Careers
Claire Pech – Careers Advisor
This week we were delighted to have Zev Schteinman present his talk on taking a GAP year, to our current Year 12s.
Zev travelled extensively during his GAP year and this resulted in him picking up some Arabic whilst overseas. That then translated to him taking an elective in Arabic at Sydney University, which then became one of his majors, along with Mathematics. I told him that it is a fascinating combination and no doubt something of interest to employers.
Zev had a few points that I think are worth sharing:
Regardless of where you travel to on a GAP year or at any stage:
- Get to know the local people
- Eat the local food
- Learn a few words so you can communicate with people in their own cultures.
Students often come to see me to discuss whether to take a GAP year or not and I always say that I have never met a student who has regretted taking a GAP year, but it is not for everyone.
If I had to put together a pros and cons list this is what I hear often in my office:
|
Pros |
Cons |
|
Getting away from family, school, life |
Leaving home can be daunting |
|
Having new travel experiences |
This can be costly |
|
Having some time to mature before university |
Some students find they want to keep the momentum of studying going |
|
Having unstructured time after the school timetable |
Some students really struggle with this as now there is no routine |
|
Being away whilst all of your friends are also potentially away |
Staying home with everyone else travelling and having new life experiences can create FOMO! |
|
Getting some more time if you are unsure about what to study |
Sometimes not having that break may mean jumping into a degree that you are unsure of |
|
Starting off tertiary studies a bit fresher |
Maybe starting off feeling a bit jaded after the HSC |
According to this article in StudyWorkGrow, some of the statistics show that students who do take a GAP year are:
- More likely to finish their degree
- Likely to have higher grades on average
- Tend to stick to their major (most students change)
- More employable
- More likely to be satisfied with their career.
There is also a small quiz at the end of this article to determine if it is for you or not.
HSC Careers Expo
This week and last week was Expo Week, starting with the HSC Careers Expo at Randwick Racecourse and then moving on to the Sydney Careers Convention held at Sydney Grammar School. Students participated in talks, roamed around the Expo event and got to hear from a wide range of presenters.
Notices
Early offer processes and systems are now all starting to open up (ANU has already closed). For students wanting to access these schemes, they need to check out the universities process, apply and sign up. The most popular ones are opening up this week with UTS opening by the time this article goes to print and Macquarie opening last week and ready to take applications.
As mentioned to all students last week: they must submit a written application and detail activities that they have been involved in.