Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Knowing the Score – Anna Morgan 

Some of you may already have read this article from the weekend Sydney papers by Anna Morgan. As someone who is always lured by any article to do with careers, choices or Year 12 decisions, this article resonated a lot for me. Morgan talks of “The fear that I had no idea what I wanted to do – and that no one was going to tell me.” This can sometimes be the scariest part of this leap out of school, the fact that now students are now making their own decisions. Just like everything in life, that can take a while to get used to, so having to make such a big one can be daunting.

I try and convey the message, often, that the ATAR points are not like frequent flyer points that have to be “used” up. Just because a high ATAR is achieved does not mean they should be “used” on a high ATAR course. They don’t disappear or become invalid. Also remember that high ATAR courses just mean that the demand for them is higher than the number of places available. It is a simple supply and demand issue.

I often tell students to try and ignore their ATAR while choosing the course, imagine you either got a 99.95 or that your ATAR allowed you entry to anything, then ask yourself the question of “what would you pick?” Should you still pick your teaching course (ATAR 75) if you get an ATAR of 95? Of course you should – if teaching is what you want to do! If you get an 74 then we need to discuss other ways of getting in but don’t let your number be the decider of your future course. It is like choosing a holiday flight based solely on the price of the plane ticket rather than on how much you want to visit that country.

Gap Year

Another interesting article I read this week was the dilemma for the Class of 2021 on whether to take a GAP year or not. Here are some thoughts on that as many considerations come in, including work experience, volunteering, short courses, industry placements and more.

National Skills Commission 

This is Australian funded research into the job landscape from 2020 onwards. Download the pdf on the main page to see a summary of job outlooks per industry (as always healthcare is at the top), also by state, discussions in resilient industries and emerging jobs of the future, with statistics to back it up.

For the full report click here.