School leavers choosing a career after high school

Friday, December 15, 2017

Completing year 12 and graduating from high school is an incredible achievement. It signals the end of a stressful, busy year for young people. It’s not surprising that school leavers choosing a career to pursue after secondary school can still be up in the air even once graduation is done.

Many students finish high school and then await ATAR scores to guide them, but the real focus should be on choosing a career that you can be passionate about. A career working with children in early childhood, delivering high-quality child care is definitely one to consider.

While some students head to university after graduating, some head straight into the workforce and others enrol in Vocational Education Training (VET). A VET course could be a Certificate, Diploma or Advanced Diploma, and it can lead to a valuable career.

VET graduates earn more

A report earlier this year showed just how much career success you can find through VET courses:

• VET graduates earn a median full-time income of $56,000; $2000 higher than a Bachelor’s degree equipped graduate.
• VET graduates find jobs faster and more easily: 78 percent of VET graduates are employed soon after training, compared to only 68 percent with a Bachelor’s degree.

What to consider when choosing a career

While salary is one consideration, there are many things to think about when choosing a career. You should keep in mind:

Your interests: do you like being inside, outside, or a mixture of both? Do you prefer to sit at a desk or be up and about?

Lifestyle goals: are you committed to travelling at times? Do you want to work full time or have the option of flexibility?

Career aspirations: do you want to work for someone else forever or do you like the idea of having the option to start your own business or run your own race?

Child care careers are flexible and fun

If a career working with children sound like fun, you will also be impressed by the variety of employment options you have from completing a VET course in child care. With part time and casual options available, a child care course could be perfect for you.

Traditional 9am-5pm work has been around for a long time, but many people find that this doesn’t work with their lives and needs. Child care careers have a range of positions to suit a range of people.

For example, you might have a set or rotating roster in a day care facility, working mornings or afternoons or a mixture of both. As a nanny you could live in, work certain days only or even be invited on holidays with families! In family day care work, you could be choosing all your own hours and work as your own boss which can add even more flexibility to your lifestyle.

Keeping your options open

The beauty of a child care course through VET training is that you have so many options. You can complete a Certificate or Diploma course, get into the industry and gain insight, experience, knowledge and skills that will serve any career working with young people.

Should you choose to undertake a university degree down the track — such as Bachelor of Teaching — you can use the credit from your VET training to create your university pathway.

Choosing a career that makes you happy

Consider your goals, lifestyle and circumstances. Choosing a career should reflect the things that are most important to you, so you can become a passionate career person with a healthy work-life balance and lots of room for growth.

Explore the child care course options available to you here. You could be working in a rewarding child care career in no time.

 

Sources:

https://cica.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Perceptions-are-not-Reality-May-2017.pdf