Graduate Careers Australia
The Graduate Grapevine – Number 4, June 2006
Virtual Careers Fair Returns!
The Virtual Careers Fair (VCF2006) was held in March this year with students, employers and careers professionals from around the globe participating in this interactive careers event. VCF2006 built on the successes of the previous five years, and once again demonstrated the value of providing a variety of opportunities through which to link students and employers.
This year’s VCF had a very short lead-in time, and this was complicated by the fact that the website had to be rebuilt at the same time that exhibitors were being recruited. The earlier timing also presented some challenges to promoting the event, with some universities having returned from summer break only the week before!
Without Rhonda’s efforts and the generous support of VCF2006’s sponsors, it would not have happened. Sponsorship was again provided through Graduate Careers Australia, Testgrid Australia, Defence Force Recruiting, Graduate Opportunites and tUNEFM! CareerChat hosts from universities in Australia and New Zealand also deserve special mention! Their sessions were consistently well received by students.
As we have come to expect- it was alright on the night!
And the Outcome?
To the end of May, the site had received 76,068 hits. Students identified themselves as coming from 82 separate institutions from Australia, GB, NZ, Russia, the Netherlands, the Phillipines & the US – and the list goes on. This year we asked students to identify where they wanted to work and what they were studying. The results showed that the majority of students were seeking work in Melbourne (18 per cent), Sydney (18 per cent), New Zealand Metropolitan (nine per cent) and Canberra (eight per cent). The most popular discipline of study for attendees was Business/Commerce (32 per cent), followed by Humanities (17 per cent), Sciences (10 per cent) and IT (nine per cent).
Forty-six Australian and New Zealand tertiary institutions actively participated and promoted the VCF. Ninety exhibitors took active roles over the 10 days, with representation from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. This was at the same level as in 2005.
Students utilised the full range of information including:
- 2528 visits to the Chat Rooms
- 5233 visits to the Chat Room transcripts
- 343 downloads from the Pod Casting Centre
- 2008 visits to the Testing Centre
- 1858 visits to Employment, Industry and Salary Information
- 2937 visitors to the Interview Quizzes
- 1179 visitors to the Participating Universities
- 787 visitors to the Discussion Board
and generally rated the event as a success.
Reaction from students included:
“This was fun and a wonderful way to get ready for the career world anywhere!”
“The Virtual Careers Fair 2006 is an excellent opportunity for graduates to gain more knowledge about the companies offering positions, their requirements and expectations from the candidates. This helps candidates in applying for and getting the jobs best suited to them.”
“Great place to get some information in a convenient environment, everyone's questions and ideas really bounced off each other so the chats were great.”
“I think the chat sessions were the most useful, and the variety of employers in the sessions gave a great view of the work force.”
This type of feedback is not only gratifying to the VCF team, but is also a great endorsement for this actual event and for delivering career services and employer information in a variety of methods.
|
