The Graduate Grapevine - Number 5, September 2006

NAGCAS Industry Visits – Sydney 2006

Rosemary Sainty and a group of colleagues from Sydney metropolitan universities were responsible for organising this year’s NAGCAS Industry Visits (an annual three-day event alternating between Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra); the theme for 2006 was ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR).

 “This was an excellent opportunity to both inform our national colleagues of developments in this field and give employers with a commitment to CSR practices an opportunity to showcase these.”

The purpose of these Industry Visits is to hear from different industries and employers of university graduates about the latest trends in their industries and recruitment practices, in order to provide university students with up to the minute information and assistance.

Participating organisations benefit by gaining a heightened profile across Careers Services and campuses, ensuring that the information supplied about their organisations to students is current. In addition, by having representatives from university Careers Services present it is an ideal opportunity for organisations to gain feedback on their graduate recruitment strategies. This year organisations were asked to involve staff responsible for the integration of CSR strategies within their organisations as well as their Graduate Recruitment teams.

The CSR themed NAGCAS Industry Visits Sydney 2006 program included:  

• Day 1 – Hosted by the University of Technology, Sydney. Talks from the Corporate Responsibility Index (St James Ethics Centre)and the AuSSI Index (from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes) to put everyone in the frame of CSR issues, followed by a hosted lunch, talks and tour of the new purpose built offices of Westpac– the best practice business leader in corporate responsibility.

• Day 2 – Hosted by MacquarieUniversity.Presentations by Unilever, Macquarie University’s Institute for Innovation and the pharmaceutical conglomerate, AstraZeneca.
• Day 3 – Boral provided an on site visit and talks including: Peter Pychtin from NORTHEAST qUAdRANT on his Live‘N’Learn Foundationand Young Professional initiative; and Mission Australia outlining their first ever graduate recruitment program and their corporate community partnerships. The three days were concluded by business ethicists Professor Stephen Cohen and Associate Professor Damian Grace.

Presentations from the event are now up on the national NAGCAS website for members – available as an ongoing national resource.

Feedback from delegates included:

“The CSR theme gave the program coherency and a purpose beyond the grad recruitment focus. I have also drawn on my Sydney experiences with students whose values suggest a more rewarding fit would be likely with potential employers who demonstrate a commitment to CSR. Counsellor and student awareness of CSR adds a valuable dimension to career planning and job seeking strategies.”

“It was impressive to hear the level of engagement of staff as they articulated the case for CSR.”

“I found it extremely interesting and valuable to learn about the processes and criteria used in CSR ratings – this will equip me to speak more knowledgeably to students about what CSR is and how to identify employers who have good practices, or are working on improving their practices. Hearing directly from employers about their experiences/processes was also very relevant; particularly, why they decided to make CSR a priority (the triggers) and how they have implemented CSR in a business/profit making environment. All very relevant when dealing with students for whom CSR/ethical employers are becoming more of a factor in their job search.”

http://www.gradlink.edu.au/content/view/full/2623