Hi {{first_name || BSOC Community}}! 👋🏻

Term 2 is here and the job market is cracking - unemployment hit 4.5%, youth unemployment is at 11.1% and firms are stretching existing staff instead of hiring new ones.

If you didn't land a vacationer or grad role last term, this edition is your game plan for what to actually do about it before applications reopen. We've also got the economic data you need to understand what's really happening out there, and why the next 6 months matter more than you think.

For questions and feedback, contact us at [email protected]

BSOC and The Aussie Corporate Team

You didn't get the offer. Now what?

If you applied for summer vacationer programs or grad roles and didn't land one, the worst thing you can do is just apply again next year and hope it goes better. Hope is not a strategy. The best thing you can do right now, while you’re beating yourself up over it, is figure out exactly where it fell apart. Was it your resume? Most students underestimate how quickly a recruiter scans it and overestimate how impressive their “personal summary with buzz words” sounds without context. Was it the online assessments or was it the interviews? Be specific with yourself about where the process stopped because that tells you exactly what to fix.

You have roughly 6 months before applications open again. If your resume was thin on experience, go get some. A part-time role at a brand you respect, a leadership position in a society or a volunteer project that lets you own a real outcome will all give you something concrete to talk about in your next interview. If behavioural interviews tripped you up, start collecting stories now and practise saying them out loud until they feel natural and structured. If you never got past the application stage, get someone who's been through the process to tear your resumé apart honestly. Not your mate. Not ChatGPT either. Someone who's sat on the other side of the table and knows what actually passes. The students who convert next year aren't the ones who got lucky. They're the ones who actually learnt their lesson this year.

The BSOC Bulletin lands every fortnight. The news doesn't. We’ll keep you in the loop even if you live under a rock.

Every weekday morning at 8:00am, we send you everything that happened across Australian business and corporate news in a 2-minute read. Same team. Same voice. Just daily.

If you're sitting here wondering how 3 weeks of holidays went by so fast, I feel you. It somehow always manages to feel like both too long and not long enough at the same time. Before the busyness kicks in, it's worth thinking about what worked last trimester, what didn't and what you'd do differently. Be honest with yourself on that one.

If Term 1 taught us anything, it's that the workload creeps up faster than you expect. So while things are still quiet, get a head start with the small stuff. Show up to that first lecture. Read the course outline before Week 3. Find out where your content is actually posted before you need it at 11pm the night before a deadline. Future you will be thankful.

And if uni has mostly just been your bedroom, a part-time job and the occasional library trip, this is your sign to change that. Sign up for the workshop you keep scrolling past. Go to the social event even if you don't know anyone. Put your hand up in tutorial even if your answer isn't perfect. The people sitting in the same class as you are usually just as nervous as you are. These are the things that make uni actually feel like uni rather than just another thing to get through.

An An | Publications Director

Hi, I'm Ivan, a 2nd year student at UNSW studying a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies / Commerce, majoring in Finance. I am one of the Information Technology Directors at the UNSW Business Society, and in my free time I’m always down for mahjong and eating good food!

A Little About Me!

Business investment surged in Q1 while household spending fell 1.1% in April - transport, food and clothing all dropped. Corporate Australia is pouring money into IT and infrastructure while cutting back on groceries. Morgan Stanley calls it the "capex over consumption" split and they're betting on it widening.

Wages grew 3.3% in Q1 but after inflation they fell 0.7% over the past year. In real terms, purchasing power is back at 2010 levels. 15 years of living-standard gains effectively wiped out. The government has recommended a "real wage increase" from July but that's a recommendation to the Fair Work Commission, not a guarantee in your next pay cycle.

The labour market just showed its first real cracks in 5 years. Unemployment jumped from 4.3% to 4.5%, its highest level since 2021. Youth unemployment rose to 11.1%. Employment fell by 18,600 across both full-time and part-time roles. Firms are extending hours for existing staff rather than taking on new headcount. NAB surveys show hiring intentions are weak. The number of unemployed Australians is up 12.3% year-on-year, a trend Jarden says is too long and too consistent to dismiss as noise.

Households feel resilient, but analysts say both numbers are too optimistic, and mortgaged households show high sensitivity to even modest rate increases. Whether that confidence survives the next rate decision is another question entirely.

⚡ WE'VE BEEN UNLEASHED, and the PACK IS MOVING⚡

UNSW BSOC is venturing out and calling YOU to our INTO THE WILD PUBCRAWL

Get ready as we trek through the wild of the city for a night of UNTAMED memories and CRAZY adventure!

✨ EVENT DETAILS ✨
📅 Date: Thursday, 11 June 2026
📍 Location: THREE exclusive venues in Sydney CBD to be announced SOON
💵 Price: FREE with a donation upon entry to our Philanthropy Partner
⏱️ Time: 8pm - late

MAMMA MIAAA!! 🏎️❄️ It’s that time of the year again. Who’s ready to race down the WINTER SLOPES ⛷️🏂 with UNSW Business Society and join us as we venture through the Mushroom Kingdom 🍄🏁 in a MARIO KART inspired ski adventure? 🎮❄️

✨ EVENT DETAILS ✨
📅 Date: 28th August - 31st August
📍 Location: Perisher
💵 Price: Arc: $840 / Non-Arc: $860
🧍 Who: Open to both Arc and Non-Arc students

For questions and feedback, contact us at [email protected]