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and seeing through the internet, Instagram
and things like that people following
their career dreams. So they have those
aspirations as well and are looking much
more at education to help them achieve
their aspirations in life rather than just
educating them.
Given that the survey was only of 1000
people, do the results reflect what’s
happening more broadly across Australia?
Certainly, based on the work that we do in
career coaching with young people, the
work that we do talking to young people
in the school system, and in the university
system, the results reflect that.
I think they also reflect what we see in
the broader group of companies that I
belong to, where we have companies that
are working with executives on their career
management.
We see many people who have failed
to find something that they’re passionate
about. Either through necessity, where
change has been forced on them
through the busines s, or just because of
unhappiness, they’re starting to reflect and
say: “Is this really what I want to be doing?”
I think certainly the young people we
work with are looking ahead and saying:
“If I’m going to do something for the next
40 years, I want to make sure I’m happy
doing it. I see all of these people on
Instagram and business celebrities talking
about finding your passion and doing what
you love. I want that for me. How do I
find that?”
Often for many young people, they don’t
have a strong knowledge of vocational
opportunities. They’re trying to figure out
how the things they liked at school, or like
doing in their personal life, translate into
career opportunities. While there are lots
of stories about young entrepreneurs who
are very focused, we know every person
is different, and while some will have very
clear goals and focus, others will struggle
to find that focus.
Parents are a big influence on children’s
career decisions, and yet often the advice
they’re giving them is bad.
Given that there’s no longer such a strong
expectation to stick to one career over a
lifetime, how important is it that people find
the right career in their first go?
I think it’s still important. You may not stick
to one career, or one job type within that,
but you want to be able to make sure that
you’re plotting a path that is following areas
that are of interest to you that are going
to excite you, because we spend a large
percentage of our time at work.
We know how important work identity
is on people’s mental health and wellbeing
as well, so having a career that excites you,
that you enjoy, is important.
I think through the school system and
through the university system, there’s a
lot of focus on transferable skills, which
are important. We see these things about
collaboration, and creativity, and a lot of
focus going into that. But it’s also a skill on
how you get a job, how you network, how
you find that opportunity.
Seventy to 80 per cent of the jobs are
not advertised. How do you find jobs that
aren’t advertised? How do you write a
resume when you haven’t got much to
put on your resume and you’re bringing
together what might appear to you as
unrelated life skills, and trying to pitch to an
employer that you are the person that has
a future to offer their business?
I think there are two sets here: it’s
about finding what’s right for you and
then helping you develop the skills to get
there. What we’re seeing at the moment
is this notion of "we’ll just push kids into
apprenticeships or these government-
funded programs in retail”. What if you
don’t like working in retail? What if that’s
not your personality style?
You mentioned that there could be more
and better guidance for young people. Are
there any other solutions to allow these
people to have more fulfilling careers?
Like all things with young people,
information is paramount. We spend a lot
of time working with schools, providing
sessions to students to help them
understand that world of work.
I think there needs to be a greater focus
on helping you find out what the right path
is for you.
Schools, particularly within the
independent system, focus on getting
high marks and high grades and going into
university, when we’re seeing the heads
of our universities saying: “Why are we
trying to push everybody into university?
Some of these kids shouldn’t be coming
to university.”
We’re seeing declines in the
apprenticeship system, and yet we see
some of the highest paying jobs don’t
require tertiary qualifications.
Careers advice in universities tends to
start in your final year, not at the beginning
of your time in university to make sure
you’re building the skills and the portfolio
of contacts and networks and work
experience you’re going to need to get a
job when you graduate.
Through the school system, through
the university system, we need to be
helping them to navigate that journey,
probably from about Year 9 onwards.
I think particularly in the university system
we see a lot of assumptions made that
because a student is studying a specific
topic, or a specific course, that they will
enter into a field in that area. Where that’s
often not the case, or in many of the
vocationally less obvious courses, they
have no idea what path that degree will
take them to.
I don’t want this to sound like I’m
bashing careers advisers or the people
that are building these programs in
schools and universities. I think there’s
a lot of well-intentioned people who
want to do the right thing, but in most
cases it’s under-resourced and not seen
as an important factor of the school or
university.
Recently there was some research that
suggested the average school spending
was the price of a cup of coffee on careers
advice for students. If you’re lucky enough
to have your kids go to an independent
school, maybe they’re spending the
equivalent of a cheap meal. But in most
cases, it’s not much more than that.
There’s no question that the universities
are concerned about the new funding
models and what impact the student full-
time employment outcomes will have on
their future funding.
I see lots of great work from
organisations like the Foundation for Young
Australians advocating the skills that young
people will need in the future. Again, this
comes back to that collaboration and
creativity and entrepreneurism and all of
those things. I think the schools are starting
to recognise that.
What I say is, that’s what the employer
wants. What does the student need to get
that job? Because right now in Australia,
there are I think 36 graduates for every
graduate job that’s advertised. What
does that student need to stand out in that
line of 36 graduates to get that job? It’s a
really important factor which unfortunately
we’re probably still underplaying. ■
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