Year 9 - In Focus Careers

Posted on February 5, 2023February 7, 2023 by Bev Johnson — 1 Comment

Don’t get stuck at school if you hate it. There’s a better path for you.

WRONG WAY: Just stop going to school.

People from the Department of Education will chase you up to find what’s going on.
You will cut ties with your friends and your support network of teachers, student services, VET coordinators, career advisors at school.
You could end up alone and feeling lost.

BETTER WAY: Do this preparation.

Step 1: Talk with family and friends

Don’t shock your family and friends by just dropping out of school. They will get upset and add to your stress.

Talk with them, flag the idea of leaving school early. Ask what they think. Get their ideas and support.

Step 2: Get expert information

Your Mum’s best friend or your maths teacher is not the expert that you need right now. There’s a lot to know about leaving school. Talk to an expert whose full time job it is to know about career pathways.

This mind map provides links to expert information about leaving school in WA. Play with different links to see what’s available. Write down questions to ask your career advisor.

Meet with your school career advisor

Take a list of questions.

If you don’t know what you want to do, they will explore different opportunities with you.
They can help you to get a job application ready.
They can link you with an apprenticeship/traineeship company that employs lots of apprentices.

Jobs and Skills Centre free information and advice

Jobs and Skills Centres are co-located at TAFE colleges. There are 17 across WA and they provide free information, advice and support.

Industry Training Hubs

If you live in the Wanneroo or Armadale areas, engage with the Industry Training Hub. They are set up to help students to engage with people from different industries to find out what is involved.

Private Career Practitioners

Look up “career practitioners” in your “suburb”. There will be career practitioners who can be employed to guide you through the process from school into a job or further study.

Step 3: How to leave school

Get your career advisor and family to help you to arrange a full-time job, enrol in a full-time course or a combination of both.
Get your parents to fill out an Exemption from full time schooling and submit it to your school.

It needs to go to the Minister for Education. They won’t come back with a flat “no” but you may be asked to add some more information to your application.

Once you have permission you can leave:

Get a copy of your latest report.
Get references from supportive teachers.
Check with the front office to see if you have forgotten anything.

Say goodbye to your life as a school student

MORE INFORMATION

Common pathways from school

1. Nursing

2. Computing pathway

There are so many computing jobs. Learn the hard, foundation, boring stuff. It will put you way ahead of others who focus on pretty, creative computing.

Entry level IT at SM TAFE Murdoch Campus
Get a computing job through WA Government Jobs
Talks to a career counsellor at Murdoch Uni about IT courses
Apply for credits from your TAFE studies at Murdoch uni.
Do a computer degree.
Get promotions at work.

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Posted on June 11, 2022 by Bev Johnson — Leave a comment

Any journey from childhood to adulthood is a long one. Would a mentor help?

If you tell a 14 year old to start working with a mentor, expect a negative reaction.

As they emerge from the chrysalis of childhood, 14 year old’s want to be responsible for what they do themselves. They want to work towards the future with their peers.

They do not want to engage with an authority figure of YOUR choice. Friendships are never more important than in the vital mid teenage years.

If you think kids would benefit from having a mentor, you need to:

match the kid to the right mentor program, then
help those kids to be clear and enthusiastic about wanting a mentor.

Sport Coaches

The idea of having a coach, rather than a mentor, might be more familiar to kids.

The coach and the team are all working towards a single purpose.

Students who play sport could tell you that their coach:

has superior knowledge in their field
suggests ways that they can improve
will offer words of encouragement
sets clear boundaries
can be trusted
helps them to set clear goals

What motivates the coach?

Kids know WHY the coach is there, it could be their love of the game, maybe their kids play in the team, maybe they played for the team at one stage.

Kids don’t know WHY a mentor is there.

They will be asking:

why would a total stranger would want to get to know me?
what is the payoff for this stranger?
what is the purpose of the relationship?
is it safe?

When they are clear about all these things, then they need to learn that the mentor:

will be working with them towards an agreed purpose
has superior knowledge in their field
suggests ways that they can improve
will offer words of encouragement
sets clear boundaries
can be trusted
helps them to set clear goals

How are mentors different?

If you want a one on one approach to help you to identify and achieve goals, a designated mentor could be your answer. A mentor will provide guidance and support, just to you.

Establishing trusted one on one relationships is more difficult with a mentor than with a coach as part of a team. You will need to work harder to establish a relationship with a mentor.

There are lots of mentor services in Perth. Many have a specific focus.

Here are some of them.

I will build on this map as people let me know about more mentoring services in WA.

You can choose different mentors for different purposes.

Finally

No-one seems to be focusing on the significant long term impacts of COVID that middle school students experienced just as they were leaving the comfort of childhood.

I hope that by providing an environment, rich in ideas and opportunities, middle school students will be able to progress through a scaffolded approach to adulthood. It will take conscious and deliberate effort to engage…. if they are to arrive as confused, disoriented and bewildered as the rest of us.

Addendum

In the Boredom Breakers blog which I wrote last week, I provide a range of opportunities that young people could choose to explore as they move along the long path from childhood to adulthood . All of those suggestions have a leader who will be a bit like a sport coach.

To keep up to speed with career opportunities emerging in Western Australia, subscribe to In Focus Careers News

Posted on February 16, 2022February 14, 2022 by Bev Johnson — Leave a comment

Your mind map to reaching your potential in middle school

You would think there was SOMETHING for everyone at high school, but what if there is nothing for you?

If you haven’t found where you belong in the chess club or the swimming club or in the choir, look outside school. One of these could be the place where you might have some interesting experiences.

Check out these opportunities for exploring your world in middle school.

Duke of Edinburgh

Discover Your Potential

Age: 14 – 24 There are 4 sections:

1. Adventurous Journey

2. Physical Recreation

3. Skills, Voluntary Service

4. Gold Residential Project

CoderDojo

Coding for Fun

Ages 7 – 17

Run by volunteers in libraries, unis and community centres. Young people and volunteers get together to learn to play with coding.

WAAPA Short Courses

Age 6 – 18

Acting, music and dance short courses are run on weekends and holidays. There are classes for young kids through to those who already have some experience.