v:Launch - Great attendance - Some thoughts and tips

Well it looks like we got 40 people attending at the v:Launch careers night. It was fantastic to see so many of you there. It was very important to the team at Velrada to be able to share our vision for the future and how that involves people from the graduate community as well as those with many years of experience.

It's pretty clear to every business leader in WA that skilled people are going to get harder to come by. So Velrada's vision of investing in the future, by providing training and investment in people is a well thought out strategy. Remember the message we attached at v:Launch for junior to mid-level people? "I am the future!", that's the way younger people and recent graduates should be thinking, in my view.

If you're at the early stage of your career it can be frustrating trying to get an opportunity. It becomes tempting to try and grab anything that floats by! So my advice is to stay focused on the kind of opportunity that will advance your career in the direction that YOU want it to go. If you stay focused it gets easier to communicate clearly about what you are looking for, so employers will then have a very good idea of where you are going and how they can help.

Now, it has to be said that enthusiasm and confidence will take you a long way, charm can maybe even take you further...but there is obviously no substitue for experience, even a little experience. I met with a representative of the Australian Computer Society this week who explained about foundation opportunities, where they work with employers to get graduates into positions that will help them to grow. Universities also have various programs to drive students to work experience opportunities, and I suggest embracing these whole-heartedly.

The follow-up then, is to document that experience clearly and in detail in your resume. I've seen a few resumes this week that talk so much about what "the project" was about and what it did. Sure, I need to know that, but I need to know specifics of what you did on that project. Were their opportunities for you to provide leadership, solve tough challenges, overcome communication issues with a customer, write documents, run a presentation and if yes to these, then for how long.

Writing a resume is hard, in fact I think it's as hard when you have many years of experience as it is when you have only a bit. When you have years of experience you have to know what to leave out, but when you're starting out, you have to find ways to expand on the bit that you have. A good way to expand is to describe what you learned and how it can be applied to future opportunities - in your oppinion. So practice this and have others provide a review


Well I'll close this one by saying thanks to everyone who attended. We truly do value your time and its encouraging to see you all investing in all of our futures, yours, Velradas and Western Australia's too.

Take care and keep learning!
Chris.
www.velrada.com