Once you’re at uni, it’s not often that you’ll go back and look at your course description via Curtin’s course finder – why would you, you’re on it already!

However, what you might not have picked up on is that course descriptions also let you know about professional recognition e.g. Laboratory Medicine is recognised by the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists, Interior Architecture is recognised by the Design Institute of Australia and Public Relations by the Public Relations Institute of Australia.

Many degrees are also accredited by related associations e.g. Psychology is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council and Engineering by Engineers Australia.

So when you’re at uni, the idea is that you are working towards becoming ‘a professional someone at something’ and these industry associations are the big link.

How to connect

Even if your degree is already recognised by industry, you can also join your professional association as a student member. This can range in cost but mainly fees for students are pretty low. For example, the Law Society of WA ask for $20 a year.

If money is tight, and let’s face it – it probably is, at least think about joining up with your related association or associations in your final year. Most are great for offering up networking opportunities, cheap access to journals and some even offer mentoring programs.

Use the Curtin Course finder to go back and check out your degree and any related associations. You can also have a look at this list of Australian Professional Associations or check out our Career Guides by clicking on your Faculty button – they list related associations and peak bodies connected to your specific degree.