Careers advice as told by human libraries
Year 10 students at Drouin Secondary College were visited by a group of industry professionals recently for a “Human Libraries” session.
The event was co-ordinated by Baw Baw Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) and allowed students to connect with people from a variety of career paths and walks of life.
Careers students attended to hear from a range of human libraries including paramedics, youth workers, police officers, business owners, photographers, journalists, agricultural consultants, environmental planning officers, and travel company owners.
More than 200 students had the opportunity to meet the visitors, hear their stories and ask questions.
Next term the students will be given the challenging task of selecting their all-important VCE subjects and TAFE courses and are about to undergo work experience.
Baw Baw LLEN Tamara Kennedy said similar events had ben held at other schools in Gippsland and had received great feedback.
“It’s an opportunity to understand that pathways are never straight,” she explained. “We don’t talk about that enough.”
Many people change career paths many times throughout life, or end up doing something completely different to what they had dreamed of as a student, she said.
Ms Kennedy said events like Human Libraries were all about exposing the students to different industries, career paths and ideas. “The school was really, really happy with it.” This year the sessions will reach 600 students in total and engage numerous industry professionals from all areas.