Thread: Sources of career advice

G'day Steve,

I know that I'm probably the last person who should be giving career advice, but has your daughter thought about volunteer positions, either here in Australia or abroad for a year?? The reason I ask is that I've met quite a few people in the last year in your daughter's situation - they couldn't see the direction that they wanted to go in, but they didn't want to be lazy and just sit around waiting fro the world to come to them.

The people I've met abroad who I've spoken to about this, all say that volunteering abroad gave them a perspective on life and what they wanted to do with it that they would never have gotten just sitting at home.

Again, it's all down to the individual, but just a suggestion...

the easy way into a new carer is through the defence, and they are starting to get desperate for some roles.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

the easy way into a new carer is through the defence, and they are starting to get desperate for some roles.

That's the path I came through myself (my wife too) and I reckon it would be great for her. Definitely wasn't a go-er when she left school (I got told!!), but I haven't re-visited it lately.
Coincidentally, I was just saying to my wife this morning that things like the aptitude testing etc that we had as part of our recruitment process would be useful for our daughter.

Will definitely bring it up again.

Steve

Police Members | Victoria Police

1700 new jobs over 5 years - and they're only halfway to that target.

Secure employment, 9 weeks annual leave, 21% super......

Best career advice I can give; finish the degree.

As much as people say, a degree can potentially earn you a bucket load more every week just by simply having one, and the majority of people don't even work in the field of their degree (apparently) e.g. I am an RN, but work as a facility manager earning 20k more than my colleagues. My wife is a psychologist, she works in HR with an even better salary advantage. My ex is a laywer, now flies the Osprey in the USMC.
A degree opens doors and gives options. Once she is finished, she can worry about work then.

I am not saying this is the only option and I know a lot of prople who earn a truckload in great careers without a degree, just saying it gives options.

Most of all, she just needs your support...

Although double your daughters age i'm in the same position, dont want to go back to hospitality (qualified chef ) and dont want to continue what i'm currently doing. Defence would be ok but i want to come home at night , but i do live 10mins from Simpson Barracks .

Originally Posted by Marshall

Best career advice I can give; finish the degree.

As much as people say, a degree can potentially earn you a bucket load more every week just by simply having one, and the majority of people don't even work in the field of their degree (apparently) e.g. I am an RN, but work as a facility manager earning 20k more than my colleagues. My wife is a psychologist, she works in HR with an even better salary advantage. My ex is a laywer, now flies the Osprey in the USMC.
A degree opens doors and gives options. Once she is finished, she can worry about work then.

I am not saying this is the only option and I know a lot of prople who earn a truckload in great careers without a degree, just saying it gives options.

Most of all, she just needs your support...

Thanks, we hadn't considered that aspect of the degree, and had been looking at this year as another year down the drain if its not taking her directly into a career.

My current boss of nearly 10 years has a PhD in Biochemistry and is working as an IT manager so is another example of what you're saying. He's one of the most practical (in a common sense way) people I've worked with.

Being from a trade style background, I must admit I'm a bit biased and don't agree with the: storeman - must be tertiary qualified to apply direction that things seem to be heading in, however I accept that employment is about getting a foot in the door so you can display your skills, and if employers are using tertiary qualified as a filter to reduce the number of applicants then its going to be useful to have one - especially when starting out.

And yes - she's definitely getting plenty of support

Steve

Seconding the "stick it out and finish the degree". Many employment opportunities abroad require "a degree or equivalent" - not necessarily a degree in the relevant field. Out of the last four jobs I've worked, only one was directly related to my degree - the other three just required me to have a degree, and in my last job as an engineer, of the team I worked with, the other software developer had a degree in journalism, and our marketing manager had a degree in tourism. Like it or not, third level education of any kind has become the new baseline for many jobs out there.

In addition, should your daughter decide to choose a different career path later on, having an initial degree may allow her to complete a 1 or 2 year masters in a new field (which is what I ended up doing), rather than having to start from scratch.