Stuck in the Middle

Educators are always challenged to find a way to manage the diverse proficiency of students in their classroom. There are always students at the top and bottom academically who have often been extended or assisted as required. But the largest most common group is the student in the middle. When the young adult transitions from school to the world of work we face similar challenges as career specialists. How do we lead the young adult from the traditional middle of the classroom, who perhaps shows no particular passion or specific aptitude, into a fruitful and rewarding life of work?

Your average B or C grade student who is unsure of what they want to do, perhaps may have never had a part-time job or significant interest outside of school often finds the thought of leaving school and flying from the nest overwhelming. Commonly they will withdraw from the conversation altogether or keep delaying it. Often frustrated parents will find that the career chat ends in a defiant silence or a deluge of emotion from their child.

There is so much pressure and focus on the academic outcome of education in the form of an ATAR. We know as adults that the ATAR will not solely determine the young adults career success. We know that there is more to the story and many pathways to explore. However a student in their final years of school can often not see the wood for the trees. We find the best place to start this conversation is with the basics; What is a career? What is your understanding of self? What do you already know about the world of work? What does tertiary study look like? What areas are you interested in? Once we have the basics we can start to explore and put together pieces of the puzzle.

Our focus in these career conversations is not to find a 'job’ or a specific outcome but instead to empower our clients to figure out what they want their foundation of knowledge to be. We work to shift the student’s perception from a fixed mindset, where they are looking for a specific career or job, to a growth mindset - where we can explore a foundation of knowledge to build on in their lifetime. We hope to have clients leave the conversation feeling less pressure, more excitement and self - agency for the opportunities that are available to them if they are willing to take the steps to get there.