Plan your career

Opportunity awareness is about researching and understanding your career options.

As you’ll see from most job descriptions, employers are not only looking for a degree. Instead, they ask for a range of skills and experience that help them to be sure you will fit into their team.

Now that you have completed the self-awareness activities, the next step is to learn what skills, knowledge, and experiences are valued in your chosen industry and what opportunities exist for you to develop these prior to graduation.

Opportunity awareness is important because it:

• improves understanding of career options available from your degree
• clarifies what skills, knowledge and capabilities are necessary for success in your chosen field
• assists you in the transition from university to the world of work
• allows you to discover new opportunities to develop skills that will make you more employable
• helps develop understanding of the work environments where you will “fit” best
• increases awareness of the supports available to help you achieve your career goals.

Now that you have developed your career self-awareness and considered the various opportunities available upon graduation, we can now look towards making realistic employment-focused goals based on this information.

Why developing your aspirations is important

• It’s important to understand what factors will help you achieve your goals.
• Having a range of career options will assist you to adapt to changing opportunities.
• You will benefit from progressing towards practical career goals, with measurable outcomes.

Ideas for exploring your aspirations

• Discover the skills you possess now and identify what skills you may need to develop, using this Employability Skills Audit Tool. You may also wish to review the skills you may need to develop, using the Griffith Graduate Attributes and Transferable Skills.
• Identity your transferable skills. Download our guide to help identify how your transferable skills can improve your job prospects.
• Discuss your career aspirations with a Lecturer, Mentor, or Career Development Consultant.
• Identify possible alternatives based on awareness of self and opportunities.
• Research your alternatives with informational interviews in order to clarify your occupational preferences.
• Set realistic goals with clear time frames and critical deadlines.
• Regularly check your progress towards your career goals.
• Download our guide on career exploration and decision making.

Career decision-making

People make decisions in many ways depending on:

• circumstances
• personality
• the importance of the decision
• available resources
• previous decision-making processes.

There's no right way to make a decision, so find what works for you. Decision-making often occurs across a continuum of Logical/Rational through to Intuitive/Emotive as detailed in the career decision-making resource below. Both can be positive ways to make important decisions.

Career decision-making

Action planning naturally follows on from deliberate and thoughtful consideration of your goals and aspirations. Setting goals and developing an action plan that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timed (SMART) can help you achieve success.

The following five actions are likely to significantly improve your graduate employment outcomes upon graduation. Each of these can easily be included into your action plan:

Clarify your career

• Clarify your career direction based on your awareness of self and opportunities and in discussion with a mentor, Career Development Consultant, or academic.

Record your skills

• Set up a LinkedIn profile.
• Create an e-portfolio to present your skills.
• Keep a record of the projects and assessments you have undertaken at university.
• Develop your resume.

Gain experience

• Current job: Consider the skills required for your current job and how these may fit with your chosen profession.
• Finding work: Have you considered getting a part-time or casual job? Explore CareerHub for opportunities.
• Volunteering: Volunteer work can provide you with a range of important skills and experiences linked with employment success. A range of opportunities are available on campus and through external organisations www.volunteeringqld.org.au or www.govolunteer.com.au
• Work experience: Undertaking work experience is a valuable way to develop skills and gain industry relevant experience.
• Placement and internships: Investigate and enrol in internships throughout your degree. The Community Internship 3002LFC is a free-choice elective for credit.

Build networks in your field

• Use your LinkedIn profile to connect with industry, professional associations and contribute to industry relevant groups.
• Join a professional association and attend networking events.
• Get to know people while on placement, internship or work experience.
• Complete an informational interview in order to expand your network.
• Consider joining the Griffith Industry Mentoring Program.

Get involved in your profession and community

• Attend employer or industry presentations on campus.
• Join relevant student associations.
• Attend professional association activities such as conferences.