Careers

October Careers News

Careers education – the importance of starting early

Did you know that by the age of seven, children are already starting to make subconscious decisions about their future aspirations? Research suggests that it is also at this crucial early age that children’s aspirations are starting to be affected by stereotypes. 

While formal career education may not begin until later school years, younger children generally learn about careers unintentionally through everyday observations of their families and communities. Parents and other family members can begin to play an important role in their child’s career development by discussing ideas and encouraging curiosity. 

To support this, a range of resources that families can use at home are available to download via the Little Ripples program developed by the Australian Government’s Your Career:

• Little Ripples Conversation Cards
• Little Ripples Imagination Conversation Cards
• Little Ripples Growing Up Conversation Cards
• Little Ripples Feelings Conversation Cards

As a careers practitioner, one of my main roles is to empower students and their families with knowledge and the ability to seek relevant information about future pathway options. Many parents that I meet with are surprised at the range of resources that are available nowadays to support their child’s career education and planning. Some excellent websites that are freely available to support this process for students and families alike include:

• Career targets - one of my favourite resources, these allow you to select a favourite school subject and explore the range of careers that may be related. Click on the ideas around the circle and you will be able to find out more information, including projected future growth, average salary and the type of person that would suit that career.
• Your Career – this website provides many resources including a quick quiz to find career options that suit your interests, work style and future goals, links to find out more information about a range of career options and up to date labour market information.
• Morrisby - for students in Years 10 and above, logging in to your Morrisby profile is an excellent way to research career ideas that may suit your aptitudes and interest areas. You are able to provide parental access to your Morrisby profile, so that parents can explore the available resources as well.  

Please also keep up to date with information on the Future Pathways Firefly page, and particularly the weekly careers newsletter, which is uploaded each Friday. 

Ms Alison Howard

Career Pathways Advisor