That’s A Wrap — 2020 Edition
Even though 2020 is a year that has pushed human limits to new heights, it was a busy year here at Real Skills, with this article serving as a recap of our 2020 achievements.
By Aziza Mumin
With 2020 coming to an end, Real Skills reflects on our major milestones. This year presented a variety of challenges due to COVID and the abrupt shift to an online environment. Despite such challenges, our organisation flexibly adapted to new changes to deliver yet another successful year.
Careers: Programs and Events
The 2020 Winter STEM Leaders Program (SLP) was our first entirely online SLP. This SLP recorded 257 applicants, being the most we had ever received. The terrific engagement and feedback from participants enabled Real Skills to successfully deliver the program despite moving away from face-to-face interaction.
Our next Careers milestone was the WSU STEM Career Launchpad, which was the first time we had run a program explicitly for a university with the hopes of engaging a whole new group of students. Over one week, participants learned and developed new skills, which assisted them in pitching their final case solutions to an industry panel. The Real Skills team is thankful for the positive feedback received from students and would love to deliver more university-specific programs in the future.
Our team also hosted a total of 12 workshops this year ranging from our UTS Enactus Slide Deck Workshop to our UNSW MathSoc Presentation Skills Workshop. The positive feedback received from participants encourages the team to deliver more informative and relevant workshops in the future.
Partnerships
Real Skills partnered with Honeywell to host the Technical Skills Workshop in September, which introduced students to three advanced programming skills: security, web microservices and functional programming.
Our ongoing relationships with existing partners have observed companies like Accenture enthusiastically reaffirm their involvement in our events and programs such as the STEM Leaders Program. Newly onboarded partners, such as Railius and GHD, have played a significant part in equipping students with industry-ready skills through never-seen-before discipline projects, thus allowing Real Skills to highlight our vision of bridging the gap between the classroom and the workplace. Through our extensive alumni network, we are regularly communicating with industry partners to discuss how our services can bring value to their business community.
Marketing
Our biggest initiative this year saw the introduction of our ‘3 Tips Series’, with regular videos providing students with tips and tricks in professional development such as networking skills, the importance of experience and the opportunities offered by student societies.
With the pandemic restricting movement, we saw the use of social media becoming increasingly prevalent, which pushed us to delve back into Instagram with more frequent posts. These posts included our ‘Meet the Team’ which enabled our new coordinators to feel welcomed and engaged with their new community. Additionally, we created the Subtle Professional Traits Facebook Group with the aim of forming a community for ambitious university students to professionally develop themselves with the aid of their fellow students.
Furthermore, we reintroduced our monthly email newsletter as an avenue to keep students informed on the opportunities available within and outside of Real Skills in terms of professional development. If you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter, you can sign up here.
Careers Counselling
Our two-month Careers Counselling Program was designed with the aim of placing greater emphasis on swift career progression. Real Skills coordinators were matched with industry mentors and participated in workshops based on job hunting, resumes, interviews and took part in a mock case study. The mentors found the program to be a refreshing opportunity to share their experience with other ambitious and driven individuals. We hope that the mentees have walked away from the program feeling equipped to tackle the workforce. If you’re interested in joining the Real Skills team, make sure to fill out our expression of interest form.
We commend the continual growth of our team as they forge a closer connection with industry and gain a better understanding of the fields they want to pursue.
Signing off for 2020, and see you all in 2021!
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