Employability Forum Student Perspectives Presented by Zaheer Qazi

Employability Forum Student Perspectives Presented by: Zaheer Qazi & Sebastian Au

Perspective on International Student Experience Cost & quality of education Strong support network Cost of living (i. e. housing, commodities) Fair and equal treatment Career support & opportunities Quality of life

Student experience Great quality of education with some problems in teaching quality Wonderful support network if known Very high costs of living for international students Discrimination from employers Applied for approximately 100 part-time marketing jobs before landing first job Often, visa status is stated as reason for not being considered Lack of career support Moderate quality of life before finding job/ high quality afterwards

When students arrive at the airport

While looking for jobs

Reality in the job market

Different kind of students Disengaged students (need most support) Students seeking for independence (casual or part-time workers) Engaged students (student leaders who volunteer) Combination of independent and engaged students

Personal experience while studying Lack of employability support Got underpaid and unpaid many times Started volunteering during degree Got jobs but not career oriented Rejected from most of the jobs due to student visa restrictions Mental stress Not much student involvement in decision making for int’l students

Looking for first career job

Discrimination from employers Many students want to gain some work experience before going back to their home countries DIAC is supporting this by offering post-study work visas Businesses discriminate applicants with no PR or Australian Citizenship My experience: About to graduate Want to gain work experience in Australia before going back to Germany In the search of graduate positions in marketing Almost all listings are only open to Australian citizens or holders of PR

Discrimination from employers – contd.

Recommendations Create more opportunities for students within the institution Awareness and support for those being underpaid Student’s should be acknowledged for volunteering Facilitate volunteering to build leadership and personal skills Educate employers about benefits of employing international students

Recommendations Enforce stricter anti-discrimination laws against businesses Offer central career support services for recent international graduates Create career fair for international students Current career fair (The Big Meet) focuses almost entirely on local graduates Run internship programs for high-achieving international students