Deakin creates one-stop-digital-shop to help students explore career options

Deakin University has corralled the chaotic World Wide Web and plethora of course guides inundating students with study and career prospects, creating a simple, one-stop-shop that pairs courses and careers.

The new mobile-optimised website Explore, offers offer students the benefits of their own career counsellor at the swipe of a screen or click of a mouse.

Instead of having to use search engines, or flick through bulky study guides, students can now click on the name of a degree to reveal succinct information about that course, as well as the multitude of career opportunities that match it.

Selecting the degree Bachelor of Sport Development, for example, shows students they can go on to work in fields as diverse as community sports, government, or professional elite level sports, in roles including development officer, facilities manager, player agent, sports coach, sports governance official, recreation officer and sports policy developer.

Deakin’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement, Professor Gary Smith, said the new site was a direct result of what students wanted.

“We surveyed school leavers and careers practitioners and found that secondary school students often felt completely overwhelmed with the amount of information provided by universities in everything from course guides to a multitude of websites, yet specific career outcomes were often unclear to them,” Professor Smith said.

“While it might seem like we are adding another website to the mix of options for students, Explore is the only site of its kind available for students that directly links careers with the courses available to chase their dreams.

“In an era where students are inundated with information overload about what they should study for which job prospects, Explore provides high level information about courses and careers – and matches courses to career outcomes and vice versa.

“So students can either start by searching for a course and see possible careers, or start with a career and see what courses could get them there.”

Selecting the career ‘criminologist’ for example, students can see that they can study numerous courses to reach their goal, including Bachelor degrees in Arts, with a criminology major, Criminology, Criminology/Cyber Security. Criminology/Laws, Criminology/Psychological Science, or Forensic Science/Criminology.

Explore also shows them other similar careers, such as crime reporter, crime analyst, intelligence officer, federal police officer, forensic psychologist, correctional officer or parole officer.

Professor Smith said Explore would also soon be available as an app, which would improve the mobile accessibility and usage of the site.