I started my career as a teacher in West Australian high schools. I believe that knowing what you want to do has power that can drive a successful life.
I have now been researching and collating information for career professionals in In Focus Careers News for the past eight years. Together we are building our capacity to help students to find their power and create satisfying lives.
If you would like to know about careers opportunities in Western Australia contact me at Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au or M: 0434056412
The need to support students who are experiencing trauma or stress is at least one factor wearing teachers out.
The need to ensure the safety of students can isolate schools and prevent them accessing specialist services for students that free up teachers to teach.
Formal arrangements, with stakeholders who meet government safety requirements, can provide expert advice and free up teachers for the already complex task of educating.
I found these services that can engage with schools to deliver services in addition to teaching
Applications and preference change close – Friday 1 November 2024. …
Offers (competitive courses) – Wednesday 4 December 2024. …
Offers (non-competitive courses) – 6 September 2024 to 24 January 2025.
Vocational Education and Training has become a preferred pathway for West Australians because of the big money that can be made in the Resources Industry.
Our housing shortage is also making building trades a well paid career pathway and the Construction Training Fund has designed a range of courses for females so that they can also enter well paid jobs in the industry, without trying to break into the male dominated traditional building trades. See the courses HERE.
If you would like to do a VET course, but you are not certain exactly what to do, get along and see one to the brilliant counselors at your nearest Jobs and Skills Centre. You can do aptitude tests, check your abilities, chat about what is possible and find the best path for you.
If you want to apply for an apprenticeship, they will tell you how to apply and give you interview tips.
What Level Certificate is right for you
CertificateI delivers entry level skills that prepare you for further study. All Certificate I courses deliver literacy, numeracy, computing and life skills. Some provide additional skills, like basic trade skills and occupational health and safety. Certificate I is great for those without OLNA or WACE.
Certificate II is like year 10 in academic difficulty. Some Cert II courses are general, like the Certificate of General Education for Adults and some are more specific like Security Operations and in Health Support Services.
Certificate III is like year 11 academic difficulty. You do a Certificate III to become:
Photo courtesy of Directions Training
A carpenter (Certificate III Carpentry)
An electrician (Certificate III Electrotechnology Electrician)
A farmhand (Certificate III Agriculture)
A techie (Certificate III Information Technology)
Certificate IV is designed to be a more mature qualification for those with experience or previous qualifications:
A carpenter could go on to do a Cert IV in Building and Construction
An electrician could specialise in a Cert IV in Electrical Instrumentation
A farm manager could do a Cert IV in Agriculture to become a more effective at managing the business
A techie may specialize in Cert IV in Cyber Security
No OLNA or English – No Worries
Pathways for those without their WACE or OLNA
The Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) is designed to enable students to successfully meet the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) literacy and numeracy requirements.
There are several alternative other pathways to TAFE for school students who do not achieve an OLNA.
Certificate I entry level with no qualifications required.
Vocational pathway (VET in schools): school students who complete a vocational course while at school can rely on their school qualification to demonstrate their literacy and numeracy skills i.e. students can achieve an OLNA or a Certificate I, II or III to gain entry to a TAFE course.
TAFE Admissions testing: School students may be eligible to register for TAFE Admissions testing if they have not sat the OLNA at school within the six months preceding TAFE Admissions testing and if they have not exhausted their maximum six attempts at the OLNA while of compulsory school age.
Alternative assessment: students can be referred to the learning area at their preferred TAFE college for a Learning Area Assessment.
Students can enrol at any Certificate I level, as there are no entry requirements, and
Students can enrol into one of the foundation skills and equity courses.
All the usual suspects, defence, police, NDIS, the Construction Training Fund and resources were there, but there were new ones.
YES Program
Youth in Emergency Services (YES) was new to me. If you are 11 – 18 you can become a YES cadet and train with emergency services volunteers on land and on the sea.
There are branches all over the state. Find the one closest to you HERE.
National Institute of Training
This RTO was new to me. They had these horrible robotic dogs that attracted lots of attention!!
Turns out their batteries run low, so they aren’t totally terrifying.
Lots of visitors were asking about their courses which attract the same government subsidies as those at TAFE colleges.
ASC told us to get a “Deeper Purpose”
Eye roll! ASC is the Australian Submarine Company. It builds and maintains submarines!
They are based at the Henderson and at Garden Island. You can get details of their apprenticeship opportunities HERE.
Development WA (traineeships coming)
This is the State government’s land and development agency. They do big industrial, residential and strategic projects.
You can check their current projects HERE. They are going to be advertising traineeships later this year.
Energy Skills Solutions
They provide skills needed to supply electricity. Heavy duty solutions that go way beyond domestic electricity. I think this will become a peak career as renewable energy projects come on line and transmission networks need to be built.
Every non traditional occupation seemed to have realized that they have only been recruiting from half the population. Mining and construction companies had pictures of women in high viz PPE using welding irons and climbing up scaffolding. The Construction Training Fund is doing what it can to create gender inclusive courses and workplaces. If you are a girl interested in these high paid jobs, contact CTF for information and support.
Want More?
I will write up more targeted information in the September In Focus Careers News.
For the latest career information for West Australian High School Students subscribe to In Focus Careers News.
There are six West Australian competitors heading off to France in early September where they will represent Australia to win recognition as best in the world in their chosen fields.
All six of them are showing off their skills at the Skills and Employment Expo.
They have just come back from a training competition in China where the Chinese competitors were trained at an organization that JUST trains competitors for WorldSkills type competitions.
I ran into Lewis Italiano from Bunbury who did his cabinetmaking apprenticeship in at South Regional TAFE in Bunbury. His family is going over to WorldSkills to watch him compete.
His expert lecturer from South Regional TAFE is Nick Johnston. Nick is going too.
Next to Lewis and Nick were Lachlan Gelavis and Kai Baharthah-King who are representing Australia in a Cyber Security Team Event. They had also been to the trials in China.
You can see from the screens behind them, they were busy “playing” with code.
These are our Champion Geeks. They are already working in industry.
Congratulations to these six West Australians who are going to WorldSkills
Lewis Italiano – South Regional TAFE – Cabinet Making;
Jacob Dixon – North Metropolitan TAFE – Wall and Floor Tiling;
Antoinette Jackson – MPA Skills – Painting and Decorating;
Mitchell Rigney – North Metropolitan TAFE – Jewellery; and
Kai Baharthah-King and Lachlan Gelavis – North Metropolitan TAFE – Cyber Security (Team Event).
Who are the Experts?
WorldSkills Australia has also selected five Western Australians as Experts to coach the Skillaroos in the lead up to, and during, Lyon 2024.
WA Experts:
Nick Johnston – South Regional TAFE – Cabinet Making;
Liam Cochran – North Metropolitan TAFE – Wall and Floor Tiling;
Brendan Hibbert – North Metropolitan TAFE – Graphic Design Technology;
Ryan Goggin – North Metropolitan TAFE – 3D Digital Game Art; and
Todd Bell – Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety – Electrical Installation.
If you missed the Big Day In at ECU you missed hearing about digital twins.
Digital Twins from TATA Consulting
Digital Twins are the most exciting IT development I have heard of since ChatGPTburst into my world in late 2022. Like generative AI, digital twins hummed along under my radar some time.
TATA Consulting showed us their work on digital twins, and they are a seriously cool way of learning. Tushar Arora, from TATA told us about creating a digital twin replica of an electric “Formula E” Jaguar sports car.
As the real car races around the track they collect thousands of data points, then create a digital twin using that data. They then test hypotheticals on the twin to adjust performance. The twin gives feedback and they keep modifying.
I checked out digital twins online and found it is possible to create digital models of anything.
They have been used by BMW to create a digital twin of its factory, a replica of the Thames Water System was used to plug leaks, Tata Steel used digital twins to support radical innovation of a steel plant HERE.
Imagine the applications in sport.
MY MIND BOGGLED
We also heard from:
Microsoft, Bankwest, Wisetech, Woolworths & ASD
Michelle Sandford from Microsoft
Michelle is excited about the growing world of generative AI. She showed us a program she had developed to detect fake pictures.
Bankwest IT
Three Bankwest interns spoke about the IT opportunities available through banking.
All three were more interested in data analysis and designing business systems than in cyber securlty. They said that if you like the ongoing challenge of solving complex problems, IT could be the career path for you.
Wisetech Global – Get paid to work and study straight out of school
Wisetech Global is an Australian company that, like Canva, that has great employee reviews and which gives back to the community.
They have formed an alliance with the University of Technology Sydney where 100 year 12 scholarship winners get paid work at Wisetech and have their university fees paid as they study a computer science degree.
Wisetech Student Representatives said that they get to use what they are working on in their uni assignments and they get to use what they learn at uni in their WiseTech work.
You don’t need to be a maths superhero to win a place in this program but all three of the WiseTech student reps were pretty special. Apply for the program HERE.
Wisetech also supports the Grok Academy which provides free IT education resources.
Big Data at Woolworths
Ben Hagan worked part time at Woolworths while he went to school at Governor Stirling.
He did his computer science degree at Curtin and worked at Deloitte before returning to Woolworths where he has taken up an internship working for the extended Woolworths group of organisations.
Ben is on his third of four X six month mentored postings on different projects throughout the company.
Ben had the quote of the day:
We are swimming in data and the tide is rising.
Australian Signals Directorate
The Australian Signals Directorate defends Australia from global threats. It is the big player in cyber security in Australia.
It has work experience for high school students. You have to go to Canberra but there are travel subsidies but you are responsible for your own accommodation which I am sure Rotary in Canberra could help to find.
They also have apprenticeships across a range of occupations. Get details HERE.
Australian Computer Society
The Big Day In is a national IT careers showcase put on for schools by the
Students are invited to join the ACS to meet people in the industry and talk to students who are currently studying IT degrees at uni.
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I work to democratise career information so that ALL students have every opportunity to find their dream career. Subscribe to In Focus Careers to know outstanding career information for West Australian students.
Not many people are like Dave Grohl. He is remarkable. It is easy to see that he loved music and fun and adventure.
How do you hear your dream?
Dreams don’t shout “HERE I AM!!”.
Most of us look back at the end of the year and see that we have managed to do a lot of the things we love, so we are getting at least part of our story right. That sort of looking back, helps us to see what we want to do in the future.
There are lots of games you can play that help you to reflect and clarify what you like, so that you can focus on the things that give you pleasure. After doing some of these quizzes you are sure to see that you are getting a lot of your story right. Your results may help you to focus more on doing the things you love.
We all want to be like Dave Grohl and be remarkable. If you are feeling trapped and lost because you have no idea what your dream could be, go to see a career advisor. The foundation of their work understanding people and matching them with opportunities to be remarkable.
You can try sorting out your career path for yourself, but a good career advisor can set you on the best path without years of frustration and going in circles.
Once you are clear about your direction you will have power and magic that helps you to achieve your dreams.
Subscribe to In Focus Careers News Now
I work to democratise career information so that ALL students have every opportunity to find their dream career. Subscribe to In Focus Careers to know outstanding career information for West Australian students.
The Careers Expo was the usual mix of chaos and wonder. All of the universities were there and defence, police and the public service had their big displays. The number of resource industry recruiters wasn’t overwhelming this year, and NDIS course and service providers seem to have settled down.
These were my main take aways from the 2024 Career Expo.
Congratulations to the construction industry for redesigning their workplaces
These female friendly jobs are the latest effort to attract women into the industry. We think of building trades as being blokie – and they are. Only 15% of building tradies are female and only 1% of plumbers are female!
These new paths provide females with access to well paid jobs in the industry.
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These jobs will lead to careers in the construction industry which has been the pathway to success for so many West Australians.
There is so much money for building and construction in the State and the Commonwealth government budgets that there will be a boom in apprenticeships. Find details of the new careers HERE
Sky Careers – New Push to Promote Jobs in the Aviation Industry
The aviation industry is going through the same staff shortages as every other industry in WA. A new Sky Careers Recruitment organisation has been established to encourage people to go into all aspects of the industry.
IDEAcademy Still delivering a fresh approach to alternative senior school educatoin
For the past few years the IDEAcademy has been breaking new ground in the delivery of education for senior school students in WA.
They mix WACE and VET programs with the big focus being on designining innovative and flexible programs which help students to understand and achieve new horizons.
Rebecca Loftus and Nicole Gazey know that conventional education is not right for every senior student. I am a big fan of their relentless quest to provide an alternative to conventional education for senior students.
IDEAcademy founders Rebecca Loftus and Nicole Gazey.
Their approach works to provide individualised learning pathways that boost the dreams of their students.
Adam York dropped out of Year 12 this year when he won a Police Cadetship. He has always wanted to join the police force and was talking to school students at the Expo about how he managed to get his cadetship without finishing school.
He said the recruitment process is long and tough but he has made it into his cadetship already. You can read about the recruitment process HERE.
There are mainstream cadetships which you can find HERE.
And Aboriginal cadetships which you can find HERE.
Maxima is one of many agencies to help you to identify a job you want, apply for it and get started
MaximaEmployment and Recruitment services was there, working to let students know that there is support available to help them to find, apply for and start a job. If you are a career professional you can meet Nicola from Maxima at the CDAA breakfasts in East Vic Park each month.
Zero2Hero had a huge, popular presence promoting mental health
I didn’t expect to see one of the biggest stands being Zero2Hero promoting mental health programs for young people. It was also one of the most popular stands with students engaging with the young ambassadors for Zero2Hero.
I work to democratise career information so that ALL students have every opportunity to find their dream career. Subscribe to In Focus Careers to become part of the movement to deliver outstanding career information and support to West Australilan students.
Careers Week is in May so there are lots of events throughout the month.
The Careers Expo is on, uni open days are finishing up, the undergraduate course guides are out and each university has slightly different Early Offer information.
There is just so much happening in the careers world in WA in May.
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At $32 per issue, your organisation will have all the West Australian career information it needs to provide expert guidance to students.
I wrote to the Premier, asking how teachers can help students discover job opportunities in the public sector and where they can find support and information.
Here is an abridged version of the response from the Western Australian Public Sector Commission, which the Premier heads.
Public Sector School-based Traineeships
The public sector School-based Traineeship program is an opportunity for students from Year 11 onwards to gain real experience while working part time in a government agency, learning valuable workplace skills and being paid while finishing Years 11 and 12.
1 July Applications for School-based Traineeships 2025-26 open
Year 10s can apply for a traineeship for Year 11 from 1 July.
Over 18 months trainees gain real experience working part time in a government agency, learning valuable workplace skills and being paid while finishing Years 11 and 12.
The program runs two days a week for 18 months as you do your WA Certificate of Education in years 11 and 12.
The Public Sector Commission has created a communications pack with articles, emails and graphics to help schools promote the program to their students and parents/carers which you can also share.
You can register to attend an online information session to get more details and ask questions:
Thursday 23 May (focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students)
Please email us at youth@psc.wa.gov.au or call 6552 8764 if you have any questions
Look for Public Sector Reps at Career Events
A career in the public sector is promoted at a range of careers events and exhibitions targeted towards students. The Public Sector Commission attends some of these events, as do staff from agencies who present on their specific roles and their department’s employment opportunities.
Our ‘a place of opportunity’ program coordinates and promotes sector-wide graduate and vacation programs available for university students and graduates at these events.
This is for university students but it’s worth knowing about.
Public Sector Jobs
All job opportunities in the WA government are listed on Jobs WA at www.jobs.wa.gov.au.
Spend 20 minutes playing around on this site. If you are interested in the environment, for example, identify which departments would have jobs related to that. You can look for specific jobs or enter key words and search on those. The job descriptions say what qualifications and experience you need.
The public sector employs about a third of West Australia’s workforce and the range of jobs and opportunities is so great that they deserve consideration.
Solid Futures Aboriginal Traineeship
The Solid Futures Aboriginal Traineeship program gives young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people formal training, paid employment and support to complete a Certificate III in Government.
Details of the 2025 program will be published HERE.
Additional Support
It can be tricky trying to find out about work in the public sector or to find work experience opportunities, which is why I wrote to the Premier.
I used to work in human resource management in government and we used to get calls from teachers and parents asking us to provide work experience to students. My departments were always happy to help.
If you have a student who wants to work in say fisheries, give DPIRD human resource management a ring and talk to them about what you need. It’s worth a try.
Disability Access
All WA government departments have a Disability Access and Inclusion Plan. They include strategies for supporting employees with a disability. If you are looking for work experience, a traineeship or job for someone with a disability, it is worth ringing a government department and asking if they can help.
Subscribe to In Focus Careers News
Keep up with new courses, information session, scholarships and job support. Subscribe to In Focus Careers News.
At $32 per issue, your organisation will have all the West Australian career information it needs to provide expert guidance to students.
Boys in Western Australian know that they can earn big money without a degree by taking on an apprenticeship that will lead to work in the resources industry.
Female school leavers who want to work in the resources industry tend to go to university. There ARE opportunities for girls in trades but it is hard. Sexual harassment has been an ongoing problem that has caused young females to stay away.
Girls who want to go into the resources industry can find great role models who have done VET and uni pathways HERE.
Training Pathways to the Resources Industry
By getting a job in the resources industry, West Australian school leavers can earn great money without a degree.
Here are VET jobs in:
Exploration
Commissioning and Construction
Operations and Mainenance
Exploration Occupations include:
Driller
Field Technician
Surveyor
Drone Operator
Finance Professionals
Hydrologist
Community Engagement Professionals
Laboratory Scientist
Land Access Professionals
Commissioning and Construction Occupations include
Excavator Operator
Crane Operator
Rigger
Scaffolder
Electrician
Welder
Builder and Carpenter
Contract Administrators
Construction Materials Testers
Project Manager
Operations and Maintenance Occupations include
Driller
Shot Firer
Haul Truck Operator
Mechanical Fitter
Motor Mechanic
Automotive Electrician
Procurement Professionals
Logistics Operators (warehousing, rail, and marine)
Telecommunications and Networking Operators
Maintenance Planner
For more information about jobs in the resources industry go HERE.
Go to your local Jobs and Skills Centre for information about apprenticeships, traineeships and pathways to these jobs.
Resources Industry Jobs that require a degree
Exploration, commissioning, and construction
Operations and Maintenance
Geologist
Community Engagement Professionals
Environmental Scientist
Engineering Professionals (IT, mining, petroleum, rail and civil)
Engineering Professionals (mining, petroleum, rail and civil)
Data Scientist
Project Manager
Site Restoration
Earth Scientists
Environmental Scientists
Environmental Engineers
Laboratory Scientists
Water Management Specialists
Field Officers
Planning Officers
Community Engagement Professionals
Contract and Compliance Professionals
For more information about jobs in the resources industry go HERE.
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As the real car races around the track they collect thousands of data points, then create a digital twin using that data. They then test hypotheticals on the twin to adjust performance. The twin gives feedback and they keep modifying. 
TCS Digital Twin Technology
Michelle Sandford from Microsoft
Ben is on his third of four X six month mentored postings on different projects throughout the company. 
The 
