Graduate Profile: Health Science (Health Promotion)

Kelly McLaren completed a Bachelor of Health Science (Health Promotion) and gained a position as a Community Development Officer (Youth Sport and Recreation).

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

Community Development in the areas of Youth, Recreation and Sport. Building the capacity of community groups, sporting clubs and schools towards accessing relevant programs, grants, and services. Involvement in Youth Advisory Committees and subsequent events. Working throughout the Eastern Eyre Peninsula.

Have the skills you developed at university been an important part of your job? (Have you, or are you planning to undertake further study?)

Many of the skills I developed through University would help in a variety of positions, however there are definately areas which have been used specifically in my position which were developed through my course.

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

I suppose from the very beginning when you are wondering exactly what another three years of study is going to help you with. You really start to weigh up the options of to study or not to study...but I think in the end you realise that once you're there and once you figure out exactly which way you want to head, the road doesn't seem quite so long..!

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

Do as much work experience as you can. Not just for your future employers sake, but for yours as well. There is no point deciding in your first graduate year of employment that it's not want you want to do. Experience as much as you can and learn from it.

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?

Nothing prepares you better for a job than hands on training.

How did you go about finding graduate employment?

Initially I sent out a mass of cover letters and resumes. However with my currrent position, I applyed after viewing an Advertisement on an employment listserver.

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

General process of addressing the job and person specification along with submitting a resume. An over the phone interview was then conducted (due to myself being interstate at the time) and the job then offered.

What did you do to prepare for the interview? What sorts of questions were you asked?

Covered all points outlined in the application and job and person specifications. Researched the region the job was being offered in, being a country area I think it is important to know as much about the towns and region as possible. This for the reason that a lot of what you can do and what you can offer will be determined by the resources and needs of your community/ies. Questions relevant to the job itself and my knowledge of community development were asked, along with general questions based around what I could offer the position.

Do you have any helpful hints for graduates?

Never settle for something you don't particulary enjoy, there are plenty of jobs out there, and with the experience University and job placements have provided you with - the opportunities can indeed be endless...!!