Regional NSW Career Toolkit – Pilot Launched
Future international students can now access free support about studying and finding potential post study work in selected regional NSW locations.
The Regional NSW (Technology-enabled) Career Toolkit was launched during a Study NSW industry webinar on 27 April. The pilot project has two components: a b2b component building a proof of concept course search functionality that is linked to job or occupation, and a b2c component which offers a free online Regional NSW Career Preparation course for students who are considering studying in NSW, supporting an initial 2 NSW universities.
Global Study Partners (GSP) and Successful Graduate (SG) joined forces in June last year and set out to develop the Toolkit to enable industry providers, agency partners and stakeholders to play an active role in supporting student enrolment decisions. The Toolkit has been designed to help boost the employability of international students, promote student well-being and support the recovery of the NSW international education sector.
In this context, the Toolkit seeks to provide access to reliable information for international students so they can make informed course selection choices. It is a technology-enabled mechanism that helps decision-making on education pathways that lead to potential employment in regional skilled shortages areas.
On the Global Study Partners platform, study and career pathways are mapped out for the two identified sectors per region: comprising Allied Health and Information Technology in the Mid North Coast region and Education and Allied Health in the Illawarra region.
The Successful Graduate component to the project provides future students with free access to localised versions of the Regional NSW Career Preparation Course. These course versions are available on the Successful Graduate sites built for Charles Sturt University and the University of Wollongong. The course is designed to support students who wish to understand what it is like to study, and subsequently apply for work in regional NSW.
The project delivers the international education sector with:
- a pilot digital search function for international student attraction that ties career outcomes in several key skill shortage areas with university course offerings; and
- an online course to support career preparation for international students and improve employability outcomes
The Regional NSW Careers Toolkit assists international student selection and preparedness for careers that focus on priority skill shortage occupations in regional NSW.
A project committee was established under the auspices of Study NSW, supported by ISANA, International Education Association Inc, with Charles Sturt University and the University of Wollongong as key stakeholders in the project.
The two universities which have participated in this pilot project have considered how their course offerings meet the changing needs of government and industry to support the post-COVID-19 infrastructure boom, enable large-scale digitisation of Australian industries, and support regional community industry needs – in their regions, the Mid North Coast and Illawarra.
The Toolkit project specifically focuses on career options available for international students completing course offerings at regional institutions in NSW. It focuses on the identified need for a clear nexus between skilled shortage areas and the education and training systems. To do this, the “NSW Skilled Nominated Skills List” is used as the primary reference point. Here, the list has been distilled to present career options associated with the successful completion of nominated degree courses at either regional institution.
The two free versions of the online Regional NSW Career Preparation Course are available to access via the links below.
Further information about this project is available from:
Successful Graduate – Mr Gordon Scott, gordon@successfulgraduate.com
Global Study Partners – Ms Nicole Zabbal, nicole@globalstudypartners.com
