Careers Update
Career Community News -
2025 Careers Events at EMC
At EMC, our Careers Team is dedicated to helping students navigate their future with confidence. We understand that each student is unique, and we aim to support them in making informed decisions about their education and career pathways.
To assist students in their career exploration and pathway planning in 2025, we will offer a range of engaging opportunities that complement the Careers Curriculum (delivered from Years 7-12) and help students make well-informed choices about their future. Below is sample list of some key events to look out for:
Year 9 My Careers Insights: Morrisby Profile – Wednesday 15th October
The My Career Insights program is a government initiative designed to help students explore potential career pathways and make informed decisions about subject selection, vocational education and training, and further studies.
During this time, students will create an online Morrisby account and completed a series of profiling quizzes and questionaries. As a follow up, students who complete their Morrisby profile will receive a receive a 1:1 appointment with a certified Morrisby Counsellor. During this time, the counsellor will help the student unpack their results, identify possible career options, and explore the functionalities of their online profile. Students will attend their scheduled appointment during the regular school day from Monday 27th – Friday 31st of October.
We encourage students to take full advantage of these opportunities to explore their interests and plan their future pathways. If you have any questions, please reach out to the EMC Careers Team.
- Careers Website www.emccareers.com.au
Pathway advice: Contact the EMC Career Team for general advice – 97882745.
UNDERSTANDING THE ATAR – COMMON QUESIOTNS ANSWERED
If you’re not entirely sure how the ATAR system works, why you might need one, and how they’re calculated, you’re definitely not alone. The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (or ATAR) can seem confusing at first, but once you understand the basics, it all starts to make sense. Here are some of the most common questions answered and misconceptions about the ATAR busted.
What is an ATAR?
Your ATAR is a number between 0 and 99.95 that represents your overall academic achievement at high school compared to the rest of your cohort.
Here’s the important bit: it isn’t a “score” or a “mark”, and it doesn’t reflect your individual achievements in isolation – which is important to remember. Instead, it shows where you sit compared to everyone else who completed Year 12 in your state or territory.
Can you receive an ATAR of 100?
Nobody can receive an ATAR of 100, and that’s because the ATAR is a rank (not a percentage or mark), measured in increments of 0.05.
The highest ATAR you could get is 99.95 – this signifies you performed better than 99.95% of students in your state, while an ATAR of 80.00 indicates that you sit in the top 20% of your cohort, and so on.
In order to receive a rank of 100, you need to score higher than 100% of your cohort…including yourself!
What’s the lowest ATAR that you can get?
30.00 is the lowest ATAR reported. If you rank lower than that, your results will just say “30.00 or less”.
Who needs an ATAR and why?
If you’re in Year 12 and hoping to head to university straight out of high school, applying with your ATAR is the most straightforward way of receiving an offer.
This doesn’t mean if you’re not ATAR-eligible or receive a low ATAR that you can’t go to university. It just means you might have to take a different pathway, and it could take a little longer.
ATARs can also be used as a guide of your performance at university, but it’s not always an accurate reflection of how successful you’re likely to be. For example, a student with an ATAR of 70.00 who is capable and motivated is more likely to do well in a course than a student with an ATAR of 90.00 who doesn’t apply themself.
How do institutions use the ATAR?
Universities often receive many more applications for courses than they have places available, so they need a way to work out who should be admitted first. This is typically done by setting a minimum selection rank (SR) for each course.
As a Year 12 student, your SR is based mostly on your ATAR – so if you receive an ATAR of 79, you know that your selection rank will definitely be at least 79 too (it could even be higher – we’ll go into more detail on this soon).
Does your ATAR expire?
No – you can still use your ATAR to gain entry to university even if you graduated 20 years ago. This means you don’t need to worry if you’re thinking of taking a gap year or aren’t sure if you want to head straight to university after school.
Most universities will use your highest eligible ranked qualification for entry. So, for example, if you go on to complete a Certificate IV qualification, you might also be able to use this for admission. Then once you’ve finished an undergraduate degree, you’ll use that for admission if you want to study a postgraduate qualification, and so on.
How and when will I receive my ATAR?
ATARs are usually released in mid-December, just before TACs send out their first round of university offers to school leavers. You should receive an email from your state or territory’s TAC or education department with information on how to view your results.
Top tip: Make sure that you register a personal email address instead of your school one, as you may lose access to your school emails once you graduate.
Who calculates the ATAR?
ATARs are calculated by Tertiary Admissions Centers (or TACs) for each state:
UAC in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
QTAC in Queensland
VTAC in Victoria
SATAC in South Australia and the Northern Territory
TISC in Western Australia
UTAS in Tasmania
How is your ATAR calculated?
While exact calculations can vary a little between states, the process is similar everywhere:
Your results from a set amount of your best subjects/units are taken (for example, in NSW your top 10 units are chosen – 2 of these must be from English).
Your marks are then scaled – more about this next.
Your scaled results are added together to give an aggregate number.
Your aggregate results are compared with all other ATAR-eligible students, and your ATAR is based on where you sit in that comparison.
What is scaling?
Scaling is based on the idea that students shouldn’t perform better or worse based on the subjects they choose. It accounts for differences between subjects and individual students’ abilities to determine what your results would look like if everyone did the same subjects and were all marked the same way.
For example, trying to compare results from dance to physics is challenging. The scaling systems have been developed to iron out these differences so universities can assess applicants from a single source.
Can you increase your ATAR once you receive it?
Technically, no. You might have heard that some universities offer adjustment factors – but these are only used to calculate your selection rank, not actually change your ATAR.
So how do adjustment factors work if they don’t increase your ATAR?
Adjustment factors are the bonus points added to your ATAR to calculate your selection rank. Each university calculates selection ranks individually, and your SR is only valid at that institution.
If you apply to multiple universities, you might find your selection rank is different at each – sometimes there are event differences in how adjustment factors are applied for different courses at the same university.
If you meet the minimum ATAR requirement, are you guaranteed entry?
While the ATAR is important, it’s not the only thing universities look at. You might have to complete prerequisite subjects, attend an interview or audition, or provide a portfolio, for example.
Some courses also have caps on the number of students admitted each year (particularly for areas such as medicine, nursing, and other health sciences). This means it’s possible you might not receive an offer, even if you meet – or exceed – the minimum ATAR requirement.
Do you need an ATAR to go to university?
Not necessarily – most universities offer alternative entry pathways into their courses. In fact, only around 1 in 4 students (26%) are admitted based on their ATAR alone. The other 74% gain entry using a combination of things, including their ATAR, adjustment factors, entry schemes, portfolios, auditions, interviews, school recommendations, and other additional tests.
Other entry pathways include undertaking bridging or foundation programs, completing a vocational course and applying for university down the track, or looking at other internal options to get you where you want to be.
The bottom line
Remember, your ATAR is just a number – it’s not a measure of your worth, intelligence, or future success. Whether you receive the ATAR you were hoping for or not, there are always options available to help you reach your goals.
Want to learn more about your study options after high school? You can find information about university courses, alternative pathways, and vocational education at the individual institution Open Days. Check the websites for details. Course guides also have the required pre-requisites and ATARs listed.
7 ways volunteering can benefit you
Volunteering your precious free time to help worthy causes is a really noble undertaking. You won’t earn big bucks, but there are plenty of other ways that becoming a volunteer could be of value. In celebration of National Volunteer Week, we’re going to take a look at some of the ways volunteering can benefit you.
Learn new skills
No matter where you decide to volunteer, there will always be an element of learning and training. While the skills may seem basic or trivial, they could be essential building blocks for future careers.
For example, if you’re collecting, organising, and distributing donations from school fundraisers, you might be learning more than you think about finances, budgeting, and inventory. These skills are useful in almost all jobs – not to mention how they can help in your day-to-day life too.
Then there are the other skills that you might not even realise you’re building, like communication, teamwork, independence, problem-solving, and customer service – the list goes on and on.
Give your resume a boost
Adding a few more lines to your resume can never hurt. Showing commitment to community efforts, or any kind of voluntary work, will speak volumes about your personality to potential employers. If you’re happy to keep showing up without getting paid, this shows you’re dedicated and motivated; qualities that any employer will look favourably on.
Help you stand out in admissions
When you’re applying for further study, chances are you’ll be up against a lot of other applicants. Some might have higher grades than you, and some may have relevant work experience.
So how will you stand out? What you choose to do outside of the classroom could make all the difference.
Volunteering is a great way to show you care about others, and that you can manage your time well enough to balance your volunteer work with your other commitments.
Form connections
Volunteering is a great way to meet people you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. Those people could become friends, mentors, or your inspiration. The more you get involved with projects outside your school, the wider you’re casting your net. You’ll end up with more contacts that could be helpful in providing you with paid work, work experience, or references.
If you already know what you want to study after school, try finding volunteer opportunities in those areas. For example, if you’re interested in politics, see if you can volunteer with your local politician. There’s every chance your volunteer experience could help you in your future endeavours.
Grow as a person
When you’re at high school, chances are you’re operating within a fairly limited social circle. You’ll be engaging with your family, school friends, teachers, and possibly a few friends outside of school.
Volunteering can introduce you to new situations and ideas – potentially really different to what you’ve known up until now. This could:
- Increase your confidence
- Teach you to communicate more effectively with different people
- Help you become a better listener
- Encourage you to explore your personal strengths and weaknesses
- Make you more aware of and active about social justice issues
Improve your health
Studies have shown that volunteering could contribute to improved mental and physical health. Increasing your physical activity, providing a sense of purpose, kicking goals, achieving good things, and helping others solve problems are all ways volunteering can improve your wellbeing. You could feel happier, have higher self-esteem, and get fitter as well.
Benefit your community
When you volunteer, you’re not only benefiting yourself; you’re having a positive impact on lots of other people around you too. You might be helping an individual or organisation, giving back to your community, and even contributing to the wealth and health of a nation.
When you realise the true benefits of your actions, you might feel humbled – and you should definitely feel proud of your contribution.
Find a volunteering position that works for you
While it has lots of upsides, volunteering is a big responsibility, so it’s OK if you’re not ready to commit yourself straight away.
Before you say yes to any opportunity, make sure you know how much time and effort you’ll need to put in, then decide if it’s something that you can fit around your other responsibilities (and that it’s something you’d actually like to do).
Asking around at your school, local sports club, or other community organisations are all great places to start. Alternatively, you can even find opportunities to volunteer abroad or be involved in exciting programs like Camp America and Camp Canada.