Careers Advice Services for Students

The experienced advisory staff at the Careers Centre are available to assist current University of Sydney students and recent graduates (course completion within the past year) with career-related queries and difficulties. This is a free service.

Your Careers Centre

You can now log in to Your Careers Centre to:

• View Job Ads
• Subscribe to Job Alert
• Subscribe to the Careers Centre Newsletter
• Book into workshops, presentations and other Careers Centre events.
• Submit your CV for checking

If you do not have a unikey log in but are either a current student or have graduated within the last year, please email us at or call 9351 3481 and we can sign you up to job alert and book you into workshops or presentations.

Job Ads

All job ads sent to us by employers are posted on our noticeboards at the Careers Centre as well as Departmental noticeboards. They are also placed at Your Careers Centre.

Job Alert

Sign up to Job Alert to receive daily updates on new jobs ads placed at Your Careers Centre. These are primarily full-time jobs targeted at graduates or near-graduates.

Job Alert is helpful for both local and international students who will be available to start work full-time either in Australia or Overseas (depending upon the nature of the ad).

To register, visit Your Careers Centre and click on "Job Ads Alert Subscription". Please also visit this page to unsubscribe.

Workshops

Student workshops are held at the Careers Centre on a regular basis. They cover a range of topics including CV writing, job search and interview skills. See Your Careers Centre and click on "Events Calendar" for a timetable of workshops. To register, select the workshop you wish to attend and click "register".

Workshops include:

Applying for Graduate Jobs
This is a one-hour seminar that runs in Weeks 2 & 3 of Semester 1 and includes essential information for final year students. A graduate employer together with the Careers Centre provide information about the graduate recruitment process, key dates and graduate events, and an employer’s perspective on what they look for in a graduate and how to stand out from the crowd. See workshops list for date, time and venue details.

Writing Job Applications, CVs and Cover letters
This session will give you a basic knowledge of CV and letter writing (including application forms) by focusing on the employer's requirements. This information can also be gained by using the online tutorial Resume Express.

If you have the basic knowledge but need more help or you have some specific questions, you should attend our CV Clinic instead.

CV Clinic
The CV Clinic is targeted at students who have compiled a resume or job application but would like some more assistance with their applications. We will assume that you have either been to a Writing Job Applications, CVs and Cover letters workshop (see above) or that you have used Resume Express to compile your resume or that you have attended a faculty module about cv writing.

It will be a practical workshop where you will work in small groups and you need to bring with you a copy of your cv or job application and a list of questions that you want to ask. If you have used the Careers Centre’s CV checking service, please also bring a copy of the material submitted and the comments given.

Graduate Career Opportunities and CV Writing for International Students
This presentation is tailored for International Students seeking Graduate jobs either in Australia or overseas.

It will also assist international students who need a basic knowledge of CV writing. It covers what you need to include in an Australian CV and how CVs differ depending on different cultures.

Interview Preparation
This session looks at the preparation required before an interview and gives an insight into what happens in different types of interviews including assessment centres.

Interview Practice
This is a practical session aimed at giving you practice in answering behavioural questions and receiving feedback on your answers and body language. Please note that you must have attended an interview preparation session prior to attending this workshop as we will assume that you know the basics about interviews.

Interview Preparation and Practice for International Students
This presentation covers the same material as the workshop noted above, with a special focus on informing and skilling international students in the Australian job interview context.

Career Exploration Workshop
This is a 2.5 hour workshop designed to help you get started on your career planning and to develop lifelong career planning skills. Participants will be involved in several activities looking at their past, present and future career directions. The emphasis is on constructing your career - reflecting over your career and study pathways so far and writing the next chapter of your career story. This workshop takes a narrative approach to designing your career. At this workshop, participants will experience the opportunity to assess current career goals and plans; reflect on career influences; identify key employability skills; and more effectively approach career development and career decision-making. This workshop is suitable to both undergraduate and postgraduate students across the range of degrees. The workshop is conducted by experienced career development professionals and the group size limited to 6 participants.

One to one advice sessions

Students who have career queries that have not been answered by visiting our website and/or attending a workshop can book in to 15 minute advice sessions with a Careers Advisor. These sessions are held between 9.30am and 12 pm Monday to Thursday and 1.30pm to 4pm on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Please note that sessions are only made available to students one week prior to appointment time. Appointments may book out quickly so it is best to ring on Monday for an appointment the following week. Students who fail to turn up to an appointment without prior notification will be required to wait a period of one month before making a new appointment to see a Careers Adviser.

24 hour CV checking service

You can submit your CV (or cover letter, application or selection criteria) for a quick 2-3 minute scan by a Career Education Officer. We will give you feedback on your documents within 24 hours (this applies to submissions made Mondays to Thursdays).

Each student is entitled to only 2 CV checks during the year
It is important that you ensure that the application you submit to us is of the same quality and standard that you present to a graduate employer.

Applications that are considered to be an initial draft only will be returned to you without review and will be counted as one CV check. Please follow the Guidelines below and then submit your CV.

CV Submission Guidelines- Ensure that your application is of high quality
Before you send your resume through please:

• Read the information on CV writing, Cover Letters or Selection Criteria at www.careers.usyd.edu.au/students/jobsearch/applications.shtml.
• Go through Module 4 of Resume Express before you submit your CV or attend a cv writing workshop.
• Check and correct any spelling and/or grammatical errors.
• Visit the following website to see sample copies of resumes and templates (in MS Word format) to help guide your formatting: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/results.aspx?Scope=TC&Query=resume.
• For help with written expression, visit the ‘Write Site’, run by the University of Sydney.

Many employers list “written communication skills” as one of their requirements, and are likely to be assessing this through the standard of your written application. For this reason, the Careers Centre does not make any corrections to CVs submitted for feedback as it would be misleading to employers.

Also note that many employers seek skills such as “attention to detail” and “good computer literacy”, so please ensure that you demonstrate these through the quality and presentation of your application.

What can I submit?
Because we are only offering a quick scan, we ask you to limit the material submitted for checking (for example, one Cover Letter and one CV only). Where appropriate, please also attach a copy of the job advertisement as a Word or .pdf file.

When can I collect the CV and feedback?
You will receive an email acknowledgement from us letting you know when your CV can be collected. If you submit your application to us before 2pm, Mondays to Thursdays, you can pick up your resume the following morning from 10am at the Careers Centre.

Please note that there may be times when we are unable to meet this deadline due to unforseen circumstances, such as staff illness. For this reason, we recommend that you allow sufficient time and do not submit an application for checking shortly before the application closing date. You need to allow yourself time to read the feedback and, if necessary, make changes to your application.

We will not accept more than 2 CVs per year from any one student, so make sure you collect your CV and revise it as necessary so as to gain the most from this service.

Where can I collect the CV and feedback?
You can collect your CV from the Careers Centre, located on the Ground Floor of the Mackie Building.

Students from Cumberland Campus may choose to collect their resume from the Careers Centre or from the Student Services Reception, Cumberland Campus, after 3 business days. Again please note that there may be times when we are unable to meet this deadline due to unforseen circumstances or when mailing services to Cumberland Campus may be experiencing delays.

Submit your CV
Click here to submit your CV through Your Careers Centre. The CV Checking Service is available Monday to Thursday.