Are We Giving the Next Generation the Best Career Advice?
Last week, the Australian Well Control Centre (AWCC) attended the Toowoomba Grammar School Careers Expo, engaging with students from Years 10 to 12 about potential career pathways after school.
The event was well attended, with students showing genuine curiosity about industries they had previously known very little about. One observation stood out above all others: very few students were aware of the career opportunities available within Australia’s oil and gas sector.
For an industry that continues to provide high-paying, technically challenging and rewarding careers, this raises an important question.
Are we exposing young people to the full range of career opportunities available to them?
Many students we spoke with had clear aspirations toward university, trades, defence, health, education and business. These are all valuable pathways. However, when discussions turned to drilling, well servicing, production operations, safety, logistics and energy, many were surprised to learn these careers even existed.
This is not a criticism of schools or career advisors. In fact, Toowoomba Grammar School should be commended for hosting an event that connected students with industry and training providers. Career expos provide young people with something that websites and brochures cannot: direct access to people who have worked in the industries they are considering.
The reality is that Australia’s energy sector offers opportunities for school leavers, apprentices, trainees, university graduates and experienced workers seeking a career change. Yet too often these pathways are overlooked because students simply aren’t exposed to them early enough.
One aspect that made this event particularly significant for AWCC was being the only Registered Training Organisation invited to attend alongside TAFE. We see this as recognition of the reputation AWCC has built within industry and the broader education community. More importantly, it provided an opportunity to have genuine conversations about careers that many students had never previously considered.
The future workforce of Australia will face challenges and opportunities unlike any generation before them. As educators, employers, parents and industry leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure young people are making informed decisions based on the widest possible understanding of available career pathways.
Toowoomba Grammar School’s Careers Expo was a step in the right direction.
The more we connect students with real industries, real employers and real career opportunities, the better equipped they will be to make decisions about their future.
Because sometimes the career that changes a young person’s life is the one they never knew existed.
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