Imagine you are a guidance officer at a school and it was your job to advise the up and coming adults as to what career path they should choose, what would be your advice.

Now think very carefully here, as we have no manufacturing left, our IT faces huge challenges once the NBN is in full swing, The retail sector is in strife, form the likes of the major players and Internet shopping, torisum is all but gone and the latest Qantas fiasco has shown that a local service industry can't survive in the global market if it has to pay local wages and conditions.

Now while a large portion of the job market has been created by fixing things that the government caused, this can't continue as our capacity to borrow billions will also dry up.

We have the up coming carbon tax, along with the increasing preasure on mining, with the proposed mining tax and growing public and political unrest within that industry.

The greens doing their damnedest to shut down forestry, commercial seafood industries and mining also has huge ramifications for those industries moving forward.

Sure, we can send them all off to tech college, which is the latest trend, however, we risk having an oversupply of well trained trades persons with no industries to gain employment in.

Now before my fan club gets on thier high horse and shoots me down, this is not about kicking anyone, it's about the future of our future, our youth.

A tricky one, hey!

Rechtub,

I do not think you could advise anyone as to the best career path to follow these days.

As much as I like tradition, in our rapidly changing world traditions hardly exist anymore good or bad.

It is easy to blame governments but in the main they do tend to be reactive to the commercial markets needs and wants and in most cases the change or event has happened or is well underway before they get their head around the situation. This is not helped by a three year Federal parliamentary cycle.

What happens in Australia these days is dictated more by global forces rather than anything we initiate.

We live in a changing world and those changes are rapid as compared to previous times. It could be said the labour market is now little different from the stock market.

Look to yourself for your solutions. Blame serves little purpose. We do still live in a lucky country but that luck is not a birthright.

Take it easy.

SD

I'd start with a National Service, full stop. During that service young people will find far more direction than in any class room. They'd have the benefit of being taught from experience rather than just text books written by life experience devoid authors. Technology is highly advanced now but it is not 100% reliable. There's no plan B in modern technology. There's no plan B when off shore manufacturers take over completely. The time when they don't need our expertise from which they manufacture goods for us is here now.
As to advising a young person to choose the right path I can only say don't listen to an academic baby boomer & academics taught by baby boomers.

I'd advise they all become school chaplains and start a career path up towards Bishop rank.

This is a great industry that seems to thrive through good times and boom through bad.

No off-shore theft of jobs and better still, absolutely no tax to be paid.

A multi-national corporation like this is a fantastic place to dump otherwise unemployable people looking for perhaps the last job-for-life.

Blue Cross,

Amen !!

SD

first tell them there is no quick fix for anything

that quality of life is dependant
on the qualities you develop within you

learn to do it yourself
[dont rely on others to do it for you..
as they will take the cream off the top first]

i would say one good friend..
is worth 1000 face book friends
that the fix to any problem is closer than they think

that wealth is not a matter of credit or cash
that education is about being able to learn..then explain
[that if you cant comprehend a given topic/subject..then likely its a scam]

its a ashame youth is wasted on the young
we should be born old..then get younger every year
[if only in our thinking]

The opportunities of the future are unknown, so
1. acquire a wide range of skills - language, maths, digital, practical, social
2. be flexible and imaginative
3. be prepared to have several careers through your life - expect to be doing something you never imagined in 20 years time
4. continue to pick up skills either on the job or further training
5. take all opportunities offered and build on them
6. in the meantime, start with something you really like

I accidentally did this back in the 1960s, (you can do the things you like because you're a girl; we boys have to think of future careers). As a result I have continually changed paths (really building and extending from one to the next) and I've never been unemployed. I learnt new technology early (computer programs 1965, GIS mid-90s), but continued to do things that just interested me (eg an extra degree out of interest, then turned to work advantage). While my personal experience is professional/technical, the advice applies across the board.

Well said, there are people here that can't see past the back door. A stick in the mud, whyngers, The country is evolving all the time. Unless you move with the times you get left behind. One line of work closes and another opens. Life is a learning experience, you can not rely on something your grandfather used to work at, to still be there.

To the rehctub's of this site!

...Any industry that panders to the Chinese would be aimed in the direction of growth. Think back to economic ascendency of the Japanese in the 70’s and 80’s for examples. Some of the winners were tourism and real estate.

...The inverse approach to the problem of course, is to ask, who will be the losers. In “losers” group will be those who rely on the traditional norms of society for their dwindling support. The traditional mentality of teaching children in the school environment, is to be subject to radical change; so school teaching as we know it, for example, is a dying trade. To be pre-emptive is a necessity requiring insight into social changes.

...Attempting to plot the course of the “paradigm shift” in society, as it “morphs” in response to economic fortunes and misfortunes, will become the “test of metal” of our children. But could I suggest “Policing” as an obvious growth industry: Governments will as usual, be slow to respond to catastrophic social mayhem, as normally stable markets collapse in a heap, spilling desperation onto the streets as mass protest, (Greece in particular, Europe generally and the Middle East).

...Living inside the earthquake zone of social decay, wrought from a paradigm of social manipulation inflicted on society by desperate money markets, attempting in their greed, to claw back dwindling profits by all means “fair and foul”, will leave a bewildered base of naiveté, scrambling for solutions to plundered savings, and lost and shattered dreams.

…Policing is the way forward, offering the most stable and predictable future of any comparable industry offering long term financial security (looking forward). Policing, you will notice, brings with it as a career, guarantee of stable wages and special considerations towards the satisfaction of the employees by Governments desperate for protection and intent on social control. It brings with it career advancement into an almost unlimited array of options which incorporate all aspects of “law and order and social control”, and is a must to any child exhibiting a pathology towards "control".

rehctub: (Butch)!

...Sorry, I forgot to mention "organised crime" in the same breath as I mentioned Chinese ethnicity.

Well said, there are people here that can't see past the back door. A stick in the mud, whyngers
579,
you described yourself better than any of us could have, well done !

Rechtub you put fences around this thread that may not exist, ever.
I would advise Chinese and Japanese as second and third Languages.
Tec jobs and computers health, food education .
Defense and services such as police too.
Australians will still make thinks, export goods and develop them only to see them made over seas.
Mining will be here for Century's.
We will continue to be a world leader in food production.
Increasing our share of sea food, your state grows a great deal of prawns.
Australia is well placed to continue to be the lucky country it was while riding on the sheep's back.
We may even develop an over seas market for the Hanrahan style we will all be ruined Henny Penny stuff.

I would advise they become climate 'scientist'. Plenty of Government funding, no accountablity for predictions and the accolades of numerous corrupt Governments receiving tax payer money. First though you need to destroy the childs reason and conscience. You must be able to call a lie truth and vice versa.

Runner,

Care to enlighten us with even a single specific example of a corrupt "climate scientist" or is it just heresay?

What about those other scientists in medical research, astrophysics, geology or any of the other disciplines. Are they also corrupt or is it somehow only limited to those who produce findings you personally have a problem with?

I suggest you look at how such funding is distributed and how it is actually spent. Nobody in those areas get a big bucket of taxpayer money to spend on personal consumption.

If anything, it's those individuals employed by Corporations with vested financial interests (such as Tobacco, Oil, Pharmaceuticals and even Asbestos) that make the real "cash-for-comment" money.

I would advise they become climate 'scientist'. Plenty of Government funding, no accountability for predictions and the accolades of numerous corrupt Governments receiving tax payer money. First though you need to destroy the child's reason and conscience. You must be able to call a lie truth and vice versa.

Posted by runner, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 11:43:39 AM

Sounds alot like religion, doesn't it:)

Anyone can be a guidance officer, however there are so many players on the fields blowing there whistles, one of youth may find it hard to believe some people about there "validity" of the point one is trying to make:) A runner:)

CACTUS

Blue, I see your point, but think you might have picked the wrong religion, considering our immigration policy. That is what Rehctub is talking about I think.

Sorry OUG, you have the right idea, but don't go far enough with your born old idea. Mate, if I'd known half as much about the irrationality of women, in my youth, as I do now, what a hell of a youth I'd have had, but I'd need the young body that could keep up.

Dan I reckon being a cop may become just as dangerous as being an army type in Afghanistan is becoming, but of course with much more scope for corruption of course, so good call.

Belly, good call, but I think Indonesian might be better than Japanese.

No runner, that lot are about finished. Even the rest of academia will have to take a big hit. Lets hope it's not as bad as the cultural revolution, but don't be surprised if it is. I doubt Dan's cops would help either.

Wobbles, all of them, the whole catastrophe. Yes there are some good scientists, in many areas, not being helped by the AGW creeps. I have a pretty solid theory about scientists. Their value is inversely proportional to the amount of media time they crave. Think on it.

Cactus, yes that's what they have been trying to do. Of course you know what happens to the priests of failed religions, don't you, & it can't happen too soon.

That was fun.

Now seriously, I have kids in their 20s, [silly old bugger, late starter], & have given this question much thought, having watched many of the industries I served, contract & die.

Daughter one, the best academically went off & did science/education, so can teach math/physics, but was out of place in schools. Now in middle management, she is, I believe, most vulnerable & will have to move regularly.

Daughter two is a slashing sort, with striking taste. At school she did what ever was easiest to get the result she wanted, & nothing has changed. She is a girl Friday. She may be good, or merely decorative, I have no idea, but I'm sure she will float through life as she has so far. No worries with her.

Son is not only smart, but wants to know everything, & wants to be the best. He'd had enough "school" so wouldn't go to uni. After a year of a marine electricians apprenticeship, he got sick of being poor, & joined the navy.

They finished his electrical training, & shoved him into our rust bucket amphibian fleet.

Desperate for people who can do things other than steer a boat, & tie it up, they shoved him through diesel mechanics, hydraulics, refrigeration, powerhouse operation, & is one of the highest qualified welders in the country.

Having retired those poor old ships that need people like him, they have him instructing, "bl00dy school again", & I expect him to take one of the huge mining company offers he keeps getting, some time soon.

He has what a boy needs. If the stuff hits the fan, he can repair all the gear we could no longer afford to replace. If things are good, he can build or install all the new gear, & run it after it's installed.

We are always going to need transport, & power houses. No one knows what will power this stuff, but practical engineers, as distinct from design engineers, will always be needed. If you can fix things, & teach others to do so, you'll be wanted.

I am a scrubber from the bush.
On starting work, age 13 jobs that exist today had never been heard of.
I ran in and out of butcher shops from 3 am till late picking up the fat and bones, and meat butcher had finally given up trying to flog.
Lumped bags of wheat up stacks 35 high by hand.
Flour too and carried logs on my back to fit in fire pits to burn as charcoal.
Then shoveled it out or badged in mixed with things that killed you slowly.
But too new jobs came.
Brand new ones new products and services.
Who truly knows what 50 more years will bring.
Care to guess,and end to all land lines phone PC all radio no wires.
Power under ground or maybe even by radio too.
We will one day see new public service jobs, maybe a requirement to actually get things done.
Bet we see teams working on purely environmental issues rivers and streams parkland's camping areas and trails.
I have no fear of our future not work related maybe peace should concern us.

The dangers of career guidance, "The Graduate" style:

.............

Benjamin: I'm just...
Mr. Braddock: ...worried?
Benjamin: Well...
Mr. Braddock: About what?
Benjamin: I guess about my future.
Mr. Braddock: What about it?
Benjamin: I don't know. I want it to be...
Mr. Braddock: ...to be what?
Benjamin: ...Different.
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

................

Any guidance today would be just about as helpful.

Come to think about it, the job of "Guidance Officer" is itself pretty much out of date, isn't it?

Except in the context of UAVs, I guess.

Now that's another career that didn't exist a couple of years ago...

Become a labour MP. You can then have a limitless credit card with which you can buy untold prostitutes and if anyone asks you anything the PM will back you all the way. Oh and don't forget you get to bash CEO's while visiting their exclusive Chairman’s Lounge to scoff your face on only the best pickings. You'll fit right in, in a country run on parasitism.

Wobbles

'Care to enlighten us with even a single specific example of a corrupt "climate scientist" or is it just heresay?'

You only need one word Wobbles (climategate). Fudged figures and fudged data abound. Look at the backtracking of the High Priests whose predictions have done nothing but put egg on their face and money in their pocket. Don't forget the scaremongers of the 70's who convinced the gullible we were in for an ice age. They just happened to be 'scientist'. Don't confuse true science with fallacy.

ok I am game.
Take a look, an honest one.
At the two posts above mine.
Any one concerned.
Fearful that what is in them is troubling?
Then what advice would you give these two if it was your job to help them get a job?
No idea my self,maybe start with an education?

The truth must really cut in huh, belly?

And I don't need a job, make more in a month than you make in a year. The problem is giving half of it to parasites like your lot. And seeing them destroy any chance of my kids having a future to pursue the own freedom of life and liberty!

Rehcub, you have posed the most difficult question possible.
Because any career undertaken must satisfy present conditions of the
economy, but they will need to be adaptable to an entirely different
style of economy in say 15 years time.
In 15 years globalisation will have all but ended and much manufacturing
will have returned but it will not be in the old style.
Deep knowledge of agriculture and soil physics will be very useful.
So a course at Hawkesbury College would give that knowledge as well
as a good knowledge of science.

If the child is pre high school look for the nearest Agricultural High school.

We will not have much if any need of marketing analysts, financial
derivatives experts, or most of the people in financial services.

I know that many here will think all that is nonsense but note the
way that all governments are trying to talk up growth.
Exponential growth has run up against the limits of resources and the
era of growth has ended.
Our economies will now have to adapt to a new regime of food
production, transport and the range of products that we manufacture.

The problem is that no one at this time really knows what industries
will be viable and whether we will have surplus energy in what form.

The one thing we can be certain of is that food production and distribution will have no 1 priority.

first tell them there is no quick fix for anything
under one god,
before that we have to tell their parents & educators.

The majority of jobs I see, both now and in the future are actually being fed from the public purse, so the tax payer is payer is paying the wages, a bit like a dog chasing it's tail.

Food Security and production is a huge concern moving forward.

First, prime land is far more valuable to this generations farmers as housing land, than as dads farm. This should be stopped.

Then there is production prices, which will become unaffordable in ten to twenty years, unless of cause you would be happy to pay $15 for a loaf of bread.

It's fin to assume that wages will continue to grow, but as profits decrease, so to will the players who provide the jobs.

Ther is a possibility that governments may have to set up food growing businesses as farmers will not be able to afford to farm. At the very least, farmers will need to be highly subsidized to survive.

IT jobs will most likely go off shore.

Researchers will only research if ther is funding to do so, so this may well become a declining sector.

Meanwhile, the banks are ripping us off blind, th mining sector is being targeted as our saviour and big business is being punished for providing for our needs.

The young have only the old to look at for examples that's why things won't improve for some time yet.

[edited]..1.We live in the “ME generation”

But we should live
In the “WE generation”

Husbands and wives are running..In all kinds of directions
But rarely together

he/her total delight in his/her presence
Completely engrossed in his/her company
he/She unwaveringly TRUSTS him
And simply LOVES being around him/her

next/quote soloman

Love righteousness,

ye that be judges of the earth:
think of the Lord with a good..(heart,)
serving the lord by serving..[loving..his living creation]

in simplicity of heart seek him...
seek him even in a creton

For he will be found of them
that tempt him not;

and sheweth himself
unto such as do not distrust him...

serve to fullfill the will of the good god of love grace and mercy

show grace
that ye do for the kleast
ye do for the most


For froward thoughts
separate from God:..and his power,
when it is tried,and hath failed..reproveth the unwise.
and return the gain they colluded to obtain..to be returned in full[plus intrest]


For into a malicious soul
wisdom shall not [cannot]..enter;

nor dwell in the in-corperated body]..
for this dead commercial instrument..is
the body that is subject unto sin.


""For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit,
[that the dead/corperate'person'..has rights..over the living]..

and remove truth..from real thoughts..
creating spin and fiction..that are without understanding,
beyond comprehention..and full of selfish reasoning
and the victim..will not abide in mercy
when unrighteousness cometh in.

For wisdom is a loving spirit;
and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words:
for God is witness..of those who subsume..his reins,

a true beholder of his heart,
is a hearer of his tongue.

For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world:
and that which seeks to containeth all things
NEEDS hath knowledge of the voice...of love grace mercy and forgivenes

he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid:
neither shall self imposed vengeance, when it what was
that which remains..punisheth, for justice cannot pass by him.

For inquisition shall be made
into the counsels/consorts and cohorts..of the ungodly:

and the sound of his words of love life grace mercy and truth
shall come unto then from the Lord

for the manifestation of his wicked deeds.
For the ear of jealousy heareth all things:
and the noise of victimised murmurings is not hid.

Therefore beware of murmuring,..
which is unprofitable;to those decieved?

and you
refrain your tongue from backbiting:
for there is no word so secret,..that shall go for nought:
and the mouth that belieth..or doth spin and defame..slayeth the soul.

Seek not death..in the error of your life:
and pull not upon yourselves destruction..with the works of your hands.

For God made not death:
neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.

For he created all things,
that they might have their being:[live]

and the generations of the world were healthful;[living]
and there is no poison of destruction..in them,simply living
or living simply..

live for the living..not serve the dead
nor the kingdom of death [corperations]..upon the earth:

(For righteousness is immortal:)
life that lives forever

The Wisdom of Solomon 1:16
But ungodly men with their works and words called death to them:
for when they thought to have it...as their servant and friend,

they consumed all but debt into to nought,
and made a covenant with it,..because only they
are worthy to take part with it....[yet even to those loving death..the certainty of ever/live shall yet too..shall be a given

for [life]..energy..cant be created
NOR DESTROYE

rehctub people are able to disagree without you needing to resort to statements like 'fan club'. The people who disagree with you are not reverting to such distractions despite the fact you are hardly a fan of those who wish to see justice for low income earners in a world where living costs are rising

Just write what you believe and people will respond, if you don't like it then don't post. We all post on OLO knowing that some people will agree or disagree, that is life.

To the question, I would choose IT as a sound way to earn a living and with the knowledge that it is a growing sector. IT Graduates are coming out of uni and with a bit of experience are earning far more per hour than people twice their age. It is a niche market and with the NBN benefits for regional areas this market will grow, including assisting businesses in the bush.

If we are talking purely jobs, the caring professions are always in need, nursing, social workers, aged care and child care. But the latter two do not pay well for the value of the role compared to other jobs.

Guidance officers should be equipping kids to make their own choices and tap into their own talents and abilities rather than advising specific areas in my opinion. Provide the information and let young adults learn and find their own way through experience.