In focus: Young People and Jobs
To summarise, the main post-school options include:
- Employment
- Productive GAP
- Volunteering
- Traineeship/Apprenticeship
- Further study at TAFE
- Further study at University
- Further study at Private Institution
It is possible and common for young people to participate in more than one option concurrently and for them to transition from one option to another as they undertake their life and career journey.
Resources to support school leavers and job seekers
- School Leavers Info Kit www.yourcareer.gov.au/schoolleaver , especially the specific info booklets for Regional, Remote and Rural school leavers, school leavers with disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- School Leaver Info Service available by calling 1800 CAREER, texting SLIS2022 to 0429009435 or emailing schoolleavers.nci@dewr.gov.au
- Morrisby: has helpful information and links for those seeking employment. A reminder to revisit, add a secondary email and parent email, you have a life-time login www.morrisby.com
- Study Work Grow: has a ‘Work’ section and also handy tools like the Simple Resume Builder, as well as advice and resources designed for young people relating to money and work.
- Specific to those seeking apprenticeship/traineeship opportunities is the
- Resume Catalogue: this Canadian Open Education Resource has just dropped and provides a wealth of accessible and editable examples of resumes. It is backed by research, provides an introduction with advice regards modern resume and cover letter construction and better still includes sector specific resumes for Arts and Humanities; Business and Finance; Science and Technology; Trades.
- Services Australia – Leaving School
- If students are new to the world of work (eg. seeking their first job while at secondary school), we have a Generic Resume and Cover Letter available which students are encouraged to schedule a Career Interview Meeting to discuss and work on.
Understanding skills shortages
We’ve all heard the term ‘skill shortages’ and how we need more skilled workers in certain industries, but what jobs are in-demand?
Elaine from Explore Careers has written a fantastic article about the 2022 Australian Skills Priority List. She breaks down the following:
- How knowing about in-demand jobs can help with your career planning
- How to interpret the skills priority list data
- What industries and jobs are in high demand.
The top 5 industries she discusses are:
- Construction and engineering
- Teaching and education
- Healthcare and nursing
- IT and cyber security
- Skilled trades
Read the article via https://bit.ly/3s1nMiq
National Skills Commission – Improving Employment Prospects for Young People
FYI, my labour economics background means that secretly, I love this stuff, but I suspect this love is not widely shared. So if you just want the absolute essentials, they are:
- Employers are looking for someone with the whole package: education, employability skills and experience.
- 1 in 5 positions are not advertised. Be prepared to ask, tailor your application and ensure your online footprint is a positive one.
- Education, especially further education, improves outcomes. It is likely that 91.7% of new jobs will require post-school education, and more than three-fifths of the total projected employment growth will occur in high skill level jobs.
- Growth is anticipated in a range of industries, particularly Health and IT and in service-related roles.
The full NSC presentation is attached.
University vs Apprenticeship - Riley Payne’s story
University or apprenticeship? Degree or trade qualification? Both take roughly the same time to complete and are completely different styles of learning. If you enjoy hands on learning, gaining an income whilst gaining a qualification, and don’t want to sit in a classroom each day, you should consider an apprenticeship.
Not only will you be debt free after 3 – 4 years, you will have a nationally recognised qualification, be able to work in your trade area anywhere in Australia and in most cases, be able go straight into full time paid employment in your industry.
Meet Riley Payne. He completed the VCE with a strong ATAR. He had planned to go to university to study engineering, but when he really analysed his passions and preferred learning style, he decided to pursue an apprenticeship.
“Originally, I was considering going to university to study Aerospace Engineering, as I am passionate about aviation and design. There are a few reasons why I opted to head down the trade pathway even after being accepted into my university course.
Learning Style
I am a practical person and I love hands on learning, building construction etc. University would provide me with a great theoretical side to what I wanted to know, but it greatly lacked the hands-on learning style that I have found is most suited to me.
Time
The university course that I was considering is a four-year course as most engineering courses are. Generally, apprenticeships have a similar duration of four years, however the accelerated apprenticeship initiative works on competency-based progression.
This means that if you can complete your TAFE and your employer deems you competent then you can theoretically accelerate through the apprenticeship much quicker than the standard four years. As I had a lot of practical experience growing up, I thought this could be very beneficial.
Money
Although apprentice wages may be low initially, they quickly increase as your skills and apprenticeship status change. The possibility of earning money outside of work through your skills may also be an option for some apprentices. When comparing to a university course where you are paying to learn or acquiring a HECS debt, getting paid to learn even if it is a low rate is much more appealing.
Completing a trade gives you many more financial options and the possibility to invest if you are disciplined. Qualified tradespeople also have the opportunity to make quite reasonable yearly salaries in many instances.
Skilled workers shortage
With an ageing workforce, skilled workers will be in high demand in the coming years. With more students than ever opting to head to university instead of taking on a trade it means that job availability should be good for the foreseeable future. This gives me some sense of security in knowing that I should be able to fall back on my trade if I have to.
Getting to where I wanted to be
As I mentioned at the start I am interested in aviation and design as well as many other mechanical subjects. University would have provided me with a set syllabus and strict requirements which would be fantastic for the specific jobs that it is designed for, however I wanted a more personalised pathway that would allow me to learn what I was truly interested in.
The fact that each year of university consists of roughly three months holidays may be enticing to some, but it seemed pointless to me and showed that the course could be completed in a far more condensed time frame.
Basically, I decided that anything I couldn’t learn through my apprenticeship I would be able to find the resources to self-teach meaning I was learning exactly what I wanted to.”