Blake's Projects

Ian graduated in the Philippines in 2018, with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. He initially entered the workforce as a teacher, with an unpaid internship, and has switched to a government office, but is still looking for his ideal job.

Speaking on why he decided to leave the teaching field, Ian said, “the pay is ridiculously low for a profession that almost requires you to work during off-hours.” 

Fortunately, he was able to find new opportunities quickly due to his location and connections from family and friends.

“My city is the biggest in the country in terms of land area, so living here is a blessing. (I had) family friends with connections in high places,” Ian explained.

Ian was lucky to have had this support as there was nothing from his university that could have helped. Living and studying in the Philippines, Ian outlined problems with the education system, frequent weather disturbances and other factors that would often force students to miss classes.

“Books are old and tattered and classrooms are scarce in remote areas. Frequent typhoons are a factor because classes are often suspended because of them. Because of the suspensions, you can only teach so much in so little time. Sometimes kids are forced to attend school over the weekend to make up for missed classes.”

Ian believes the school should offer assistance, but it is up to the individual graduate to use their skillset and variables to their advantage. For example, Ian was able to use a connection from his neighbour’s sister to enter his current job in a government office and still uses skills from his college degree, such as entrepreneurship, geography and food sciences.

Despite enjoying the job, Ian has had “severe” mental health drawbacks, mainly due to travel, stress and workload.

“The constant travel gets tiring over time,” Ian said. “Like, I just spend the weekend at home after a weeklong travel, then I will have to pack my stuff again for along weeklong travel.”

Speaking on the stresses of his job, Ian recalled a period late in 2019 where there were several reshufflings that led to an increase in his workload. “I became a communications officer and it was taxing. I had to write press releases for the office, write annual reports, prepare certificates for workshops. It was a lot, and I felt I had a depression relapse.”

Ian also said he felt out of place as a licensed teacher in a field of licensed agriculturalists but has had relief from the previous communications officer returning to work and decreasing his workload. He is currently applying for another job requiring training officers that is closer to his skillset, and has a boss incredibly supportive of his mental health issues.

Despite having some bumps in the road and some past regrets due to his qualifications, Ian feels happy in his job and has the following advice for those of you who are in a similar situation:

“Follow what your heart feels best for you. You can be the highest earning worker out there but if you feel miserable on the inside, you’re still not doing yourself any justice.”

Sarah graduated from RMIT in Melbourne in 2018 with a Certificate IV in Youth Work, but life soon took her in a different direction.

After working for around six months with her degree in a youthspace support role at Headspace, Sarah soon became involved in politics.

She first met the MP she currently works for after attending a leadership program funded by the State Government in Victoria.

“I built rapport with them,” Sarah explained. “I asked to help with their campaign as 2018 was an election year.”

Now, as an Electorate Officer for the Victorian Parliament, she has no regrets about the switch and believes that her previous job helps her in her current field.

“Life experience working in youth work is good experience for using in parliament,” Sarah told me.  “It doesn’t relate directly to my job but informs my experience.”

Before landing the job with the Victorian MP, Sarah had already amassed a lot of work experience, as she told me she was “Considered already part of the work force as (she) had worked in hospitality since 16,” as well as previously interning for MP’s. She found that Parliament was different as it, "is more professional, and the stakes are higher.”  Sarah told me that she “didn’t find it difficult but didn’t find it easy.”

Despite her work experience, Sarah still ran into some problems working in Parliament, as she explained.

“The most difficult thing was pressure management in Parliament when I was a young person. I was still a teenager when I landed the job. It was something to get used to as a representative of Government.”

Some of her difficulties were also mental, as she told me that she had “performance-related doubts,” and “doubted that (she) would be good at it because (she) didn’t have the qualifications, but in the end, those doubts were proved wrong.”

Despite moving into a different area, Sarah found that RMIT helped her a lot when she was initially looking into youth work.

“RMIT is very hands on, so they assume that everyone doing the course is intending to work in the field. Youth Work did placement to help me get a job.”

Despite the help she received, Sarah does believe that Universities could offer more to help their students.

“They could work with students to discover what their careers are,” she said. “All universities have a long way to go. They can teach you how to read and write, and deal with pressure, but can’t teach you how to land a job. Everyone gets a law degree but no one becomes a lawyer.” She believed that she “got lucky” as her experience came outside of University.

Sarah has a lot of advice for those in a similar situation. Firstly, work experience:

“It helps,” she said. “If someone came into the office now to give their resume, I’d want to see experience. If they didn’t have paid work I’d wonder why. Students get stuck in the study phase of their lives. Learning is only half of what you need for the job.”

Secondly, opportunities and connections are vital.

“Take advantage of any contacts or networking and every opportunity that falls into your laps. It is overused but they teach you to say yes to everything. It’s only by taking opportunities that you learn what you like and don’t like.”

Thirdly, take any help you can get.

“Always find a mentor,” Sarah said. “I had a mentor in the leadership program and it helped inform my career.”

Finally, having changed fields, Sarah believes, “the worst thing you can do if you’re unhappy is not change. For example, ‘I’m a scientist because my degree is science.’” Drawing on personal experience, Sarah said that her father had never liked an office job and never taken the time to retrain because of obligations to the family.

As you can see from Sarah’s story, work experience and connections are important. Take advantage of any opportunity you can, and it is never too late to change careers. There are a lot of opportunities if you’re willing to put yourself out there. 
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Hayden graduated from UTAS with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Theatre, in 2017. However, they soon found themselves facing medical and financial difficulty.

“Basically, theatre is the only industry where being discriminated against is part of the game and legal and being underpaid is part of the game and legal,” they explained to me.  “Unless you’re part of a big production, you’re usually being paid for the project and not for the hours. It’s called an honorarium and it’s totally legal.”

Providing an example of their own experience, Hayden stated that they were paid $1750 for three months full work, which equated to just under two dollars an hour.

“Because it’s theatre, there’s a certain ‘type’ they’re looking for,” Hayden further explained regarding the discrimination. “A character might be a straight, white, cis man. There may be no reason why they are but that’s who they’re looking for and that’s who gets the role.”

Medical issues have also prevented Hayden from working.

“I’m in pain all the time,” Hayden says of their illness. “My pain levels vary, so sometimes I’m very capable and can achieve a lot, however (usually immediately after one of those days), I can ‘crash’ and will be bedridden for perhaps weeks on end.”

“Because of the unpredictability of my illness, it’s hard to make a schedule that works around it in a professional setting that involves a lot of other people, particularly theatre.” The illness also led to difficulties getting hired, as Hayden explained that, “If something goes wrong, they could potentially get sued. I’m a risk they don’t want to take.”

Hayden’s issue presents a very real problem for disabled individuals entering the workforce. Having had this experience themself, Hayden advises:

“Work for yourself. Starting a business is expensive, unfortunately, but if you’re driven enough and can find the funds, it can be a great way to work around limitations that are often systematically in place in the workforce.”

If starting your own business isn’t an option, Hayden recommends outsourcing:

“Outsourcing and delegation are great ways to be part of the clog without it messing with illness too much,” they said. “You don’t have to know how to carry a coffee to manage a café, for example.”

In their experience, Hayden has always found it easier with jobs that are distance or can be applied to via distance. “The easiest thing was anything I could do online, (such as) typing up documents, sending files, emailing correspondences, that sort of thing.”

Sometimes in-person interviews have even prevented Hayden from applying for the job. “I’ve cancelled interviews because I’ve been sick or in pain, which would have been easily solved with a Skype interview. Travelling always adds a complication,” they said. “Not to mention non-illness things such as having to find the location of the job interview (and) needing money to get there and back.”

Accessibility and discrimination have been the hardest things for Hayden when they were looking for jobs in the workforce (which they are currently not doing due to their illness). Detailing their experience, I was informed, “phone calls are difficult when one has anxiety. Transport is difficult when one is poor. Keeping jobs is hard when one has a shoddy immune system.”

Adding onto discrimination with what they referred to as an “interesting phenomenon,” when they were applying for jobs. Hayden explained, “Because the name on my resume is Hayden, they expect a man. Every time I walked in, their faces would drop and they would speed me through. It was ridiculous.”

Despite their current situation, no longer being in the workforce, and the difficulties they faced in theatre, Hayden has no regrets from their degree as they use the skills from their degree in everyday life, such as public speaking, organisation, cable management, design and art.

Hayden, however, believes that universities could be doing more to help students in their situation, especially those with a disability.

“Make knowledge and pathways more accessible by actively providing those things. They should be asking disabled students what they need, rather than assuming or guessing.”

So, while illnesses and disabilities can provide difficulty in gaining employment, there are pathways available. Some jobs can be done by distance, interviews conducted via Skype, and tasks can be outsourced or delegated. As Hayden advised, starting your own business or being your own boss can be a great way to work around limitations, and that will be their plan if/when they return.

After graduating from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Arts in 2003, Rowena was unsure of what to do next.

There were no jobs available in the field of her degree. Despite initially wanting to be a university lecturer, once she got through her degree, she “felt it was going to be too hard and… needed to get another job,” as she recounts.

Rowena found there was little help available, aside from one of her university lecturers.

“I had a lecturer who was like a mentor and referee, who tried to find a research assistant job,” she said. However, Rowena was unable to get one, and was unaware of any support from the university she could turn to. If she had been, she believes it could have helped in a different way.

“It wouldn’t have helped me get a job, but it would have helped me through my mental health and made me feel like my degree wasn’t useless,” Rowena explained.

Mental health issues were a struggle for Rowena after she graduated, unable to find a job and facing low income, as she explained to me:

“I was applying for jobs I was overqualified for and couldn’t get them because I had a degree. After six months, I was on Centrelink (Australian welfare payments) and very low income, became depressed and was back on medication.”

Rowena also believes the small size and regionality of Tasmania may have played a part in her struggles to find employment within her university degree.

“I would have loved a job with my Bachelor of Arts,” she explained, “but I wasn’t willing to move interstate. There was absolutely nothing unless I wanted to go back and study, which was too challenging.”

Rowena’s journey into the workforce was long, with many bumps in the road. After being unable to get a job, she went back to UTAS in 2004 to do a Bachelor of Teaching, after hearing you could get a year off the degree with a Bachelor of Arts. However, this lasted only one semester before she dropped out, not liking it and feeling unsupported.

So, Rowena was back where she started, returning to looking for a job, before getting her break in 2005 in the form of TAFE. She studied Children’s Services to become a childcarer, which she has now done for fourteen years.

Rowena was full of praise for TAFE, saying, she “enjoyed everything about the 18-month course” and detailed many benefits compared to university:

“It was user friendly and taught things relevant to the workforce, such as how to write job applications and answer the selection criteria. We also did mock interviews and had practical (prac) placements. The job was exactly like I thought it was going to be from the course.”

TAFE also helped Rowena significantly as her prac placements “led to employment in every workplace I did a prac for.” While she “would tell anyone to stick with TAFE,” Rowena concedes that some jobs do require the degree and this option isn’t for everyone.

Her confidence before starting TAFE, however, was low, but rose considerably afterwards. Despite the bumps in the road, such as depression, low income, and “being on Centrelink for a long time”, she is now happy with where she is.

With fifteen years of child care experience behind her after coming out of university unsure of where to go, and with no opportunities, Rowena has this advice for people who are considering not using their degree in the workforce:

“Try not to be upset that you’ve done a degree that’s not helping because all knowledge is worth having. Have a look at TAFE or something that might lead to a career in the area where you’re living.  Go onto job network sites and look at the available jobs and what qualifications they’re seeking. Go to TAFE and find information, see if anything sparks your interests. Don’t regret what you’ve done, because regrets can make you depressed.”

As you can see from Rowena’s experience, while the road there may be difficult, and you may end up with low income or depressed, things will get better. You will find something that sparks your interest, so never give up.

Tai graduated from culinary school in the USA in 2009 with the idea of becoming a chef. She worked in culinary for five years, from 2009-14, before being laid off due to the “slow season.” Due in part to this, Tai decided to change careers.

“I had just gotten laid off because of slow season. I needed a job that wasn’t seasonal,” Tai told me. “Once I was laid off… I decided the stress wasn’t worth it, especially since I could be laid off at any time.”

It wasn’t immediate smooth sailing for Tai, as she told me, “I cried myself to sleep for months as I tried to figure out what I wanted.”

Eventually, Tai decided to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Her involved a little bit of luck.

“I started in nursing homes but that was too much for me. One day after having a massive panic attack I walked into my current place of employment asking for a job and by pure luck, someone had given their two weeks.”

As you can see, Tai’s approach was quite direct, and while you might not always have the same luck as she did, putting yourself out there can be a huge help.

Working as a CNA has given Tai significant benefits regarding skills learned, as well as mental health. As she says, “I made some awesome new friends and learned a ton of new stuff. After six years, most times I can even self-diagnose without seeing a doctor. Now, along with having my CNA license, I’m also Med Certified and can pass out medications.”

Despite graduating eleven years ago, Tai still had the same support systems that most people would today, having seen a careers counsellor and finding great help in being able to vent to friends in Facebook groups and on her personal page. “It felt good to vent it out,” she told me. “I always have a couple of friends I can vent to.”

Now, Tai absolutely loves her job, “no matter how stressful it gets.” Stressful things she has told me about her line of work include being short-staffed and physically and verbally abused. Despite these things, Tai has told me she would not do anything differently if she had her time over again. She also believes that she would have had the same support system if she had graduated now, as opposed to then.

So, having gone through a change in careers after graduating, and experiencing the highs and lows, here is Tai’s advice to you:

“It’s never too late to change your profession. If you wake up every day hating having to go to work, that probably isn’t the job for you, no matter how much you enjoy it.”

As you can see from Tai’s experience, things aren’t going to always be easy, but she went from a fear of being laid off at any time, to a stable job in a different field that has taught her many different skills and lessons. With a good support system and some courage, Tai was able to literally walk into her current job and start herself on a new path. It wasn’t too late for her, and it certainly won’t be too late for you.