Graduate Careers Australia
ergo - Number 94 March 2004
The Graduate Careers Network
In February 2004, in response to considerable encouragement from many quarters in the graduate employment sector, the gradlink team decided to formulate and develop a new networking program for university careers staff, graduate employers and various auxilliary participants in the graduate recruitment process. The result was The Graduate Careers Network, the GCCA’s inaugural “meet and greet” session which was held in Victoria on 19 February at the Victoria Hotel.
Introduction
It was a balmy summer’s afternoon as registrants arrived at the Victoria Hotel, located in the heart of the CBD behind Melbourne’s Town Hall, and took their places. The proceedings began with a brief address from GCCA Executive Director Cindy Tilbrook, which covered recent GCCA events and initiatives, as well as providing a precy of the current graduate labour market. Cindy reported that the more upbeat mood which has been evident in the UK and US markets recently is finally beginning to be felt in Australia.
NAGCAS President Speaks
Following on from Cindy, David Essex, the recently elected President of NAGCAS (the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) for Victoria/Tasmania, spoke about the valuable role that university careers services can play in the recruitment process, and why it is important for graduate employers to establish relationships with these and other services which can help them get their message across to more students.
The networking then began in earnest as attendees matched their respective halves of a well-known proverb to find their workshop group, then discussed its application in the graduate employment arena. The issues which eventually arose confirmed that many of those in attendance experienced similar problems, such as meeting budget and planning targets, communication and building relationships with other parties to the process as well as managing student and employer expectations.
Networking Activities
The final part of the evening was a free networking session which included a competition where attendees attempted to complete a list of names. The mystery names were of other attendees who had supplied a particular fact about themselves prior to the event, and a winner was decided from those who were most successful. The purpose of this exercise was to encourage every attendee to meet as many other people as possible. While there were some quite unexpectedly creative answers, everyone benefited from this exercise, judging by the fact that some people remained deep in conversation after the bar had closed.
Thank You
The GCCA would like to thank all those who attended and expressed their satisfaction with the event; it was particularly gratifying to see so many new employer organisations represented, and we intend for the event to become a regular feature from here onwards.
Dugald McNaughtan
Communications Coordinator, GCCA
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