26 May 2000 New Lincoln unit in graduate employment area

A new look by Lincoln University at the provision of advice on careers and graduate employment opportunities has seen the creation of an Employment and Industry Liaison Unit on the campus and the appointment of an Employment Liaison Officer, Michelle Ash of Christchurch.

The unit becomes a new and additional interface between graduates seeking employment and employers seeking suitably qualified staff with Lincoln qualifications.

Michelle, who has a 10-year background in a public service advisory role, took up her post at Lincoln in April. She provides a full careers counselling service both for those close to graduation and those who have graduated. She also handles employer recruitment visits to the campus and keeps in contact with the graduate job market.

A new dimension to the careers work at Lincoln University is the internship scheme, and Michelle is also responsible for coordinating this. The scheme enables students to gain first-hand (paid) experience of work which is related to their degrees while they are studying at the University.

As far as employment trends in general are concerned, Michelle notes a continuing strong interest in commerce graduates and opportunities in the business world.

"This is definitely something to think about for those looking to come on to tertiary education," she says.

"Remember, Lincoln University offers a mid-year entry option. You can start a full degree programme at the beginning of the second semester on 3 July.

"Naturally employment patterns change over the course of time, and may even do so within the three-year span of a degree programme, so that's why it is good for in-coming students to do as much homework as possible on their proposed career path before they get started.

"That's also why Lincoln University keeps its named commerce degrees general in the first year, with everyone doing a core of compulsory subjects which later can serve as a base for many different specialisations."

At Lincoln University's Graduation Ceremony held earlier this month Commerce degrees led the way as the most numerous awarded, with 38 percent of those graduating receiving qualifications from these two areas. The next biggest group covered agriculture qualifications, followed by Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, then Resource Studies.