Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

An area of my role that I find very interesting is working with students to try to find a career path and options when they don’t have the skills to navigate this.

I work with students with a range of learning profiles. Some students have ADHD and some are on the Autism spectrum. One of the skills that is often not developed in students (and adults) with ADHD, is the executive functioning skill. This is the skill needed that allows us to plan, organise and put together a plan. Sometimes this is never developed, or only occurs in early adulthood. I have worked with adults who also find this difficult. If you can’t plan easily, or find it hard to organise yourself how can you plan out a career? This can be a huge roadblock for some and can continue on throughout a lifetime.

One of my answers to this conundrum – like any skill in life that we lack, is to enlist the help of someone who has these skills. Just like we would use a personal trainer when we find it tricky to get off the couch, we need help and support when faced with these planning challenges – someone who can do this with you! If you can work with someone who has those planning and organisation skills – this can take the headache (and sometimes heartache) out of the dilemma.

Planning out a career is already a tricky process, so my advice would be to find someone who can help you do this. This could be me (or a trusted careers professional), a parent, or a sibling who has already been through this process, or a family friend who is in the industry that you are interested in.

More information on executive function skills can be found here. I love the above infographic that shows all of the amazing work-skills that can be such of such benefit to companies and industries. It can be easy for students and families to see the left-hand side black/white negative traits, but let’s focus on all of the creativity, energy, imagination and enthusiasm that companies are crying out for!

Attending a webinar for any parents of students on the autism spectrum could be a helpful start.

Events

Career planning for students on the autism spectrum
Wednesday 9 March 2022, 4.30 pm Online

Join us as the team from myWAY Employability discuss such topics as: 

• Starting challenging conversations about the future
• Identifying personal strengths, interests, and sensory preferences to guide career exploration and work experiences
• Providing a just right challenge
• Building self-determination.

Register now for this free event.

Notices

Information Technology (I.T.) at UTS
Tuesday 26 April 2022, 5:30 pm Online

Hear from key academics about what it’s like to study IT at UTS and how best to prepare. Find out more here.

Engineering at UTS
Wednesday 27 April 2022, 5:30 pm Online

Hear from key academics about what it’s like to study engineering at UTS and how best to prepare.Find out more here .

Work Experience at AIE
The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) runs a Work Experience Program for students in Years 10 – 12 throughout the year. The Work Experience Program encompasses a range of activities including 3D animation, programming, QA testing and much more. These can be competitive so register to ensure that you can take this up during the holidays. Learn more