One of our own presenting at the AIPM Annual Forum

Jessica Borg, an undergraduate student in her fourth and final year completing her Bachelor of Project Management at RMIT, has just recently attended the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) Annual Forum as a guest speaker. Presenting to some of the finest and most experienced professionals in the industry, Jessica presented her research on work readiness in the built environment.  Her research found that there is a prevalent need for addressing and understanding the work readiness requirements of students as they transition from university into the industries of property, construction and project management.

The 2016 AIPM Annual Forum was held on the 12th of May 2016 and over 150 project managers from a range of industries were in attendance. Jessica Borg presented alongside four other selected industry experts including Carley Blixt Head of Enterprise Portfolio Management Office at The Bureau of Meteorology and Greg Hyde, Senior Director of Strategy & Transformation at Cognizant Technology Solutions.  For a young professional who has only been in the  industry for a short period of time, the invitation to present at the prestigious event alongside high calibre professionals was an outstanding achievement.

The audience at the AIPM Annual Forum responded positively to Jessica’s presentation and judged by the number of questions that were asked at the end of the presentation, Jessica’s research seems to have encouraged industry professionals to think about how they can help prepare the project managers of tomorrow to be work ready.

With the guidance of Dr Michelle Turner, Senior Lecturer at RMIT, as mentor and second author, Jessica is the first author of a research paper titled ‘Thrown in the Deep End: Work Readiness in the Built Environment.’ The paper explored work readiness in the built environment from the student perspective and proposes a model which communicates what it is that makes a student work ready, as well as the initiatives that can be taken by universities and industry to foster work readiness in students. As Jessica has been working in the industry throughout her degree, her research has investigated the work readiness of students who combine work and study.

Presenting her research at the AIPM Annual Forum has been a remarkable achievement on Jessica’s part. In addition, Jessica will be presenting her research at the Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) Conference 2016, which will be held in Cairns in July of this year. We wish Jessica all the best as she embarks on her research journey.

Author: Jessica Borg, 4th year Bachelor of Applied Science (Project Management) (Honours)

Image: Gerard Coutts & Associates