Graduate Careers Australia
ergo - Number 96 September 2004
SA Graduate Careers Network
Responding to a perceived need for the various parties in the graduate employment sector to be able to meet in an informal forum, the Graduate Careers Council of Australia (GCCA) has developed a new initiative in 2004 – the Graduate Careers Network. This event has been designed to provide networking opportunities for graduate employers, careers staff and other parties involved in the graduate employment/recruitment process, and following on from the successful first event in Melbourne earlier in the year, a second event was held on 24 June in South Australia.
Again as earlier, the Graduate Careers Network followed a relaxed, intimate format, with attendees present hailing from several of the larger SA organisations employing graduates, as well as representatives from the three main universities in the state. The early evening event was held in the plush surrounds of the recently-built National Wine Centre in Adelaide. Proceedings kicked off with addresses from Brenton Schulze from the University of Adelaide, Joanne Tyler (National President of NAGCAS), Cindy Tilbrook (Executive Director of the GCCA) and Lyn Robinson, representing the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE).
A networking exercise followed, with each participant given half of a well-known proverb and requested to find other attendees with the corresponding other half. The resultant groups were then asked to discuss how their proverb could be applied to their work, extending the conversation to include the biggest current issue they faced in the graduate employment/recruitment area. Discussion was so lively that participants were reluctant to even break for drinks and nibbles.
Feedback from the event has been highly positive, and the GCCA will continue to offer this opportunity to employers and careers staff around the country in the coming months. The next event is scheduled to be held in Queensland on Thursday 23 September, at Customs House in the Brisbane CBD, and it is hoped this will prove just as effective and illuminating for those in attendance.
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