Shari Armanno, 32, a shining example of why CSU is the best there is when it comes to graduates finding full-time work
More graduates find full-time employment after leaving Charles Sturt University than any other uni.
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When it comes to finding full-time employment, there is no better university equipped at preparing students for the workforce than Charles Sturt University (CSU), a new survey shows.
The Federal Department of Education’s Graduate Outcomes Survey, which is completed by new graduates about four months after completing their studies, has revealed more than 84 per cent of people who leave CSU within that time have gone on to find full-time employment.
It is the highest number of any other university in Australia, and is based on people finding a 35 hour or more a week job within that four-month period.
CSU graduates, the survey showed, are also one of the top first-year earners.
Full-time employees are raking in a median salary of $68,900 in their first year, slightly less than the benchmark-setting University of Southern Queensland at $70,700.
It’s proved to be a winning formula for CSU Bachelor of Psychology graduate, Sharni Armanno.
The 32-year-old mum of one, who studied for five years at her home campus in Port, took more than a decade to decide to live-out her life ambition of a career in psychology by studying at CSU.
She first plied her trade as a hairdresser after school, before moving into the home lending and banking business.
It was not until the age of 27 that she knew it was time to take the plunge and follow her passion for psychology. CSU, she said, was her first choice.
“When I was looking at going to uni, I knew Charles Sturt was here [Port Macquarie], but that wasn’t what made me decide,” she said.
“I started looking around a few unis, and I did apply for others, but what did come through in the end was not only the fact that they were local, but their employment rate … that was something that I looked at.”
“It was CSU that came up with the highest employment rating, and I thought ‘you know what, they have great reviews, they are supposed to be offering a great psychology course, and, they’re local.
“So I applied and I was successful.”
Ms Armanno, who in her mid twenties was regarded as mature age for university, first studied a Bachelor of Social Science before transitioning into a Bachelor of Psychology (honours).
Five years later she’s now a fully qualified psychologist, as of last week.
To her credit and determination, she’ll commence a full-time job with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice this week - and she’ll be earning above the median salary of a University of Southern Queensland graduate.
A Charles Sturt University spokesperson said the findings released in the Graduate Outcomes Survey are a testament to the dedication of Charles Sturt University’s many hardworking graduates and the University’s unwavering commitment to producing employment-ready graduates.
“Graduates of Charles Sturt University work all over the world and build diverse careers in a vast number of sectors and industries, including education, health, business, law, science, agriculture, communications and the arts,” the spokesperson said.
“The University’s courses and staff have connections to industry-leading practitioners and a focus on practical placements and learning which ensure our graduates are sought after.
“According to data from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Higher Education Statistics, we are Australia’s leading provider of online university courses.
“Our university has a strong reputation for training highly skilled graduates, and it is because we have such a high proportion of graduates succeeding and working hard in full-time employment that our reputation continues to thrive in many industries across Australia and around the world.”
Ms Armanno said she credits her success in gaining employment to forging close relationships with her tutors and lecturers, who helped to connect her to people already working in the psychology sector.
“The knowledge and interactions with my lecturers have given me so much confidence to just say ‘yes, I can do this, I can go out and do what I want to do.
“And now I am doing that.”
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