Careers News

Careers at NHS

Whilst the new year is well and truly underway, it is still early enough to be making plans about how you and your child will approach the task of exploring career options and making decisions about the future. We know that young people start to internalise career-related information quite early, based largely on the input they get from their environment. Who am I? What am I good at? What is the “right” job for me? They ask and answer these questions for themselves, regardless of whether the answers are readily available to them.

In order to make wise choices, young people need accurate information about a wide variety of options, as well as the capacity to reflect on their own skills, wishes and personal strengths. It is now widely accepted that, whilst young people will still need a combination of technical skills and knowledge related to specific areas, the capacity to adapt to change, identify and embrace opportunities, and develop resilience for the inevitable tough times will be skills that are crucial to their survival in a world where rapid change is the only constant. If you want to know more about the evolving work force and how young people need to prepare for it, spend some time reading the two most recent reports from FYA (https://www.fya.org.au/our-research/ ).

What’s happening at school?

At Northcote High, our students develop their skills and knowledge for the future in everything we do. Throughout their time here, students are preparing for what comes beyond their secondary schooling, and developing the skills to be able to adapt to the changing landscape that will be their work place. Career development education is explicitly delivered at strategic times within the Connect program, but more often it is embedded throughout the various courses our students select. In addition, we run a number of careers-related events throughout the year, and provide a steady stream of information to students and their families through the various media mentioned in the “Communications” flyer published in last week’s newsletter. Parents, families and the wider community complete the picture by providing our young people with role modelling and encouraging them to explore all the many options available to them.Parents as career coaches

Parents as career coaches

Believe it or not, teenagers look to their parents as the main source of information about future options. Data from a careers survey currently being completed by our Year 9-12 students backs up all the research done in this area. After their parents, they look to their teachers, family friends, peers and various media sources for information. Whilst this may be a little nerve-wracking for some parents, it can also be an exciting opportunity to have some meaningful discussions. This video provides a few tips to get you started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ZPjBRUrCA

What else can we be doing?

Every time a young person embraces the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities that build their capacity as a team player, problem solver or effective communicator, they are developing important skills that will assist them in their career. Participating in these activities gives them insight into what kind of environments and contexts are going to bring them happiness and fulfilment, either in work or as a hobby; as well as meeting people who will become their networks for tapping into new opportunities. Helping others by doing community work, volunteering, coaching and other such activities are not only fruitful from a personal perspective, but also because universities are increasingly recognising involvement outside the classroom in terms of entry into their courses. Part time work should also be considered as part of a balanced lifestyle and preparation for later life.

It is important that students and their families feel supported in being able to find accurate and relevant information that will assist in making decisions related to subject choices and planning a life beyond NHS. Please explore some of our resources, and please give us feedback if you are looking for something that is not yet available.

Where to find careers information at NHS

• Visit the Careers page on myNorthcoteHigh regularly: http://schoolbox.nhs.vic.edu.au/homepage/5296
• Check the myNorthcoteHigh news bulletins regularly.

And if you need help:

• Talk to our Careers Practitioner, Kylie Witt.
• Talk to Sub School staff, your tutor and classroom teachers.
• Talk to people who work in industries that interest you/your child.

To make an appointment with Kylie, use the link on the myNorthcoteHigh Careers page: http://schoolbox.nhs.vic.edu.au/homepage/5296

Work Experience for Year 10s

All Year 10 students will be doing work experience in the week of May 14-18. Students need to find and organise a suitable placement for themselves, although their Connect teachers will provide support in how to do this.

Please download the two attached documents: “Guidelines” for Work Experience” and “Work Experience – tips for finding a good placement” to assist you in your preparation for this activity. One very good strategy is to talk to all your family friends and make sure they are all helping to identify suitable options.

During the year, various opportunities will be published via myNorthcoteHigh news, so students should look out for these, as they generally close quickly.

Visit the myNorthcoteHigh Careers page for more information and tips on finding a placement. All the forms you need can be downloaded there as well - http://schoolbox.nhs.vic.edu.au/homepage/11750.

Sometimes, amazing opportunities come up at different times of the year. Students who are confident they can keep up with any work missed will be permitted to do additional work placements at other times, as long as they do not fall in the block out dates (see picture).

Parents – we need your help!

We are always looking for anyone who has time, expertise or insight to share with our students as they begin to prepare themselves for the world beyond their secondary schooling.

In particular, we are currently looking for assistance as follows:

• Can you provide a work experience placement for a Year 10 student? (Or do you know someone who can?)
• Do you have other skills or expertise that you’d like to share? We’ve had a good response to offers for our Career Workshop for our Year 10 students on Thursday, March 15, where a range of people from different industries will run short workshops with groups of up to 20 students. However, we still have some places available to ensure the range we cover is broad enough. Please contact Kylie Witt or the Year 10 team for a chat, even if you are only vaguely interested.

Other activities we already run that might interest you include:

• Speaking at an assembly
• Talking about your career journey at a year level career expos
• Running workshops on workforce-related issues (CVs, interviews, job-searching)
• Articles for the newsletter
• Classes or lunchtime sessions for small interest groups
• Meeting with staff and/or students to discuss your field of expertise from a careers perspective
• Mentoring student/s with specific career questions (eg entrepreneurship)

There is also plenty of scope for additional activities to be added, or for existing ones to be fine-tuned, so if you have any thoughts on this, please start by contacting Kylie Witt.