Brisbane company launches international student micro-credential

August 2021 - Gordon Scott, Managing Director - Successful Graduate

Brisbane company and Queensland Leaders member Successful Graduate Pty Ltd has this week launched the world’s first micro-credential for international students who are seeking work.

The Australian government’s trade, investment and education promotion agency, Austrade, has announced the product is the first of its suite of micro-credentials for international students and graduates as part of its ongoing Digital Education Hub program.

The Work Readiness Micro-credential, designed to support Australia’s international students, provides tools and resources to successfully navigate the jobs market in both Australia and around the world.

“We have built material that will suit the job readiness preparation of students for most markets, thus it is designed for students and graduates entering work globally,” Gordon Scott, managing director of Successful Graduate, said.

“The training supports students to understand the key elements associated with the job application process. This is the missing piece of the education industry puzzle.”

“Our work on this project with the Australian government is designed to support students to improve student self-awareness and then prepare the building blocks for job applications. The training then supports students to understand the key elements associated with the job application process.”

Content ranges from how to apply for internships and part-time work, to entrepreneurship, personality tests and managing work relationships; graduate job search prep resources, and also features employability tools such as application, interview and negotiation tips.

The new employability program also complements existing work readiness provisions at education providers, Scott added.

“Successful Graduate’s business model involves providing client-branded job readiness and employability training course material for clients to distribute to their students to deliver mass student work preparation at scale. We encourage students to then engage with on-campus careers teams who can work with better-prepared students to pursue work placement activity. Ultimately, each client ends up with better employment outcomes.”

Timothy Gilbert, Vice President International Development at Melbourne Polytechnic agrees. “(This is a) great initiative. Will specifically enhance pre-enrolment preparation for those students in the pipeline, as well as for orientation programs once borders finally reopen!”

Australia’s international education industry has risen in importance to the Australian economy over the past 30 years, to the point where it became Australia’s third largest export industry, behind mining and tourism between 2007 and 2020. 

Despite setbacks associated with the COVID pandemic, AUSTRADE predicts that the value of the education sector’s contribution to the Australian economy will rise to $33 billion by 2025[1]. It currently supports some 250,000 Australian full-time jobs in the industry[2].

The new micro-credential is freely available to all international students: graduates, current and prospective; onshore and offshore, and is designed to support students educated at Australian providers to “be among the most employable in the world”, Scott added.

With sustained marketing, the program hopes to attract more than 100,000 enrolments in 12 months as part of the pilot program, which is initially rolling out in India.

“This installation is one of several initiatives that Study Australia is developing under the Digital Education Hub program, and one of several new clients for us this year” Scott continued.

Austrade’s Digital Education Hub project is designed to support ongoing engagement with Australia’s global student community, and to “enhance the student experience, and support improved work-while-you-study and graduate outcomes”.

[1] https://www.austrade.gov.au/australian/education/services/australian-international-education-2025/growth-and-opportunity

[1] https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200820103708349

It includes integrated digital campaigns, improved digital content via Study Australia, student digital resources including a course search tool, links to virtual events and a new partner portal for providers and agents.

Participants who complete Successful Graduate’s Study Australia Work Readiness Program micro-credential will receive a digital certificate that can be shared with professional networks and potential employers.

Successful Graduate has developed multiple new employability training websites in 2021, in response to client demand to deliver a more complete education experience to students. “Clients in both the University and Vocational sectors, such as Charles Sturt University and TAFE Queensland are harnessing the power of our training to do three things: add to their own student value proposition, develop a new student pipeline, and support the employability of their existing students”, Scott said.

The company is currently expanding its footprint into Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Islands, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Further information: successfulgraduate.com | gordon@succesfulgraduate.com | 0417600290