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More than 11,000 people from around the world have signed up for a free University of Queensland course designed to set them on the road to employment in a competitive labour market.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Student Employability Strategy Project Manager Andrea Reid said had attracted enrolments from countries including the United States, India, Canada, Australia and the UK.

“Employability is about developing the skills and attributes that make graduates more likely to secure work and be successful in their chosen field,” she said.

“One of the key messages of this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is that employers expect more than just a degree in today’s competitive graduate labour market.

“They are looking for degree knowledge and skills and personal attributes that guide workplace performance.

“An employable graduate is someone who can make a valuable contribution to an organisation, and this is about a combination of knowledge and the skills and attributes to do a job well,” she said.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Joanne Wright said the course was part of a larger focus on employability at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­.

“We aim to foster lifelong personal development and encourage contributions to society among our students to help them create change” she said.

“By providing this course on the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­x open platform, learners worldwide will have access to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­’s approach to employability developments.

“The MOOC helps individuals recognise how every experience they have can be valuable to their personal and professional development. 

“It shows people how to reflect on any experience, and transfer the skills developed into a workplace context,” Professor Wright said.

The self-paced course offers seven modules and features contributions from Australian and international experts and employers, as well as students and alumni.

It draws from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­’s employability framework, which enables students to self-reflect on their experiences to develop their employability and transfer their learning to the workplace.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ will release a course on developing team-work skills, TEAMS101x: Working in Teams in February.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ teaching staff will harness the two new MOOCs to help students develop the skills they need to benefit from learning on campus and to succeed in future employment.

is the world’s largest non-profit MOOC provider. It was founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2012.

Media: Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Student Employability Strategy Project Manager Andrea Reid, a.reid1@uq.edu.au; Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­x Course Project Manager Catherine Bennett, enquiries@uqx.uq.edu.au, +61 (7) 3346 0850.