Pondering Careers - Edition 3

Hey there,

Welcome to the third edition of this little newsletter, we've got a lot to cover this week, including info about Work Experience, some great events coming up, and lots of resources to check out from all over the place.

National Careers Week was a hoot, and it was great to see so much love for careers out there, and now we can start to look forward to Caroline Green (RCDP, MCDI, Assoc. CIPD) 's Careers in Careers Festival in November!

------

Speaking of celebrating the World of Careers, Rob Sattler ????♂? is just about finished his latest epic road trip meeting up with schools and CDPs from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Today he's at the Career Advisers Association New Careers Advisor Day at 澳大利亚悉尼科技大学 with his blow up palm tree:

If you're there please say hi!

We're also starting to think about our trip to the UK which is happening in just over two weeks (eek!) - we've already locked in trips to meet some incredible people in person ( James Wilmot , Katherine Jennick RCDP , Liane Hambly (she/her) can't wait!) but would love to meet as many people as possible so if you have time and would be willing to share your programs then we’d love to learn all about them. We're in London for the first week, then travelling for the second.

------

Next PD Session - Using the Clusters to find a Vocational Pathway

Next Thursday I'll be sharing our thoughts on how you could use the Career Clusters to support students who are considering a vocational pathway.

Online - Thursday 1 June - 3.30pm AEST

Register here

Featured Article

Talking about Work Experience

My son is in Year 10 this year, which means it’s time for Work Experience for him and all of his mates. Ethan’s into microbiology (don’t ask me why, it goes way over my head) so he’s found himself a spot at the local council’s environmental health unit later in the year without much help, which I am so grateful for, and I’ve also been speaking with a few of his friends about what they want to do.

Of course, I’ve had counselling sessions about Work Experience before, but seems like I’m having a lot more this year and I’ve identified a couple of things which might be helpful if you’re in the position of working with young people looking for work experience.

1.????Ask them why they’ve chosen that particular place or job for work experience

I find most of them come with some idea of where they’d like to complete work experience, which is great, but they might not have thought too deeply about it, which is less great. Start by working with them to unpack their ideas, challenge any assumptions they may have about working in the field, and ask them to visualise what their career might look like. This is their first real shot at making a considered career decision, and it’s low risk, so a great chance to practice their skills.

2.????If they’re struggling to find a place, look for alternatives

The classic example is the kid who wants to do work experience at the zoo because they love animals and want to work as a zoologist. I get it – I was the same once – but there are loads of other ways they can get work experience in an animal-related field which don’t require them to essentially win the lottery to get in. They could try the local vet or animal shelter, talk to the local police dog squad, speak to their local pony club, or even start a micro-business in dog walking.

3.????Push them to think outside their comfort zones

Work Experience is the opportunity to try something they haven’t had much experience with, so if they’ve already had quite a bit of experience in an area and want to complete their work experience in the same field, ask them to think about what they hope to get out of it. This could be the family business, or doing work experience with the military if they’re already in cadets, etc. There’s a good chance they could find out what they need to know without using up their one shot at work experience on something they already know about.

4.????Ask them to keep an open mind

This is their chance to figure out if a pathway is right for them or not, and it’s totally ok if they work out that it’s actually not for them. Remove any pressure, and make it clear up front that it’s ok if they change their mind about their pathway after work experience.

5.????Who’s in their network?

If they’re struggling to find somewhere ask them to think about who they already know. Do any of their friends have parents with a cool job? Perhaps you could ask if they would take you. It’s not ideal for them to complete work experience with a family member, but if the student has a family member working in a field of interest they could ask if another person in the organisation could take them on. Networking can be incredibly powerful for their careers, and this could be their first opportunity to use the power of networking.

What else?

My last note is that I always encourage them to think about all the ways they can experience work that don’t fit into the normal ‘work experience’ model. Even a short conversation over coffee can be useful, so ask them to think about how they can build rich work experiences with a range of people. ?

Speaking about work experience, here’s something to Watch:

The UK Parliament has been holding an inquiry into the secondary education system in England and this week they focused on work experience and employer engagement. Speakers included Oli de Botton from The Careers & Enterprise Company , Nick Brook from Speakers for Schools , Nick Chambers from Education and Employers , and Dr Claire Thorne from Tech She Can .

You can watch the session here . My key takeaways were that students benefit when they have the opportunity to experience the world of work, but that work experience on its own isn’t enough – we need a holistic program of inspiration, inquiry, and experience.

What we love this week

Managing Career Uncertainty and Stress

myfuture has recently released a new?Insights?report ?into managing career anxiety, researching some of the reasons behind why secondary school students are feeling confused or anxious when thinking about their future careers. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Over one-third of the 2,800 students surveyed (33.8%) responded that they didn’t know what careers best suited them, and 40.5% often felt that they had no career direction.
• Career uncertainty and anxiety were caused by different factors, including students’ backgrounds, expectations from teachers and parents, and not having enough information to make an informed decision.
• Being aware of the feelings and decision-making processes associated with making choices is as important as knowing about occupational options and study pathways.
• Career advisors, teachers, and parents and carers all play an important role in supporting young people when making career choices.

Along with the report, myfuture has also developed a short questionnaire that can be used to help start career conversations with students, pinpointing areas for further discussion. You can find the questionnaire and read the full report from myfuture?here .

They are also hosting a webinar on 30 May for careers advisors and teachers on managing career uncertainty and dive deeper into the findings of the report – you can register?here .

Case Study

What will teenagers read?

I’m always fascinated to see which of our articles grabs their attention, because I think if we want to get them thinking about their careers then we need to do it in a way that they’ll actually engage with.

We create a huge amount of content, and some of it goes nowhere, but I’ve started to notice that there’s a bit of a theme – they’ll engage best with the articles that get them thinking outside of the box.

These three are great examples:

1. 13 Unusual Jobs you might not know exist - 133k views – published in 2021
2. 10 questions to ask your future self – 26k views – published July 2022
3. 20 Jobs that Don’t Exist Anymore – 10k views – published May 2023

Same goes for our videos – the three most popular Job Spotlight videos are:

1. Food Technologist
2. Logistics Manager
3. Criminologist

Which are not really what I could consider ‘popular’ careers (maybe criminologist?). I know I’m not the only one creating content that teenagers will actually consume, so if you have any thoughts or ideas of your own I’d love to learn what works for you.

Resources

Career Posters from the UK – Resourceful Careers

If you know me then you know I’m fond of a good graphic, and I’ve been loving all the fantastic posters and graphics created by John Paley , like these ones:

There are a whole range, not just related to specific subjects, like this one that helps students think about apprenticeships . ?

New Report - What interventions can lead to good jobs?

A new report from the US has identified ten changes to education, training, and pathways that can lead to good jobs, and it’s well worth a read:

“There are many education, training, and work-based pathways to a good job—but what if these pathways could be made accessible to more people? What if points of lost momentum could be transformed into points of forward progress? We know that certain opportunities can improve young people’s economic outcomes and chances of upward mobility—but which ones hold the most promise? What would the societal impact be if these opportunities were brought to scale?”

I really like this report because they clearly defined what a ‘good job’ looks like, then identified all of the different turning points that occur in the journey to a good job and then worked out what goes wrong for some students at that point. They made ten recommendations which could increase the number of young adults in ‘good’ jobs by the time they are 30, and I’ve summarised them here:

1. More vocational and career education in high school for students not intending on a uni pathway
2. By the age of 22, either starting a vocational qualification or bachelor degree
3. If working, finding a ‘blue-collar’ job by age 22 (as distinct from low-income jobs)
4. Avoiding gaps in employment
5. Choosing a STEM or digital career path
6. Continuing education throughout your 20s and progressing to a higher pathway

Not all of these changes rest on the shoulders of the young people, but the report suggests that there is a lot we could do to increase the number of young people finding good jobs. You can read the full report here .

Another report to check out is this one from Canada - Charting a Course to a Bright Future: How Canadian youth are navigating education and employment from Desjardins which brings together demographics with educational policy to investigate the pathways young people take.

CareerWise by CERIC

This is a great resource for anyone working in the career education space, not just in Canada, and there are loads of Professional Development resources and articles to check out. Find CareerWise here .

Play On from Visa and Year13

Visa and Year13 have partnered up to inspire young women to stay in sport with a stack of online resources. Check them all out here .

Chance to get involved

Complete the Survey

The Australian Department of Education is conducting a Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System and they have launched a survey which will inform the Consultation Paper – you can get involved here , and they want to hear from teachers, parents, and students.

What's happening

Tropical Innovation Festival

June 5-9 – Cairns, Australia

Tara Diversi and Kate Montgomery have put together another incredible lineup with a focus this year on young innovators, with speakers including Taj Pabari , Vu Tran from Go1, and me!

Register here

The Future of Education Summit

October 12 – Brisbane, Australia

This promises to be a great event, hosted by Scott Millar from BOP Industries . They’re also looking for workshop proposals!

Register here .

That's it!

If you've made it this far then you're a superstar! I've had some great feedback so far, but would love to hear your ideas and thoughts so if there's anything you think I should be including in next week's edition please shout out. I'm always on the hunt for fantastic resources to share :)

See you next week.