South East Careers Expo

Over the last 10 years, our Learning partners SELLEN have run a careers expo for students at the Cranbourne Racecourse. Previously known as “Try-a-Trade”, this event allowed participants to get some hands on practical experience of a number of careers fields. The event is now called the South East Careers Expo and also provides info about Universities and TAFEs as well as trade pathways.

Cranbourne SC students, particularly at Year 9 and VCAL, have participated enthusiastically in this event. Unfortunately this year, our end of Term Parent Teacher interviews clash with the event, and we will not be able to take students in class groups. However, the event runs throughout the day on Tuesday 2 April, at Cranbourne Racecourse, Grant Street and as students are not required to attend class on that day, they can still take the opportunity to visit the event and find out about a range of careers and pathways opportunities. Families and other members of the community are welcome to attend also. Please refer to the flier attached to this newsletter for more information, or call Carren Brennan on 59963544.

Year 12 Students – Pathways Planning

Year 12 students have already been busy with their classroom learning. However, they also need to make sure that they are planning for their future pathway, to make sure that they make the most of opportunities for further study or employment.

There are three key components of this:

• Know yourself
• Know your world
• Know your options

Know yourself

Students should be aware of their learning preferences and about how their interests and aptitudes might influence their career choices. Some of the websites which can help them to find out about different occupations and about what this work involves are:

www.wirl.com.au  Students will need a user name (cransc) and password (galaxy57) to access this site. They can take career quizzes or just look for specific occupation information.

www.mycareermatch.com.au  Another career quiz type tool, this site links students to possible future occupations based on their personality styles. Upon completion of the quiz, students will need to add in their email address and a code (CRB:1364) for the results to be sent to them.

www.myfuture.edu.au – students probably used this in Year 9 and 10 and may already have an account. Again, use this tool to research occupations directly or do the career quiz for suggestions. It can also be used to access the Bullseye charts to search for suggested occupations based on your favourite school subjects.

Know your world

Being aware of what is happening in the world around you, particularly the economy, is useful when thinking about career pathways.

Australian Jobs 201? Is a yearly publication by the Department of Jobs and Small Business. New data is published every year – it is published as a PDF booklet and you can google for the most up to date version of it.  This can help you find out which industries are growing and which industries are shrinking – and what is happening to employment as a result of this. It doesn’t mean that you CAN’T work in a particular area but you will benefit by understanding the context in which you are looking for work.

www.joboutlook.gov.au – very useful site which includes the type of info in Australian Jobs, as well as specific career research (as in WIRL or MyFuture). As a bonus, it also has links to income and qualifications.

Foundation for Young Australians www.fya.org.au – an organisation whose aim is “to prepare young people to understand how work is changing and build the skills needed to navigate the future.” Definitely check out the research on their pages. It is ground breaking stuff – easy to read and understand and very positive about what is needed for future success.

Know your options

Arguably the most important website students will need to access this year is the VTAC website www.vtac.edu.au

This covers everything from course explorer, opening a VTAC account, understanding about SEAS; applying for scholarships, Open Days, and about ATAR and course selection. Students must make it a priority to learn about this website and everything it offers.

www.studyassist.gov.au is also very important to know thoroughly. There are many costs associated with tertiary education and this website can tell you if you are eligible for support.  Make sure that you understand your citizenship/residency status, and your visa class if this is applicable.

Not looking to study next year?

There are plenty of opportunities that don’t require a University pathway. It is worth noting that the free TAFE courses will be on offer again.

Some students may wish to start their own business – the area of enterprise is something I am passionate about so if you are a future entrepreneur, please come to see me so we can explore it together.

Other options include travel, employment, family duties – whatever your plans are it is important that you make time to explore what is available to you and to create the opportunity to pursue this.

Please see the Careers team for further support. Please also keep an eye on Compass for additional information as it becomes available.