By Stephanie Holliday
FURTHER education is not only for those fresh out of secondary school, people of all ages also embark on study journeys for various reasons, including career development or a change of industry for example.
There are a multitude of study options in Australia, including University, Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs, TAFE courses, career-specific courses offered by registered training organisations (RTOs) apprenticeships and even online courses.
The best place to start evaluating a possible career path, and thus your study options, is by investigating what you are interested in. Don’t only think of this in terms of what subjects you may enjoy learning about, but also what you enjoy outside of academic life. Using this list, relate it back to your skills and academic strengths.
Another helpful exercise would be to scour job advertisements, which will include an expectation for the qualifications and skills an ideal candidate would have. From this, you’ll get a sense of what you may want to pursue academically in order to qualify to work in a particular field.
What course of study you do end up pursuing is not the be all and end all of your education, or the entirety of your career. You will likely experience working in several fields over during your working life, which presents opportunities to develop yourself academically and professionally and ultimately lead to a career you find rewarding.
