How young people can transition into full-time work
The New Work Reality, the latest report from the Foundation for Young Australians, covers a number of issues surrounding the future of work. The Good Universities Guide has already touched on the barriers to work and in this piece, we have decided to focus on the activities that lead to faster entry into the full-time workforce.
According to FYA, there are four:
- building enterprise skills in education
- 5,000 hours relevant paid employment
- paid employment in a future focussed cluster
- an optimistic mindset.
Building enterprise skills in education
Deemed to help young people find work 17 months faster, is the development of enterprise or soft skills (problem solving, teamwork etc), while studying. More than half of the respondents who claimed to have built enterprise skills had studied a bachelor degree.
Five thousand hours relevant paid employment
It sounds like a huge amount of time because, well, it is. However, when you break it down it equates to 25 hours per work over a three year and 10-month period. Quite simply, the more time spent being paid to gain experience in your field of choice, the better.
Paid employment in a future focussed cluster
The FYA lists seven job clusters:
- The Generators — sales representatives, entertainers, retail and café managers
- The Designers — architects, industrial engineers
- The Artisans — electricians, plumbers, carpenters
- The Informers — bankers, marketing professionals
- The Carers — dental assistants, veterinary nurses
- The Coordinators — bookkeepers, receptionists, bus drivers
- The Technologists — developers, web designers.
The report suggests opting for one with strong growth prospects, namely The Carers (healthcare), The Informers (business and management) and The Technologists (computing and information services).
An optimistic mindset
This is fairly self-explanatory; a young person who is happy and comfortable with their career prospects at the age of 18 will find a full-time gig, on average, two months sooner than someone who is not. Getting into this frame of mind is aided by viewing the process of obtaining full-time work as a growth opportunity.
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