Volume 33 Issue 6 08 Mar 2024 28 Adar I 5784

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

People who love their work….

I was lucky enough to be able to take Long Service Leave last term and I travelled through Europe with my family. It always helps to step away from your career in order to make you appreciate what you value about it.

Young people are now much more likely to have a string of roles under their belts, working across different industries, potentially with side hustles, whilst also constantly up-skilling with micro-credentials and on-the-job learning. Employees who continually up-skill, are the ones that will remain most employable, especially by incorporating new technologies and AI into their roles. Lifelong learning is here to stay.

I find there are commonalities for those who love their work. I am very lucky to be amongst this group. Many people I know dislike the work they do. They find their jobs tiresome, boring, a means to an end, difficult, stressful and tedious – sometimes all at the same time. Many say if they had their time over again, they would not be in the profession they are currently in.

How do we avoid ending up or finding ourselves in this cluster of negatives?

There are three factors I see in people who adore their careers: 

#1 Skillset match – I feel this is the most important connection to base big career decisions on. In short asking the question: ‘What skills do I like to use?”. The issue is, that at the age of 18, or 20, or 22 onwards, we have not yet been able to identify what those skills are. Nor have we used enough skills to know how wide our skills range is. I know that at age 18, I was clueless. These are the skills that come naturally, easily and comfortably. We feel good using them. And we want to get better at them. They don’t feel like a huge struggle. For example, a customer service person, who is genuinely friendly, and loves helping others. A teacher who loves using their creativity, or problem-solving skills to help their students. A physiotherapist who loves all things to do with biomechanics, having high empathy and great people skills to assist with patients. Or a doctor who is a great problem-solver, communicator and team player. When the skills of a role are matched to the skills a person finds effortless, this is where the magic happens. And it all sounds fairly obvious. But often it isn’t. The more we try out different jobs, groups, societies and activities that allow us to use a range of skills, the further along we are at identifying those ‘enjoyable’ skills.

#2 Reward and benefit – Workers in careers they are happy in, tend to have their career needs met by that job. Almost like finding a good partner. Those needs may be met by the employer, or the job, or the profession. When these needs are met, workers are happier. This can take the shape of a variety of factors. For some it’s the remuneration, for others it’s the recognition. Or it can be the company bonuses, the work life balance, the flexibility, the personal satisfaction, the personal growth, the pride in the work, the perks of the role, but it must have a reward that the worker finds value in. It can be a feeling of being valued by the profession or by peers, customers, a professional body or clients. Feeling valued can even come from a personal internal barometer, e.g. “I matter”, “I have purpose here”, “I have value here”, “I am making a difference”. Now, more than ever, young people are trying to work in areas, where they feel they have purpose.

#3 Interest – This has to be at the core of job/career enjoyment, but is not to be mixed up with passion. There has to be an innate interest in the job, profession or arena. Or at least a growing seed, that can be developed over time. My 18-year-old self would never have had an interest in careers, but I had an interest in people. I think the basis of the interest must be present for real career enjoyment. Unfortunately, people mix up the word passion here for interest. Some feel they have to turn their passion (whatever it may be, art, cooking, music, travel, gardening, their hobby) into their career. As long as that passion is present in life, a career does not have to include that passion. So students have a few things to consider when career-mapping.

Information, dates and notices 

UNSW | Year 12 Medicine Information Evening

Tuesday 12 March 2024
Are you interested in a career in medicine? To register, click here to find out more.

Charles Sturt | Medicine Information Night

Wednesday 20 March 2024 
Find out more here.

AIE | Industry Experience Day

Thursday 11 April 2024 – Wednesday 17 April, 2024
AIE’s Industry Experience Day is for students to find out more in during the holidays about the gaming industry.
 Find out more here.

Discover Health Sciences at ACU North Sydney

Tuesday 16 April 2024
This is during the school holidays. This is a great day to find out more about ACU and their courses in this area.
Find out more here.

Discover Teaching and Social Work at ACU Strathfield

Wednesday 17 April 2024
Find out more here.

Financing your studies

For students wondering how the financing of Tertiary study works. Here are some of the terms you need to understand and how it all works.

UNSW Updates

UNSW gave some relevant updates at their recent Careers Advisors Day. Some of the following areas are covered in the slides provided here:

Sydney University – and Maths

Sydney University have decided to drop the famous Advanced Maths prerequisites that they launched in 2019. Due to decreasing numbers in certain areas, and access to the courses, they have decided as of next year, to scrap them. This will have an impact on Business, Commerce, Psychology, Economics, to name a few. Read more here.

© studyworkgrow March 2024