St Mary's College Connect

Careers News

Rebecca Ambrose

Careers Counsellor 

 

A few our Year 10 students attended the BLA JCU Careers in Health Breakfast last week. It was an interesting look at five allied health jobs including midwifery, speech pathology, occupational therapy, exercise physiology and pharmacy.  Thanks to Clare Zappala accompanying the students to the breakfast and families for supporting their child in attending.  These opportunities allow individuals to see what is out there and find out about future options.

Some of our Year 12s attended the CQU Experience Day on Friday. Thanks to Jessica Williams for supervising the students. Students were able to explore many of the courses on offer at CQU including Aviation, Exercise and Sports Sciences, Nursing, Teaching, Information Technology, Engineering and others.  Students found the day interesting and useful in looking at local study options for next year.

 

St Mary’s Career website

We have a new careers website – www.smcccareers.com.au – Students can register for an account and then utilize all the areas available ie making a resume, working out areas of interests using the quizzes and surveys available.

 

Year 10 Work Experience

Paperwork regarding employers is going to be delivered on Tuesday Period 2 of Week 8.  Students will then need to sign the Work Experience Agreement Form and get their parents to sign the form and complete the Medical Information.  The next step is to contact the employer and arrange a time to meet to discuss the placement requirements and responsibilities and to get the signature of the employer. Students then need to bring the completed form back to the school. All paperwork must be at school by the end of Week 9.

Year 10 students are required to complete a Work Place Health and Safety course through the school  careers website(www.smcccareers.com.au) in preparation for our Work Experience week 30 March – 3 April.

 

The best way to find out about a job is to try it through Work Experience

The best way to explore a job you are interested in is to try it. This sounds obvious, doesn’t it? However, it is often the last thing people think of when exploring jobs and making career decisions. The following are ways you can try a job.

  • Work observation/shadowing - spend one or two days with someone already in the job
  • Work experience – spend up to a week working in the job
  • Volunteering – volunteer your services to an organisation that has jobs you are interested in
  • Part-time paid work – explore the possibility of part-time or casual work in your preferred career area
  • Join an activity group where you can try out some of the skills you will need in the job you like e.g. join the Air Force Cadets or the St John Ambulance Cadets
  • Participating in various programs associated with specific career areas e.g. Engineering Link projects

The benefits of trying a job are:

  • Learning about what the job involves
  • Having a structured, supervised, hands-on experience
  • Experiencing a work environment – the world of work isn’t like school!
  • Gaining a new referee to add to your resume
  • Developing contacts that may help you gain employment in the future.

I can help you organise work experience. Read ‘Tips for finding work experience’ on the myfuture website for other ways of finding work experience.

 

‘What subjects do I choose for my last years of school?’

"We are being asked to do work experience this year, in a field we might like to work in. We are being asked to think about choosing electives that are directing us towards our career choices. I have no idea what I want to do! I haven’t yet found anything I am particularly good at. I feel like I am being left behind. That others are making choices about their lives that I am not prepared for yet. Is this normal?"  If this sounds familiar, or even if you think you know exactly what you want to do, have a read of Susanne Gannon's article from The Conversation. She explains that you don't need to know 'right now' what you want to do but you should be finding out about what jobs are out there,

 

AusAPP Pathways: Free app for apprenticeships and traineeships

AusAppPathways is a free app that helps students and jobseekers explore Australian Apprenticeship career pathway ideas on their smartphone or tablet. Users can access:

  • General industry options as well as specific apprenticeships and traineeships
  • Links to job hunting and career research sites
  • Contacts for local Apprenticeship Network providers and Group Training Organisations.

AusAppPathways is available for both Apple and Android devices. A ‘Guide to Using AusAppPathways’ can be found on the Australian Apprenticeships Pathways website.

 

Industry information and aptitude quizzes

Australian Apprenticeships and Traineeships Information Service has a webpage for Industry Information and quizzes in a range of careers. Each industry area has an overview, industry information, employment/wage data, key occupations and career pathways. Some of the industries included are:

  • Arts, Culture and Performance
  • Automotive and Boating
  • Building and Construction
  • Business, Clerical and Financial Services
  • Electrical, Electronics and Utilities
  • Food and Wine Processing
  • Gardening, Farming, Animals and Environment
  • Government, Schools, Public Safety and Corrections
  • Health, Care and Community Services
  • Hospitality, Travel and Tourism