Jobs on the Virtual
Finding relevant work experiences is a persistent challenge for university students. Reading through hundreds of job applications just to see the dreaded “previous experience preferred” can really dampen our motivation in searching for jobs. What if there were a way students could broaden their skills and experiences in real workplace scenarios without the need to undergo a tedious application process? Lucky for us, there is!
Virtual work experiences and online learning programs offer students the chance to build professional skills that they can showcase to potential employers and that better prepare them for life in the workforce.
Virtual Work Experiences
Virtual work experiences simulate real-world workplace tasks, allowing students to explore different industries from the comfort of their homes at their convenience. These free experiences provide short and open-access simulations that offer insights into day-to-day tasks often encountered in real entry-level roles or internships.
Where and how can I access these Virtual Work Experiences?
Forage and Prosple are great platforms to find a wide range of accessible virtual work experiences from top consultancy employers in Australia, including Deloitte, KPMG, and EY. Simply create an account, find a virtual work experience that aligns with your future career, and navigate through the self-paced modules and practical tasks.
💎 Forage: https://www.theforage.com/
🚀 Prosple: https://au.prosple.com/virtual-experiences
What type of experiences are there on offer?
Forage and Prosple have a wide selection of job simulations in industries including, but not limited to, education, engineering, and law. As women in consulting, we recommend looking into job simulations in the industries listed below that offer roles ranging from data and risk analyst to auditor and consultant.
Accounting
Banking & Financial Services
Consulting & Professional Services
How long are Virtual Work Experiences?
Virtual work experiences are short-term job simulations that typically last anywhere from 1 hour to 6 hours. However, as modules are self-paced, individuals can space the experience out over several days to better suit their schedules.
Are there any program eligibility requirements?
No! There are no applications, selection criteria or previous experience required. Anyone can sign up for a virtual work experience. These experiences are highly accessible for university students, recent graduates and career changers.
How do Virtual Work Experiences benefit me?
Virtual work experiences help to bridge the gap between studying and working by simulating daily tasks typically encountered as interns or graduates.
These experiences can help build workplace readiness and technical competencies. Specifically, job simulations teach industry-specific tasks, data analysis, and problem-solving, while also developing professional communication, time management, and online collaboration skills.
Additionally, employers value virtual work experience as it proves that an individual possesses digital literacy, self-discipline, and problem-solving skills that are essential for remote or hybrid work environments. Virtual work experiences are, therefore, an excellent way to demonstrate to employers interest and aptitude for the work they do.
Online Learning - UNSW Excelerate Program
Online certificates and microcredentials are flexible and fast ways to upskill to stand out against other applicants. Training is available in 2 levels - Associate and Expert, ensuring you can enhance your Excel skills no matter your stage of learning.
UNSW offers a Microsoft Excel training program (UNSW Excelerate Program) that teaches essential business skills for a career in consultancy. The program has over 50 bite-sized self-paced online learning modules, which include:
Demonstration videos
Practice datasets
Revision summaries
Flashcards
The UNSW Excelerate Program also offers authentic assessments where students role-play as graduate analysts to solve episodes of real-world problems that align with the course context, building Excel proficiency and analytical skills.
What is covered in the program?
The program covers:
Cell selection, view and formatting
Data entry and manipulation
Basic functions
Tables and Charts
Analysing data
How will this program advance my consulting career?
While the basis of the UNSW Excelerate Program is to teach essential Excel techniques and functions, the program’s overall aim is to help develop analytical thinking and business problem-solving skills. The design of the program allows you to use data to make decisions, think critically, and solve real-world problems.
Consultants in general spend a lot of time analysing data and creating forecasts, with Excel being one of the most commonly used tools for this. Being proficient with Excel can therefore better prepare you for internships and graduate roles.
Key Takeaways
Virtual work experiences and online learning programs provide students with accessible opportunities to build professional skills relevant to consulting, such as data analysis and problem-solving.
Platforms such as Forage and Prosple offer free, self-paced, and online job simulations from leading consulting firms, helping students explore potential career paths.
The UNSW Excelerate Program develops both technical Excel proficiency and broader analytical thinking skills through various learning modules and real-world scenarios.
These opportunities help students strengthen their resumes and prepare them for careers in consulting.
