Volume 30 Issue 26 27 Aug 2021 19 Elul 5781

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

This week I was on a zoom with TAFE. The TAFE versus university debate came up so I thought I would bust some myths about this.

  1. Myth: University is better than TAFE – this is not correct. University is very different to TAFE in a lot of ways – they are different options to learn different skill sets.
  2. Myth: Employers will view TAFE as a poorer qualification compared to university study – this is also not correct. Many employers will need a mandatory set qualification (e.g. a Certificate III in Fitness) in order to work in the industry. It is very industry dependant.
  3. Myth: TAFE is a less academic option than university. This incorrect view often comes from the access point entry and not needing an ATAR. However TAFE still has very high standard courses including Bachelor degrees in Accountancy, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Business and many more.
  4. Myth: You can’t get a degree from TAFE. You can. TAFE offers Bachelor degrees in a range of 40 different areas.
  5. Myth: TAFE has poorer teaching standards.  TAFE’s teaching standards are ranked higher than university currently as they generally have staff who also work in the industry they teach about.

 

TAFE also has ……

  • applied learning – meaning that students learn by doing the skill
  • small class sizes, workshop style classes
  • strong industry links with teachers who work in industry
  • regularly updated curriculum in line with current work practices and new emerging technologies
  • early admissions – starting in September
  • a new Bachelor of Applied Commerce being delivered from the city
  • the Bachelor of Information Technology (Network Security). With huge shortage in this field, TAFE has great industry connections and graduates are highly sought after.
  • the Bachelor of Early Childhood is the most popular course – currently with 800 students, with a strong applied learning focus.

TAFE in response to COVID are offering some free short courses here in the following areas including: Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol issues, small business set up, creative writing and many more. This is not only for students leaving school, but anyone in NSW who would like to learn some extra skills. These are short – generally a term long – with a commitment of about 5-9 hours per week. Some courses are worth about $1000-$1,500 so they are well worth doing now while they are free.

A reminder that  Open Days  are online this weekend for a lot of the big institutions including Sydney University and University Technology Sydney (UTS).

Engineering at Sydney University 

Lunch with an engineer. Click on the Zoom link to join these lunch sessions:

Date

Time

School

Facilitator

Title

Zoom link

26 Aug

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Chemical and Biomolecular

John Kavanagh

 

Deputy Head of School

 

 https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/83020881194

2 Sept

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Biomedical

Ashnil
Kumar

 

Lecturer, Director of Postgraduate Coursework

 

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/82735047387

9 Sept

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Aerospace, Mechanical
and Mechatronic Engineering

Stefan Williams

 

Head of School

 

 https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/89528418109

16 Sept

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Project Management

Kenneth Chung

Director, Bachelor of Project Management, Senior Lecturer, Project Management Program

 

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/82405116047

11 Nov

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Electrical and Information Engineering

David Boland

Lecturer

 

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/86197311007

18 Nov

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Computer Science

Caren Han

Associate Lecturer in Programming/Software Development

 

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/85962707991

25 Nov

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Civil

David Airey

Academic

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/81560064443

 

Sydney University – Zoom seminars are being run over September.

Click on the links below to register:

Discovering advanced computing | Wed 1 September 2021, 4.00 pm  4.30 pm AEST
Experience in engineering | Wed 1 September 2021, 4.45 pm  5.15 pm AEST
ARTiculate Geography with Political Economy | Wed 1 September 2021, 5.00 pm – 5:45 pm AEST
ARTiculate French Continuers and Extension | Wed 8 September 2021, 4.00 pm – 4.45 pm AEST