Seminar Topic:  Career Planning in a Global Financial Crisis 

Bailouts, downturns, meltdowns, layoffs, forced redundancies and job losses are all words with which we are now too familiar. What we aren’t familiar with is what it means for the future labour market and prospects for graduates. UQ offers hope and help for its alumni by providing an opportunity for experts and affected community members to speak to alumni about this important issue.  

Career Planning in a Global Financial Crisis explored the short-term future of the Australian economy and labour market based on advice from a panel of experts/advisers on the topic.  The session also underlined the importance of networking, tailoring applications, applicable work experience and highlights how UQ can offer hope and help for its alumni.

This seminar, the first of a series of Backpack to Briefcase seminars, was a huge success. More than 176 attended the event with excellent feedback received from both attendees and speakers alike. The advice that the speakers shared with delegates was extremely informative and provided insight and potential direction for those attending as they plan to break through the current global financial situation.

Event moments

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped to make this event a huge success. For those who couldn't attend (and for those who did attend) we have provided the speech notes for your reference below.

Speakers

Professor John Quiggin - Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at The University of Queensland.

He is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy. He has published over 750 research articles, books and reports, and he has been an active contributor to Australian public debate. He is a regular columnist for the Australian Financial Review and he frequently comments on policy issues for radio and TV. Since 2002, he has published a weblog providing daily comments on a wide range of topics.

Speech notes available here

Ms Amanda Suter - Careers Advisor: UQ Careers and Graduate Employment. 

Amanda Suter holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Griffith University. Upon graduation, she joined the Estee Lauder Group of Companies and at the time was the youngest person to be appointed Queensland Account Executive. She was promoted to the position of Chanel Asia/Pacific training and Promotions Executive and later returned to the Estee Lauder Group of Companies as Clinique Education Manager, Queensland and Western Australia. After 10 years in the cosmetics industry, and seeking a new challenge, Amanda embarked upon working in the field of employment services where she assisted the long term unemployed return to the workforce. Amanda joined Student Services in 2008 where she is well positioned to be a strategic link between students, university, industry and the community, facilitating dedicated careers and employment opportunities for UQ students.

Speech notes available here

Ms Lauren Humphreys - Senior Consultant , Human Capital PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia.

Lauren Humphreys holds a Bachelor of Business (HRM & IR) and a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Queensland. Lauren has also recently completed her AMEB diploma in Speech and Action. Since graduation, Lauren had one year's experience working in a small recruitment agency before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as a Human Capital Consultant in January 2006. Since joining PwC, Lauren spent 2 years working in the Training & Development team, which involved a 6 month secondment to the Sydney office working on PwC's graduate innovation and development program. Lauren then moved back to PwC Brisbane in early 2008 as a Senior Consultant in Human Capital. Lauren's main role is to recruit and on-board graduates, vacationers and trainees for the Brisbane office. Lauren is keen to share some of her experiences with the group around how to stand-out as a candidate and employee during these tumultuous times. 

Speech notes available here

Mr Colin Hardcastle - UQ Business School MBA graduate and winner of the annual Service to the Community Top MBA Award for his work with the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra.

A keen violinist with no real outlet for his talent, Mr Hardcastle, along with a group of similarly-minded local musicians, launched the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) in 2000. At the end of the year, Mr Hardcastle will hand over the reins of the BPO and having recently become a victim of the global financial crisis which cost him his job as a Business Consultant with IT firm Logica - is keen to see where his MBA can take him and brings his experience and advice to the panel.

Speech notes available here

For enquiries please email uqalumni@uq.edu.au or contact the UQ Alumni team on: 07 3346 3166.

Next Backpack to Briefcase Career Breakfast - Friday August 14
Click here for more details.


 

Proudly supported by Career and Graduate Employment Services and the UQ Advancement Office.