Career planning tools
CAREERinsite is a Canadian website that has several free career planning tools. A way to use this site and tie it into Australian occupational information is:
- Scroll down to ‘Get started’ and sign up
- Do the ‘Know yourself’ quiz. The quiz can help you identify the job activities you like. The report at the end of the quiz summarises your current preferences and links these to a list of jobs. Select jobs from the list you would like to explore further
- The ‘Explore options’ section encourages you to:
- read about the jobs you have selected. For Australian content, go to Occupations on the myfuture website (sign up if this your first visit to the site) or Explore Careers on the Skillsroad website
- talk to people already in these jobs
- try the jobs (e.g. do work experience or follow someone already in the job for a couple of days).
Through these activities, you can narrow down your list of jobs, retaining those you most like.
- The ‘Get ready’ section helps you compare the remaining jobs on your list
- The ‘Take action’ section helps you develop an action plan for your next step which could be to apply for a course or to find a job
Considering a career in Insurance?
Earn while you learn. No special qualifications are required to get a start in the industry. As your skills improve the qualifications follow. Graduate programs are available for those interested in a specialist field.
Job roles in Insurance can include:
- Broking
- Customer service
- Claims
- Loss Adjusting
- Administration
- Underwriting
- I.T.
- Sales & Marketing
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Legal
Visit the Council of Queensland Insurance Brokers website to find out about some of the specialist fields in this industry.
How to make better career decisions
myfuture has a resource called ‘The Adventures of You’ executive function guide. Executive functions are the mental skills needed to make decisions, including career and course decisions. These include planning, reasoning, prioritising, problem-solving, task flexibility, execution and monitoring actions. The Adventures of You site includes three animated videos that will help you understand these skills.
Skillsroad – a career exploration website
The Skillsroad website has many activities that can help you get started on your career exploration. They include:
- Career quiz – learn more about yourself, your strengths and talents and the jobs you might be attracted to
- Job fit Test – are you job ready? Find out by doing this test
- Explore careers – comprehensive information on over 350 jobs
- Industry videos – listen to the stories of people already on the job
- Training and study options – information about apprenticeships and traineeships, university, Vocational Education and Training and SkillsRoad Online Courses.
The site also provides information on job seeking skills such as finding a job, preparing for interviews, resume builder and a jobs board. A Work Readiness course can be accessed for a fee from the site.
Want to work with animals? Six ways to get a job on the wild side
Most animal jobs are competitive. To gain entry to these occupations, you need to have a plan. An article in the Australian edition of ‘The Guardian’ offers six strategies to help you gain a job in this field. The following is a summary of the strategies.
- Volunteer – Begin by volunteering at a local kennel, animal charity (e.g. RSPCA, Animal Rescue Qld.) or zoo/animal attraction (e.g. Australia Zoo, Sea World, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary). This will give you an understanding of the day-to-day tasks of the work. Volunteering is also a good way of showing that you are committed and willing to go the extra mile.
- Make the most of your volunteering – Document it. Make opportunities to learn new skills that could help you in the future. Talk to people working in the field to find out how they got their jobs and about the options out there.
- Get qualified - Find out the qualifications, work experience and other things that employers, education and training providers require.
- Don’t limit yourself - Keep an open mind. You may find something on route to your original goal that you had never thought of and love.
- Don’t forget your people skills - Any employment within the animal-based industry will require clear communication skills and the ability to work in a team.
- Persevere - You need perseverance if you want to work in a specific job. It may take longer than you want, but the job satisfaction and rewards are worth it.
What is ICT?
How do you communicate with your friends – SMS, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, Pandora, Facebook, Instagram? When you use any of these channels of communication, you are using Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
As tomorrow’s ICT professional you are likely to be working with technologies that do not exist yet. You will have your choice of industry – banking and finance, health, insurance, defence, manufacturing, telecommunications, agriculture, environment, hospitality – you name it. Here are a few examples of the careers in the many ICT pathways available.
- The Dreamer – Designer, Developer, Programmer, Systems Analyst
- The Team Player - Account Manager, Support Technician, Computer Engineer
- The Inventor – Network Administrator, ICT Architect, ICT Consultant, Programmer
- The Constructor – Database Coordinator, Network Administrator, Security Analyst
- The Big Thinker – Business Systems Planner, ICT Trainer, Project Manager
You can find this information and much more on the I Choose Technology website. The site provides information about the ICT industry in Australia, ICT jobs and salaries, courses, and the profiles of people with ICT jobs.
