How do I choose a course that’ll get me a job?
Finding the right university course for the career you want is easier than you might think. We recommend taking these 4 tips into account when browsing your potential #1 picks:
- Your natural interests and talents
- Balancing hard and soft skills
- Course-specific employment outcomes
- Gaining industry experience
With these tips in your back pocket, you’ll graduate feeling ready to take the first step into your dream career.
1. Evaluate what you’re good at – and what you’re into
The act of putting a name to your primary strengths and interests, although it might seem obvious, will help you narrow down your search for your #1 VTAC preference.
If you set aside a little time for self-reflection, you might come up with talents and passions you’d disregarded as being 'irrelevant' to your university course choice. Far from it – every aspect of who you are can help guide this decision.
We suggest undertaking a SWOT analysis, which lays out your:
- Strengths: Your best subjects at school, positive comments you’ve received from teachers or peers, personal interests
- Weaknesses: Areas for improvement that you’re aware of, poor study habits
- Opportunities: Industry growth, internship availability, high demand
- Threats: Highly competitive industries, low demand
The results of your SWOT analysis should serve as helpful fodder when looking for a course that’ll get you a job you love. It’s a more structured way to think about your strengths and interests than the typical, abstract career questions.
2. Seek out a balance of technical and soft skills
Of course, technical understanding and competence in your chosen area of learning is going to take you far. But you’ll need to balance this with soft skills – like the below – to start your career with confidence:
- Communication, both written and verbal: Being able to convey your strengths and experience in a professional manner is a skill that’ll set you apart in any industry.
- Teamwork: Group assignments can be tricky – but choosing a uni course that includes team and project-based work will be great practice for the realities of most workplaces.
- Problem-solving and proactivity: Heading directly from the classroom to a workplace can leave you feeling like a fish out of water. Gaining these skills while you’re still studying will help you feel ready for your first professional job.
These skills and more could be the difference that gets you over the line during your graduate job hunt.
Look out for courses that balance technical know-how with group assignments, industry project work and opportunities to build your employability skills.
Take Bachelor of Industrial Design student Kieran, for example.
When Swinburne industry partner, About Space, challenged Kieran’s class to design a desk lamp in under a month, he quickly got to sketching. It only took three weeks and several deconstructed Kmart lamps to launch his career.
Now Kieran’s lamp is officially on the market, has been recognised in several design awards, and has earned him a job in research and development for a furniture company.
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‘It was easily the best subject across my degree, because you got to actually interact with professional people and get feedback from people who see designs every day.’
Kieran , Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours) (Professional, on his industry project with Swinburne partner About Space.
3. Investigate employment outcomes
When you’re closer to narrowing down the uni course for you, looking at employment outcomes can be a useful factor to investigate.
While there’s more that goes into your graduate job hunt than these numbers, they can help show which institutions are really preparing their graduates for the workforce.
Getting you ready for employment after you graduate is a top priority for us. In the 2023 QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey, employers rated Swinburne University of Technology 84.2% for overall satisfaction with graduate employees.1
And according to the QILT 2023 Graduate Outcomes Survey, 75.6% of our graduates had gained a full-time position 4-6 months after graduation. 2
4. Factor in industry experience
Theory is great – but real-world experience will set you ahead of the rest. Besides gaining material for your CV, those who show skill and diligence during placement could potentially line up a job after graduation. Like Natalie, whose professional placement led to a job offer before she graduated.
Industry experience can also help you bridge the 'suitability gap'. This perceived ‘gap’ could stop employers hiring you even if you’re technically qualified with the right degree – just because you don’t have hands-on experience. 3
The suitability gap can also relate to qualified candidates who lack soft skills like communication, teamwork and problem solving.
At Swinburne, we go a step further. Real industry experience is a guarantee in all our bachelor degrees, meaning you’ll get a major boost to your employability before you even graduate.
Your real industry experience at Swinburne could look like:
- Internships in sought-after organisations
- Placements, fully immersing yourself in your chosen field
- Industry projects solving prickly real-world problems
And much more. Find out more about Work Integrated Learning and how it can help kick-start your dream career, or browse our courses to find your #1 VTAC preference.
Keep on exploring
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Change of Preference
Want to get more from your ATAR? Use our resources to find the best way to organise your VTAC preferences for every offer round. Plus, discover different ways to get into your dream degree with our pathway planner.
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ATAR Calculator
Ready to find your perfect course? Our ATAR Calculator matches your predicted or actual ATAR with a list of Swinburne courses available in your study area of interest.
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Get Hungry podcast
What’s the secret sauce to career success? We put this question to celebrated industry professionals over lunch in our podcast, Get Hungry.
