Professional Development Program

Upskill and get hired

Macquarie University offers students various opportunities to participate in career development programs. View the programs we offer below.

Delivered online by the Career and Employment Service, this program offers the opportunity to undergraduate final and penultimate year students to up-skill and learn the key secrets to getting hired and building a career!

The program consists of five mandatory workshops over the course of the session, plus additional elements as per below.

Eligibility

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree (post-graduate students are not eligible to apply)
• Final and penultimate year students only
• Must be a currently enrolled student for Session 2, 2021
• Domestic and international students from all faculties at Macquarie University

To be awarded the Professional Development Program Certificate, all participants must:

• attend in full all five professional development workshops (dates below)
• attend at least one general careers workshop, approved employer presentation or Careers Advice appointment (booked through CareerHub)
• attend at least one event during Careers Week (eg Virtual Careers Fair, online faculty events or employer presentations)
• spend a minimum of 20 additional hours developing their skills on an individual basis (eg creating application documents, creating their LinkedIn profile, completing the program workbook, completing online activities through MyMQ Career Zone and other homework tasks to be completed outside of workshops)

Program

The program will cover:

• employability skills
• researching your career options
• exploring career pathways
• job hunting
• applications including resume and cover letter writing
• interview preparation
• assessment centres
• LinkedIn and networking
• transitioning to work, and much more.

Benefits

• Develop key employability skills and get a head start in all things careers.
• Know your value to employers and learn how to market yourself successfully to organisations.
• Learn how to prepare an effective real-life application.
• Increase your confidence and competence.
• All students who attend all sessions receive a certificate of completion.
• The program will be included on your Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).

2021 S2 program dates

Applications are due Wednesday 28 July 2021.

• Online Workshop 1 - Wednesday 4 August 12pm – 2pm
• Online Workshop 2 - Wednesday 18 August, 12pm – 2pm
• Online Workshop 3 - Wednesday 1 September, 12pm – 2pm
• Online Workshop 4 - Wednesday 29 September, 12pm – 2pm
• Online Workshop 5 - Wednesday, 6 October, 12pm – 2pm
• Program completion - Monday 18 October
• Awards Ceremony - Wednesday 27 October (attendance not compulsory)

Testimonials

"PDP was a platform which helped me gain greater insight into the perspective of an employer and some efficient methods to stand out as an employee. Soon after my successful completion of the program, I was able to secure an internship with an engineering firm due to the cold calling techniques covered in PDP. I got in touch with the recruiter of the firm through cold calling and was able to send in a direct application which eventually led to the internship. This added to my skills, experience and resume which played a part in my achievement as NSW International Student of the Year 2018 Finalist."

"I really enjoyed this program! I wanted to thank you for forcing me to put myself out there and encouraging me to socialise. If it weren't for PDP, I would've still be lost not knowing what to do or how to do things appropriately."
Devina

"Was offered an internship after a coffee meeting - 2 full-time job offers via LinkedIn. Gained greater confidence during the overall job application process especially on resume and cover letter writing. I now have a better understanding of my values and how I can use to help my career planning."
Lorenzo

"I was able to apply some of the learnt interview skills from the program to a recent interview and that helped me score an internship. So I am very satisfied with the outcome of the PDP for me. My favourite part was the mock assessment centre session. It was very engaging and made me learn a lot about the kind of person I am in a teamwork setting."
Zainab