Youthwork and Transferable skills

[BillyJo]

Hi,

 

I have worked in the UK for a national children's charity for 7 years and been in a managerial position for the past 2.

 

I am hoping to move myself and my family out to Adelaide towards the end of this year on a 190 visa. The skills assessment I have just completed is for a youth worker and was wondering if my managerial experience would be transferable into a different field whilst in Oz?

In Scotland at the moment Social Care is shifting towards a business model due to numerous local authority cuts and my whole drive for working in care has been influenced negatively by the current climate which is ruled by money and is putting workers and children and families under huge stress.

It will be a refreshing change to see what the systems are like in Oz and re-evaluate if it is the situation I am in which is making me feel like the care sector is at a loss.....or if I simply need to change career.

My wife works in social care too (for a different organisation) which impacts on us both as a family......we can't wait to escape the building pressure of social care in the UK and get back in touch with why we work with children and families in the first place!!!

 

Any thoughts or shared experiences would be appreciated.

 

Cheers all!

Edited January 24, 2014 by BillyJo
additional info

[Jessica Berry]

I chat to a lot of people that over the period of their careers have had several changes, doing all sorts of different jobs. I also know people that do one job as their fulltime job and then have a second job in a totally different field. I think as a migrant if people are adaptable, open to new challenges and prepared to step out of their comfort zone when looking for work, it can open up more opportunities. You never know where it might lead to.

 

In the Adelaide job paper each week they have a section called 'Career Change' and they give an example of someone that is in one career and changes to another and how they got there...this week the person was a teacher and became a rural Doctor, next week it is a Police Officer that became a photographer.

[BillyJo]

I chat to a lot of people that over the period of their careers have had several changes, doing all sorts of different jobs. I also know people that do one job as their fulltime job and then have a second job in a totally different field. I think as a migrant if people are adaptable, open to new challenges and prepared to step out of their comfort zone when looking for work, it can open up more opportunities. You never know where it might lead to.

 

In the Adelaide job paper each week they have a section called 'Career Change' and they give an example of someone that is in one career and changes to another and how they got there...this week the person was a teacher and became a rural Doctor, next week it is a Police Officer that became a photographer.

 

thanks JB....thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

This is the kind of thing that I thought. I am absolutely not set in my ways with regards to career paths and would relish change. I work intensively with people daily on how they manage change whether they are service users or staff and I think that I can be creative in matching skills outwith the field in which they were learned. We are planning to make the move and work for a couple of years then come back and take stock as to where we want to be longer term. During those 2 years I plan to do a qualification in a different field (Marketing).

How do Oz qualifications match-up to British criteria?

[Jessica Berry]

thanks JB....thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

This is the kind of thing that I thought. I am absolutely not set in my ways with regards to career paths and would relish change. I work intensively with people daily on how they manage change whether they are service users or staff and I think that I can be creative in matching skills outwith the field in which they were learned. We are planning to make the move and work for a couple of years then come back and take stock as to where we want to be longer term. During those 2 years I plan to do a qualification in a different field (Marketing).

How do Oz qualifications match-up to British criteria?

 

I used to work as a Trainer and Assessor in Adelaide and like with everything there are some great training providers and then some not so great. I personally think it is important to do a qualification that has credibility within the sector you want to work in and often the general public have no idea whether an organisation has credibility or not!

 

I have studied 3 different qualifications in Adelaide and they have personally helped me to gain work and the highest paid jobs I have had, have all asked for 1 or more of the qualifications as part of the selection criteria. For me personally, it became apparent that by gaining these qualifications I would increase my chances of gaining work, keep myself more employable as I have skills in several different areas and make my resume more 'Australian'. It is also important in my job roles that I understand the Australian systems, legislation, rules and regulations and this is partly what the qualifications provided, along with meeting some new people and listening to fellow students thoughts/ideas/experiences working in the applicable sectors. I do not put any of my UK qualifications on my resume, as in my opinion in my circumstances/sector, they are now irrelevant, of course this won't be the case for everyone.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Jessica Berry

[BillyJo]

Excellent Jessica....thank you.

 

Your advice matches my thoughts on the matter. Interesting to read about you not using UK qualifications on your resume.

CV's are making a comeback here in the UK and I get the impression that they are used a lot in Oz?

I am involved in a fair wee bit of recruitment in my current position and our organisation had it written in policy that we did not accept CV's......that is shifting now and I think that in a world laden with qualifications that CV's.....and all of the "between the lines" info that they can offer.......are a useful tool in catching the attention of potential employers.

Exactly what they were deigned for in the first place!

 

Funny how things come full circle....and keep going round...and round...and........(repeat to fade)