Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

With isolation and COVID-19 affecting us all, everybody’s careers have been bounced around – in some way or another –  we’ve had to consider how we work, where we work or even if we work at all. No one has been immune. In one of my friendship groups (a group of 10 of us), two have lost their jobs. One is about to resign. One is waiting to be furloughed. One has gone from full time to part time. One has lost their temporary contract and two are now on Jobkeepers. That is quite a shuffle for such a small group.

Statistics from the ABS last month show:

• 900,000 people lost their jobs by mid-April
• 7 million workers (one in five) have been adversely affected by a snap recession
• Total employment fell by 4.6%
• Total hours fell by 9.2% (therefore a much greater change for part-timers)
• Under-employment moved five percentage points to 13.7%

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, cited Ross Gittins, SMH, 31 May 2020

Workers are having to brush up on their resumes, re-write cover letters and prepare for new interviews, if they are lucky. These are the skills that the current Year 10 Commerce classes have also been brushing up on, in preparation for their assessment task. I have been with both classes teaching them some key Do’s and Don’ts. Interviews are being held this and next week, and so here are some resources that they have been using. These will also help current students looking for part-time work (once the market returns), but also Year 12 students as they embark on leaving school, and for parents who are now on this journey with everyone too.

Reminders

• Join our Facebook careers page if you are a student in Year 10, 11 or 12
• Join jobjump (register with password “emanuel” – case sensitive)