Tag: Jobs

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They stole our Ugg Boot name. Trademarks, tariffs and other dirty tricks. Buy Australian-Made!

Make sure our kids have careers in a strong economy:

✔ Check the label – Look for Australian-made and owned products whenever you shop. You can find a list of those with the Australian-made logo HERE.

✔Hassle Bunnings/Office Works/Big W –  Make some noise. Be a nuisance by asking big retailers for their Australian made products.

✔ Support local businesses – Whether it’s boots, clothing, food, or wine, choosing Australian-made keeps profits here.

✔ Spread the word – Share this story and encourage others to support local.

An Ugg Boot Story

Oranges in orchardAbout 20 years ago a friend’s parents were building their ugg boot business from their shed on their orchard near Bullsbrook. They were making a steady income by selling their boots at markets and through a few retail outlets.

The Bombshell

One day they got a letter from a copyright lawyer in the USA. The letter said they couldn’t call their ugg boots “ugg” boots anymore as it is a trademark name owned by a multi billion dollar US company. 

They were devastated. They had built a shed on their property, invested in machinery and were establishing a network of suppliers and buyers. 

The Power of Trademarks to Kill a Business

My friend and I worked for the WA Department of Commerce and Trade so we went downstairs and talked to our copyright lawyers. That started what became an Australia-wide fight by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and lots of small businesses, to prove that “ugg” is a regular Australian word, not a trademark.

Small Wins

After 2 decades of fighting, Australian businesses can only use “ugg” in Australia and New Zealand. 

In other countries “ugg” is a brand name. Australian ugg boot manufacturers have been sued for letting people in the US buy their ugg boots online. 

This is just one way that the USA has used trademarks and legal action to stop Australian businesses. Now they are threatening tariffs on Australian products. 

The Good News

The good news is that there are only 340 million people in the USA in a world of over 8 billion and there are lots of markets for iron ore, coal and education related services.

It’s small businesses that will need our help. 

Buy Australian-Made!

Many of the products on the Australian Made site are made by small businesses, like the ugg boot makers. Their capacity to sell online to the USA will be restricted by tariffs or by unfair copyright laws. 

We can stand up for Australian businesses and jobs for our kids:

✔ Check the label – Look for Australian-made and owned products whenever you shop. You can find a list of those with the Australian-made logo HERE.

✔Hassle Bunnings/Office Works/Big W –  Make some noise. Be a nuisance by asking big retailers for their Australian made products.

✔ Support local businesses – Whether it’s boots, clothing, food, or wine, choosing Australian-made keeps profits here.

✔ Spread the word – Share this story and encourage others to support local.

We need to be in this together to make sure our kids have careers in a strong Australian economy. It’s time to buy Australian. 

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Keep up to date with  West Australian careers information. Subscribe to In  Focus Careers News.

Bev doing research for 2025
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It’s Career Expo Time – Don’t sign anything! 3 tips for the Career Expo

Tip 1: Don’t sign ANYTHING

Many visitors sign up for thousands of dollars worth of training based on a noisy 5 minute discussion in the crowded Convention Centre.

The Careers Expo is great fun. There are lots of giveaways. There are glossy brochures and high-tech displays.

People on the stands are friendly and helpful.

Of course they are!

You aren’t going to buy something from someone grumpy. 

The biggest, most professional-looking displays, closest to the entry, with the loud music and happy staff, are investing a lot to get you to sign up for their products.

Tip 2:

Don’t wait until you get to the Expo.  Find the exhibitors on the Expo Page before you go.

If you are interested in having a Gap Year check out which exhibitors will have information that will interest you.

If you are interested in Trades, check out the ones that will be of most interest.

Make the decision about which ones to visit and what you want to know. 

You could also ask….

  • How much will it cost?

  • How long the course will take.

  • What are the entry requirements.

  • How long it takes their graduates to get a job in the industry?

  • What sort of work do graduates get?

Tip 3 See your career advisor after the expo

If you don’t know a career advisor, go to a Jobs and Skills Centre and talk with them or make an appointment with a uni-based career practitioner. It’s FREE. The Jobs and Skills Centres are usually based in TAFE colleges, they also have information about unis.

Each month In Focus Careers News helps West Australian teachers to guide their students towards career opportunities. You can subscribe HERE.

Bev Johnson Director, In Focus Careers
Email: Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au

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Data is the new oil. Don’t tell strangers what you love.

Whoever owns the data owns the future

Yuval Noah Harari 21 Lessons for the 21st century. 

What do you love?

We do buckets of online personality tests, career quizzes and psychometric tests as we sift through our options for the best, brilliant future that we love. 

 

The more tests we do, the more test owners can build their information about us into a personal profile. They link their data with data collected by others and build your profile. The older you get, the more they know about you. You become a commodity to be manipulated and used to their advantage.

Handing over our information to strangers online is like giving our house keys to strangers and letting them in. 

Don’t hand over personal information online without knowing:

  • That it will ONLY be used for the stated purpose.
  • If it is going to be stored in Australia. (It probably won’t be.)
  • When they are going to delete it. (Optus has details of customers who left them years ago.)

It’s the law. There are 13 rules (principles) that guide privacy in Australia. You can find the principles in the Australian Privacy law HERE. 

This Download This Show podcast warns:

Data is the new oil. Companies want our information. The company that owns our data and can analyze it and make sense of it, owns the future.

Manal al-Sharif, Tech4evil podcast on Download this Show @ 8m17sec

Companies are not in the business of giving stuff away. They have to get something out of it. Most companies offering “free” services do not have strict rules about how they are going to use the information that you hand over. If they are not being straight with you about what they are going to do with your information once they have it, don’t hand it over. 

Keep doing quizzes

You need all the help you can get to unearth your best path through life. 

When you start looking for quizzes go for government sites like MyFuture which have strict rules about what information they collect and how they use it. Check their privacy policy as an example of what is okay.  

It is long.

It needs to be.

You can check out these sites and be reasonably sure they will not be using your information to harm you or try to sell you something. But don’t assume they have great privacy and security to protect your personal information.  I bet every organisation is revising its privacy and security strategies after the Optus debacle. 

If you are unsure, ask me bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au. I won’t be able to see their security regime but I will be able to check to see if they are complying with the Privacy Law. 

Work smarter. Discover people, trends and career ideas to become a leader with new approaches to the career challenges of today and tomorrow. 

Subscribe to In Focus Careers News

Bev Johnson Director, In Focus Careers