Your first job out of university

[vladi]

Just curious how you all went about getting your first job as a fresh graduate straight out of Uni. How long did it take, how many applications did you send out, and how did you find your first job in terms of what you expected, working conditions and such.

I'm currently finishing up honours in comp sci and will have to look for a job at the end of the year. I have applied for graduate programs with the various (mostly defence) companies - basically I am looking for a either a software engineer or security audit/network consultant type position. These graduate programs pay around 47K p/y which seems a pretty good salary for a graduate.

I know a guy who finished regular comp sci (without honours), who couldn't find a job for 7 months or so after he graduated, and the job he finally got only pays 39K p/y. And I know a guy who got straight passes in his subjects and found a job as soon as he graduated, but it only pays 25K a year.

Oh, and if you guys can think of anywhere else I should apply, feel free to mention it :) I am willing to travel interstate for work (I live in Adelaide).

Cheers.

[Plough]

Times have changed. There are more jobs than people in oz @ the moment. I don't think you will have any real problem. But as pay rates go , my first job was only 35k,and that took 6 years of study. But as you get older you move on to greener fields. Now I'm doing an unskilled job for 80k. Makes you wonder if the study was worth it.

[Cassa]

My first job out of uni was as a medical receptionist which paid 25k. The role turned into secretary, and then into transcriptionist (which is not an easy job I might add) because I was so damn good at it. I didn't get paid any more for that but it gave me some good stuff to put onto my resume, and my next job was as a research scientist paying more than double :)

[vladi]

Cassa: You raise an interesting point, in that a starting salary for your first job possibly doesn't matter as much as the resume additions and experience you get from the job itself. People i've talked to have said that getting your first job in software design is the big hurdle, because most jobs require 2+ years actual working experience.

[MyPetMonkey]

I'm different I guess as the building industry takes us out of uni early. I started working in the industry during my 3rd year of a 4 year course. I was a cadet that was paid hourly but at around the 8 month mark was employed as a contract administrator on a salary of of $35k + super etc etc with 1.5 days off to go to uni.

Pay increased as i got more experience and i'm now a Project Manager even though I only graduated 2 years ago. Very fast tracked partly fortune but it was good to get in early as uni doesn't always set you up for what it is really like in the field.

[That Bloke]

My career is nothing to shout about, I dropped out of highschool in year 11 bluntly due to a nervous breakdown(though my family couldn't really see that), I was unemployed for 2 years until I menaged to get an unendentured traineeship at a muffler shop, paid $4.27 an hour, the only other employee was also a trainee, I spent more time doing odd jobs on the shop owner's Jag(not any of it inside my job description), was "let go" after 6 months because because the shop basically couldn't afford 2 employees.

Was unemployed again for nearly 3 years until I got a job(after mum left) where I'm working now, I was a casual doing various jobs within the factory for just over 5 years before taking a permenant job as a cleaner on $17.63 an hour, an advantage though is that if higher classification permenant jobs come up at the factory & I choose to apply I stand a much better chance of getting them than I did as a casual.

[locust]

I'd been working as a software developer at the same place (on contract) for 18 months while at uni. They offered me a full time position once I was out of uni, and I took it. The main factor in my decision was knowing that I'd get to do real work on new products, rather than being stuck in a junior role that was all maintenance work and fetching people coffee.

I started on $40k including super. In retrospect I should have pushed for a few thousand more. (Also, Perth 2003 wages were noticably less than I'd expect to see on the east coast in 2006).

If I didn't stay on there I probably would have stuck around uni for another year and done honours.

I would agree that, so long as your immediate needs are met, the actual work you get to do is more important than your salary. Both your happiness and your ability to gain skills that will help you climb upward are important in the long term. (This holds in general, but I would consider it particularly important not to get stuck in a rut just as you're entering a field).

[Righteous]

I did a 4 year BE (Software) at UQ, so I'd be in roughly the same category as you, except you're not paying a shitload to IEAust because you rather like being called an "engineer". I applied for plenty of graduate positions, but in the end, the one that actually came through first was, surprise, my own uni's ITS department less than a month after I graduated. (Of course, you don't start applying then, you start well beforehand.) And it's not that bad.

Sure you might think "4 years, and now I'm STILL here?" but it's a nice easy shift into the workforce, a uni pays slightly better than a state government job, and the sort of work I do makes for a much larger CV than if I worked in a software development house.

Thing to remember is though, no matter how good you think your CV is, get it checked by somebody who sees a lot of them. My uni's student union had a service to check CVs and give workshops on writing them and doing interviews, and while I felt like an idiot going to them I learnt a lot. The whole "CV -> Selection Criteria -> Interview" thing is a hellava lot easier when you know what you're doing.

[Aardvark]

Uni? What's that?

[moonstriker]

Didn't make it into Uni, first job was during the later part of my TAFE studies working (part time) at a call centre. "Do I make you hot baby?" LOL no just kidding, not that type of call centre. More employment / recruitment type first line grunt work.

[dwarfthrower]

I had my job before I started Uni... I did my degree part time in the evenings while working full time during the day. Those six years are an absolute blur to me, not only was I studying most nights, but because I was trying to fast-track my career as much as possible, any nights I didn't have lectures were usually spent working until 10 or 11 at night.

[jeffxor]

I went throught he same paing in my last year of uni. Filling out all those crappy graduate program applications for IT positions. The excitement that you made to an interview then to find out there was like 8 positions , 4000 applicants and they were interview 800 people.

It really starts to get you down after a while. The worst experience I had was applying for the AMP recruitment were I spent a few hours filling out there application online, to find out by SMS 2 hours latter that I had been rejected.

I finally got a job in a small development place paying $45k + super. Working in a small development house meant I got to gain skills in many different areas, rather than just one area.

[Cordis]

When I graduated from university with a Bachlor of Commerce (Information Systems) I found it really hard to find work for 6 months. I was lucky enough to land some tutoring work at university in software engineering to hold me over.

Eventually I got work at a mid sized post production studio and got into motion capture and animation for television, movies etc. I was there for 3 year before I landed a job as a Product Development Manager for a software company. I do agree with past comments you tend to look back and try to work out why you bothered getting a degree. Most of the stuff I learnt was from either training courses, logic/experimentation or my best friend Google.

I can recommend at the moment that there is a severe shortage of skilled programmers. One of my friends firms can't get enough university graduates as to fill in the people leaving. It is not because of negative culture it's because they hire them at $40 K and only bump them up to a maximum of $45 K no matter how long they have been there.

[ShinymetalASS]

I looked on careerone.com, sent out a buttload of resumes and let chance take me where it did.

Two and a half years later, well, schmeh.

[btwong]

i started comp sci... and dropped out with only a few subjects left. The whole time through uni i had my own web development company (all of which i learn't myself), and i was getting more and more work.

I started sending out resumes cause i was sick of dealing with complete retards when it comes to clients and the interweb. Never once did i put in i had been at uni. Took me about 3 months worth of sending out resumes, then i started getting jobs. Each time i got a job, i would still send out my resumes looking for a better job, closer to home, more money, etc. Now i work for a web/software development company and getting paid well, and it is only a 8 minute (or 2 songs) bike ride (3 minute drive) away from where i live.

But i am still paying of my hecs bill!

[Cordis]

I looked on careerone.com, sent out a buttload of resumes and let chance take me where it did.

Two and a half years later, well, schmeh.

Yep I know plenty of people like that. The problem with sites like careerone.com.au is that they don't remove positions filled quick enough, alot of them are fake (they are more looking for good resumes) and alot of the positions are dodgey. For example I went to a job of seek as a junior programmer for $33 K. I got the job and it turned out to be phone technical support role starting at $25 K and I could work my one to the advertised position.

The best way I have found is to apply directly to the recruitments agencies and bypass the third parties. Also to make sure that you always ring after you make an application as it shows interest.

[BtrFly]

Ring - yes, just dont stalk.

My first job after graduation was working within IT recruitment ( i know, i have left there NOW). I had a B Comp Sci with majors in comp sci and mgmt. It wasnt a good job, but i couldnt program worth a damn. I was looking for at least 3 mths while i was finishing up my degree, but i started my job 4 days after graduation.

ATM - 2 years later i have moved interstate (country town now :( ) and i am looking at crap admin roles. god save me. Anyone know of anything in the swan hill region? :p

[ShinymetalASS]

looking at crap admin roles. god save me. Anyone know of anything in the swan hill region? :p


I heard there was a boy there :D

[Sagacious]

I got my start in the legal field before I left Uni I had 1 subject to go and got my articles of clerkship whilst completing my degree. Back then my salary was $15,000 p.a. and went up to nearly $20,000 when I got my degree.

When I got admitted as a solicitor it went up to a whopping $26,000.00.

Man that was a long time ago.

[BtrFly]

I heard there was a boy there :D
there is ;)

and there is now a job :) hehe got one this morning! :)

[HAL]

i finish uni this year, bbus (info sys and ecommerce). at the moment i work part time as a network engineer, it pays well and gives me time for other things. i left school after year ten and have worked in the same area since (going on 4 years) but i think it's time i moved on come the years end, but i'm not yet sure where to and what as :shrugs: maybe save some pennies and get loose for a year with a few surfboards under my arm... canaries isles, norwest wa, west vicco, sth coast nsw and tahiti all have a certain calling about them. stereotypical business student i suppose?? haha

[bitch]

Oh, and if you guys can think of anywhere else I should apply, feel free to mention it :) I am willing to travel interstate for work (I live in Adelaide).


Someone posted on WP that RailCorp are going to advertise for their grad intake in this weekend's SMH. So that may be somewhere else to try if you are willing to go interstate.

I'm not a graduate, rather I dropped out of a teaching degree but as far as any advice I can offer, I'd have to say be adaptable!

Start with something broad, find what you like, concentrate on this until you are in a position to specialise in it. However, be ready, willing and able to re-skill. I went from server ops to networks during the whole horrible post-2K decline. This diversity has meant that I'm now able to fill a fairly specialised role combining the two and I love it!

[thechop]

I'm going through this at the moment. I'm graduating at the end of this year with a degree in Chemical Engineering from UNSW.

I've been applying for jobs and it isn't going very well. I don't really understand. My marks arent too bad (WAM~70), I've done work experience in industry (vacation work last summer and still working there part time) and a token extracurricular bullshit bit (secretary of a society, camp leader crap). If there is meant to be a skills shortage why am I finding this so hard? Does anyone have any advice? Is it already too late for me to get a grad job for next year?

[and3w]

My first job after finishing uni was up to my waist all day in a peat bog, collecting specimens of nematodes and arthropods. It was cold & wet but dead exiting when you found something that shouldn't be there or something new. It was just a pain having to put the squares down, in waders, up to your waist on very uneven footing...didn't pay fuck all though.:-(

[Thorn]

I've finished my degree last year in december, doing computer games course. its now been 6 months, and still nothing. Me, project manager that dragged 9 people to complete there course, and got in third place for AGDC 2005, and nothing. Although my contacts in the games industry has tripled, and have been annoying them like hell. I'm hoping soemone will give me a job just to shut me up. lol

[Cordis]

I've finished my degree last year in december, doing computer games course. its now been 6 months, and still nothing. Me, project manager that dragged 9 people to complete there course, and got in third place for AGDC 2005, and nothing. Although my contacts in the games industry has tripled, and have been annoying them like hell. I'm hoping soemone will give me a job just to shut me up. lol

I've been in the Australian game industry and it's tough to break in. Try Team Bondi (http://www.teambondi.com/jobs/) there looking to hire quite a few people.

[Up_All_Night]

Im literally 3 weeks away finishing my degree in Multimedia / Business Marketing,
any suggestions on where or how to apply find jobs, i really am clueless to all of this.


Ive got some commitments over next month or two, then i'm completely free, i honestly am not sure how to go about it and trying to enjoy my time until im finished, going on a little holiday then thinking of getting serious into looking.
Problem is with no direction, whether to do something multimedia, or try for some marketing advertising or something, i dont know and will try anything i guess.

[locust]

There may be a whole bunch of "smarter" stuff you can do, in terms of industry contacts, work experience programs, seeing what your uni's guidance office says.

There's also the no-brainer one: go to seek.com.au, look for jobs you think would suit (stuff that says "graduate" is better) and submit your resume. Take the time to tailor a cover letters depending on your available time and care factor.

[Sanura]

Up_All_Night, I know how you're feeling... In two days I will be finished with my Bachelor of Creative Industries (Visual Arts) and have no idea what to do now... I have been trolling seek, and artshub (an arts industry website that has job listings) and other places, but no real luck finding an art related job. Luckily I know that the QAG is doing a huge intake of people in August, so I am hoping to get into a job there when that happens. Otherwise, it will be cold-calling and making a nuisance of myself if I don't get that one.

[Girl.]

I applied for my job a year before I finished Uni through a clerkship scheme and was offered graduate employment with the firm I clerked with after my clerkship finished, so thankfully I didn't have to worry about jobhunting after Uni finished.

My degree (law) finished about 6 months ago but half our class are still unemployed, and I know a lot of people who have taken jobs which don't require a law degree at all- bit of a shame, given the 5 years study.

[stinky]

I got a job at an ISP while at uni, changed to part time uni ( Bach IT ) and worked and never actually went much to uni, eventually stopping completely, since then I've worked ( sysadmin ) at a few ISPs, did some internet porn stuff before the bottom fell out of it ( my greatest achievment in my life was facilitating many terabytes of streaming video to millions of netizens ). then back to ISPs. I'm now IT manager at the Australian branch of a multinational entertainment company and have regular fully paid trips to LA.