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Choosing subjects at school
From Year 10 onwards you start getting bombarded with questions about life after high school. Amongst the ‘cool stuff’ like having no school uniforms and being treated like an adult, there are the rather more serious concepts that you need to consider, like employment and career.
The reason you have to start considering this in Year 10 is because you will have to choose which subjects you will study in Years 11 and 12. Depending on what you want to do and where you want to go, your subject choices can affect what you can get into at TAFE and at University, which in turn will affect your career path. It’s all about choosing a subject combination that keeps your options open, and makes you happy.
‘I know what I want to do!’
Some of you feel that you know what you want to do, and sometimes have known this since you were very young. If that sounds like you, that’s great, but there are three good reasons to maintain a broad outlook at this stage:
- Even though you have focused on a particular career for a long time, you still might change your mind;
- You may not get into your dream course so it is important to have a safety net and be aware of the alternative pathways;
- Keep your options open. There are new courses starting all the time, and if you stop looking you may miss out on a course that you like even more. So, as well as finding out all about your main interests, we would recommend that you investigate other possibilities and keep researching.
‘I have no idea what I want to do!’
Most people are in this category and do not know what they want to do. While choosing a career is a serious business, you shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself to make a decision in a hurry or to lock yourself into one option. Good research has shown that today’s new job seekers will have on average three totally different careers and seven different jobs during the course of their working life, so not locking into one path is certainly a good idea (Department of Education and Training WA, Dec 2003).
Year 10 should be the start of your journey to choose a career, not the end of it.
There are many opportunities for you to change your mind and you should check out absolutely everything that looks interesting.
For information on careers and courses to consider:
- Get a list of courses offered and cross off what you don’t like – this narrows down the list of courses to research. Don’t cross off what you don’t recognise – it could be something really cool you’ve never heard of!
- Search the Australian University, TAFE, and private college websites.
- Think about your favourite classes at school and what bits you like the best – which university courses relate to these things?
- Talk to people – what does a Lawyer/Nurse/Human Resources officer actually do?
- Do some work experience to see what a certain job is all about.
- Network, network, network – your friends’ parents and their friends have jobs, what do they do and why do they love/hate their job/industry?
- Make an appointment to see the school careers counsellor – either with your parents or just by yourself.
What does your school need you to do?
It is important when you are making the decision what to study in Years 11 and 12 with a view to entering university directly from school, that you should follow your school’s guidance on what you need to do. If you are confused about your schools requirements, sit down with your schools Careers Counsellor or the relevant teacher and make sure your choices won’t clash with the requirements for graduation and so on.
TISC also produce a guide to university admission which lists which subjects are unsuitable combinations. Your school should provide this to you when you are in Year 10, and additional information is available at the TISC website.
