Alumni Newsletter - dKin Times March 2017, from the Vice-Chancellor

Our world is experiencing a confluence of fundamental disruptive forces – growing urbanization, the rapid growth of emerging economies, the acceleration of technological change, the challenges of an ageing population and the volatility that comes from living in an increasingly connected world. It impacts businesses everywhere, changing the nature of work and the nature of workplaces. 

Is it possible to future proof careers? Certainly many jobs are disappearing and many more are emerging, but careers are more than jobs, and there are skills we can all develop to help future proof our careers. In a complex world, accelerated change must be handled with agility, and the ability to problem solve, to analyse and to work across cultures and across disciplines are ‘must have’ skills. I think that resilience, our ability to take what life throws at us and use it to learn and to grow stronger, is also important. 

So how is Deakin preparing its graduates for lives and careers in this fast changing world of work? Making sure our students are job ready is key to work and life. Our economy needs knowledgeable, flexible workers with skills and knowledge, and ‘getting a good job’ is consistently given by our students as their main motivation for going to university.

I’m particularly proud that Deakin was ranked third in Australia for graduate employability in the 2016 Times Higher Education ranking, equal with the University of Melbourne and behind UNSW and Monash. It’s a ranking in which recruiters and employers rank the universities they think are best at preparing students for the workforce. 

Deakin was the first Australian university to appoint a Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Employment and Professor Dineli Mather has already implemented a number of sector leading programs. Deakin students are now connected with employers and employment from the beginning of their course thanks to our DeakinTalent portal – giving personalised career education and graduate employment opportunities to our students and to alumni. 

The Freelancing Hub gives students the skills to operate as a freelancer or a contractor, cloud based career coaching makes sure students can be supported even when they don’t have time to come on campus and our Interns@Deakin program gives students industry experience on campus. You may want to consider hosting a talented Deakin student? It can be a low cost solution for you to bring an enthusiastic and fresh approach to a project or task. 

I encourage you to explore some of these, and to check out the resources, podcasts and webinars on our website.

Jane den Hollander AO
President and Vice-Chancellor