Get on track for uni in WA 2023 is designed for parents of Year 12s so that they can help their kids to get into the right course, at the right uni, and make a smooth transition from school.
It is divided into 5 clear steps:
Step 1: Making the right career choice
Step 2: Which uni is best for you?
Step 3: How to apply to university
Step 4: Money Matters
Step 5: Give yourself every chance to succeed
Plus
A poster of Senior School Language
A Year Planner with a month by month To Do List
Tables of easy to read information with links to the right website for more details
Appendices of more information.
Get on track to uni in WA 2023 is designed to support you through you path to the right course in the right university in 2023.
In Western Australia, three universities offer medical degrees.
Post Graduate Medicine at UWA and Notre Dame
The University of WAand University of Notre Dame offer postgraduate medicine. You have to do one degree and get outstanding results in order to qualify to apply.
The advantage of postgraduate medicine is that you have two degrees, and these can enhance your career prospects. For example, if you studied pharmacy or physiotherapy before undertaking medicine, you would have additional skills and knowledge when both studying medicine, and later when practicing medicine. With the huge competition for places for medicine, it’s critical to think about your first degree being an area you would want to pursue. For example, if you were genuinely interested in pharmacy or physiotherapy, and did not gain entry to medicine, you’d have a career path that you were already qualified and interested in.
To be competitive for postgraduate medicine, you need to choose an undergraduate degree where you can achieve top grades. Most postgraduate medical programs list the ‘grade point average’ (GPA) you need for entry. For example, UNDA requires an overall GPA of 5.4 or higher. Postgraduate entrants come from a broad range of discipline areas, not just science-based programs.Undergraduate Medicine at Curtin
Both post graduate or undergraduate pathways have additional testing and interview processes to narrow down the field to those who are accepted as outstanding candidates. Getting into medicine is competitive, in 2022 Curtin had 2700 applicants for 100 places.
In Australia, most applicants for medicine apply across the country to attempt to gain a place, often relocating to undertake their studies.
There are significant cost advantages to an undergraduate entry to medicine. You finish your degree in five years, and have a student debt for five years (not 7 or 8 years). Overall, that cost difference is in the vicinity of $20000 (5 years vs 7 years). You are also working two years earlier, so have an income sooner.
There was a profound shift in our work life in WA in 2021. Relationships with our family and colleagues have reframed how we work.
Career Teachers Lead the Change
Towards the end of 2021 I became aware that 11 outstanding, knowledgeable, long term career educators were resigning. The loss of their intellectual capital and tacit knowledge will include the collapse of a rich repository of networks that have supported kids to overcome barriers and find their pathway to where they belong as they leave school.
The overwhelming reason for leaving that I heard, was that their knowledge, experience and expertise was not being valued.
They decided to walk.
They will take their knowledge, wisdom and networks with them.
Tradies Make the Change
I have a relative who has been a leading painting and decorator in Western Australia. The challenge of chasing payments has lead to him winding up his business and taking a job as an employee driving trucks. His boss loves having an employee who understands the complexities of running a business. He is well paid and valued.
I heard of a 38 year old guy who had his own ceiling fixing business. His body was already starting to struggle with the physical challenges of his work. He is now working as a personal care assistant in a regional hospital. He loves his regular pay, sick leave and long service leave entitlements.
Health Care Workers
Money is having a variable influence in career decisions.
I heard of a nurse in the Gascoyne who was burnt out from the pressure of working at a regional hospital. She is driving a truck on a mine site where she is part of a team and earning more.
My Mum has aged care workers who come each day from Silver Chain. One of them told me she left nursing to do aged care work as it is less stressful and she is appreciated more in this line of work. She is earning less than she did as a nurse.
I was at a birthday party recently where a former teacher told me he had moved to work in National Disability Services. He said he had some discretion about who his clients are and he gets to work with people who he gets along with and who appreciated his efforts. He is earning less than he did as a teacher.
What is the takeaway?
As a feminist in the 80’s I knew that the arrival of a baby in a home was expected to have no impact on the lives of fathers who were in the workforce. Whereas, changes in the workplace would be made with no consideration of the family responsibilities of workers.
“Work – Life Balance” was chanted in an effort to get people to value their “Life” as much as they did their “Work” as if these were two different things.
The pendulum is swinging back to a more holistic approach. We have seen moves to address some shocking workplace practices, particularly in horticulture. Sexual harassment is being addressed to make mine sites safe for women. Employers asking “How was your weekend” has become a game changing consideration when measuring quality of work environments, particularly for young people.
My Ideal
My ideal workplace would be a place where we belong to a community who value our contribution. The arrival of a baby would be celebrated and supported. Demarcation between home and work would become blurred with family being valued by the workplace.
My hope for 2022 is that workplaces continue to be reframed to become places where people are supported to grow into who they can be.
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The project included two days at TAFE learning the cabinet making, and furniture finishing trades. Students also spent one day earning their White Card.
On the fourth day, the students met with employers including:
Lounge Innovation
Lounge Innovation – West Australian furniture makers
Students were also taken through self awareness activities and spoke about how their school performance relates to career opportunities. All 13 students completed the project.
Balcatta High School Students
If you would like to find out more about Furnishings Trade Taster programs contact Janine@fftitc.com.au at the Food Fibre and Timber Industries Training Council.
For clear, trusted career advice for West Australians, subscribe to Infocus Careers News for West Australian students
Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au
Evangelist for insanely great careers education in Western Australia
West Australians school leavers are checking out their options before they make long term plans. You may have read the Year 12 Gap Year Ideas and Tips for 2022.
Omio has sent me a link to their Gap Year Guides which delivers great resources to prepare for a Gap Year
The guide contains detailed information on:
The benefits of taking a gap year
How to organize a gap year step by step (e.g., accommodation, transportation, entry requirements & travel restrictions)
Itinerary suggestions and tips for traveling in Europe on a budget
Volunteering in Europe (10 suggestions)
How to successfully find and apply for an internship in Europe
School leavers, you are diving into a magical, wonderful, scary world where you have the freedom to make big decisions that will change your life.
As the rest of your life stretches out ahead of you with no one telling you what to do, be gentle on yourself, no doubt, things will turn out okay.
Listen to your dreams, they know the way
Trusting yourself after all those years being guided through school, takes self-confidence. It is easier to rush around, fill your time, play computer games and give yourself “shoulds”.
You should do more around the house. You should visit your grandmother. You should get fit.
Your dreams will have whispered the way to go, but they are difficult to hear amid your fears, busyness and noise from others telling you what to do.
Gap Year: Your gap year can be the most exciting choice. You may come to understand your authentic self with no one telling you what to do all the time. See Gap Year Ideas.
This is the first time you have left school. Mentors and career counsellors have helped many school leavers who have gone before you.
Find a wise person and talk with them about your choices. Make it someone who has time for you. Unearthing your authentic self will take time. Find mentor suggestions HERE.
Talk with them. Think about your discussions. Write in a journal. Go for walks.
Finding your authentic self is a life journey. You will start down lots of paths and changing direction isn’t easy.
This article by Kareena Waters from Industry OneCARD explains her solution to a problem students are experiencing when they apply for jobs.
Students often don’t understand the difference between a VET Delivered in Schools course, and their non VET school curriculum. When potential employers ask them if they have any certificates, the reply is often “No” or “I don’t know”.
Case Study
A construction/mining employer recently decided to engage a couple of school graduates for a Traineeship in Administration.
After screening resumes and interviews, they finally choose a couple of very suitable candidates, only to find that when the Australian Apprentice Support Network (AASN) signed up the candidate into a traineeship, one already had a Cert III Business Admin, and the other had completed most of the core units.
There was no record of these achievements on their resumes, or any reference to the training during the interview or understand the significance and the value of ‘That training we did at school’.
The Gap
There is a gap between what students do, and their understanding of how their work contributes to their resume.
Employer’s ability to engage a student on a traineeship is impacted by what VET in Schools certificates a student has commenced or obtained.
Many students have been issued a Unique Student Identifier (USI) but have no idea what it is, or how to access their portal.
Even though Nationally Accredited Units will be recorded on the student’s USI most employers:
want to view and save the certificates, not the USI transcript, and
want to know about any inductions, safety and other inhouse training from students work placement, and or part times jobs, which won’t appear on a USI.
The OneCARD ™ provides a platform to help employers manage the administrative nightmare of employees’ training and licence records.
Kareena Waters Founder of Industry OneCARD ™ and her team want to provide students, trainees and apprentices a complimentary Industry OneCARD™, to help keep all their certificates, induction records and achievements in one place, and to support the cultivation of good habits around the management of their valuable achievements both accredited and non-accredited.
We have built some great features into Industry OneCARD™ that help when someone is applying for positions, that ensure all records are presented to a recruiter, in a high professional standard.
I wrote the Study Coach to help you to save time and get better marks.
You need great marks to:
get the most out of scholarships on offer and
get into competitive courses.
Each ATAR subject area delivers ATAR success workshops throughout the year. Your teachers will tell you about them and I will put them into the Infocus Careers News as they are scheduled.
Check out study coaches and ATAR revision programs HERE.
There are information evenings throughout the year. Keep up with the Infocus Careers News to find what is coming up.
There are career advisors employed by every university. Think of some questions to ask. Make an appointment and visit them.
Alternative Entry Pathways
Creating a portfolio of your work is just one alternative pathway to university. If you want to try for portfolio entry you will need to start putting your portfolio together.
Check out the alternative pathways to university in Western Australia HERE.
Summary
These tips help you to create a smooth pathway from school to uni:
Get uni credits while still at school
Get Great marks
Check out unis
Check out courses
Check out alternative pathways
Get career news for Western Australians
Get career information curated for West Australians. Subscribe to Infocus Careers News.
When you step outside school for the last time, you will need to take a new direction. This is a time of opportunity.
Even a faint dream can lead you in the right direction. WANTING to believe that you can achieve your dream can be enough to get you started.
Seeing each other will not be automatic. You need to make the effort to maintain contact. Arrange to meet with a wide group of friends during the holidays.
Take a Gap Year
The range of opportunities for overseas travel is limited but they still exist. LetzLive is an Australian company providing Gap Year and Working Holiday programmes for school leavers. Positions are available for their January 2022 intake to New Zealand, The United Kingdom and Thailand.
Western Australia has a shortage of workers. Many employers are paying high wages to unskilled workers. We saw the shortages last year when farmers couldn’t get workers. This led to the Work and Wander program designed to attract workers into picking fruit and vegetables.
Things are more desperate this year. Builders, farmers, restaurant owners. They are all looking for workers.
There has never been a better time to earn good money, learn about life after school, and make clearer decisions about exactly what to study.
If you want a Job, it’s who you know that counts
You need to be connected, visible and credible. See It’s Who You Know That Counts for tips on how to use your networks to get a job.
To get many jobs in Western Australia you need a driver’s licence. If you haven’t started to get one, start now. Go to this site to get started.
Tax File Number
If you want to get paid employment you will need a Tax File Number. You can apply HERE.
Bank Account
If you haven’t got a bank account, you will need one. Go to the MoneySmart site to get financial advice on how to manage money now that it is largely invisible. That site also has a budget planner.
Create a Job Application Portfolio
Put COPIES of your stuff from your school and life in your folio. Put the original in a safe place.
You folio can have:
Your resume/CV. Youth Central provides tips for school students. Remember, your resume is not your life story, it is your pitch to a potential employer.
Your application for the job/scholarship/course you are going for. You can get help from a Jobs and Skills Centre to do this.
References from teachers, coaches, mentors
Photos of prizes you have won
Reports
Certificates
Photos of projects (photos of you working on a car, building something, doing community service, art, cooking)
Anything else you can think of that will show you in a good light.
You could go to Uni
Most school leavers go to uni. Universities have promoted the school to uni pathway so well that many students don’t think of alternatives.
Every university has some sort of uni preparation course. These courses are probably better than going straight into a course you are not sure of. They give you the chance to explore life at uni and to check out different courses.
Most of these courses are free and you learn how to do research, write assignments and do referencing. Students who do these alternative pathways typically do well when they envol in a degree.
Check out the different WA alternative pathways,
Pick your uni and enrol in 4 week or one semester course
Work with career advisors while you are at the uni.
Which Uni is Best for You
There are five main universities in WA. Most teach similar undergraduate courses with a few specialist courses like medicine at Curtin and Veterinary Science at Murdoch.
Your decision to study may depend on finances. If you are 18 – 24 and you have supported yourself for 18 months you MAY qualify for Youth Allowance.
Check the Youth Allowance site to see if there are any benefits that you are eligible for. There is an Ask for Help button which could save you hours trying to get through on the phone. If you need to leave home to study don’t forget to ask about travel allowance.
Also check for financial assistance on the Good Universities Guide site HERE.
There are scholarships for so many purposes, not just academic excellence and they are often only available when you start university or TAFE. Search online for scholarships in your field. The Good Universities Guide tries to capture most scholarships on its site.
Ask your career advisor for help searching for scholarships.
TAFE is booming
Lots of TAFE courses are free or low cost in 2022.
Check out the different courses that the VET Award finalists for 2021 were enrolled in. The scope of careers available through TAFE is huge.
A VET course can get you into the high demand cyber security industry or into a specialist health career without getting a degree. There are also apprenticeships and traineeships that you expect to get from TAFE. See:
Go to a Jobs and Skills Centre which is probably on the same campus as your local TAFE. They have diagnostic tools that will help them to point you in the right direction.
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Bev Johnson
Infocus Careers is an independent organisation which is solely supported by insanely great subscribers who share information with me, support each other and help me to pay my bills.
I can talk about careers under water so if you would like to chat about how I can help you to improve your career or the services you deliver, give me a ring on 0434056412 or email me at Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au
It is divided into 5 clear steps:
Parents and Year 7 students may stumble over high school language. 
Undergraduate Medicine at Curtin
