Rebecca Ambrose

Careers Counsellor | Teacher

Term 3 is a busy one. Our Year 10s have their Subject Selection Expo (Wednesday 3rd August) and Senior Education & Training Plan conversations with school staff and families (Wednesday 24th August). The end of this year marks the end of compulsory schooling for Year 10 students, the world of fulltime work and training is a viable option for some. Other students will continue their journey with St Mary’s Catholic College or other education providers. St Mary’s has a range of pathways including academic, Vocational Education and Training (VET) or a combination of both. Our Pathways days at school in Week 2, during the retreat week, were a great chance for our students to learn more about Vocational Education and Training and options for TAFE, work or further schooling in 2023. The meetings with parents will be a good opportunity to review options for 2023 and beyond. Year 10 students will be attending the Cairns Youth and Careers Expo on 24th August.

Making sure Year 10 students meet tertiary prerequisites for tertiary study

Before you choose your senior subjects, it is essential that you identify any prerequisites, assumed knowledge and recommended study for the courses that you are interested in applying for at the end of Year 12. Not all universities and institutions have the same prerequisites, assumed knowledge or recommended study requirements, so it's important that you check all universities and institutions. Click here to find the Guide for 2022 Year 10 students 2025 book with a list of the universities and institutions and their prerequisites, assumed knowledge and recommended studies for 2025 tertiary entry.

The difference between QCE and ATAR

QTAC states that the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) are different and have different purposes. QCE certifies learning, ie shows a student's academic achievement and at what standard they achieved in each subject during their senior schooling. The QCE may be considered by employers and the general community. ATAR indicates a student’s position (or ranking) compared to all other students in the state. The only intended purpose for the ATAR is to assist with selecting applicants for tertiary study. For more information about QCE contact Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) and for ATAR information contact QTAC.

Year 12s have been having pathway talks this week. We had a QTAC zoom session explaining how tertiary entry works in Queensland. We also had Melissa Tresidder our Pathways Officer present to those students not considering tertiary study, looking to enter the workforce or TAFE studies. Next week QTAC will be opening, and students can register to receive their ATAR score if eligible.

Don’t know what types of apprenticeships are available?

On the Australian Apprenticeships Pathways website you can search for information on Apprenticeships and Traineeships, School-Based Apprenticeships and Pre-Apprenticeships. You can search by industry group ( Culture and Performance, Automotive, Building and Construction, Business etc.) to find out what a particular apprenticeship or traineeship qualification is about, the training required and jobs you can apply for with the qualification. Check it out and see which area interests you most.

Group Training Organisations

Registering with a Group Training Organisation (GTO) is one strategy to try when looking for an apprenticeship. GTOs employ apprentices and trainees and place them with a host employer until the apprenticeship or traineeship has been completed. Click here for more information about GTOs and their role in the VET sector. Visit the National Employment Network site to find a GTO near you.

Interested in Aviation?

Aviation Australia delivers Nationally accredited aviation training through partnerships with over 150 industry organisations including airlines, aerospace companies, governments defence force and regulatory authorities. It offers the School to Work pathway 2022, a VETiS two year qualification in Aircraft Line Maintenance, Remote Pilot and Cabin Crew. Visit their website for more information.

Opportunities that Apprenticeships offer

Australian Apprenticeships offer many possibilities. Did you know that there are more than 500 occupations across Australia that offer apprenticeships? Australian Apprenticeships are available at a variety of Certificate levels. They're available in many traditional trades and some emerging occupations in most sectors. You also earn an income while completing a nationally recognised qualification and you gain skills supporting your careers progression. Click here and find out more about:

Apprenticeships offer a world of possibilities
Start an Apprenticeship at school
Australian Apprenticeships Pathways
Real skills for real careers
Skill shortage information
Career stories

What is a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship

School-based apprentices and trainees, usually in Years 11 and 12, are trained in the workplace and with a training organisation, in their chosen apprenticeship or traineeship, while continuing to study towards their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) at school. To commence a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship (SAT), a student must have the support of the employer, the school, supervising registered training organisation and their parent/guardian.

The Department of Employment, Small Business and Training have put together a fact sheet which tells you about:

Advantages of school-based apprenticeships and traineeships
- More flexibility and variety
- Head start in a career
- Nationally recognised qualifications
- As opportunity to learn and earn
- Contribution to the community
- Employer satisfaction
How SATs work

Click here to find out more about SATs and whether they are an option for you and also speak with your school career counsellor or VET coordinator, Justin Brennan.

What's involved in an apprenticeship or traineeship?

Not sure about what an apprenticeships and traineeships look like, what’s involved or how to find employers? The Australian Apprenticeships My Gain channel on youtube has videos where apprentices and trainees talk about their work and how they went about finding it. See the My Gain website to access the videos.

5 tech jobs that will be in demand for a long time

Year 13 have teamed up with the Digital Skills Organisation to show you how a career using digital skills can provide you with a job pathway that will grow and develop over time. You might find the following up-and-coming jobs of interest if you think you will enjoy doing these actual digital tasks for work. These roles can be a rewarding career that pays well and makes a difference to businesses. Click here to read more about:

Software development
Project management
Data analysis
Digital marketing
Artificial Intelligence

7 reasons why deciding to become a Tradie could be the best choice you’ll ever make!

Thinking about taking up a trade but still not sure. Qualify Me has put together an article outlining some benefits of being a 'Tradie'. It will give you some insights to consider when making your decision. The article talks about:

What is a tradesperson
What makes being a 'tradie' so popular
- Job security
- No university education required
- Work flexibility
- Say no to the office cubicle
- Wages
- Travel
- Satisfaction

Career ladders can help boost your Career Ideas list

The Careers page on the Good Universities Guide website has Career Ladders covering 32 school subjects and related jobs of interest. Each Career Ladder lists jobs in four levels according to the minimum training required:

Level 1 - Year 10, Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (e.g. Queensland Certificate of Education) or Certificate I or II
Level 2 - Certificate III or IV, or relevant experience
Level 3 - Diploma or Advanced Diploma
Level 4 - Bachelor Degree or higher.

How to use the Career Ladders to develop you Career Ideas list:

Scan all the Career Ladders and select those that interest you.
Scan the jobs listed in the four levels of your selected Career Ladders (you might choose to concentrate on one level). Choose jobs you are interested in finding out more about, click the link to find out about:
- Personal requirements
- Education and Training
- Additional information
- Related careers you might also be interested in

The jobs you are interested in can be explored further by interviewing or doing work observation with people already in these jobs, doing work experience in the jobs, and/or investigating the education/training you need to get into the jobs. Don't leave it till the second half of Year 12 to start your research!

Explore careers by interest

Seek has a section on their website that focuses on career advice that looks at careers by 'interest'. If you scroll down the page you will find the heading Explore careers by interest. Click on the area/s that interest you and you will find a list of jobs that you might want to find out more about. The lists of jobs is quite large and the areas of interest include:

Being creative
Working with children
Helping people
Working with numbers
Working with computers
Using my hands
Being outdoors
Interacting with customers
Getting off the tools
Working with animals

Is VET for you?

Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications include certificates, diplomas and advanced diplomas, offered across a large number of industries and study areas. They offer many advantages from pathway options to skill development. If you fit into one of the categories below, a VET course could be of interest. Click here to read more.

You're looking for practical, hands-on training
You're looking to qualify for a specific job or trade
You’re looking for a pathway to university study
You’re looking to add to your current skill set

Life skills are important!

Life skills are talked about a lot but not often explained. ‘Life skills’ is a term used to describe a set of basic skills acquired through learning and/or direct life experience that enable you to effectively handle issues and problems commonly encountered in daily life. The following are some ways that could help you recognise and develop your own set of life skills (source unknown):

Building a Good Attitude: Stay positive, hungry, humble and do whatever it takes.
Taking Initiative: If you’re willing to go first, others will see you as a leader.
Capturing Vision: See the big picture and pursue something bigger than you.
Communicating Effectively: Understand that if listeners don’t get it, you haven’t communicated well.
Teamwork: To go faster, travel alone. To go further, learn to travel together.
Creativity: Learn the art of combining two existing ideas to generate a new one.
Grit: Resilience and work ethic can replace what you lack in talent or personality.
Emotional Intelligence: To connect with others, understand yourself and them.
Resourcefulness: Searching and finding new answers keeps you relevant.
Critical Thinking: Seeing all sides of an issue enables you to act intelligently.
Problem-solving: The best way to influence is to serve people and solve problems.
Getting Over Yourself: The clearest sign of maturity is focusing on others.

The National Skills Commission's Labour Market Insights (LMI) website

The National Skills Commission's new Labour Market Insights (LMI) website provides information previously found at LMIP and Job Outlook. It is an excellent way to find current information and insight into career options that you may be interested in. Click on the links below to find information on occupation, industry and regional profiles:

What’s that STEM job?

QUT's Careers with STEM Job Kits are free downloadable 8-page e-mags, sponsored by QUT, that offer a complete introduction to individual STEM careers. You can discover what a specific STEM job is all about, find out from people working in that job and related QUT courses.

In-Demand jobs that don't need a degree

Seek has put together a list of jobs that are in demand and do not require a job applicant to have a degree. They say that since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a huge increases in demand for certain jobs and job ads have grown significantly across a number of roles. Following are 9 in-demand jobs where formal qualifications and/or a degree aren’t essential:

Looking at creating your own job ...

The Department of Employment, Small Business and Training has hints and tips to help school leavers make informed career and training decisions. You can find out about:

The power of transferrable skills

If you’re looking for your first casual job, thinking about what you will do at the end of your tertiary study, looking for a job after school or an apprenticeship, you need to be confident when identifying your skills and know how to promote yourself to an employer.

Sabina Read from Seek suggests that this is where identifying your transferable skills can be valuable. As they can be used in all kinds of jobs and work environments, transferable skills can help you make the leap into the work force or from one role or industry to another. She suggests that “All too often, when we are planning a career change, we become overly focused on what we don’t have, as opposed to what we do". Click here to read her ideas on:

What are transferable skills
How transferable skills can take you from one role to another
Identifying your transferable skills
Finding examples of your transferable skills

Financial support when leaving school

The Australian Government Services Australia could provide financial and other assistance to you when you leave school. If you are planning on further study, apprenticeship, traineeship or looking for full time work you can find out what support you can get here. Read about Payments for students and trainees and Financial and health support for young people as well as more information about government financial assistance for further study. You can read more on the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s Study Assist website.

If you are looking for work, an internship or starting your own business, they have options to support your next step. Read about the help you can get while looking for work or doing an Australian Apprenticeship. You can also get help from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s Job Hub website with:

exploring industries with entry-level jobs
find employers in your chosen industry
jobs in demand by location
updates and enquiries

How to start putting together scholarship application information

Career exploration is often linked to admission and scholarships through a personal statement. Personal statements are not required by all universities and scholarships, but they are used more each year. Programs that are highly competitive often use personal statements to evaluate students in a more holistic way. In scholarship applications, personal statements help the institution or organisation to get to know the applicant’s future plans and to evaluate their suitability for the award. Although written for a Canadian audience, the information is still valuable in the Australian context. Click here to read the full CERIC article which talks about what a personal statement is and how students can gather information to answer 'future plans' questions.

6 common study mistakes and how to fix them

Emily Morantz from The University of British Columbia (yes in Canada!) has put together some study tips that may assist you to study more effectively and avoid the ‘big cram’ just before exams … and wouldn't that be a sweet spot! Although the article is written for Uni students, her tips are great for all students. Click here to read about the solutions to the following problems:

The Marathon - You find a comfortable spot to study and refuse to move ever again. You don’t even think about taking a break as that would be a waste of time. Don’t you know this assignment is due in 16 hours?
The Full-Page Highlight - You try to study by reading the textbook but somehow end up highlighting everything and remembering nothing.
The Multitasker - You try to do work for all of your classes at the same time by constantly switching back and forth between projects. This one is particularly common during finals.
The Media Frenzy - You study while texting your friends, checking 10 different social media tabs, listening to loud music (or worse, watching Netflix) and looking at your phone every 5 seconds as it buzzes away on your desk.
The Solo Mission - You only ever study in solitude and refuse to ask anyone else for help.
The Full-Out Panic - You suddenly realise how much work you have to do and completely freak out, ripping up pages and curling into a ball under your desk.

Headspace work and study support

Headspace work and study Programs support 15 to25 year olds, with everything education and employment related. From finding your first job, to deciding what to study, support is available online and in centres and their services are free and tailored to your needs. Click here to find out more including:

Work and study online
Career mentoring service
Individual placement and support program (IPS)

Invest your time instead of wasting it

Growing Leaders suggests that everyone has a choice to make when it comes to time. We can:

1. Waste our time. We find things to do to kill time or amuse ourselves.

2. Spend our time. We use our time on tasks to maintain the status quo.

3. Invest our time. We leverage our time to improve current realities.

The truth is, none of these three activities are inherently wrong. Sometimes we just need to relax and kill time, let our hair down and decompress. It feels like we are wasting time because we don’t have a tangible goal. We also need to spend time doing chores, playing sport, walking the dog, studying. It’s not glitzy, but it’s necessary.

The best time is leveraged, however, when we find ways to invest it. Just like money, when time is invested well, it multiplies. Things get better. People make progress. Life moves forward. When we invest our time, it pays dividends, either to us or for other people. There is a great benefit. Click here to read more about how you can use your time wisely.

Pre-Apprenticeship courses

Whether you're looking to get a foot in the door or just try something new, pre-apprenticeship training could be your ticket to an exciting new career. Pre-apprenticeship training is an entry-level certificate made up of traditional classroom learning at TAFE as well as hands-on work experience. Click here to find out about the benefits, jobs you could get, making a decision about what courses to do, courses that are available and how to apply.

TAFE Queensland - Pathways To University

Not everyone learns in the same way or at the same pace and at TAFE Queensland there are many pathway options. Whether you want to develop practical skills before heading to university, move directly into the workforce and study part time or boost your rank to get into your dream university course, TAFE Queensland may have a pathway option that suits you. Click here to find the Pathways to University brochure. In the brochure you will find information on:

Articulation pathways
Smarter ways to a degree
Improve your selection rank
How to find your pathway
Degree Pathways
Degrees at TAFE Queensland
- Engineering
- Creative Industries
- Dental Prosthetics
- Dental Design
- Information Technology
- Applied Management and Professional Accounting
How to apply

VET qualifications for tertiary selection

Successfully completed VET qualifications, at a certificate III level or higher, may be used for tertiary selection in two ways; as:

an input into an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR), and/or
a stand-alone qualification for tertiary admission at some universities (may apply to non-ATAR eligible applicants)

Education institutions may allocate a selection rank depending on the level of VET qualification completed. Click here to see a general guide to the approximate selection rank that is allocated to each level of qualification. Contact your preferred university or institution to confirm their current guidelines regarding admissions. Additional admissions policies may also apply for recent Year 12 graduates with completed VET qualifications, such as meeting prerequisites. For more information visit the QTAC website.

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