The job isn’t what you had expected, you’re bored, the industry is changing or you simply want a career that fits your lifestyle.
Those are just some of the reasons people look at changing their careers later in life.
There are many ways to make the change from on-the-job training, TAFE and going back to university.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students), Jenny Roberts, said Charles Sturt University (CSU) has seen an increase in the number of mature age students commencing study.
The past five years has seen a 20 per cent increase in students over 25 enrolling.
“This could be their first degree, they could be upgrading in their current field or wanting to go to a different job,” Ms Roberts said.
“The degrees we’re seeing more mature age students in are teaching, social work and nursing.”
This trend indicates that people are more willing than ever to take the plunge and change their careers later in life.
“Once upon a time you were in a job for life,” Ms Roberts said.
“There are trends around people having multiple jobs multiple careers over their lifetime and we’re seeing that having a impact on students doing training.
“We know a lot of our students are changing jobs, uncertain or the first in their family to come to university so we have support services to help get through those barriers.
“For CSU we’re finding our niche is equipping people for the real world of work and preparing them for the future and today.”
That “niche” for CSU includes adapting their degrees to suit industry to ensure students are job ready as soon as they graduate.
CSU’s newest business degree, which will start in Bathurst, was created with input from industry leaders.
“We talked to our industry partners to help us design the curriculum,” Ms Roberts said.
“We went to small and medium enterprises and asked where the gaps were and how we could design our curriculum and degree to fix it. We imagine the future and what skills will be needed and design our degrees to ensure when our graduates come out they’re good to go.”
