity in its third consecutive year to achieve a 581% increase of 1,471 attendees. A significant change was expanding the one day ‘Careers Fair’ into a week concept that included a main fair style one day event, supported by four days of academic group and school based satellite events. This allowed students to spend more time at the interdisciplinary stall event for resume reviews, LinkedIn advice, industry stall holders, professional networking, careers masterclasses and professional photo shoots, while also having time to engage with panel discussions and group mentoring events in industry specific contexts elsewhere in the week. This will be a concept that will be built upon with a growing list of academic partners across Griffith University in years to come.

As a new initiative, the Careers and Employability portfolio also offered careers specific event planning and resource support to academic and professional clubs. This helped raise the frequency and standard of careers-based events run by clubs, who have always been significant stakeholders in student to industry collaborations through speaking events, firm crawls, and professional networking opportunities. With these club categories holding many of the larger clubs, and averages of 40 to 100 students attending these careers based events, this will help to establish a strong base of career support in the near future.

Industry Connection

Careers Fair

1,471 attendees

41 employer stalls (Industry Zone)

• 68.3% of employers were recruiting international graduates/students with eligibility to work in Australia.

• 85.4% of employers were recruiting all-abilities students.

• 66% of employers were recruiting Higher Degree by Research students and/or PhD candidates.

39 external organisation stalls (Employability & Experience Zone)

98% of student attendees surveyed would recommend the event to a peer

515 students attended satellite events focused on specific study areas in partnership with Griffith Academic Groups

Get Job Ready (T3)

Approx 120 students attended

67 students registered for assistance with resume review/mock interviews

43 students confirmed they obtained paid casual or part-time employment as a result of attending this event

100% of student attendees surveyed would recommend the event to a peer

96% of student attendees surveyed stated their confidence had improved (job interview and resume skills)

Clubs Engagement (Careers)

Approx 400 students engaged through the planning and co-facilitation of 7 Academic and Professional Club initiatives with average attendance of 40-100 at each event