Press Release Monday, 29 March 2010 ‘Never been west of anywhere' student moves into regional career A new initiative placing urban-based university students into regional positions for work experience is gaining momentum, with the first of its students moving on into a regional career. The Brolga Project strives to offer university students the chance to try life and work in a regional community via work experience, to encourage students to take up a career with a regional business when they've completed their studies. Law student Ms Tia Mitsis (pictured) from the University of New South Wales went through the project in 2009, and is now on a longer placement in Emerald with the Queensland Department of Communities. Tia describes herself as ‘never having been west of anywhere' but the experience the project offered her was beyond all expectations. "I am loving the job, and the scope of work is something I just would not get in the city," Tia said. "It's amazing experience to have and I'm glad to finally be getting some real legal experience." Founder of the Brolga Project, Mr Richard Cowley said there were literally hundreds of students in the project who were eagerly waiting and wanting to try a regional career, and that they came from over 40 different disciplines from five states. "When we kicked off the project in late 2008, we thought we'd be inundated with enquiry from rural and regional businesses, government departments and not-for profits, and that we'd have to market more heavily to students," he said. "Instead, we've found the exact opposite, with nearly 600 students coming forward over the past 19 months, but barely 50 rural and regional host agencies," he said. One of the barriers from potential host agencies was the notion that a ‘work experience' student would be a drain on resources, but Mr Cowley said that participating agencies were discovering students brought their own wealth of knowledge. "Many students have already been in the workforce, so are practised in their field and have gone back to uni to further their studies and now are looking for unique new experiences," Mr. Cowley said. "Other students are of course looking at entering the workforce full time for the first time, but even these students often have already volunteered with organisations in their study field, so they too are bringing some fresh experiences with them." Tia encouraged anyone interested in the initiative to give the young professionals a chance. "Sometimes we hear ‘oh, you're overqualified'," Tia said, "but in reality, if students are applying for a job, we're not overqualified, we're keen to work" Mr Cowley said there was little to lose, but a lot to gain in being part of the project. "We place students for ten days or a couple of weeks firstly, so it's not much time lost to a host agency if they find out it doesn't work - which I'm certain will not be the case. "The skills shortage is an acute blight on regional development, here's an opportunity to attract young professional people into regional communities. "Past experiences with teachers, nurses, police officers and government employees to name a few examples, prove that many urban- based people will settle into the regions given the opportunity to experience them," Mr Cowley concluded. ...ends For more information please contact: Ms Tia Mitsis, Student Participant in the Brolga Project, Mobile 0437 678 395