Graduate Profile: Arts

Belinda Vivian completed a Bachelor of Arts and gained a position as a Human Resources Assistant.

Could you give us a brief description of what your position involves?

I have some administrative tasks such as filing, managing accounts, and managing the Human Resources Intranet site. I also provide new employees with an induction, I manage two committees and corporations study assistance, and am also involved in administering and evaluating on-line training courses.

What are the most interesting aspects of your work?

The variety of my job role, the range of people I get to meet, as well as the ability to continually develop my human resource knowledge, skills and experience would be the most interesting aspects of my work.

How do you see your future job prospects?

I think my future job prospects are good because human resources (HR) is an increasing job area, my biggest worry was getting into the field.

Have the skills you developed at university been an important part of your job?

Yes many of them have, particularly my research, communication and written skills.

How have you further developed the skills you gained at university since you've started work?

I have a much better understanding of computers and the Microsoft Office products, as well as being able to apply the HR theory that I have learnt to real situations.

At what stage during your studies did you begin to think about employment choices and options?

All the way through, especially after first year.

With your experiences in securing employment what advice would you give to students who are in their first, second, and final year of study?

Make sure that your take advantage of all the programs that the University offers particularly the Work Ready program and the mentor scheme because these two programs enabled me to get the job that I did. Work experience is very valuable.

Did you undertake postgraduate study? If so, what course(s)?

No, not yet

Many employers presenting employment information sessions have commented on the importance of students undertaking extra curricular activities during their time at university. Could you comment on this?

Any thing involving team work or that would improve communication skills would be beneficial.

How did you go about finding employment?

The job that I have now is where I did work experience, so when a job became available I was asked to interview for the position.

Can you briefly describe the application process relevant to your position?

I was lucky and only had to attend one interview but I did do a lot of preparation for the interview with my mentor from the Mentor Scheme through Uni.

What did you do to prepare for the interview?

Prepared answers to questions I thought might be asked and practiced answering them to my mentor. Thought of questions to ask them. Prepared what to wear and though about interview etiquette.

Do you have any helpful hints for graduates?

All of what I have said above