Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

This week I attended a lecture by Ivan Neville, from the Labour Market Research and Analysis Branch on Preparing Students for the Future World of Work. This data is very pertinent for the class of 2020, but also will have knock-on effects for the classes that follow behind them. This presentation and data is probably as current and relevant as it gets.

Key data I shared with our current Year 12s this week:

• COVID-19 has obviously had a devastating effect on employment, falling by 6.5%, but there are positive signs of recovery in the last few months
• The fall-out will be for young people (15 – 24 year olds) as entry level and casual jobs will have more competition
• Employers will now want: 1. Education, 2. Experience and 3. Employability skills

Look at the difference between post school qualifications being essential: 43.7% in 1999 to 62.4% in 2019.

This is a great opportunity for me to fly the vocational education flag highly. For some time vocational students (students that learn skill based learning) have been out-performing or mirroring uni-based students on salaries, employment, future projections and full time options. TAFE/the vocational sector is to be fully embraced for learning practical skills and being job-ready once entering the work force. I implore students who like to learn by doing, to look into the myriad of options available here.

Finally what can students do to get as many opportunities as possible?

Work begets more work, so any exposure to the world of work is a positive, whether it is work shadowing, work experience, a part-time job or volunteering in that industry – the more exposure the better. Finally the skills most in demand pre-COVID are the same skills that are sought after post-COVID:

As I say over and over again, as often as I can possibly fit it in, communication skills, people skills and what we refer to as soft skills, are the skills you can learn and work on at school. These will benefit you for years into your career.