You weighed your chances. You probably won’t enrol into university.
You probably knew it for a while now.
Chances are, you’re a bit desperate, ashamed, and terrified of conversations to come. You dread all the astoundment and judgmental looks.
But before you start panicking and underestimating yourself, here’s what you should know:
You are not doomed. Yet.
The world has changed, and all those changes raised the value of alternative education pathways.
Example: Say, that fancy five-plus star hotel needs a fantastic manager who will keep customer service and brand reputation impeccable. That manager needs to have a wide range of highly developed skills.
Or, to put it this way: He needs to be educated. And he’ll be very well paid for what he delivers.
But the thing is -- academics won’t really focus their efforts on building a hospitality career (and the hospitality industry was just an example). This leaves you with tons of possibilities and high-paying jobs that don’t require a university degree.
So, how do you do it?
Enter vocational education and training. An Australian VET qualification can get you as far as you want to go -- as long as you’re willing to take your career seriously. Vocational education and training educate and qualify you to work in various industries:
- Business
- Leadership
- Hospitality
- Tourism
- Hotel & Event Management
- Retail
- Trade
And the list doesn’t end here. P.S. How about working on a cruiser, travelling around, hitting all those parties, and on top of everything -- making some good cash? Didn’t see that coming, right?
Why you should do it
And we thought we had you at that cruiser story. 🙂 Vocational education covers practical knowledge, preparing you to be proactive in real-time situations.
Meaning: you get to learn AND master your skills. VET courses are more flexible. You are not committing yourself to years of consecutive studying. You take a few months long course: when and where are up to you.
You can always continue your education. VET courses are built to lead you forward -- wherever you are. You may finish one course, get Certificate II and focus on your career, and then after a while, you’ll decide you want to hit another one, go with Certificate III, and get a promotion at work.
Guess what? Piece of cake!
And even if one day you still feel like you want to enrol into university -- VET can get you even there. By passing certain VET courses, you become qualified to enrol on academic studies. You will receive credit transfers with VET qualification towards your university studies which will reduce the study load and time.
How should you start?
Choose your direction.
Don’t pick a certain vocation because it’s the easiest or the fastest one. Think about your future -- would you like to be stuck with a career you hate just because it seems easier now?
Think about what you’re really good at. And here we don’t mean a school subject or an industry.
Are you that one person who always organises reunions and manages to take care of food, drinks, music, and invitations? Then maybe you should think about event organising.
Are you a sworn extrovert with a natural skill of communication -- that lucky person that’s always appealing to people? Then you can choose whatever your heart desires, from sales to PR and customer service.
Now you may be thinking -- well, it’s easy for communicative and organised people. But we’re just throwing some ideas here -- your choice is huge.
And if you come to a point where you think you’re not good at anything -- you are. You just need to believe it yourself.
There you have it.
You study as you go, perfect your skills, and build your career at the same time. You can always keep coming back for more -- we all know how contagious education can be!
You build any pathway you want for yourself -- professional, academic, adventurous. Or all of it.
You become a master of your own destiny.