Educational/Informative

Volunteering

Doing volunteer work is one of the best feelings in the world. You might be interested in helping people, animals, local social enterprises or international organisations. The work might not be easy, but it will definitely be rewarding. Employers will look favourably on volunteer work, but don’t make this the driving force behind helping out those in need. Find a cause you’re passionate about and check out their website, as well as university careers services, for info about volunteer positions.

Internships

You may be seeking employment in an unpaid internship in order to gain some unparalleled experience in your field of interest. To avoid the typical Catch 22 employment situation – “you can’t work unless you have experience, but you need work to gain experience” – try looking for internship work to boost your chances of getting employed. Not all internships are going to be advertised (indeed most are filled through word-of-mouth recommendations), so if you’re really keen to gain some work experience at a particular company or in a particular field, take the initiative to do some research and make the first contact!

Internships and volunteering are also a really good way of getting a taste for your profession or later career. It’s sad but true that some university degrees can only teach you so much in terms of the practical aspects of a particular industry or role. So be on the look out for companies or organisations which you’d like to work for, because it could lead to long-term employment down the track.

For example, many law students apply for volunteer legal assistant positions with community legal centres (which can be found here: www.naclc.org.au/directory) - they may also offer an opportunity to complete your practical legal experience later on. These roles help you understand the day-to-day operations of your chosen field, which you may have minimal knowledge of by just reading your textbooks.

For business students who miss out on prestigious cadetships or internship programs with the big four accounting firms – there’s still hope! Some of the best work experience can be found by speaking to family and friends who run small to medium businesses, these places are often short-staffed and you are likely to have much greater responsibility and contact with management compared to large corporations.

This blog  is courtesy of “What Degree? Which University?" - What Degree Which University is a website for students, by students, to help them decide what to study at university and where, as well as advice on surviving the experience, finding student housing, locating a career, where to hang out, where to travel and where to have fun.”

Having just sat through a round of uni presentations this advice is fresh, first-hand, and easy to fix. From one student to another these five simple points are an absolute must-read.

1. Not having any visuals. Don't mistake this for being alternative, it's just boring. By no means does this have to be a powerpoint, but there should always be something visual that's engaging and supports what you're saying. Whether its a picture on a screen, chart on a stand, a flashy prezi (click here for more on this, it's a must try!), or short YouTube clip, please do yourself a favour and have at least one visual.

2. Avoid palm cards. We're not in grade six anymore, so using this look is a bit past its use-by-date. Don't apologise for any ad-lib either, in most cases this is actually what is expected of you the entire presentation. If you're a nervous speaker and use palm cards as something to hide behind (and trust me we've all been here at some point!) try other techniques to ensure your talk goes off without a hitch. For example when designing your speech think of phrasing things how you would naturally speak, so that if you go off-point you can fake your way back to sounding confident. Make use of visuals, as mentioned before, if only to deflect attention away from shaky hands. Use keywords and pictures on slides or a sheet in front of your to stimulate ideas and their discussion. Integrate the audience by asking them questions – let them do all the work.

3. Don't slam on the spacebar during presentations. If you have a presentation requiring you tap on the spacebar for your next slide please don't bash it, this is scary. Even if this is actually the case, it makes you sound like you're rushing to get out of there and both your audience and marker will become anxious.

4. Dress according to the tone and subject of your presentation. This tip is far from superficial. Dressing the part can help make sense of your presentation. Let's just say wearing an old Mickey Mouse jumper while discussing 'discursive representation of political figures through media broadcast of the national budget' is not so convincing, for instance.

5. At the end of the day you're just talking. Talking is what we do all day everyday, so don't over think the significance of you speaking during a presentation. In all other circumstances we're able to speak really naturally, so why not treat presentations like a conversation with classmates? Remembering this point gives you much-needed perspective, no matter how terrifying the task may be.

 

Presentations for the most part are scary. Even if you're a confident speaker, we all feel some level of nervousness before getting up in front a class. Follow these practical real-life tips and all the hard work you put into presentations will get a well-deserved facelift.

What are your presentation tips? We could all do with sharing a few of these...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post by Nichole Donovan

 

 

So not to be cynical but it seems like everyone’s a writer/blogger these days – but this doesn’t automatically make them good. Here’s a few pointers to set yourself apart:

1) Have a plan. Everything you write you should be proud of, so treat your work with same respect and professionalism you would a business.

2) Post regularly and consistently. There’s nothing worse for readers than stumbling upon a great blog, only to find the writer’s given up a couple months later. Try to avoid sporadic bursts of content as well and spread the love.

3) Only post in what interests you. When you’re a blogger, you are the product you’re selling – so sell your personality and interests.

 

4) Good layout. Not only should you choose a theme that is aesthetically pleasing but also one that reflects your blogger tone, make your format unique. This can sometimes seem difficult where limited themes are available. However some subtle changes such as font and colour can make a world of difference – and give something generic a real facelift.

5) Strong headlines. Remember when people subscribe to your blog they receive emails when you publish new posts. The headline must enticing enough for them to want to give it a ‘click’. Avoid being cute or worse, cryptic.

6) Images. It’s true the more you give your readers the more they’ll want to give to you. This means multiple pictures where applicable, links, video clips and mp3 sound bites.

7) Write as you speak. Enough said really. Nothing worse than an online Shakespeare who takes themselves too seriously and a tone that doesn’t suit the subject.

8) Try to limit your categories. If you’re not posting hundreds of times a week, you’ll only end up with a couple articles per category and this looks silly. By refining your categories you’re also refining your area of interest, and in doing so become more special.

9) Share the spotlight. Guest posts give readers something new and different to read, click, ‘like’ and share. You want to be your reader’s source of all things new and interesting – including other people’s views.

10) Don’t let it go to waist. Take the time to promote yourself and your hard work – at least an hour each week.

 

 

Nichole is a Communication student at UTS and Zookal's blog editor. In her spare time she writes for holliandlola.com under one of many unexplained nicknames 'Lola' – check it out here it's a whole lot of fun!

Are you a writer/blogger? Got any good tips? Want to write for Zookal? Let us know your thoughts below...

By Nichole Donovan

 

 

As we start our first week back at uni most of us are probably still testing the waters a bit. Maybe some of your tutors won’t let you use a laptop in class? Maybe you don’t want to lose your handwriting this early out of school? Or perhaps, the piles of last term’s printouts (still stacked in your room) have lost their appeal for the coming year?

Well, thankfully, the start of each semester brings with it a sense of new beginnings and a chance to start fresh. And with the increasing popularity of e-books, making the switch from loose leaf to the latest technology would appear inevitable. In fact, we all seem to be juggling so much these days. So in a way having everything on one easy tablet is rather appealing. However the price? Not so much. Although in terms of organisation (and the planet!) making the change may well be worth it. But with the humble notepad still priced at around a dollar this remains a big decision. Especially considering the often limited student budget.

To try and make things easier we’ve put together a group of our favourite options for you to ponder (just click on the options below for our handy links). So what will you be using this semester? Perhaps I’ll opt for a more retro look and scrounge up some old papyrus and a quill!

1. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime 32G $599

2. Airmail A5 Spiral notebook $3.95

3. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 $710 (prepaid)

4. Loose Leaf Paper $3.99

5. Vintage Notebook $7.49

6. Sony Tablet S $599 32G $599

7. iPad2 32G Wifi $689

8. Exercise book with holes $2.95

9. Exercise book with no holes $1.12

 

Let us know what works best for you and post a comment below – we just love hearing from you!

 

by Nichole Donovan

We’re sorry it’s taken us so long to get back to you. We got a little bit distracted for a minute there! But we’ve procrastinated long enough. Maybe you have too? For those of you still batt...ling out the last days of uni we (as students ourselves) would like to remind you to – StOp FREAKinG OutTTtttt!!!!!!

Damnstraight. Spoken with true tough love.

For instance, the other day I phoned a friend (who shall remain anonymous.. ooooohh lala&*#$%) to see if she wanted to grab a quick coffee. To which she replied .. “oh I couldn’t possibly!!!” as though I was asking her to solve world hunger or something. Now long story short – to all you crazy kids out there sooooo consumed by your studies that you’ve become slaves to your desks... it’s just coffee.. isn’t it?

That’s right. Cappuccinos just got a whole lot more serious.

Or at least.. that’s how so many of us make it seem and that’s fine. Everyone freaks out from time to time – but it doesn’t have to be the way...

For example, in procrastinating about writing about procrastination I ‘googled’ procrastination. From this research I found the above awesome YouTube clip (based on my life!!!) I also found two awesome websites that got procrastination spot on – you’ll see the links for these below. The gist of what they had to say is this:

1) Don’t be afraid of failing.. try your best and if need be you can always try again

2) If something needs to be done regularly try EVERYDAY so it becomes normal, e.g. gym

3) Finally, work in a team - because everyone loves a party!

Moral of the story? Take a step a back while you’re studying and remember no matter how dedicated we are – we only live once. So enjoy.. and try not to over think the little things in life.. like taking a minute out for coffee with friends :)

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/09/7-tips-for-avoiding-procrastination-without-delay-is-the-easiest-way.html

http://depression.about.com/cs/selfhelp/a/procrastination.htm

A study conducted at Griffith University recently determined that the average university student in Australia will spend as much as $500 a semester on textbooks. So, in a three year degree a student could be expected to spend up to or beyond $3300 on textbooks alone throughout their course. With textbooks averaging around $100 a pop, it seems like one of the nation’s most budget orientated communities has been forced into a corner.

Not surprisingly it seems that this situation is fairly unique to Australia. With cost saving alternatives in the US and Europe including the large adoption of EBooks and other electronic substitutes, as well as the widespread use of textbook rental through organisations such as Chegg, students are provided with a larger range of choice as to how they can save and use their money.

Textbook rental especially has had very promising results. Most textbook renters are able to offer as much as a 70% discount to the retail price of their books often saving students over $100 a book. A student who rents throughout the whole term of their degree can be expected to save around $1800, versus someone who buys, no small sum given the average income of a university graduate. This degree of saving has been a godsend to the majority of students, textbooks being as they are, a grudge purchase; most people are overjoyed to be stripping the cost down to bare minimum. With this new evolution to the industry this process seems easier and easier.

But why is this not the case in Australia? In 2009 there were over a million students involved in higher education, with the total operating revenues of higher education providers in excess of $15 billion. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of students are already practically partaking in renting by buying and reselling their books at the end of use. Yet, with the call for change echoing out, Australia seems, as usual, to be lagging behind.

But this hasn’t stopped Australian publishers from pleading for help. It seems everywhere you look there is talk of some inexorable wave of technological revolution, that is sure-fire to wipe the industry clear off the earth.  However, hidden somewhere behind the veil of this victimised mentality lies the simple fact that Australian students are still paying through the roof for their textbooks. The question that I ask in all of this is: where is this inevitable destruction of which there is always talk?

So far the printed book doesn’t show so much as a scratch. In the face of digital competition book sales have not decreased, in fact they have increased. Bookseller and Publisher Magazine’s Weekly Book Newsletter reported trade sales of books in Australia in 2009, as recorded by Nielsen Bookscan (from 85 per cent of the trade market), increased 6 per cent over 2008 in both value and volume, totalling $1,291 million in value and 64.8 million books. Some sources including the Australian productivity commission estimate this number to be even higher, ranging somewhere around $2.5 billion annually.

This, combined with the continuing recorded increases to profit before income tax in the industry, surely causes us to ask just where this panic is coming from.

It seems in this technological age people are always quick to put their bets on any form of technological revolution. In the case of most industries it is true that reform in the past decade has been more dramatic than the accumulation of the past century. But the written word has been around for far longer than that, and whilst it is clear that the way we access information is rapidly changing, I do not believe this should be a cause to abandon the book trade to a premature death.

Indeed many surveys including a trial at Princeton University for Kindle (an electronic eBook reader), came back with surprisingly negative results. Users stated: ‘the inability to quickly navigate between documents and view two or more documents at the same time frustrated them. About two-thirds of participants said they would not purchase a new e-reader if the one they were using broke.’

So what is to become of the textbook trade once it is all but ignored? Recent trends in the USA have lent toward textbook rental as the most prominent section of the industry. It’s cheap, easy, efficient and easily able to compete with the new electronic revolution. It seems whilst information is becoming more freely available electronically, students are still more than willing to pay reasonable prices to have a hard copy in their hands.

However Australia, as usual, will have to fend for itself if it wishes to implement market change before it is too late. But it seems the call has fallen not only on deaf ears, and with new emerging companies such as Zookal book rental, students in Australia can be assured that we will not be ignored. That whilst some imaginary beast forces a supposedly dying industry to abandon ship, there will be a reasonable alternative to emptying your wallet in the closest bookstore.