On the second day of Broad Advantage, Amanda Wilson spoke about her career in journalism. She spoke about how addictive working in journalism can be and the importance of journalists to be curious about people and the world around them. She spoke of journalism as a stressful job with huge demands on your life. No one becomes journalist for money. But the upside is huge: exposing injustice, keeping politicians honest, and telling ordinary people’s stories. Being a journalist is exciting and one finds it hard to leave.
In her job as Deputy Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, Amanda Wilson is the guardian of the mast head: the Sydney Morning Herald. She protects the reputation and prestige of the Sydney Morning Herald brand. She makes sure that the line between editorial and advertising isn’t crossed.

Amanda offered the following advice and observations to the participants:

-Everyone has a story

-As a journalist, you need a strong moral and ethical compass. As a journalist, people trust you with their stories and, in essence, their life.

-Write only facts and describe only what you see.

-Experience is key as nothing compares to being on the job.

-If you aspire to become a journalist, start writing and send your work to anyone you can think of. For example, if you travel, write about your trip and send it to every editor you can.

-While journalism is not blogging, blogging can be a great way to start writing.

-When you have a great story, it will practically write itself.

Afterwards, participants heard from Michelle Bakar, an HR Specialist at David Jones. Michelle has 6 years experience in HR, has hired 200 people and terminated half of that and has managed 8 re-structurings. She spoke about the interview process and resumes from an academic and professional perspective. She had also recently gone through the application process as an applicant so she could speaking about interviewing from both sides of the situation.

Key Take-aways:

-Plan your career

-Recognize your area of expertise and sell yourself. Young women often don’t talk about themselves enough. Commitment to yourself and your objectives. It’s a comfortable type of confidence. Women come into an interview with 10 years experience and often say they “think” they can do a job. A man will talk in and admit they have no experience, but say “ you need me and I can do this job.” Know yourself: know what you can and can’t do so that you can sell yourself.

- People often don’t know what they want. Understand your weaknesses and work towards want you want.

-“WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?” is a great book that outlines step by step how to write down your skills and work out where you want to be in your life.

-Distinguish between what you’re capable at and what you want to do .
- Understand your skill gaps and value gaps.

-Celebrate your small wins.

-When considering whether to work at a company, think about what features in the company’s culture appeal to you. For example, do you prefer a family vs. a hierarchical structure? Do you want to support the team or do you want to be a leader?

-What do your friends keep telling you? Are they telling you that you’re not great with numbers but that you’re detail-orientated? What are your marks telling? Which classes are the easiest?

-Know thy goal. Know your target so you’ll know when you hit it.

-Visualize your perfect job. What’s your job title? What responsibilities do you want? Look up on the internet a job with that job title and find out what skills are needed. You can then gain the requisite skills so you can fill the role. Think about what salary range you want your ideal job to be in.

-Think about what associations you should join. Make yourself aware of what programs and technologies are out there in your industry so that you can network and speak in the same “language”.

-Meet people in careers that you want.

-Get a mentor.

-Become obsessed with your career. You owe it to yourself.

-Get your resume right. Help them see why they should hire you. In your resume, talk about your job’s duties and job description. Describe your achievements in your role. Keep it short, sharp, and easy to read. Describe how you achieved these results. Think about what successes you were solely responsible for and be specific. If you have difficulty identifying those areas think about how you could have damaged the business and you’ll figure out which areas you had the most responsibility.

-Your resume is your press release. It should POP.

-SPELLCHECK your resume.

-Don’t list your age.

-Address your cover letter to Dear Sir or Madam and not just Sir!

-Respect recruiters because they represent your career. Do not underestimate a recruiter: speak fast and explain what you want.

-Dress for the job you want.

-Practice saying what salary range you’re looking for.

-Don’t burn your bridges.

-When people like you they’ll hire you.

-Stick to your core objectives and don’t accept everything that comes along.

A recruiter wants to know:
-How are you going to enhance this job? A recruiter wants to see that you have passion, skills, and that you’ll be a cultural fit.

-How are you unique to every other graduate?

-Are you passionate about the company?

Ask your out-house recruiter:
-What is the objective of the role?

-What are the company’s values? Describe the structure of the company.

-What would my duties and responsibilities be? What skills do I need to have to fill it.

-What qualifications do I need?

-What experience do I need?

-What benefits would I get? IE would you be given a work laptop and/or your own desk?

-What environment will I work in?

-If they say you’re perfect for this job, ask them why. Get them to sell the job to you.

-How many candidates do you have and how do I fit? That way you can manage your expectations.

-What do I wear to the interview?

-What is your impression of the hiring manager?

-Why was the position made available?

-Ask them to describe the interview process.

Before your interview, research the role of your company. Get to know what you’re up for. An intaerviewer will probably form an impression of you in the first 5-10 minutes and will spend the rest of the interview exploring that reaction/decision. In your interview, don’t ever say you “have no experience.” Don’t be apologetic or self-deprecating. Know your skills and weaknesses. Break people’s common perception of people with your degree or in that particular industry.

Questions an interviewer is likely to ask:
-What brings you here?

-Why do you want to work for our company?

-What have you done and how?

-What experience do you have in this role? (Hint: If you have no experience admit that you haven’t had experience in that particular role but sow how your other experiences demonstrate that you have the skills and expertise to do that role.)

-How do you like to be managed?

-What is your idea of the best manager?

-How do you like to manage your environment?

-What inspires you?

-What is your greatest achievement? How did you achieve that?

-What do you want out of working for this company?

-Why did you apply for this job? (Hint: They’re looking for excitement about the role or company.)

-Have you seen our website?

-How will you enhance the role and not just be the job role?

In your second or third interview the interviewer is trying to satisfy any doubts and draw out any risks of hiring you. They may ask you more technical questions. Be clever in expressing your weaknesses. Think about your weaknesses in a tactical manner. If you are offered a position and given a contract, READ IT. Give notice first before leaving your previous job. Get an end date from your soon to be ex-employer. Who knows they might make a counter offer! If you’re successful enough to simultaneously be given two offers it’s fine to say, “ I really appreciate the offer you’ve given me but I have an offer that’s really compelling and I need a few days to think about it.” Know what you want though!

Questions for the interviewer:

-What is it like to work here?

-Who is your top performer?

-Who is the person you want for this role?/Who is the ideal person you’re looking for? (Hint: then you can align yourself with that ideal candidate.)

-May I ask what the salary base is?

-Can I ask how many other candidates there are?

Process of Getting a Job:

-Plan

-Persevere

-Commit

-Celebrate

Afterwards we heard from Christina Hobbs. She spoke sitting down as she had recently had the unpleasant experience of having a stiletto driven through her foot and was on crutches! First she describe working as a management consultant for Deloitte and how great a company it is for female employees. As a consultant she helps companies in strategy and operations. She urged the participants to commit to their first job, even if if’s only photocopying. The idea being that if you do the job well and you’ll get a better project!

She describe the opportunities she’s had for personal and professional growth by volunteering for organizations such as Unifam. Volunteering has honed her skills and opened doors at work. Professionally she now has a more interesting story.

Christinas’ Tips for Creative Development:
-Think about who you want to be and not what you want to be.
-What are you really passionate about it? What really drives you?
-What are your strengths, honestly?
-What do you want your role in life to be?
-If you want to be a leader, take on roles that help you become a leader.
-Have confidence and back yourself.
-Fake it till you make it.
-Appreciate the strides that have been made for gender equality and be an advocate for change. Look at how a potential employer treats it’s female employees.

Next we heard from Robyn Perkins from Aon Consulting discussing Insurance, Risk and Financial Planning. She described the career path she has had since starting out in public service.

Key Take-Aways:
1. Look to the horizon, and look for the opportunities on the edges as it is in your peripheral vision that your greatest opportunities to learn will lie
2. Keep your eye on the future, but always remember your past. The past has given you the knowledge to be where you are and to the confidence to keep going so keep them in balance and in perspective
3. Acquire EQ – be mindful of our impact on others – this is usually in the way you deliver messages, not the message itself so watch for signs of acceptance and rejection and respond. This does not mean change the message, change the delivery!
4. Know your battles – which ones to have and which ones to not
5. Know your limits, but don’t be constrained by them
6. Be aware of naked ambition – it will usually alienate those that are best placed to help you
7. Stay positive – negativity in the workplace is damaging to you and those around you
8. Know your personal values, and the corporate values of the organisation you work in – they need to be aligned – if they are not – find another job
9. Take time out for the family and yourself – enjoy life – you work to live, not live to work.
10. Don’t forget – it is never too late to start a career, but it can be to late to start a family. You can have both, but it takes good planning, tenacity and focus on quality time with the family – especially in the early years. It takes balance, sacrifice, hard work and support so don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way

Selected Biographies for Day 2

Amanda Wilson
Deputy Editor, Weekend SMH

Amanda Wilson first stepped into a newspaper office as an office girl in the Melbourne bureau of The Australian. She beat 200 applicants to the job because she made the interviewer laugh. After about three months of failing to reconcile the petty cash tin, they realised she was hopeless with money but great with words, and made her a trainee journalist on the Sunday Telegraph. She soon had very itchy feet, so left to work as a reporter on The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, then as a radio reporter in West Berlin.

She returned to Sydney as a reporter on The Australian, then left to try a couple of jobs outside journalism, including her favourite jobs as a tour guide at the Sydney Opera House and teaching English in Barcelona. She later spent many years in London as an editor for the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Sunday Express, The Sunday Times and The Times.

The Sydney Morning Herald persuaded her to come home in 1994 to be its Foreign Editor. Since then she has made up for the carefree early years in journalism by working relentlessly in various editing roles. She was editor of the Weekend SMH before taking up her current role as Deputy Editor."

Michelle Bakar
HR Specialist, David Jones

Michelle Bakar has 6 years experience in HR at both a specialist capacity working in a GM controlled team at David Jones and at senior management level for French skincare company, Ella Baché Australia/NZ. This includes managing the educational and financial growth of an Australian RTO and its state affiliates, financial accountabilities in HR and payroll, L&D and succession and organisational development.

She has a background in retail and advertising at David Jones and recently gained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in communications, cultural strategies and branding. Michelle currently serves on two Boards; the Australian Businesswomen’s Network for entrepreneurial women and Peril e-journal, which is an e-magazine run by academics and authors regarding culture and identity. She is a mentor for Network Central and a mentee with the Australian HR Institute. Her beliefs and ability to motivate, influence and inspire people is perhaps her greatest passion.

Christina Hobbs
Strategy Consultant-Deloitte
Chief Executive- Young Women of UNIFEM (UN Development Fund for Women)
At 25, ‘life’s too short’ is her motto. As a Management Consultant for Deloitte, the founding CEO of a UN support organisation, a surf life saver, ski instructor and avid adventurer – if you can catch up with her the conversation promises to excite. Christina completed her tertiary studies at ANU in 2006, and was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence.

Her final year of study was completed with a Public Policy Internship with the Australian Health and Ageing Committee. As a psychology student, and strong advocate for better mental health care, Christina’s research and advocacy saw a number of her proposed recommendations made as an intern, supported by the 2006 Senate Enquiry into mental health.

Today Christina works as a Management Consultant for Deloitte, with a keen interest in Corporate Growth Strategy. In addition to her client responsibilities Christina has focused on supporting the development of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility agenda − and 12 months later the firm’s approach to CSR is undergoing an exciting revamp. Christina’s contribution to the firm was such that in her first year as a graduate she was a winner of the NSW Deloitte Business Woman of the Year and a national finalist.

Christina couples her professional career with volunteer work in the field of international development and gender equality. In 2007, she developed the Marketing and Communications strategy for a major Make Poverty History campaign, which included a budget of $1.6million in pro-bono advertising. The campaign was a resounding success, as evidenced on the final day when Kevin Rudd announced a significant increase in aid, to reach 0.5% of GDP by 2015. This will ensure that Australia is still proudly on track to achieve aid contribution targets set by the Millennium development Goals in 2000.

In 2007, Christina combined her passions for political participation, international development and gender equality with her professional position, when she and a friend, established Young Women of UNIFEM. Christina now leads a growing organisation of Professional Young Women, with the aim of providing increased opportunities for women under 35 to better engage with development projects and policy relating to domestic and international women’s issues.

In 2008 Christina was invited, as one of ten young leaders under the age of 35, to join of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (ALD). The ALD has been described as the most significant exercise in diplomacy ever undertaken by Australia and involves 120 political, business, academic and community leaders from America and Australia.
In 2008 Christina was selected as one of 8 Young Australians to co-author ‘The Future by Us’ a collection of future visions for Australia with a publication date of October 08. Christina is working on a chapter which focuses on the future vision for gender equality in Australia.

Robyn Perkins
Principal, Aon’s People Risk Solutions Group

Robyn Perkins is a Principal within Aon’s People Risk Solutions Group. She is currently the Head of Human Capital Risk Solutions, a new practice specialising in the identification and management of risks inherent in businesses that employ people. Robyn is chartered with responsibility for the creation of this practice for Aon.

Prior to this appointment, Robyn was the Head of Aon’s Workers’ Compensation Solutions Practice. Seven years ago this was a one-person NSW based practice with income of less than $100k pa. The practice is now national with 30 staff with revenues in 4 capital cities in excess of $6m. This practice specialises in assisting organisations with management and financial solutions to their workers’ compensation risks.

Robyn has frequently consulted with a number of Australia’s largest companies and their senior management and staff on how to improve the outcomes from their workers’ compensation and self insurance programs. Robyn has also had dealings with senior government Ministers in providing them advice on workers’ compensation and OHS issues.

Her involvement today is based on this experience and the experiences she has observed in a number of organisations on women in positions of decision making and management, and what responsibilities are faced by female management now and as we proceed into the 21st century.

Robyn is married with two adult daughters and understands the need to balance life, family and a career, having juggled all three elements for over 30 years.

At age 42, Robyn returned to university and obtained a post graduate qualification. At 43 she started a whole new career and has now passed over the reigns of a successful practice to start again with new concepts and ideas to help make a better workplace for the future. It’s never too late to start.