Tip 5 - Get the skills
- Young people will need a wide range of employability skills in their future studies and work. These include skills in:
- communication
- team-work
- planning
- organisation
- problem solving
- working independently
- using initiative
- time management
- Other relevant and important skills to help your young person learn include:
- job seeking
- leadership
- negotiation
- conflict resolution
- goal setting, and
- decision-making skills
- Provide opportunities for young people to practice these skills while they are still at school:
- for example, do they have the skills to communicate appropriately in different situations? Are they aware the way they talk to their friends may be very different to the way they should communicate with their teachers, colleagues, or employer?
- Discuss with young people other practical skills that will be very important after school. Without considering practical issues, young people may struggle to decide on realistic post-school pathways. Some things to discuss include:
- How will they get to TAFE, university, or the workplace?
- Can they travel independently?
- Can they find their way to other places for meetings or lunch?
- Are they able to manage their own money?
- Promote active involvement in career planning and work experience at school:
- School based career development programs will help students develop important skills. An example is the School to Work program in public schools.
- Where appropriate, consider recommending young people study vocation based subjects at school, for example HSC Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. There are vocational subjects in areas including business services, hospitality, information technology and primary industries.
- Consider recommending TVET courses where students study vocational courses at TAFE while still at school.
- Some students may like to consider a school based apprenticeship or traineeship. These provide an opportunity to gain a nationally recognised VET qualification as well as the HSC.
- Reinforce to students that being able to access and use technology is extremely important in most post-secondary settings:
- How are your students' skills in using computers, the Internet and other technologies?
- Help them research the types of skills they will need in different settings.
- Encourage and help them to practice and learn new skills if necessary.
- There is equipment, support and assistive technology available to help people access and use computers and other technology. These are often called assistive technologies. Some examples are speech recognition software, on-screen keyboards, and software that can read text aloud.
- Will your students need any assistance to access technology? Have they used assistive technologies at school? If a young person can explain what their technology needs are it will be easier for others to help them access it.
- There are some great free applications which can help people to access technology. AccessApps offers over 50 free assistive technology applications.
