Keynote speaker

Panellists

Attendees are invited to network with leading alumni in a series of themed Zoom breakout rooms. This is your opportunity to ask some of our most successful grads your burning questions and get their tips and strategies for your own success.

All via Zoom meetings, from 11am-12noon.

Password for all breakout sessions is summit

Program structure

Attend for the whole morning or join only the sessions that interest you. Either way, the Summit gives you access to the first hand knowledge of UWA grads at the forefront of industry and entrepeneurship across two practical panel discussions and a series of networking sessions so you can future proof your career.

7:30am: Registration

In person attendees are encouraged to arrive and register on time to avoid interrupting proceedings and the live stream audience. Light refreshments will help you settle in.

8am: Welcome and opening remarks

Our MC will welcome attendees and introduce our keynote speaker.

8:10am: Opening keynote address – The Challenge of Change

Ross Warren BCom '00, Co-Founder at Google's Area 120 and Advisor for The Anti-Slavery Collective & Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.

9:10am: Panel 1: How to Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable (According to UWA grads)

The new world will require us all to re-invent ourselves - perhaps multiple times – during our careers.

In this session, our panel of UWA alumni business leaders will discuss how the career landscape has been permanently changed by COVID-19, the importance of adaptation and what you can do to ensure you thrive in the face of change.

Our panelists will cover:

• Why feeling uncomfortable is the key to success
• Maximizing your agility in the workplace
• Why adaptation and flexibility are key to keeping your career moving forward
• How to free yourself from your own expectations of what your future should be
• COVID-19 and the workplace: new opportunities
• Embracing change and building a new normal
• How sitting within your comfort zone can stunt personal growth and stifle creativity

10:10am: Panel #2: Do it your way: entrepreneurship made easy

There is an abundance of quotes telling us that opportunity exists within every crisis. It may seem counterintuitive, but recessions really do present amazing opportunities for entrepreneurs to find inspiration, identify gaps in the market and create something new.

Our panel of alumni entrepreneurs, each with a track-record of leadership in the start-up environment, will discuss what you need to make it on your own. They will provide practical advice about the soft skills you need AND what you can do to take charge of your future, including:

• What are the most important skills entrepreneurs need?
• How to analyse your own skillset and suitability for an entrepreneurial future
• Hard skills you can acquire
• Soft skills to work on or find a business partner who has them!
• Don’t Let A Pandemic Stop You: 4 Things To Successfully Launch Your Start-up

11:10am: Networking – in person with attendees or in themed breakout rooms

In person attendees can chat informally with panelists and network fellow attendees over light refreshments OR log into Zoom meetings on their phones (please bring headphones for this purpose). Live stream attendees will be prompted to join the breakout room of their choosing.

Breakout room topics

Room 1: The post-pandemic paradigm: gearing up for the new normal

This room will discuss how the pandemic and changing expectation of the workforce will create a shift away from the standard office-working environment. This paradigm shift in what it means to “go to work” may mean employees choosing a working model that is fully online, or a custom hybrid of office and remote working.

Room 2: Embrace the fear of career transition

In this room we’ll discuss how to make that crucial shift into another role or sector from your existing role. What’s the best way to find a new role in 2020? How do you deal with the anxiety of changing your role in a period when many may be viewing the working landscape as essentially insecure?

Room 3: How volunteering prepares you for success

Not every role is remunerated and it’s sometimes in your interest to consider unpaid work, or an unpaid role in tandem with your main role, in order to leverage your career and take things to the next level. We’ll discuss what this could mean for you and provide examples.

Room 4: How to grow your network digitally and in person

Sometimes we forget about networking as a key career-building strategy. We’ve all heard it all mentioned by career advisers, but do we all do it effectively? In this room we’ll discuss how to build a network that will best serve YOUR needs, in person and online and; how to be strategic about who you’re connecting with, but still remain authentic. This room will also include discussion on building overseas networks if you’re planning to leave Australia to advance your career.

Room 5: Clever ways to stand out and boost your personal brand

The way you look, interact, operate and communicate create your personal brand. In a post-COVID world, it’s critical to make sure you stand out, but for the right reasons. Our alumni speakers in this room will help you to analyse what your brand is, how you can enhance it and build missing components.

Room 6: How to futureproof your career

Gone are the days where we can do one degree and remain in same job for life. The 21st Century is about needing to constantly evolve to stay ahead of changes in technology and its impact on industry. Alumni in this room will discuss how to keep yourself ahead of the game and how to assess your own adaptability and readiness for change.

Room 7: How to build resilience

2020 hasn’t been much fun for any of us and professionally, it has presented a whole new set of challenges as unexpected events hit us one after another. Coping with change –specifically the unexpected things we can’t prepare for– is a key part of protecting our own mental health. In this room, we’ll discuss resilience, how to optimise it, and how to build your own resilience.