St James’ Annual Career Week has become cemented in the school calendar with the goal to continually empower students to recognise that their career education and development is a lifelong process. Many events and activities took place throughout the week in September.
Career Seminars and Guest Speakers: Secondary students were given opportunities to make connections between classroom learning and the application to the real world of work through meeting different professionals who spoke about their personal career journey. Over the course of the week guest speakers discussed their personal journey in many different fields and industries. These included lawyers, physiotherapists, nurses, a tactical response police officer, digital media designers, hospitality workers, business owners, gap year experiences at Camp America, the defence force, performing arts graduates and many more. Students enjoy listening to these conversations and gained valuable knowledge and inspiration through interacting with these professionals.
Murdoch Career Taster Incursion: Year 9 students were involved in a Career Taster program run by Murdoch University. The aim of the incursion was to inspire and educate students through interactive and creative workshops with University ambassadors who are passionate about their current course. All students were able to spend time with university students currently studying Criminal Science and Behaviour, Environmental Engineering and Game, Art and Design. It was great to see students asking genuine and interesting questions about their future career opportunities.
VR incursion: The School was fortunate to secure the Company Marcsman Technology and Consulting as part of Careers Week. Marcsman is an IT company specialising in the integration of Virtual Reality (VR) experiences in the school curriculum. The evolution of Virtual Reality and the impact on every industry now and into the future is already making ground. Selected classes were able to experience the world of virtual reality. Headsets were used to take students to different countries and learn a new culture and language, experience the thrill of being on top of a skyscraper, controlling robots, flying a plane or going inside the human heart.
Global Drone Solutions – jobs of the future: Drones are part of an ever growing industry and are now classed as a job of the future. Drone pilot certifications can equip young people with skills which are in high demand. Currently drones are being used in over 300 applications. Examples of industries using drones include building and design, events, emergency services, media, tourism, sales, construction, mining and agriculture. Students were given the opportunity to find out how to get their remote pilot licence and took part of a drone flying demonstration. If there is enough interest, the School will consider running a drone pilot licence club in 2020. The qualification gained would prepare students for one of the fastest growing skills sets and emerging job of the future.
