Hi all,
Well it is definitely a late start to the blogging game this semester, however to say it has been busy lately is an understatement! The process of finding a placement at the start of the semester was an interesting time for me and I feel that there is a lot we can learn and assume from this experience, as I am aware that others had difficulty.
I have found the whole experience so far extremely rewarding, despite some serious setbacks in getting a placement, so I will elaborate. When I first began thinking of possible placement options I was of the opinion that if we, as (mostly) third year students, should be aware that we are giving our time and skills away for free. That is, we are not year nine or ten high school students, looking for a free ride with an organisation, rather if anything it is quite the opposite. Therefore, when I was deciding on prospective organisations I was adamant to pursue an industry, or join a company where there was a higher possibility of employment at the end of the internship, or at least ther was a recognition factor I could use on my CV.
I approached the largest companies with branches in WA, including Chevron, Woodside, BHP, RioTinto, Coke, Red Bull and several others. This was approximately two months ago and to date I have received one reply, that being from Chevron and was a solid “no”. I find this kind of feedback to what I though was a reasonable and perhaps appealing request for such a company disheartening. We are constantly being told that we are in the middle of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. That being so, you would expect that an offer of free labour coming from a keen, educated and somewhat skilled university student would be very appealing, given they justify the redundancy of thousands of workers by saying they are too expensive to keep on.
It was depressing to approach so many businesses that I aspired to be involved with, only to be repeatedly knocked back, without so much as a phone call, email or in fact any correspondence at all. It does make me wonder – if I am unable to get work experience with such companies, what possible chance do I have of asking them to pay me for my services later in the year when I graduate? My resume is hardly bare as I am 26, (stretched out my degree – familiar anyone!) and have worked in many different industries, travelled and studied overseas and have completed PR internships in the past.
My first blog is definitely a grumble –I feel as prospective graduates we have things to be concerned about in Western Australia. There is an ongoing report in the West Australian at the moment, with the editor taking a tongue-in –cheek approach to WA’s burgeoning ‘bogan’ community. While this is very funny and definitely a real phenomenon, it is worrying when I see semi-skilled workers being heavily financially rewarded in this state. All students in Australia make a decision in high school, that being whether or not to pursue tertiary education and complete the relevant studies to enter university, or take a less intensive approach and complete non-TEE studies. In my opinion, it is not fair to reward people (up to $180k/year for a truck driver up North for example) when others sacrifice so much to pursue the same rewards. Is it just me or do things appear to be backwards here?
Given the announcement of the new Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island, I wonder how many high school students will take a look at their older brother/sister at uni (or better still observe them trying to get a job) and decide to pursue the quick money in the mining industry and pass up education opportunities. Many of my friends are in the mining industry and most of them earn well over $100k/year. Of these friends, none of them completed high school and few have any formal qualifications such as skilled tickets. My chances of earning this kind of money are slim to none, at least for the next few years. Add to this the opportunity cost of the time I have spent at uni (three years if I had powered through) and also the HECS debt that we all accumulate and not only are we at a severe disadvantage in the workplace, we have paid for the favour. What worries me is future generations doing the same comparison and consequently forgoing an education in search of the fast money, for which no pre-requisites exist. If this occurs, we will inevitably secure ourselves as a mining state and less emphasis will be placed on supporting graduates, promoting education and encouraging students to pursue education.
Am I the only one who was worried about this? I think alarm bells should be ringing for us all if the only companies keen to take us on as soon to be graduates were non-for-profit organisations. Are they the only people who saw our value? Moreover, exactly what is the reason such big companies are not more in touch with our local universities? Is this a break down in relationships between these companies and Curtin, or did the relationship not exist in the first place? How many people do you know of that have completed a degree similar to yours and have yet to use their skills? It is common place and I think that if we are to spend so much time, money and energy on pursuing our studies then the rewards have to be there at the end of the day. It will be likely that many of us will earn around 40K once we graduate and (without promotions) will stay on a similar salary for a while. Truck driving anyone?
Dave De Garis.
PS. OK, so after that little whine I thought I had better mention that I have actually got a placement with Julie Bishop’s office and have been there for a few weeks - Loving it and I will explain in my next blog.
3 comments:
I think you need to think about what you want in life. I don't think working in the mining industry is easy money; it's hard work, and pretty lonely. The people working as labourers etc in the mining industry also don't have much direction or drive in their lives. There is certainly a chance for you to earn 100K in the PR industry, you just ahve to work a little harder for. In my opinion, working harder for it is more rewarding than getting a dead end job that kills my social life and gives me no further career prospects. I'm happy that I decided to go to uni and start a career in PR, are you?
I also believe actually calling the PR department at these companies would have given you a better response. Many of our fellow students hooked up work experience prior to the semester starting- an email at the start of the semester may not have given a good impression to the head of the PR departments at the companies you mentioned as organisation is one of the pillars of PR. Some of these companies also have formal application processes to go through to obtain an internship there. A phone call may have given you a chance to get a give a good impression to the PR department. A phone call after you sent out the emails would also have been a good idea. Most PR professionals, in fact most professionals, are SUPER busy and just skim over your email, calling them a few working days after you emailed them may have been more effective.
I hope your placement is going well.
I also had this problem. I approached many companies via email and by ringing and still no. Apparently due to the financial crisis taking on an intern was not possible due to resource constraints. It can be so frustrating that these big companies do not want to give students a go.
In regards to Martine's comments about ringing and formal processes I followed all these and still got firm no's. Which I strated getting quite frustrated with luckily I persisted and found an amazing internship but I do understand how hard it is.
I also agree with Martine about the mining industry it is extremely hard work. My sister works for Rio Tinto and the stress levels are extremely high, not to mention the constant travel to remote areas. Sometimes it's not just the great pay package that needs to be considered.
I do wish though that these companies consider the future workers for their companies and the industry as training future graduates surely ensures the higher quality of workers for their own companies in the future.
Martine,
Thanks for your comments although I think it was my fault for not properly explaining the steps I took to find a placement. Before emailing the companies I mentioned, I called ahead first to 'warm' them up, along with the mandatory 'follow up' phone call. This is a tactic I was taught in recruitment and as you note, is essential as these companies are busy and receive many such emails each day. Furthermore, I did indeed contact the PR departments of each company where possible and only found this difficult for a few companies who had their PR divisions based in the eastern states.
You are correct in outlining the sacrifices in comfort and lifestyle that miners make in return for a lucrative salary. I too am glad that I started a career in PR and pursued a tertiary education. However, being critical of what is widely regarded as disproportionate pay scales is not a reflection of my desire to pursue a mining career, nor does it mean I am confused about what I want from life! I am simply concerned that people are undoubtedly enticed my large pay packets and this will result in future generations putting less emphasis on getting educated, knowing that they can effectively get over $100k/year with few formal skills.
Yes, I am happy I can avoid the 'dead end job' that you refer to, however it does not mean the argument is any less valid. Regardless of the loneliness, isolation or 'hard work' (debatable given the accounts of many poeple who have worked there), I am still critical of what I think is largely reinforcing us as a mining state where education is becoming less valued every year.
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