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blakesprojectsSarah 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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