International students: Get career-ready with UNSW Employability
Access coaching, mentoring and real-world experiences through UNSW Employability and get yourself career-ready.
Published on the 02 June 2026
Let's look at an increasingly common international student scenario: you've moved to UNSW Sydney for your studies, you've attended all your lectures, nailed all your tutorials and aced your assignments... yet the job market still feels so far away.
While university studies are a great foundation, getting job-ready is another beast in its own right. For international students, the challenge is even more difficult because employment is harder to come by than for domestic students.
"A lot of people and companies do not hire international students," says Ada Choi, a PhD Candidate in the School of Marketing and president of the Chinese Student Association. "It's quite bizarre because people come here to study, and when they graduate, they can't find a job."
With job hunting being so incredibly difficult for international students, UNSW Employability is here to help get them career-ready.
How does UNSW Employability help?
Every student has their own way of getting career-ready. UNSW Employability provides the support, resources and programs that will help every student build confidence and realise their unique potential. This is all about making sure students are well-prepared, confident and know exactly what to say and do in any job-related context, whether it's a job interview or a networking event.
In terms of how exactly UNSW Employability goes about preparing students to be career-ready, there are several avenues available. Best of all, they're all free!
From developing leadership skills to adapting to the Australian workplace culture, these development programs aim to provide students with important soft skills that will help them on their career journey.
These workshops help students target employability-specific areas to improve upon. Ranging from creating an appealing resume and building confidence for job interviews to learning practical networking strategies and leveraging LinkedIn to support job hunting, students can focus on strengthening specific skills that will help them succeed.
Take all the communication techniques, the soft skills and all the employability preparation and put it all to the test through some real-life experiences. This includes practice job assessments, interview practice and much more.
Employability programs, workshops and real-life experiences
If you're an international student looking to ready yourself for your would-be employers but you're not sure what exactly you need from UNSW Employability, don't worry, we're here to help break things down into easy-to-understand terms.
The beauty of UNSW Employability is the wealth of resources available. So without further ado, let's look into the big programs and workshops that will be of high interest to international students.
Professional Development Program
Designed exclusively for international students, the Professional Development Program is a two-phase learning program that aims to teach students about workplace culture from a local and global context, and to help them develop all the relevant skills that will enhance their employability through a series of workshops.
Once the workshop phase is complete, students will have the opportunity to put everything they learned into practice through hands-on volunteer experience with a well-recognised charity partner.
Career Explorer Program
For those students who aren't sure about their career journey, the Career Explorer Program will help provide some clarity and guidance.
Led by career experts, this program will help students kickstart their employability journey by exploring their motivations and interests, how to make the most of UNSW resources available to them and identifying their ideal career pathway that's aligned to their strengths and/or aspirations.
Career Discovery Mentoring
Nothing beats advice from those who are actually in the industry. Career Discovery Mentoring connects students with industry professionals who are ready to share all their insights, experiences and other handy secrets.
If you're exploring your career journey or preparing for the next big step into the world of employment, this program will be invaluable.
Leadership Foundations
Employers are always looking for candidates with excellent communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills. The Leadership Foundations program will mould you into that candidate.
Not only will students make connections with their peers through this program, but they will also learn important practical skills such as self-awareness, collaboration and communication, building effective relationships, conflict management and much more.
Real-world practice and experiences
Take everything you've learned about enhancing your employability and put it to the (literal) test with Graduates First, an online platform that offers unlimited access to practice job assessments and other useful recruitment resources.
Ready to take yourself on an employability test run? The UNSW Employability Award will put students through a simulated recruitment journey, complete with personalised feedback and helpful employer tips. This will not only go a long way in building confidence, but students can also opt in for a paid casual Employability Ambassador role. That's a win-win!
Workshops
Need to brush up on that cover letter, redo your whole resume, understand the secret of LinkedIn or learn how to navigate your way through a job interview without stumbling?
UNSW Employability has several workshops every term that will help strengthen specific skills within your employability arsenal. Taking place online or in-person, these workshops will ensure that you are ready for whatever challenge your career journey will throw at you.
Other helpful UNSW resources and events to keep an eye on
Given how multicultural the UNSW community is, there are a series of UNSW Global peer mentoring programs that focus on intercultural mentorship and leadership between students. You can sign up to be a mentor and bestow your wisdom onto your fellow international students, or you can be a mentee and form valuable connections with your peers who have advice and insights about university life to share.
For those who are keen to take everything they've learned at a UNSW Employability workshop or program and apply it in a real-life setting, there are plans in the works to host an international student careers fair at Town Hall in Sydney this October. This will be a collaboration between UNSW and the University of Sydney, with Ada Choi being one of the leading figures of this event.
"I'm chairing the Postgraduate Council at UNSW, so my plan in October [in 2026] is to host an international student careers fair at Town Hall," says Ada. "This will be in collaboration with the University of Sydney's official Postgraduate Council, Supra.
"A lot of students came forward to me and asked if there are any opportunities where they can introduce themselves to employers," explains Ada. "A lot of people and companies do not hire international students, so we just want to find a space where people feel safe to reach out to employers and talk to them."
We'll keep everyone posted on this international student careers fair, so stay tuned!
This story was originally published on the UNSW Current Students website.