Jay's Student Life story

About Jay

Bachelor of Computer Science graduate

Jay graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science majoring in Software Development and Data Science and is now working as a Product Owner in the fintech industry.

Understanding expectations of the Australian workforce

The Swinburne Employability Award helped Jay as an international student understand skills and expectations valued in Australian workplaces.

Discovering what it takes to thrive beyond technical skills

Jay discovered the importance of soft skills in graduate roles through the Swinburne Employability Award.

Discovering and developing soft skills

Swinburne Bachelor of Computer Science graduate Jay wanted to complete the Swinburne Employability Award Professional Development Stream while studying to prepare for their career before graduating.

Now working as a Product Owner in the FinTech industry, Jay credited the program for developing a growth mindset grounded in lifelong learning.

Through the award, Jay discovered strengths and growth areas that shaped professional development. The experience highlighted strong professional skills such as product management and cross functional team collaboration. It also revealed areas for improvement in leadership, public speaking and knowledge sharing.

Since completing the award, Jay has been asked in job interviews about soft skills such as conflict resolution and collaboration, areas the award helped them reflect on and respond professionally.

"I found out that most employers are not actually looking for hard skills or technical skills like coding or software development at the beginning of a role, but they are actually looking to see whether the candidate can demonstrate soft skills like communication, teamwork or adaptability"

JAY, BACHELOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Adapting to the Australian workforce

Jay reflected that one of the most unexpected learnings from completing the Professional Development Stream was understanding skills and expectations valued in Australian workplaces.

“I thought I knew about working environments since I already had previous work experience before starting my degree. However, Australia is totally different from my background,” Jay said.

As an international student new to Australia, Jay admitted there was much he didn't know. He was surprised at how much more soft skills are valued in the local workforce culture.

Inspiring lifelong learning

Jay described the award as a fun and rewarding program that was worth taking the time to complete.

As a recent graduate, Jay understood how busy studying can be but recommended students don’t wait until after graduating to look for ways to stand out in the job market.

"Try not to wait until you graduate because many other students have already started looking for opportunities, whether it be an internship or volunteering and these collected accumulated experiences will make them already a career ready candidate once they graduate.

"If you can start now, you will become a very strong candidate when you finish school and [so when you] go on job interviews, you can talk about what you have done on top of studying," Jay said.

Jay hoped that the award would inspire other students to continue lifelong learning and noted that completing the program with friends can make the experience more enjoyable.