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Graduate Careers Australia

Graduate Grapevine - Number 7, Autumn 2007

National Career Development Week, 4-10 June 2007

Get Involved!

This article has been extracted from the Department of Education, Science and Training’s National Career Development Week event kit, ‘Get the Life You Love! Get Excited…Get Involved…Get Results! A Guide to Hosting a Successful Event During National Career Development Week’.

National Career Development Week (NCDW) will promote awareness of career development and emphasise the need for all Australians to develop skills to manage their own careers. NCDW is expected to attract a wide range of participants including individuals, education and training providers, employers, industry associations and other relevant bodies.

Career development is a lifelong learning process of growth through life, learning and work. NCDW aims to raise awareness of career development and emphasise the need for all Australians to develop skills to manage their own careers. The success of NCDW depends on community events.

The Week will begin with a launch event (you will find details of this on the NCDW website – www.nationalcareerdevelopmentweek.com.au ), which will be followed by community activities nation wide.

The event kit has been developed to help with the planning of NCDW events including:

  • event ideas
  • help with planning, organisation, promotion and evaluation.

The NCDW website will be of great assistance in the lead up to the event. It contains information on career development, links to career development resources in Australia, a calendar of events and the event kit. Organisations and individuals intending to participate in NCDW will be able to share their plans with the rest of Australia by lodging details of their events on the NCDW online calendar. There may be organisations or individuals interested in joining forces with your community’s event, so make sure to check the website for other registered activities in your area.

Planning

The event kit provides you with questions to help you begin. The NCDW team will help you work through these questions to help you plan your event.

Where Do I Start?

  • What is my objective? What do I want to achieve?
  • What do I want people to take away from the event?
  • Who is my audience? Who would my event cater for?
  • What type of event will suit my audience?
  • Where will I have this event? What if the weather is bad?
  • How much will it cost? How can I cover these costs?
  • Do I need public liability insurance?
  • What will I do?
  • How will I make it happen? How do I plan and who will help?
  • How can I promote my event? How will people know it is on?
  • How will they get to the event?
  • How soon should I start?

What You Will Need to Think About?

  • Event activities must be attractive and interesting to your target audience.
  • Develop a structured program that includes: management of event flow; ensures people remain engaged; provides changes of pace; provides a variety of activities.
  • Develop a clear agenda and running sheet so that the entire committee knows exactly what is happening and who is responsible for what on the day.
  • The importance of sticking to your program on the day.
  • Allocation of time for Q&As.
  • Invitations to be sent out to career development experts.
  • Cost and arrangement of public liability insurance.
  • Allowing time for refreshment & toilet breaks and moving from one area to another (eg. from a park to a hall).
  • Including ice-breakers for whoever is opening an event or introducing a speaker.
  • Making sure that any guest speakers/celebrities have a clearly defined role and are supported at all times.

Event Suggestions

Depending on the circumstances of your organisation or community, there are many types of great events you can run. Finding the style of event that suits your requirements and fits within your resources is the key to planning the right event.

Here are a few suggestions from the NCDW event kit you may find helpful.

  • Individuals may like to hold a street party-style event with their neighbours.
  • Parents may like to have the opportunity to discuss career development in a fun way with their children at home.
  • School, TAFEs or universities may be looking to create events that showcase career development in a way that engages and excites young people.
  • Career guidance centres may like to introduce more people to their service and get them actively involved in their individual career management.
  • If you run regular career-focused events, or are planning one around June 2007, you may choose to schedule them during NCDW; the publicity generated nationally will add a buzz to your activities.

If holding an event is new to you or your organisation, or something you do infrequently, the NCDW and the resources available at www.nationalcareerdevelopmentweek.com.au could be exactly what you are looking for!

Spread the Word

The NCDW event kit provides you with the tools to ensure your event is a great success. Advice on promotion and publicity is a feature of the kit. Suggestions include:

Promotion

Blitz the neighbourhood

  • Place posters in store windows and on community bulletin boards.
  • Put notices in email bulletins.
  • Tell friends, relations & colleagues.

Make sure you include event information, a contact number to call for more details and a map or directions to your venue.

Tap into your local community organisations, eg. Rotary and Lions Clubs

  • Members of your community may be happy to lend their support and assistance, eg. help with organising trestle tables, chairs, projectors, sound system and urns. Sometimes they have established relationships with local companies that lend them these types of goods, or hire to them at a discounted rate.
  • Include articles, advertisements and/or invitations to your event in local organisations’ e-newsletters, community papers, etc.

Talk to your local city council

  • Your local city councils or shire offices are always interested in promoting local activities. They may also produce a regular community newsletter or calendar of local events, which could promote your NCDW activities and follow up with a story and photos about the success of your event.

Hold an open house

  • One of the aims of NCDW is to introduce people to the places where they can go for career information and support, opening your employment centre or career information office to the public would be a great way to achieve this outcome.

Invite local celebrities, to draw a crowd

  • Ask the mayor, a councillor or your local MP to attend your event and launch your community’s NCDW.
  • Send a personal letter, inviting them to talk about their career path or another inspirational message. Encourage them to promote their involvement.

Invite your target audience

  • For some events, it may be appropriate to send a formal invitation to your audience.

‘Your Career Just Got Bigger’

One of the key messages of the inaugural NCDW is ‘Your Career Just Got Bigger’. The Week’s events are designed to help people understand they have more skills, knowledge and aptitude than they realise (often gained from their ‘non-job’ life roles as well as through work).

More Information

If you wish to be placed on a contact list to receive NCDW e-newsletters, please register your details via the online expression of interest form at www.nationalcareerdevelopmentweek.com.au or send an email to [email protected] .

Reprinted from the ‘Get the Life You Love! Get Excited…Get Involved…Get Results! A Guide to Hosting a Successful Event During National Career Development Week’ event kit, with permission of the Department of Education, Science and Training, copyright holder.

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