Why is job outcome support so crucial for student career success?
When starting a new career, there are several different ways you can find job success. But many newly-graduated students just don’t know where to start. Among all the well-meaning career advice articles and guidance, it’s easy for them to get distracted or even disheartened.
One thing we’ve found to be crucial in combatting this confusion and supporting our student’s ongoing career success is our Job Outcomes Program, and the guidance of our Job Outcomes Team.
What is a Job Outcomes Program?
Job outcomes programs, career support, employability help; these are all different names for the same purpose – to help students find a career pathway that suits them. Career support can give students insights into the current job markets, identifying potential employment opportunities and chances for networking in certain circles.
At the Institute of Data, we provide each and every student with dedicated job outcomes support from our job outcomes team, including an experienced career coach who is a trained recruiter that understands the industry. Our job support is something you begin receiving from the very first day you enroll with us, as we know it can mean the difference between success and failure.
How does our Job Outcomes support differ from other options?
Many online certifications and courses provide trainer support during the program. Still, this type of support is generally only focused on content related to the course and other specific industry aspects.
Comprehensive job outcomes support isn’t offered through universities or traditional education providers. Students in traditional settings, often feel they are left to fend for themselves in bigger, lecture-style environments without the 1:1 support that we offer.
“We’re constantly refining what we’re doing based on the feedback we get from our employer partners and our alumni in industry.”
– Jessica Haines, Head of Talent.
On enrolling, our students are provided with our Job Outcomes manual. This is an in-depth document covering everything from writing a resume, what to include in a cover letter, tips for your first interview, and even salary negotiations.
We also provide our students with the knowledge and confidence to do things like seeking out industry networking opportunities, finding potential mentors, and how to optimise your LinkedIn profile so job opportunities come to you.
The Job Outcomes manual stays with our students as well – they can take it with them throughout their career if they ever feel they need to reference it again.
Further, our job support doesn’t stop as soon as you graduate, or even as soon as you find work. Students have access to our job outcomes support for up to a year post-graduation. Even for students who find success after graduating, we always encourage them to get back in touch if they need help with salary negotiations or other job-related issues in that first year.
What can I expect from the Job Outcomes team?
Our Singapore students are highly motivated to be part of the TIPP (Tech Immersion and Placement Program) with their available subsidy. There are limited allocations that are granted by the IMDA, and to be eligible for this subsidy, students are required to complete our training program and achieve job outcome success within 6 months of graduation. Citizens of various backgrounds are encouraged to apply, such as:
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- Those looking to switch careers and transition into the tech industry.
- Existing IT professionals who are wanting to upskill themselves in line with the changing tech landscape.
- Individuals who are highly passionate about data science, cyber security or software engineering, and are looking to work in the field or even launch their own start-up.
Once you enrol in our programs, we first begin by working with you to try and identify your individual career goals. What’s your motivation behind studying? Are you planning to stay in your current role but further enhance your skillset? Are you getting back into the workforce after a career break, or is it a complete career shift?
Some goals require less job outcomes support, while some require far more. We make sure we adjust our processes to each student’s needs, as we know everyone is in a unique situation. Our 1:1 support is hugely beneficial here, as opposed to the support you can find elsewhere that’s delivered group-wide and therefore not as specific as it needs to be to provide the best support.
For students in our Australian and New Zealand cohorts, participating in our job outcomes program is not compulsory. But we’ve found that it can be the difference between success and failure, and we highly recommend it.
While students are contacted by our job outcomes team on day one of class, we also deliver a comprehensive program halfway through the course. We’ve found that this is a key time in the student’s learning as they’ve started to gain confidence in themselves and their new abilities, and their dream job is looking less like a pipedream and more like a reality.
This job outcomes session is engaging and interactive, where we provide a presentation and activities to encourage connection among the students. Students share their LinkedIn profiles with each other and are encouraged to connect and endorse each other’s skills with what they’ve experienced them doing in the course.
We also ask our students to create wish lists of where they’d love to work, and we walk them through writing an introduction statement that follows the BAGS (background, achievements, goals and strengths) framework.
Students are also able to contact us as many times as they’d like throughout the course. Some students come to us for help in finding the best jobs to apply for, while others come to us for assistance in perfecting their CV. We also conduct a number of different activities like roleplaying and interview preparation to empower our students to be in the best positions to achieve their goals.
We find the students who have the most job success are the ones who really lean into the support that’s offered them. They’re open-minded, they take on feedback, and they can communicate well. They’re also not afraid to ask for help if they need it – though we understand this can often be the hardest thing to do.
Between the students maximising every chance for job support, and our knowledgeable job outcomes team, it’s no wonder our graduates have a staggering 93% job success rate 180 days after course completion.
If you’re still unclear about our job outcomes support, we’d love to help. Book a career consult today to get clear on any questions you have.