Work – Stuff Students Need To Know

Finding a Job

Scott Life as a student isn’t cheap. There are heaps of things to pay for: food, living on res or rent (and the bills) or for some, maybe a mortgage. And while the trusty student card may get you a discount on some things, it’s not common currency everywhere.

Sure, for those who qualify for Youth Allowance or Austudy, this is a nice start but is likely not enough to cover all of your expenditures. A simple equation shows that if expenditure is greater than income there is a loss. How do you solve this? You could try scrounging money from your parents, otherwise a part time job might be the answer.

You could try visiting some local businesses to see if there are any vacancies. There is also a job board located at both Gippsland and Mt Helen where local jobs are posted. It is near the door to Student Connect at the Gippsland Campus or outside the careers office on the first floor of the U Building at the Mt Helen Campus. FedUni also has an online job board called CareerHub which can you can get to by clicking this link:

https://federation.edu.au/current-students/assistance-support-and-services/student-career-hub

We are currently recruiting for PASS leaders for next year. Applications for these are open now and you can apply for these by following the link below.

PASS Leader:

www.federation.edu.au/PASS

Applications for these jobs close soon! PASS Leader applications are open until 9am Monday 3rd October 2016. If you want to know more about what is involved with these positions, you can contact Student Futures by emailing studentfutures@federation.edu.au or by phoning 1300 333 864.

Another job on campus that is flexible depending on your schedule is the position of a Student Ambassador. This job is tax free as you are paid with gift cards. Applications for this are different for both campuses. For Gippsland you can fill out an application form and for Mt Helen you’ll need to email Hayley Brennan.

Gippsland: http://bit.ly/AmbassadorApplication

Mt Helen: h.brennan@federation.edu.au

With these jobs mentioned above, other than being a Student Ambassador, you’ll have to pay tax, unless they’re paying you cash on the side, of course. The Army Reserve offers flexible work and is legally tax free. They also give you free accommodation and food when on courses and activities. More information about the Army Reserve can be found by clicking on the link below:

http://www.defencejobs.gov.au/army/about-the-army/army-reserve/

– Scott

Planning Life and Juggling Commitments

Sam As Uni students, we can often feel like we are trying to juggle hundreds of commitments at once. For example: finding the time to go to lectures, tutes, study, do assignments, keep healthy, work, family, friends, partners, getting drunk every now and then — the usual stuff! If you leave everything up in the air and unorganised it tends to get very easy to miss things and you end up having that dreaded feeling of regret when you know you should have done something but decided to take a quick nap instead.

I know you would have heard it all before: plan out this, plan out that, blah blah blah. But coming from somebody who never used to plan out anything, it really does pay off to spend a little bit of time to plan out different things in your life.

Continue reading Planning Life and Juggling Commitments

Working While Studying

Going to university is much like going to high school or having a job of its own — except, at this job, your work doesn’t finish when your contact hours end for the day. So, as most students know, there is usually little to no free time left when you factor in your lectures, tutorials and practicals (your contact hours) along with study, social time, any hobbies, commuting to the university and a little bit of rest and relaxation. Try fitting in a part-time job in there somewhere and, well…you almost have a recipe for madness! Continue reading Working While Studying

How to juggle study, assignments, work and family

My initial reaction is DON’T DO IT! But in saying that, I have juggled all these balls and more and survived to tell the tale.

My best tip of all is to get organised! “Not again with the organised bit!” I hear you say. Sorry, but it’s the only way I survived. The Library has resources and planners that can assist you in planning your week, month and semester. Take a few minutes to throw yourself into this rewarding task. Yes, I’m serious! It is rewarding when you allocate time and end up not being totally wasted from anxiety and stress.

It’s important to make sure that, when you slot in lectures, tutorials and assignment writing time, that you give yourself time to chillax. Otherwise, the wheels will fall off and you will be totally smashed.

So if I have inspired you to give organising a try then my job is done! Good luck in your studies. If I can do it, you certainly can!

-Jennifer

Moving towards a career!

Looking for a new job? I was, and when the right opportunity came my way I dropped in to see Deb and the team at Student Careers and Employment. After lots of help getting me ready for my interview I thought it might be a good idea to get some advice to share with you all.

It turns out that now is a great time to get out there and think about your job (and career) opportunities. There have been quite a few positions come available in the local area! First you need to make sure your profile is up to date on the career hub website. The profile of your education, skills and previous employment is matched against what the employers are looking for. If you match what they want then an e-mail will come your way. This is great because you don’t get e-mails for jobs that just aren’t you! You also need to make sure your resume is up to date. Many employers may require you to complete on line assessments and provide written responses to key selection criteria. If your resume is up to date then you can get started with your application as soon as your dream job comes your way.

You might also consider doing some volunteer work during the break! You get to provide some much needed assistance and at the same time build your local networks and improve your employability skills. Look for a role that relates to your discipline (for example an I.T. person helping with a web site!) as this will benefit you with experience and the group you volunteer for at the same time. Volunteer work looks great on your resume and the University has volunteer and leadership awards which add great personal development experiences to your volunteer work.

Deb pointed out that during the break is the perfect time to do some research about prospective employers. Many of the big corporations advertise their graduate roles in February-March ready for graduates to start work the following January! That means you could be starting the process just as you start your third or fourth year of study. The Uni also has a careers fair in March with lots of potential employers dropping in to show what they have to offer.

So there it is. Now is a great time to think about your future and get the ball rolling to find a career that suits you.

Good luck!

Glenn

What’s next?

The exam period is an extremely busy time for students and academics. For those who have finished their exams well done! You can now spend some time celebrating your achievements for the year. It is important that once you have completed all of your exams that you spend time relaxing, and forget about University (for the next month anyway!). You have worked hard throughout the semester and you should enjoy the break. Personally finishing exams can be a strange experience as you often feel like you should be still studying. It can take time to adjust to a different routine.

Try not to think about your performance for each exam as this can be consuming and a waste of energy. You can’t change your results so it is vital that you occupy your time with activities that you are interested in like sport or particular hobbies. I use this time to catch up with friends and family who I haven’t visited in a while. I also enjoy playing squash and will participate in a few competitions over the break. It is important that you use this time to recharge and come back fresh for next year.

I have made a list of things to do in order to keep your mind off University during the break.

Work.
Catching up with friends and family. (A great excuse to get out of the house).
Go to the beach (very relaxing, and it is starting to warm-up!).
Reading.
Travel (if your budget permits it!).

Some other ideas.

Learn a new language.
Volunteer (I have provided a link with a list of organisations in Victoria http://volunteeringvictoria.org.au/?gclid=CL3ww4fm86sCFQclpAodA1sFvQ ).
Organise a Flash Mob with your friends (this was done earlier this year at the University to promote the PASS program).
Visit an art gallery or museum that you know nothing about.
Attend music festivals.

What kind of things will you be doing over the break? Share some of your suggestions in the comments below.

My boss has blue hair.

You just never know what to expect with my boss. The SALs fearless leader makes quite an impression wherever she goes. You get used to the Mohawk hairstyle pretty quickly, it suits her. But to have hair that stands up way above your head has consequences. She has to sit far at the side of the lecture theatre so that she doesn’t block the view behind her, unless of course she has been in such a rush that the Mohawk is more of a stylish comb over. There have been a range of interesting colours this year from pink to white blond and now a momentous blue. What’s so special about this colour? Well check it out…

Ellen is sporting this new look for our brand new university. As at the 1^st of January 2014 we will be attending Federation University Australia. http://www.federation.edu.au/

Now I should take this opportunity to welcome the folks from down in Gippsland to the team. We’re looking forward to reading some blogs from our new friends there. From what I have learned so far things will run pretty much as usual for all of the students, there will just be more opportunities opening up as resources from the campuses start to be shared. Keep your eye out for more information as our Universities ‘level up’.

Cheers

~Glenn

Career Hub

Week four guys, starting to get into it now! Is everyone getting all their assignments done early? Of course you’re not, but like your work we’ll worry about that later. Most of you probably have all your textbooks by now, I bet your bank accounts loved that…Money’s a real pain in the donkey sometimes.

But hey, there are ways to get around that! If you find that your wallet has more cobwebs in it than you’re comfortable with, there’s actually a Careers and Employment service at the university that you can go to. It’s on the same floor as the bookshop, just further down the hallway past the Aboriginal Education Centre. I’ll give you a quick rundown on it; step 1: Log on to the system via https://careerhub.federation.edu.au/students/login?ReturnUrl=%2f. Step 2: update your profile so they can email you as new jobs come in Step 3: apply for positions and use the services the team offers to make your application stand out. Step 4 ???? Step 5: Profit!

The Careers Team basically goes out looking for available jobs FOR you, and then makes a little list of all openings they’ve found for you to pick and choose from. It’s extremely handy, and it means you don’t have to go looking in every single building for work, you just pop up to see them and reap the benefits.

You will still need to apply and interview for the job normally, but it saves you weeks of effort by not having to go searching yourself.

So yea, long story short, if you need a job to start earning some cash, go up and see the fantastic people in the Careers and Employment Team and they’ll make your life a million times easier. They’re also available to answer any general questions you might have about the service, so don’t be afraid! They’re great people!

Have fun guys!
~Brodie.

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