Student Testimonial: Svenja Schmidt

Academic Program: PhD in Chemical Engineering

I took part in the Career Access Mentoring in the beginning of the 2nd year of my PhD program. As a PhD student, it can be difficult to recognize all the different career options one can pursue, as we are very well trained, but only in a very specific field and/or in a very specific set of skills. One might feel obliged to follow a career in academia, since it is the environment PhD students know best when graduating, while the ‘career knowledge gap’ prevents one from not knowing options that can be more suitable for one personally. Therefore, I was excited to discover a range of support in terms of career development and employability from the University of Adelaide, and specifically, from the CareerHub. 

The Career Access Mentoring gave me the opportunity to be matched with someone who is more advanced in their career and to learn from their experiences and insights. Particularly, I was surprised by the level of honesty and openness that my mentor and I developed during our meetings. To me, it felt like a ‘safe space’ where I could express any questions, concerns, and impressions about the professional work life, and in our case, a career in academia. We had many honest discussions about possibilities and limits of working as researcher/lecturer at a University and by now, I have a much better picture of the responsibilities and opportunities in that particular field. Furthermore, I learned that mentoring is also about personal development – it gives students time and space to identify their values and skills, and especially to identify the skills that might need further growth for the anticipated career. Mentoring is, at its core, about reflecting who you are as a person and identifying what you would like to achieve in your professional life. 

Another aspect I found very helpful about mentoring is the cultural exchange. As an international student, it can be difficult to properly understand the Australian job market or recognize certain cultural differences. Having an understanding for both, however, will be a major advantage for one’s career in Australia. For example, a stereotype about Germans is that we tend to be very direct – which can (unintentionally!) be perceived as rude by foreigners. And in fact, I noticed differences in how people interact with each other and give, for example, feedback to a project/homework/talk etc. Therefore, I asked for advice on how my actions might be received by Australians and on how to handle these cultural differences best. Now, I have a better understanding for the Australian culture and feel more confident about handling sensitive workplace relationships. 

Reflecting on the mentoring program, I received a lot of new input. From hands-on, practical advice about personal effectiveness to conceptive ideas about career advancement and new approaches to balancing work and personal life. Some of the advice I was already able to implement right away between the meetings while others serve as an inspiration for the future. All in all, I can only highly recommend the Career Access Mentoring. It gave me a new perspective on my professional future and confidence in going after my dreams. Furthermore, it motivated me to apply for other mentoring and employability programs to learn and grow as much as possible before graduating.