It’s time for the second edition of our Vogue-inspired series, 7.3 Questions Answered By Your Favourite Accomplishers!

This week we spoke with Mohit Sewani on his experience with the Accomplish Award, how he’s gotten involved around UTS, and why meeting and developing your skills with real employers is so important to advance your career while studying.

Mohit Sewani on being involved at uni, the perks of connecting with employers, and his journey so far

1. Mohit Sewani, who are you?

Hello there! My name is Mohit Sewani and I am a third year Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) student.

As an international student starting out at UTS, I realized that it would be quite important to be involved within university to be able to adapt to new surroundings in a new country. Some of the activities that I was involved in that were not academic-based included the Peer Network, the SOUL Award, and of course, the Accomplish Award!

2. What initially inspired you to join the Accomplish Award?

During my initial stages and weeks here at UTS I attended Orientation, and a session held by UTS Careers called ‘U:Professional’ helped me understand the Australian workplace and culture. An informative introduction to general career queries, resume and cover letter structures, and LinkedIn tips was given.

This intrigued me to further delve into the UTS CareerHub portal and explore my opportunities to be involved with university and the general community. This is how I found out about many of the extra-curricular activities offered to students, including the Accomplish Award.

3. You got to connect with a number of employers while undertaking the Award, how did that help?

The Accomplish Award offers students the opportunity to meet with employers from the workplace. This is carried out in a faculty-specific networking event over afternoon tea.

I felt it was highly beneficial to have the chance to speak to employers from the companies and organisations related directly to my field. This enabled me, personally, to gain a deeper insight to the Engineering workplace and opportunities like internships and graduate roles available to international students like myself.

4. Do you think having those employers there helped students? And how do you think it helped the employers?

I feel that the Accomplish Award is highly beneficial for students and employers alike because it serves as a platform for us to connect.

As mentioned earlier, the Accomplish Award holds networking events over afternoon tea which enables students to clarify any misconceptions, doubts or queries they might have about their field-related workplaces with the employers directly.

I believe that, for the employers, the Accomplish Award serves as a platform for them to identify any promising potential candidates for their organisations.

5. What are you doing with your life since Accomplish?

Currently, I am employed as a Systems Intern at UTS Careers. As a Systems Intern, I work as part of a very hard-working and efficient team to ensure the smooth induction of commencing students during Orientation.

My role is to maintain and update the back-end of the CareerHub portal for the Peer Network workflow – creating forms, collating responses, and working with them to form a seamless system. Another one of my responsibilities includes liaising with staff members and assisting them with their sessions and events.

6. How do you feel you’ve grown to get where you are now?

Through the Accomplish Award, I have been able to articulate the skills and knowledge gained from the workshops and networking events into my application processes. Mock interviews conducted within the Accomplish Award framework have enabled me to portray my confidence gained through them to further emphasize my achievements, experiences and my journey in a convincing manner. Furthermore, I have also been able to establish a strong LinkedIn profile which enables me to expand and keep in touch with my network.

7. What advice would you give to those who are a bit nervous or apprehensive about applying for the Award?

In my opinion, the Accomplish Award certainly requires a great deal of enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Personally, it pushed me out of my comfort zone and boosted my confidence levels. It provides students like myself a head-start to possessing much-needed knowledge about the Australian workplace prior to graduation. Not only that, it provides us students with a strong establishment via the maintenance of LinkedIn networks that prove to be very essential as graduation approaches.

0.3. Why (interpret however you’d like!)

‘Why take part in Accomplish?’

Personally, the Accomplish Award has been a very fruitful program through which I have had the opportunities to meet fellow students that are studying the same course as myself. As mentioned, the program also provides us students an opportunity to network with real employers which is always exciting. Through all the skills development workshops, it makes students work-ready and provides us with tips and suggestions that go a long way with application processes!