Securing a job is one thing, keeping the job is another!

Greetings everybody!

I am Jaafar Mohamed, a final year Mass Communications student, majoring in Corporate Screen Production and Public Relations.

It's that time of the year where it's drawing closer to the end of the semester. It's getting down to crunch time and many assignments and miscellaneous workloads are due! Fortunately for me, there is hardly a dull moment at this time of the semester since my work placement started, which is at the Australian Institute of Technology Transfer(AITT). It is a registered training organisation(RTO) right here in the quaint little area called Technology Park, just a stone's throw away from Curtin University's Bentley campus.

Now you might wonder, what IS a registered training organisation? Well, to put it simply, RTO's are training providers registered by ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) to deliver vocational education and training (VET) services. AITT offers many vocational courses which include, but are not limited to Work Health and Safety, Training and Assessment as well as a number of business related courses, ranging from Certificate III to Advanced Diploma level. Not only that, AITT also provides professional consultancy services aimed in the areas of training, technology and workplace related consultancy services, hoping to improve workplace efficiency and productivity. Some of the companies whom have enlisted the help of AITT's consultancy services include Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Coca-cola.

Where does public relations come into play within this RTO organisation? Well, luckily my supervisor, who happens to be the Chief Executive Officer of AITT's Bentley branch, had assigned for me to come up with a national publicity campaign to promote one of its newly introduced courses, called Work Skills for Career Enhancement and Management. The title of the course itself should indicate to us that the course is aimed at instilling and enhancing employability skills amongst individuals and business professionals hoping to improve on their workplace competency and revamp on the expected requirements of prospective job seekers within their field/industry. AITT is the only national provider of this course and should their efforts to promote this Work Skills program become a success, they may ultimately be recognised as the pioneer to something great and thus, improve on their image reputation!

Being that there are no departments at AITT and being the only person at the company who has acquired some depth of knowledge of the public relations field, has proven to be quite a challenge but I am adamant that I will be able to come up with a reasonable proposal to try and make this publicity campaign become a success!

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS?
Well, as the word 'employable' suggests, they are basically skills and abilities that are desired by most employers. Below are some of the many skills that employers deem ideal to an employee:-

1. A positive and extroverted image (speech, grooming, communication, intelligence)
2. Team effectiveness
3. Planning and organising skills
4. Strategies to respond to complex workplace problems
5. Initiative and enterprise skills
6. Entrepreneurial skills
7. Negotiation skills
8. Investigation or enquiring skills
9. Personal drive and integrity
10. Creativity and innovation
11. A global outlook

Doing well in the workplace is not just limited to applying your technical skills and academic abilities, but rather putting your soft skills to the test and your ability in being a team player to achieve effective organisational goals!

DID YOU KNOW?

The average Australian employee stays with their employer for an average of 3 years 4 months, which is approximately only one third of the way towards long service leave. Should this occurrence hold some level of truth to a school leaver nowadays, that would mean that they would be dealing with 17 different employers throughout their lifetime.

According to the World Economic Forum (2012 - 2014), more than 50% of under 25's are unemployed in most countries. There is nothing to prepare them adequately for employment.