Career educators are doing their planning for 2023. These ideas may help as you draft your schedule around exams, and other school priorities while balancing your workload.
University Opportunities
West Australian Universities are getting more competitive in their efforts to engage with schools.
It is easiest to engage with the university that is closest to your school. Undergraduate degrees are pretty similar across universities so it may be the most successful strategy to get the university closest to you and get them to negotiate a career support strategy for the year.
Ideas:
- Career Advisor Visits – University career advisors will come to your school expos and will give presentations to year groups. You can book them in now for 2023.
- Subject experts – Subject experts will come and deliver customised classes to large groups. Murdoch runs seminars, like STEM, creative arts and HASS workshops. You can book them now.
- Mentors – Uni students who are building their leadership experience can be matched as mentors for students at your school. You can ask your year 11 and 12s if they are interested and ask your local uni if they will do this in 2023.
- Career Cafe – Uni students can be provided by unis faculties. They are stationed at a table and give 15-minute briefings to students and their family members at a Career Cafe. You can schedule this for 2023.
- Uni-based events: All unis have open days, information evenings, A Day as a Uni Student, Portfolio Application, and campus tour events. They are posted on the uni sites. Give the information to your senior students and ATAR teachers. Make time to put this information into staff notices, senior school notices and information that you send to parents.
VET Opportunities
VET delivered in secondary schools
This useful tool provides schools with prompts and questions to help research and choose suitable RTOs to enter into auspicing arrangements with to deliver VET qualifications to their students.
Year 9 Taster Program
This was the big initiative for 2022. Many schools have found the benefit of showing Year 9s how their study has practical applicability in the workplace.
Year 9 is the perfect time to introduce students to the world of work and to help them to expand their worldviews. Read about what others are doing at the Year 9 Taster Program HERE.
Year 9 Career Taster program grants can support your priorities.
Building Trades
- Construction Futures Centre You can’t go past the Construction Futures Centre for state-of-the-art career experiences. You can book an excursion online for students at any level. They have open days scheduled throughout the year.
- Brick and Block Careers You can have a school-based Brick and Block trade try-a-trade or go to a special training centre to learn more about this high-paid career.
- If you have ideas or if you are looking for ideas about specific building trades get more information from the Construction Futures Centre
Agriculture Careers
- Muresk Take the kids on a tour of Muresk. It is always good to go in spring to see the lambs and calves and the canola blooming. If you are interested in any particular pathway, tell them what you are interested in when you are booking so that they can get industry experts to talk to your school group.
Jobs and Skills Centres
Jobs and Skills Centres will provide information about any career path in vocational or university courses. Some specialise in helping migrants or Aboriginal students. They provide career tests, help with resumes and interview skills and know about work opportunities.
Opportunities with Industry
Work in partnership with one of the organisations that have been set up to help schools.
The KIC Education Development Program (EDP) was created to improve this understanding, and to create pathways for the students in the region’s high schools to enter the industrial workforce.
- Industry Training Hub Armadale
- Industry Training Hub Wanneroo
- Rotary Find your local Rotary Club and ask them for guest speakers, tours of businesses, work experience and mock interviews.
- Industry Training Councils Every industry is represented by one of the eight Industry Training Councils. If you can’t find an expert to advise a student on an industry, ring a training council for information.
- ASK: Just ask for support. I have never found an industry unwilling to help a school student to find a career path. If you don’t know who to call email me and I will ask the In Focus Careers network for help.
School Community
Start with easy supporters.
- School alumni – Former students are passionate about helping kids at their school. Don’t just go for people who have already started their own businesses, or succeeded in their careers. Students who have dropped out of TAFE or uni, students who have left apprenticeships, and students who are at uni and doing well, all provide real stories that your students can relate to.
- Canteen workers and P&C volunteers. Ask those who are already engaged with the school through the P&C, canteen or sports or spiritual endeavours to support your careers program.
Work Experience
A great work experience coordinator will have a pool of precious employers who they support and nurture for ongoing work experience opportunities. They coach, beg and threaten students to ensure they appreciate those employers!! They publicly thank the employers for their support.
If you don’t have a pool of employer supporters, contact your school community and industry contacts (above) for help.
Annual Career Planner
I put out the draft 2023 Career Planner with the last In Focus Careers Newsletter for 2022. If you didn’t get it, let me know.
An updated version will be sent out with the February issue of In Focus Careers News which will be waiting for you when you get back from your Christmas break.
Subscribe to the only careers newsletter in Australia, designed to provide comprehensive monthly coverage of local trends, ideas and new approaches to the career challenges for school students.
Hi Bev, thanks for sharing all of these great ideas for career planning in schools. It’s clear that there are so many different opportunities available for students to explore different fields and get real-world experience before deciding on their future careers. It’s especially useful to have the option of visiting local universities and industries to get a better sense of what these environments are like and what kind of work is involved. The year 9 taster program and industry partnerships also seem like great ways for students to get hands-on experience and learn more about specific fields they might be interested in. All of these resources and programs can be incredibly helpful in helping students make informed decisions about their futures and set themselves up for success.
Wow Mark. Thanks for the lovely comment. If you can think of anything you would like me to research, please let me know.