Careers and Personal Development Module
Identifying the Qualities Employers are Seeking
From now on until graduation it would be a good idea to regularly survey newspaper and other sources of job advertisements to build up an idea of the qualities being sought by employers. Carefully dissect the job advertisements for the specified "essential" and "desirable" skills wanted. Checking these specified attributes against your personal skill profile and self ratings will show you how well you match up to what employers want. Go through this exercise using the selected job advertisements included later on in this module.
You will find there is considerable overlap in the skills being sought by employers (e.g. particularly common ones specified include high level oral and written communications skills, analytical problem solving abilities, computer wordprocessing and spreadsheet skills, effective time management skills, ability to display initiative and to work effectively in teams, etc.). If you find that any of the regularly called for abilities are ones on which you rated yourself "0" and "1" you need to set about plugging the gaps.
Some of the skill areas may be ones you can strengthen through units in your remaining time at Macquarie. Others though may require you to take some "teach yourself initiatives". For example, a frequently expressed required attribute is experience with spreadsheet software (particularly Microsoft Excel). One of the introductory computing units at Macquarie (COMP123) covers this area. But, if it is not possible for you to do this unit at this stage of your degree program there are numerous reasonably priced self-instructional texts (with supporting disks) available that will enable you to build up a reasonable working knowledge fairly quickly. The same applies for statistical programs commonly used in the workforce (e.g. SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). There are also useful web-based tutorials on many subjects (e.g. see http://www.findtutorials.com/). Short Community College-based courses are another option for plugging some gaps (e.g. in computer skills).
Quite often advertised positions outline the type of person being sought in broad terms (e.g. "the work requires the application of sound organisational skills, communications skills, and research skills") and will refer you to more specific job description and selection criteria documentation available from the organisation. It is essential that you obtain a copy of this documentation and that your application succinctly addresses each selection criterion. (A copy of such documentation for a recent position advertised by the Commonweallth Department of Health and Aged Care is included later on in the module as an example.) If there is no separate selection criteria documentation package/information kit for a position make sure your application covers all of the points contained in the advertisement that has drawn your attention to the job.
One final important point. You will find that relatively few advertisements for graduate jobs which you could do with your geography training will actually specifically mention a degree in geography. (The same is true of sociology, anthropology, demography and many other degrees.) Some job advertisements will, but most will use such wording as "tertiary qualification in a relevant field", "tertiary qualification in social sciences", "tertiary qualification in the social sciences or related fields", etc. Many of the Commonwealth Government graduate recruitment advertisements in fact are even more general. So, do not confine yourself to just looking for advertisements that specifically mention geography.
Kevin
McCracken
Phone: +61-2-9850 8388
Email: kevin.mccracken@mq.edu.au