This document discusses strategies to help recent university graduates transition into full-time employment when they are average students without strong career role models. It proposes making work experience a key part of university learning through hands-on projects with real businesses. It also suggests providing outplacement support to help students with resumes, interviews, and feedback to boost their job readiness and confidence. Additionally, it recommends developing an online system to connect job candidates with opportunities and allow graduates to share career stories and advice to expand professional networks.

1. IDEATE: Empathy Map

2. Francis
STAKEHOLDER NEED INSIGHT
Francis is a young 22
year old, who has just
completed her
marketing studies. She
is an average
student, and comes
from a family where
her parents and
brothers all work hard
at many odd jobs, but
are without a strong
career. She was under
pressure from her
family and friends to
be the first to gain a
qualification.
However, after an
initial effort to get full-
time employment she
has now decided to
take a year off and
work 2 odd-casual
jobs.
An
improved, additional
placement process
from university to
workplaces to provide
confidence, guidance
and mentoring
through the transition
phase.
Placement and
transition programmes
would ensure students
are job ready, have
someone to speak to
about their worries
and challenges, and
that they don’t give up
and drop out of their
chosen profession.
INSIGHTS:
• No “one” way to go about the process of getting employed
• Very stressful and not a lot of guidance once you have left
university, especially if you are not at the top of the class.
• Highly competitive, you need to knock on a lot of doors, be proactive
and sell yourself.
• Students are time-poor, working part-time, and find it challenging to
prepare adequately
• Students receive little feedback as to what they are doing well or need
to improve in interview process, especially when dealing directly with
clients and not through a recruiter.

3. Transitioning from university to work when you are an average student
without suitable role models
1. Graduate programmes for all types of businesses and students
2. Business mentor programmes
3. Buddy and mentor programme with student and work experts
4. Reward programme recognising students with full time
employment
5. Guarantee work contract for a long term period, ie, 2, 3, 4 years
6. Pay students who enter full-time work above social welfare
7. Provide corporate tax relief to business who employ graduates
8. Pay more for full-time V’s casual jobs
9. Provide other subsidies to businesses who sponsor new
graduates, make it attractive
10. Make working a key component of learning – make learning
experiential
11. Run office and business starter beginners course for students
12. Outplacement programmes to help draft CV’s, portfolios and
interview techniques
13. Positive psychology classes to help imagine different options
and possibilities
14. Build into courses a section on planning a career with multiple
start points and paths to drive confidence and desire
15. Courses and learning to teach that life and career are not
linear, be all and end all…just start
16. Work placement programmes for all students
17. Extend corporate graduate programmes
18. Apprenticeships extended past trades to all career options
19. Mentor business programmes
20. Learn and practice to be part of all education assessments
21. Promote superannuation and other benefits of full time
employment to students
22. Discount uni fees to those who enter full-time employment
23. Build job placement into last year of the course to gain
certification
24. Back to basic philosophy – make finding a job and meeting
people less daunting, social/crowd sourcing networks
25. Role model, video and play games to imitate real life situations
26. Sponsor a graduate programme with quotas instead of
dole/welfare/casual options
27. Extend and make career days mandatory
28. Share real stories and case studies of benefits and
success, challenges and learning's online.
29. Set-up mini-linked in group for graduates and job placement to
build networks
1. Develop online system to connect candidates with jobs…job list
2. Increase career counselling and support at Uni
3. Develop online crowd sourcing for students who have joined workforce so they
can learn from each other
4. Set up social meeting places before and after work to keep uni connections
5. Uni alumni to play a hand holding role in first year of transition with relevant
forums
6. Govt to provide new worker start bonus to students moving to full-time
employment
7. New work starter benefits – cheaper travel, food benefits
8. Training on how to ask questions and build relationships in the workplace
9. Make all students who graduate join the army/govt / or not-for profit for the first
2 years of work experience in their chosen field
10. University students to be given real projects from real businesses as part of
course
11. Referral programmes, from friends, family
12. Set up car sharing to make it easier to get in and out of work and social
13. Tell life stories of how people have progressed in their career and where they
started, i.e., the element, Ken Robinson
14. Reflect and visualise on long term life goals with students – what sort of lifestyle
they wish to live.
15. Promote networking and referrals amongst students at Uni
16. Get students to work on projects that the university need done
17. Universities with innovation hubs to promote and attract diverse skills sets and
students to join, ie, from tech to marketing and design, science, etc.
18. Media to feature young people starting out working – ie, promote and document
the challenge of employment, i.e., like the amazing race
19. “Speed dating” style nights for business and student to learn more about each
other
20. “bring a student to work day” as a recognised event
21. Get younger, new staff to be the voice of business to demystify “bigger, more
serious” workplaces.
22. Use diversity and equal opportunity structures already in place to introduce ‘first
Job” as a segment for inclusion

4. Transitioning from university to work when you are an average student
without suitable role models
1. Make working a key component of learning – make
learning experiential
Each major part of the uni course should include a real
project in a real business in a different industry. The
businesses could be located locally and also interstate or
online to drive understanding of different markets. and
behaviours. This will help students build confidence in
applying their skills, learning how real business works and
building their networks. Whilst also providing some extra
resources to businesses to help them solve their
problems, plan and improve operations.
This idea could also be extended to introduce a year of
work experience in the final phase of the course in order
to graduate and to introduce the full-time work
experience, reducing fear, anxiety, whilst also
demonstrating that the student can adapt to new routines
and environments.
2. Outplacement programmes to help draft
CV’s, portfolios and interview techniques
As when corporations develop or retrench their
staff, subsidise (or build into University fees) an
outplacement style of service, where experienced people
can hand hold students to draft their
resume’s, strengths, insights and points of competitive
difference. This service could also assist with interview
techniques and facilitate constructive feedback for
3. Develop online system to connect candidates with
jobs…job list
Use the social tools and ecosystem available, to drive
community involvement from like minded people to share
their stories about how they have progressed through
each step of the employment process, including tips of
what to do/what not to do, video case studies of how they
felt, how where they started may not be where they are
now. I.e., to share the benefits of their experiences, and
career paths, the learning's, twists and turns along the
way, etc.
This ecosystem could then be used as a referral/jobs list
site also. Similar to many of the women's, or business
networks, this could be the student network for
connecting with each other, those people/professions who
can help them and with business who need staff.
It could be done with Facebook, LinkedIn, via a Govt
sponsored University programme or on it’s own as a
specific “crowd sourced” app.