Career counselling

Supportive conversations about school subjects, pathways and course applications set students up for success at school and beyond.

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Every student benefits from an informed, supportive and intentional conversation about their options for work and learning.

These conversations are especially important before students choose their senior secondary subjects and post-school courses. This is a key part of your school’s responsibility for students’ career development.

Career counselling will help students make sound decisions. Your support in exploring and evaluating options can also build the competencies they need to make future decisions as an adult.

You can invite parents and carers to their young person’s career counselling meeting. Parent and carer engagement in learning can strengthen students’ career development. For more information, visit Parents and carers in career conversations.

Exploring options

In addition to a students’ Morrisby profile, students can use these key websites to inform your discussion and their choices about their senior secondary subjects and further education and training courses.

Consider sharing these websites with students, parents or carers and other staff in your school:

  • myfuture – resources and guidance for schools to support career development and exploration, managed by Education Services Australia
  • Many talents, One VCE – learn about the VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major) and the Victorian Pathways Certificate
  • Where to Now? – guide to senior secondary school pathways from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA)
  • Get VET – guide to vocational education and training (VET) options from the VCAA
  • Head Start – key information about this school-based apprenticeship and traineeship program
  • Victorian Skills Gateway – search for post-school training courses, including Free TAFE courses
  • What is an apprenticeship or traineeship? – guide from Apprenticeships Victoria
  • Before you apply – guides and tools from the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC).

There are also many resources that can help students explore the breadth of opportunity in a specific industry. For example, students may be interested in the Clean Energy Careers Guide, Jobs that Matter, or Teach The Future.

You can also use the Victorian Skills Authority’s employment forecast dashboard to guide your conversations about opportunities in your region.

Showcasing options

Before career counselling begins, you can broaden students’ exploration of options by inviting inspiring people with career success or former students to speak with groups of students about their career path:

  • VET Champions – high-achieving Victorians who have risen to success through a VET pathway
  • Ourschool – not-for-profit organisation that supports government schools to establish a thriving alumni program.

Post-school applications

So you can provide support with applications for further education and training, make sure you are familiar with these resources:

Connecting with other key activities

You or the student can document your discussion and attach this to a career action plan, providing a record of any guidance or suggestions and decisions.

If a student has participated in My Career Insights, you can use the information in their Morrisby profile about their strengths, preferences and interests to help identify potential careers and study pathways.

Career counselling can draw on students’ work-based learning experiences or placements to help them make informed choices about subjects and post-school pathways.

Educators

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