About 400 local students attended a ‘speed careering’ event at Cobram Secondary College on Monday.
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The event focused on increasing awareness of career paths available to students by providing opportunities for them to interact with local business representatives.
Students from Year 7 to 12 from Cobram Secondary College and Cobram Anglican Grammar School participated in five sessions, with each session outlining a different industry.
There were representatives from a number of businesses prominent in the region including Moira Shire Council, Barooga Sporties, NCN Health and Saputo.
The industries discussed were:
- Health and community services.
- Tourism, hospitality, marketing and media.
- Construction, industry and manufacturing.
- Agriculture and horticulture.
- Defence and emergency services.
The Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network ran the day, and project consultant Kristen Elliott said a key message was that there were a variety of jobs available in the region.
“In planning and executing the speed careering event, our ultimate aim was to showcase the diversity of careers in the shire and convey to students that there are real jobs and strong industries and opportunities for them to have a rewarding and meaningful career in the local region,” Ms Elliott said.
“To also get industry, the presenters to impart key messages to young people around the importance of literacy and numeracy and general communication skills.
“Also, that it is a high tech, rapidly changing, globalised world and young people need to be aware, prepared and work ready to respond to growing and high demand industry areas in our local region.”
Cobram Secondary College principal Kimberley Tempest felt it was a fantastic chance for students to open their eyes and see what opportunities were available to them.
“This was an awesome opportunity for our students to find out about the world around them,” Ms Tempest said.
“For the younger ones it gives them an idea of what is possible while for the older students it is about helping them make decisions and plans which they can put into action.
“There is only so much a teacher can say and sometimes students need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.
“The world is your oyster and you can do anything – that is a great thing, but it is also a hard thing because you need to ask yourself a lot of questions and this is an opportunity which lets kids see what is possible, even things they may not have thought of.”
Year 11 student Ruby Sproules said the event helped reassure her about her career path.
“It was really good to hear from all the different people and it was great to hear about the many different types of jobs that are out there,” she said.
“I have always had an interest in going into the Defence Force and to hear them talk about their gap year and how well that transfers into jobs like paramedics and policing – my other options – was really good.
“I think a lot of kids from around here think just because we go to this school we are not as good at kids from the city but we do have the same opportunities but it’s just about how hard we work for them.”