Careers 

University Open Days 

This week, in addition to the regular careers newsletter, I would like to share the insights of one of our guardians in the community who has taken the time to attend multiple university open days with his grandson. 

John visited the University of Sydney, UNSW, UTS, Macquarie University, Notre Dame and the ACU on their open days. John’s grandson, like most students in Year 10, is still unclear about what path to take post-school. 

John’s observations and insights from his visits were very interesting and he has graciously allowed me to share them with the rest of the community. To give some context, both John and his grandson were focused on exploring degrees in Business or Commerce, of which many are double degrees and the contrast between the “big four” universities compared to the Catholic universities was what struck John the most. 

In John’s words, “I was shocked to see the huge numbers of prospective students and parents flocking to each campus of the first 4 as listed here.”

“Both the Catholic Universities had a very welcoming atmosphere where the ratio of staff to students is small so as to make the relationship between them to be more personal than the case with the big universities.  A student entering any of the big secular universities would be lost in the crowd!

I was much impressed with the ACU. More specifically, there will be a new 3-year course (2026) namely, B. Bus. with majors in importantly relevant areas like accounting, marketing to mention just two. The ACU seems to have many links to the corporate world. For boys considering a corporate management career, the B Bus (ACU) course can be added to, say, a complementary Bachelor of Information Technology with Microsoft certifications built into the latter course. Together they come as a 4 year double-degree! 

In a later email, John also commented that he believes his grandson would receive, “academic/emotional/motivational support from the relevant staff or lecturers,” from ACU and Notre Dame because, “From my interviews with staff I accept the assumption that these two universities are proud that students are well known to staff.   In contrast, I witnessed a huge auditorium at Macquarie University that was shoulder-to-shoulder packed by prospective students and parents sitting and standing on internal steps!”

In addition to John’s observations, I would like to add that all universities or other tertiary education providers I have spoken to over the years (public or private) that have smaller cohorts take pride in their staff to student ratio. This includes institutions like Bond University or colleges like the ICMS (International College of Management, Sydney), etc. 

By taking the time to explore as many options as you can, your chances of finding a university, college or course that is a good fit for your individual needs and desires increases significantly. If you can’t make it to an open day in person, many universities also hold virtual tours that students can take advantage of.

I’d like to personally thank John for sharing his experience with me and wish every student the best of luck in finding the path that best suits them.

Mr Madani 

Careers Newsletter

In our news this week there are articles on:

• How to nail your job application video 
• School Based Apprenticeships explained 
• Helping school leavers prepare for life after school 
• 7 warning signs you're doing too much with your study 
• Should I drop a subject? 

There's 7 new scholarships and competitions, one new event and a Chef job spotlight.

Mr Joseph Madani -  Careers Advisor