My plan after high school was to go to uni and do a Bachelor of Science Degree, but, there was a thread a few days ago about how people with certain degrees were having trouble finding employment after graduation. So what can I do in Uni that is in demand (pay is not important), and is there anything in the field of Biology that is in demand? Also, according to that other thread (can't find link) engineers (I assumed this included civil engineers) are having trouble finding a job, yet a relative of mine who has a high position in the RMS says that they always have trouble finding engineers. Whats happening here?
Wondering what to do after HSC, what jobs are in demand?
sarmen2 on 03/04/2014 - 14:31
Comments
- 1
- 2
This is absolutely true. The logistics and transport industry is growing, and good drivers are in high demand. Where I work we minions look on in awe and envy when we see them stride in to start their long haul drives. They get travel allowances and work in airconditioned comfort. They even earn more than airplane pilots, I believe. It's also a great job for women. I can also say that forkilft driving is also very lucrative, it's an easy way to get minimum five hours overtime where we work, and operators can readily put on weight in such an easy and relaxing sit-down job. We even had a guy fall asleep while driving his forklift and fall off. He fought tooth and nail just to get reinstated in his job…who wouldn't ?
Pick a course which interests you / you like. That way you will be able study well and do well easier. You could do a course which does not interest you (but have better career future) on the condition that you are the type of person who can study/learn subjects of no interest to you effectively. That is not a skill most people have (it is a nice skill/ability to have, but people like me can't do that unfortunately). It is important to do well in exams as your transcript most likely will play a key role in landing a good first job (unless you already have substantial work experience). After your first job, the transcript does not matter anymore.
Engineering courses generally require work experience between the end of the 3rd year and the start of 4th year. That work experience can also play a key role. If the employer likes you, they will make you an offer after you graduate (and in some cases, they might even offer you a part time job in your final year). If the course you picked does not have that requirement, consider doing some work experience during summer holidays.
On your final year, you can start applying for graduate programs at big companies. The key is to do well in your exams. When you have very limited work experience, good scores / grades in your transcript means your lecturers felt you did well in the subjects (good reference for you in a way) - that could land your an interview. You still need to do well in the interview to get the job.
I'll apologise in advance for the extremely long post…
I think my input into this might help as I've personally been down that track 5 years ago. There are a few scenarios that can happen through your university Science years.
If you are into research then you'll need to have credit/distinction average in order to continue with Honours in order to get a "proper" chance in Masters/PhD.
If you happen to not have those marks, then you'll either end up working something related or unrelated depending on how much "experience" you have. Experience here I mean volunteer work (at research facilities - not test subjects but actually working), training, other similar roles, or generally somewhere in science.Take my personal journey as an example.
- Chose to study science (pick subjects you actually later want to work related to)
- Volunteered myself to work at a research facility (data entry/copying etc.) once a week/fortnight
- Got a credit average
- Started applying for jobs 12-18 months before you expect to finish your course (half way). If there are like casual/part-time work in science/hospitals then do that and cut uni hours to part time if necessary. That is what I did.
- Accepted into Honours
- Also got offered a casual job at hospital as Cardiac technician with training provided (most places do). I actually volunteered myself but my boss was happy to pay me
- Declined Honours as work experience is mostly always greater than Honours (unless you want to do research)
- Six more months of Uni to go (full-time), and got offered another job but declined (as I applied a few and usually hospital jobs take ages to process)
- Started working and cut some university hours
- Increased my uni course by 18 months but I continued to work gaining experience during that time
- Check your university advertising noticeboards and state health job boards!
- Transitioned to a research facility (technical role) as I applied for more part-time/full-time roles when I was nearing my course end. Also stopped volunteering.
- Once I completed my course (or before graduation), applied to hospitals/research etc.
- Got offered job at hospital as technician in sleep physiology as they told me my experience in Cardiac and volunteering helped me get in.
- Now I work in respiratory physiology (studied Pharmacology and Physiology at Sydney) and haven't looked back.
Come to think of it, I actually saw one of the people who applied for the same job at the research facility (.12) at university a few weeks thereafter and he was complaining how I got in and not him. I told him I worked in research (data entry) and clinical (hospital). He couldn't compare as he didn't have any experience at all. In actual fact, my employer was so impressed that they actually offered me the job on the spot (signed papers and all) as I was about to hop on the bus outside their building.
When I first started uni, I had the impression of getting a job straight out of graduation. The actual fact is that you will 100% will not unless you know someone. I did not know anyone. Start small (volunteering) and you'll end up on the right track. You got to think from their perspective: would you rather hire someone with experience even though they did the course in 5 years (instead of 3) or someone who did the course in 3 years without experience. You need to stand out from the crowd and be a hard worker. I love my job, and the pay (100k including fringe benefits) just tops the ice cream. I love OzBargain :D btw.
I don't mind sharing my knowledge and experiences if it helps others who were once like me. I can try and answer questions if you have any.
Hope this guides your journey. Good Luck.
Work experience worth more than academic transcript result (especially in the long run). Work experience also helps you in interviews and more importantly, work.
My friends who got H2B or H2A average were able to get into graduate programs in big companies with relative ease. I had an awesome boss when I did my work experience for my course. He offered me a part time job when I was studying for my final year and a full time job once I graduated.
Basically, the top students can afford to apply for jobs at the beginning of the final year. For those who did not study hard enough, it is worthwhile picking up work experience before you graduate and apply for jobs as early as possible.
Whether you will get a job depends more on you, rather than the course itself.
As for the last part of OP's question… some companies not able to find engineers. It actually means they are not able to find engineers who are good enough. There are jobs which require specialised skills and those jobs only want people with experience because they don't have time to train them and/or the amount they are paying - they expect candidates with at least above average, if not top notch skills or experience. Those jobs pay well, but you often need to prove you are the #1 candidate to get it.
The key to landing a job is to do well in the job interview. Your performance in the job interview determines whether you get the job (it is the same even for graduate programs). Work experience and academic transcript/results are things you put into your CV, they only help you get interview opportunities.
Bottom line -> pick a course that you believe you can do well. Generally, that means a course that interests you. However, bear in mind that even if you picked a course that suits you, you still need to study hard and you will still have to study on topics/subjects which are quite boring at times. Again, that ability to study really dry/boring subjects is a good skill to have - Study those boring subjects is more about will power. That's why you need to pick a course you like - so you don't have to study that many subjects which your brain will resist and tell you to slack off.
I expected everyone to tell you to do medicine, but nobody has recommended it thus far, so here I am. If you really love biology but aren't too keen on getting a phd and working as a lab tech or academic, then medicine is right up your alley. Even if you are keen on working in a lab, grants come by much more easily if you have a medical degree. Patients can be annoying, and it's a long and stressful pathway, but I wouldn't choose any other job in the world over medicine.
However medicine is a vast industry, and alot of it has zero patient face to face time.
I meant medicine as y'know, a doctor with a MBBS/MD/equivalent. No doctor has zero patient contact, not even those in pathology. Unless you refuse to see patients I suppose, but if you didn't like patients that much you probably wouldn't have chosen medicine to begin with.
Pathology is certainly close to zero patient time after training.
Medicine is good. You will get a job after you graduate. If you want a degree which will pretty much guarantee you a job afterwards, medicine and dentistry are two safest bet.
If OP is interested in biology, then might as well aim for the best - medicine or dentistry. People who did bio-med don't seem to generally find it easy to find jobs. So, aim for the best in biology - medicine, otherwise consider other fields.
Anyway, do really well in your HSC is the number 1 priority and worry about which course to take later.
An MD? I love Biology but being a Doctor just doesn't appeal to me.
just don't study some Arts or Social Science degree. LOL :P
as an accountant the opportunities can be very diverse. they need accountants in various fields, from mining to auditing, from banking to government. so many fields to choose from.
being an accountant doesn't need to be boring preparing tax returns or bookkeeping (although many accountants love doing that). you can structure deals, negotiate with clients/bankers/investors, investigate cases, make corporate decisions, and do many other stuff. it's both art and science. and it pays well too.
my friends tell me health science is not a very healthy profession. stressful and risky.
Just do any degree you interested in and get all subject high distinction. Complete your study with dean honours plus university medal. You can go to any job you want (entry level) and you will get it.
If you cant get as much high distinction as you can
Lots of venture capitalist and banking looking people from broad array of background but always the highest score.
Do what you enjoy. It sounds like you should enrol in a BSc, and aim towards a biology major. Use your electives on other courses outside the biology department. What courses are you doing for HSC? Can you put them in the order from most to least favourite? I know i'm going to get downvoted for this, but don't pad your degree with arts courses. Imo it doesn't assist in any way towards a field in science. It's good to have a wide variety of knowledge, but it simply doesn't add much in value.
Mathematics + Finance = Very very in demand.
I can't believe no one has suggested to the OP to become a bikie! They are in short supply on OzB, especially when you need one to sort out a dodgy ebayer or gumtree advertiser ….
- 1
- 2
My mate went from near broke cafe manager to truck driver. Three years on he's thinking of building his own house.