The document proposes two approaches to help engineering graduates transition from university to work: 1. A website called "Transitioning from University to Work" that provides free online courses, social forums moderated by experts, one-on-one counseling, tips, and real stories to help with the transition. 2. A work experience program where university students work in real business teams each year of study to solve problems, receive feedback, and gradually experience the working world while still in school. Feedback on both approaches was mixed, with concerns about how much time options may take and ensuring opportunities are available as intended.

1. Problem Statement: A bright, articulate and still
enthusiastic first-year engineering graduate struggling with
the transition to work who needs a way to develop a more
positive mental state about their working life and how to
develop new skills to be successful in it because the skills
he mastered at university are not the same as what he
believes are required to be successful at work.

2. Transitioning from University to Work Website (Have free soft skill courses available on the Internet so anyone could receive information and strategies at
any time. This would allow one resource to be created and shared many times. Graduates could access the resource any time that they wanted so that they could be in control of how they
used the resource. They could reuse the resource as many times as they wanted. The resource would include social forums moderated by psychologists and counsellors. One-on-one
assistance could be available to graduates when required (which would be funded by the companies whose graduates were using the facility)
http://www.uni2work.com.au
Ask the Forum
• Post your questions
• Post your situations
• See what discussions
are trending
• Community provides
responses to your
posts
Ask an Expert
• Post your questions
• Responses emailed
from career counsellors
• Responses emailed
from psychologists
• …
• …
What to Expect
• Top 10 life differences
compared to Uni
• The emotional highs
and lows
• Your first week –
getting setup
• …
Ask a Live Expert
• In the chat room
• In the “Hangout”
How to …
• Make a good first
impression
• Find out the norms and
unwritten rules
• Network with you new
colleagues
• Ask for feedback from
you colleagues
• …
Tips
• Take the initiative
• Make a work plan
• Make a development
plan
• Focus on people not
just tasks
• Dealing with politics
• Managing you
emotions
Podcasts
• Best of “How to”
• Best of “Tips”
• Best of “Hangout”
• ……
Best Books Post Your Story
• Real experiences from
past users
• What worked and what
didn’t work
• What they would have
done differently
• …
Feedback
• What would make this
site better
Other Resources
Click here to share this site with your social network

3. Feedback suggested that different people liked
different things: some like quick tips, some like
interaction with a live person, some like books,
some like real stories. So it covered the
information needs of lots of different user
types.
There was potentially lots of stuff on the home
page for a student to read through before they
worked out the stuff that was suited to their
preferred learning type.
Ask people what information sources they like
and then adjust the home page to show these
with priority for their personal page.
How to moderate the discussions on forums.
How to handle requests for anonymity

4. Work Experience for Transitioning from University to Work (Have all students experience working life gradually while they are still in
university. At each year of university, students would need to work in a team that would be placed in a business to solve a real, non-trivial problems. The problems would require them to
interact with other members of the business. At the end of the period at the business, the employees they interacted with would need to provide feedback as to how each employee
performed and how they could improve their performance. The students would also be able to provide feedback to the employees on how they felt working with them.)
Get Recruited
Find an employer or
we’ll find one (you may
not like)
Goal – work in 2 different businesses per uni year
Your Value Proposition
Develop a picture of
who you are and what
you want
Getting to Know You
Learn about your
employer; let them get
to know you
Define Work Task
Define a problem to fix
or the employer will
define one for you
Define Overall Success
Agree with employer
what success should
look like beyond the
task
Record Your Journey
Start writing down the
problems you
encounter and how you
feel
Seek Mentor(s)
Fast-track learning from
someone experienced
Seek New Colleagues
Get to know one new
person each week. Get
information and advice.
Seek Feedback
Start collecting
feedback from your
boss and stakeholders
Update Stakeholders
Keep your stakeholders
up to date with
progress on your task
Present Work
Present completed task
to stakeholders
Survey Stakeholders
Ask stakeholders to
rate your performance
on task and overall
success criteria
Reflection
What did you learn
from this work
experience
Present Key Learnings
Present your key
learnings to fellow
students
Discuss Experience
Share and discuss with
you fellow students

5. Students liked the idea of getting real work
experience but were a bit worried about how it
could take time away from traditional classes
Is it realistic that everyone could find an
employer?
Should students be paid for the work done?
What if the employer looses interest half way
through?
Get the government to mandate the program for
universities and employers
Students thought that it looked daunting as the
process defined seemed long