At its core the Educational Pathways Program is about people, organised into teams and united around a common purpose. The program is made up of many different initiatives, each with a unique focus, and all with the objective of delivering value for students along their career education journey, using a variety of means. That said, the Job readiness workshop initiative has been one of the most impactful aspects of the EPP since its inception.

These workshops demystify for students a lot of the information that might not be immediately apparent as they move through their high school education, such as how to introduce yourself to a potential employer for the first time, and the possibility of having a ‘today’ job’ they can apply for now versus a ‘future job’ that can be worked towards.

All of this is covered in each Job readiness workshop, mainly in the context and considering and seeking employment. But in reality, these are skills and knowledge for adult life. Developing skills that build confidence. And we know from all the research that lifting students’ confidence is proven to be one of the most important aspects of the early stages of a career, post school.

This research has been the driving force of the newly developed Job Readiness workshops. The content delivered in the workshops has been developed by experts in instructional design, work readiness, teaching, and behavioural neuroscience.

In the full-day workshop, students will be guided through various activities and experiences which will help broaden their understanding of job and career opportunities, as well as providing a framework for them to map their career journey. The workshops focus on building confidence and job ready skills that will provide young people with the motivation to take the next steps in their learning and career pathways.

The Job readiness workshops also provide the opportunity for students to connect with Educational Pathways VET Ambassadors, local employers or industry professionals.

With EY Australia delivering the workshops across all EPP regions, our students are in good hands. The EY team of facilitators have been delivering work ready programs in schools for 15 years, and include professionals with experience in education.

The EY team hit the ground running this Term, with student feedback from the first two sessions showing the majority of participants with left the workshops with a better understanding and awareness of career options, as well as feeling more confident in their ability to get a job or pursue further education.

One of EY’s workshops this term included a session to 45 students from Blacktown Boys High School on 5 June 2023. The 45 students were taken through three sessions, focused on developing knowledge and skills to build confidence, increasing their awareness of the importance of mindset when making informed decisions, and discussing employer expectations and how to meet them.

Students were also able to increase their understanding of the core elements of job readiness and employability and work preparation, and strengthened their awareness and understanding of Vocational Education and Training (VET) pathways.

As reported by Mark Johnson, Head Teacher Careers for the Blacktown East group of schools, “the students thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the program with a clear stand out highlight of the day being Educational Pathways VET Ambassador, Ethan Zammit. His segment prompted students to critically reflect regarding the many benefits of VET subjects in their upcoming 2024 subject selection process!”

The EPP program team is excited about this next evolution of the Job readiness workshop initiative, and look forward to seeing and hearing more about sessions being delivered for students in these early stages.