The world's their oyster

In a few months, school will be out for the year and thousands of school leavers will join the workforce for the first time or enrol in training. Most of them will have plans on what career they would like to pursue and what training is needed to do it. But for some, the sheer number of alternatives is mind-boggling.

"Students have to do a big sifting process," says Dianne Gatward, careers adviser to Long Bay College's 1700 students. "For most of the students I see, it is not a case that they don't know what they want to do, there are just too many choices," she says.

"Often it is, 'Gosh I could do this or could do that, and I am good at that too, how do I choose between this, this and this?' "

For help, students need to access the career resources available at their school. Long Bay College uses an internal newsletter to remind students about what is on.

For example, on Friday afternoons it runs information workshops with guests, such as tertiary providers and industry training organisations. Open days and careers expos are held and work experience opportunities are offered.

One-on-one counselling focuses on questions about what students like and don't like and what they are good at and sets up a research mission on potential careers that are likely to satisfy their personalities.

Career Quest is a computer-assisted guidance programme available in schools. It takes 25 minutes to complete and helps to give people ideas of occupations that might suit them by asking questions about the skills they like using, what they are interested in, and the sorts of things they are interested in learning more about.

Work experience in the school holidays is a key part of helping students work to out what they want, Gatward says.

A work experience programme for senior students funded by the Tertiary Education Commission is operating in Waitakere city.

Called Gateway, 10 secondary schools band together under one Gateway co-ordinator, Jacquie Brayshaw, who finds more than 430 employers willing to give students a taste of the workplace.

There are usually three outcomes, Brayshaw says.

"Students get to determine where they will spend their tertiary education dollars, where to get an apprenticeship, or find out their career choice was not what they anticipated and get to try another one."

Students choose which job they want to experience for one day a week and the work counts for NCEA unit standards.

"It works well as there is a safety net," she says. "The students are still in school and there is time to change their mind without being locked into a tertiary qualification."

For instance, people might try hairdressing and find out it is not as glamorous as they thought, or that mechanical work was not their thing after all.

Astrid van Holten, a career consultant with Career Services at the North Shore Career Centre says during April and May the number of 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds visiting her office for advice rises.

"Typically, their plans have not worked out. School leavers often feel pressured to make the right decision and they are stressed when they get to a career centre," she says.

"We emphasise that it is okay to change their minds. We try to educate them that there is no such thing as a wrong decision. It is not the end of the world and that a career is an evolving process," van Holten says.

"It is not one job for the rest of their lives these days," she says.

Young people who visit Career Services are helped with the Career Quest programme, even if they have completed it before at school.

"We check if the areas they are looking at working in match up with their personal qualities and the things they like doing," van Holten says.

At times, school leavers might feel pressure just to get a job, so they apply for things that are not appropriate and, as a result, they are not successful.

Developing an awareness of the world of work and what kinds of jobs are available is a key part of career planning, van Holten says.

"If people have a level of self-awareness, they will make an informed decision - it will be lot less random."

Another career planning tool called Pathfinder is available on the Career Services' website. It takes a few hours and can be completed online at home. Career Services can be contacted on 0800 222 733.

www.kiwicareers.govt.nz

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