It might be time to think small when it comes to finding work experience and job opportunities. Outcome.Life CEO Gerard Holland and Research and Student Engagement Manager Teigan Margetts will be sharing their insights on the benefits and potential start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises offer to students and graduates in their early career development.
2. Gerard Holland
CEO and Cofounder, Outcome.Life
Teigan Margetts
Marketing and Student Engagement,
Outcome.Life
3. The Changing
Nature of the
Employment
Market
• Planning for the past in
the future
• Accountant, lawyer,
engineer?
• 50% contingent workers
by 2020
• Protean career
• Want to be the next
Ruslan Kogan?
4. What is the best
type of graduate
employment for
international
students in
Australia?
7. How do I get a job in a Startup?
● Start one!
● Networking - Startup orientated Meetups
● www.meetup.com
● Target Startups directly
● AngelList - http://angel.co
● Startup Victoria Job Board
GERARD
Introduction
Outcome.Life enables international students to search, meaningful compare and apply directly to Australian education providers. We’d like to invite you all to join our community and share our journey - we’ll provide details on how to do this later.
A little bit about us…
Both of us started our career journeys working for big corporations such as Pitcher Partners and KPMG
After a decade respectively in the corporate world, we climbed off the ladder to pursue the startup dream
Primarily motivation was to make a meaningful difference and a substantial impact, something we felt we couldn’t do for a corporation
Also, there has never been a better time to start a startup - unparalleled opportunity to succeed and the technology to do it.
So a startup is perfect for us - but why is it also perfect for you?
TEIGAN
The increased rate of change and technological innovation has led to our perceptions of the employment market being out of touch with the reality - we are planning for the past, yet living in the future.
For example, whose parents here wanted them to be an accountant, lawyer or engineer? Although these have traditionally been considered safe, stable and in-demand jobs, they no longer are. For example, the AFR predicts that within 10 years, 90% of all accounting jobs will be automated. There are currently 5 law graduates for every graduate lawyer position, and graduate engineer jobs are also fast getting outsourced to overseas, or are disappearing altogether after the mining boom. What we considered ‘stable’ jobs are being rapidly disrupted.
Not only are jobs changing, but so is the nature of employment. Deloitte predicts that by 2020, 50% of the workforce will be ‘contingent’ - i.e. working casually, on a freelance/project basis, or on a contract. Therefore, there will be less full-time permanent jobs, and more temporary opportunities, leading to more fluidity in the job market.
Job market fluidity, in the recent decades, has also lead to different types of careers. A new type of ‘career’ has emerged for millenials that is in stark contrast to the traditional career. Instead of joining an organisation as a graduate, and then moving up the ranks in a traditional career ‘ladder’, millenials are far more likely to move between jobs, industries and professions, constantly assessing the future job market and adapting their skills to thrive in jobs of the future. This type of career has emerged as large organisations no longer offer the stability they used to do, and also because more people are interested in pursuing not just a job, but a fulfilling career.
Millenials are also pursuing different types of careers because frankly, it is possible to achieve much more in a shorter amount of time. Think for example, about:
Gen George, founded Oneshift in 2012, it is today valued at $18 million.
Ruslan Kogan founded Kogan in 2006, now worth $320 million
Stewart Butterfield founded Slack in 2009, now worth $1 billion
TEIGAN
So we know what the ‘new’ employment market looks like, so let’s talk for a minute about the ‘ideal’ type of graduate employment for international students in Australia.
From our experience with students at Outcome.Life, international students graduates are looking for the following:
In many cases, temporary employment as they are on a 485 visa - permanent jobs may not be available to them as they do not yet have their permanent residency and employer sponsorship is is most cases not an option
Looking for jobs that give them a breadth of experience - i.e. it is important that they are exposed to as many different people, projects and functions as possible so they can decide exactly which direction they want to take their career
As much responsibility early on as possible - so they can challenge themselves and get ahead
So that’s the 3 key things international students have told us they want - temporary employment (to fit visa requirements), a breadth of experience, and as much responsibility early on….
TEIGAN
So let’s now take a look at what Startups typically provide from an employment perspective:
Startups are far more likely to engage consultants or temporary staff - in fact almost all startups would be looking for this type of employee. So they would only be looking for temporary staff (at least to begin with).
Statups provide the ultimate breadth of experience - as there are typically only a few staff, everyone needs to be a ‘jack of all trades’ and needs to do whatever is required. Therefore, staff get exposed to all functions within the business, and have a great degree of flexibility over their responsibilities.
Due to the small number of staff and the stage of the development startups are at, everyone has a lot of responsibility - for example, interns at our organisation are involved in everything from business strategy meetings, to marketing and branding workshops, to IT and technology strategy. They become multi-skilled very fast and as a result, have much more to offer us (and future employers).
Also, many Startups have not yet made significant profits, so would be more open to employing graduates as they typically cost less than skilled employees.
TEIGAN
Therefore, as you can see, we believe that there is a perfect match between what international graduates are looking for, and the type of employment and experiences that startups offer.
GERARD
So now we’ve hopefully convinced you that Startups do provide optimal graduate employment opportunities, we know that your next question is going to be - how do I get a job in a Startup?
One of the most obvious ways to get a job in a Startup is to start one yourself! If you have an idea, we’d really encourage you to go for it!
Of course, networking, as with all jobs, is another great way of getting a job in a Startup if you don’t want to start one yourself just yet. There are literally hundreds of Meetups for startups, so go along and attend a couple and see who you meet. Also ensure your LinkedIn is up to date and join online networking forums and communities.
Another great way to get a job in a startup is to target particular startups you want to work for. Unlike large organisations who may receive hundreds of unsolicited resumes per day, startups will receive far less hence will be far more likely to consider you.
There are also a couple of online job boards for those wanting to work for Startups, such as Angel List. If you register with Startup Victoria, they also have a job board with various opportunities.
GERARD
So we hope that we’ve at least convinced you to consider working for a Startup!
For more career advice tailored specifically for international students, join our community now by going to www.outcome.life and registering your details.