ProGrad Brisbane

An Accountant, an Admin Clerk, and their Manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the Admin Clerk.

“I want to be in Hawaii, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world” Poof! She’s gone.

“Me next! Me next!” says the Accountant. “I want to be in Bali, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of cocktails and the love of my life.” Poof! He’s gone.

“OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the Manager.

The Manager says, “I want those two back in the office in an hour.”

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say!

According to ‘The Telegraph’- Article by Jeremy Warner (DEC 2011)

ProGrad is trying to put out the warning for all graduates that there may be some tough economic times ahead.  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news)

Now is the time to brace yourself and get clued up about the types of industries and roles available.  Our recommendation is to research the industries which will come out on top during the uncertain times ahead. Try looking at publications such BRW (Business Review Weekly), The Australian, SMH, Marketing Mag, CRN, ARN, Adnews and B&T to name a few.

To give you a helping hand, ProGrad have done some of the work for you. We have researched the top performing Industries that will help you make an educated decision on the best suited career path after University.  

With January kicking off to a rapid start, 2012 is looking to be a very busy year!

This brings GOOD news and BAD news

The good news is that there are many organisations that have great Graduate positions available through ProGrad.

The bad news is however that it is an extremely competitive time of year for graduates as many students graduated at the end of the previous year and are actively looking for full time corporate positions.

As I said before, the news is good and bad!

At ProGrad we understand the frustrations of looking for a job. This competitive time of year can bring an abundance of rejections and many broken spirits. However it’s important to remember that thousands are in the same boat as you and every ‘NO’ received can only bring you closer to the perfect ‘YES’ position. If a job is worth fighting for, then of course it’s going to be competitive!

To help you ‘Get your head in the game’ ProGrad has the following game plan to help you win:

-          Create a perfect Resume that’s tailored to every position applied for

-          Get a professional Voicemail

-          Invest in a suit

-          Ensure your looking well groomed

-          Research the company

These are some of the strategies to ensure you score the perfect position!

ProGrad specialises in Corporate Business Development Graduate roles. With many years of experience and reputable corporate clients behind us, the opportunities we can offer are huge. If you would like to be a part of the ProGrad network to see how we can offer you a foot in the door, then contact ProGrad at: info@prograd.com.au or call: (02) 8235 8300.

It’s the time of year when the flowers and blooming, the sun is shining and everyone is sneezing… it’s spring!

Spring is one of ProGrad’s favourite times of year as it gives everyone the chance to clean and brush up on their job hunting skills!

Why not take advantage of this sunny season and start spring cleaning through your resume. ProGrad can help you every step of the way to ensure your resume is sparkling clean and ready to send away!

Here at ProGrad we recommend to start tidying up the following areas:

• Dust off your boring list of subjects studied all the way back in the HSC
• Clean up your Cover Page to not include your life story
• Polish off your relevant experience and jobs (take out your KFC position you had for 2 months when you were 15)
• Sort through your references to ensure they are aware and are going to say something positive about you!

If you have any more questions about how to write a great resume, or if you would like to know how ProGrad can assist you in other areas, please don’t hesitate to email ProGrad at:

info@prograd.com.au,

Alternatively, you can call ProGrad on:

 (02) 8235 8300

ProGrad are experts in the field of graduate recruitment in Australia. Since 2005, ProGrad has been responsible for the assessment of thousands of University graduates, and we have become known as the most trusted advisors in this space. Wherever possible, we like to make reccommendations to graduate job seekers which will assit them in their hunt for a graduate career opportunity. So, what are some of the challenges that graduates face when job hunting?

In the ideal world of job hunting and applying, you will get a few calls from a few unknown numbers which could be potential interview offers. So when you know you have applied for jobs and your phone rings, what should you do?

You should answer it!

Better yet, answer your phone, excuse yourself for a moment and then find a quiet place where you can have a good, clear conversation. There is nothing worse than trying to understand a person through a breaking up phone line. The first impressions of you could be negative and information could be lost such as crucial interview times and locations.

To maximise your phone interview experience, make an Excel Schedule of jobs applied for, the date you applied for them, and the contact you were given through the application. This will help you not be caught off guard and not have to ask- ‘excuse me where are you from again?’

So remember, break up with your dodgy mobile service and not your career!

ProGrad are specialist in the field of graduate recruitment in Australia. With 100′s of applications on a weekly basis, we aim to help as many graduate as we can to navigate the path of finding their ideal opportunity. If you would like to be considered by ProGrad for any of our ProGrad opportunities, then please give someone in the ProGrad office a call on 02 82358300. Alternatively you can email ProGrad, by contacting us at: info@prograd.com.au.

ProGrad have recently welcomed a new team member into the Sydney office. Waffaete is a recent university graduate that has come through the ProGrad assessment day.

Waffaete was a memorable candidate on the day as she deomstrated her maturity, professionalism, drive to succeed and strong communication skills.

Waffaete has joined the ProGrad team as a Business Development Manager. She now works within the sales departments helping to generate new business leads and assist other recent university graduates in finding a secure full time position.

The team at ProGrad would like to welcome Waffaete, and wish her all the best in her new role!

If you are a recent graduate, or an organisation looking to recruit a graduate, call ProGrad directly on 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

Luke studied Business Commerce at Monash University and worked as a tennis coach and factory worker whilst he was at university. Luke has described his experince at the ProGrad assessment day as ” nerve racking and challenging but a huge sense of accomplishment when successful. Either way a fantastic learning experience!”

Luke was offered to attend an interview for a graduate role at Pitney Bowes. ” I am a Sales Executive within a large territory in mebourne.” Luke, ProGrad Graduate. Luke has attended 4 training modules within his first year of employment at Pitney Bowes.

” The training is a very open and appraochable forum where great content is covered and related to specific roles, also where honesty and openess is welcomed and respected. I would recommend ProGrad to any recent graduate because the training courses and very relevant and applicable to the real world.” Luke, ProGrad Graduate.

If you are interested in finding out more about ProGrads training courses, please call us directly 02 8235 8300 or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

ProGrad is a graduate assessment, placement and training centre. Each week ProGrad will run assessment days in Sydney and Melbourne in order to select the top 4% of graduates to place into fast growing international organisations.

Unfortunately at each ProGrad assessment day, we have to turn away some great candidates, each for a completely different reason.  If you have been unsuccessful at a ProGrad assessment day, we urge you to call us for some detailed feedback.

Whether you have attended a Sydney or Melbourne assessment day, please call the ProGrad Sydney office on 02 8235 8300 to speak to someone in the graduate management team. Alternatively, if you are a recent university graduate looking to start full time work, please call ProGrad for more information on our services, or visit ProGrads website at www.prograd.com.au

At ProGrad, we’re primarily dealing with “generation Y” (yuk, I’m really starting to dislike that term).  Regardless, these are recently graduated individuals about to embark on their graduate career.  Great news!  Although…there are a few things to be aware of…

1) Voicemail:  expect that prospective employers will be calling you upon receipt of your resume.  With that in mind, REMOVE those “joke” voicemails.  Record a new, corporate sounding message.  If a potential employer calls your voicemail and is less than impressed, you can probably expect they won’t be a) leaving a message or b) calling back.

2) Email address: if your email address on your resume is that same one you registered in your school days, and represents something like sillychick1986, my professional recommendation is to CHANGE IT!  Goes without saying, right?  You’d be surprised…we see it all here.

3) Public Facebook/ Myspace profiles: just make them private.  Please! 

That should help for starters…assuming the rest of your resume is free from grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and photos.

For more information about structuring your resume, you are welcome to attend a ProGrad assessment day.  If you would like to find out more, please contact one of the ProGrad Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300.

Davinia

I was born in Malaysia, raised in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur until the end of High School. I am half malay, half australian. I swam and ran for school and state and absolutely love reading comics. I studied at Sydney University for 5 years, where it should have been 4 years but I went to Wesley College on campus, and between that and competing for Malaysia it took me a bit longer!

I graduated with a Commerce (liberal studies) Degree and majored in Political Economy and Management but my favourite subjects were usually Sociology.

I mainly did internships over the summer back in KL, advertising with Saatchi and then Market Research with TNS. Most of my work experience was bar work, I have been a bartender for about 4 years and it is by far the most fun job, up till now at least. I had been searching for a job for several months before I came across Pro Grad.

Initially the assessment day is very daunting, you think there are going to be a lot of egos and people shouting over one another but it was not like that, people were generally friendly but there was a definite air of competition. It is quite difficult to be heard and so you have to choose your timing and words very carefully. I found the tests to be interesting, there is no right or wrong way to go about them, but your personality will be exposed, whether you are a group leader, peacemaker, quiet and so on. I found the best thing to do was listen first and then try to resolve issues together, and even if someone wanted to be supreme leader it was beneficial to ensure everyone was heard.

Speaking in front of the clients made me a bit nervous so I gave up trying to read my speech and just went with it. It is definitely a good experience though.

Why did you select the role you did?

Books mainly, I jumped at the idea I could spend my days researching, purchasing and distributing books! My boss read all the same books so I knew we would get along. In the second interview I found that I may work with comics too and by that stage they pretty much had me hook, line and sinker. It was quite a junior role but since I had no real prior work experience it was great for me.

Tell us about the company…

Sorrento is a book company but I cannot say too much because I am bound by a lot of confidentiality oaths! On a day to day basis I help with operations, researching book prices (mainly tertiary), writing invoices, tracking their freight movements and finding new clients and suppliers worldwide. However just recently my time is moving to new markets and new products, mainly Comics and fiction books which is what I signed up for.

The ProGrad training was enjoyable, definitely interesting to be taken out of work and put in a room with people of similar situations. I made a lot of good friends and contacts and for me that was the greatest benefit of the training.

The first few days were good for life skills and self reflection, it definitely made me re think my life’s direction and how I may achieve certain goals; simple things, we learnt could make huge differences, you just have to work at it.

What advice do you have for other graduates thinking of using ProGrad?

Well, on the assessment day be yourself, just be yourself on your best day, don’t let people take charge, make sure you are heard and what you are saying is worth hearing! Don’t be intimidated and look the clients in the eye and be confident. 

Otherwise just DO IT! Save the hassle of scouring the internet day in and day out, looking for jobs which aren’t even looking for you! ProGrad, from start to ‘finish’ helped and worked with me every step of the way, taking into consideration all my thoughts and wishes and called me almost every day after the assessment to discuss job possibilities as well as following up to see what the next move is.

You get the extra benefits of training, meeting loads of interesting people and best of all Pro Grad got me a job in comics. So if you think you may have to settle for ‘some job’ right out of Uni just for experience sake… think again!

If you would like to apply for a ProGrad opportunity, please call our Graduate Management Team on 02 8235 8300, or apply online using the ProGrad application form.  To open the ProGrad Application Form please click on this link.