Revealed: The industry offering endless job opportunities

Finlay attended a careers day held at Southern Cross University that aimed to show students what careers they can pursue in agriculture, and the pathways to get there.

"Launch Your Career in Agriculture" was arranged by the NSW Department of Education and TAFE NSW, and was hosted by Oli Le Lievre and Milly Nolan from Humans of Agriculture.

Students from Lismore High, Kadina High, and Alstonville High heard from representatives from Southern Cross University, TAFE, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, LinkedIn Learning, and people working in the industry.

While Finlay wasn't studying an agriculture subject at school, he thought it was good to "keep your options broad".

He said the workshop had shown him career options he hadn't thought about before.

"I've always had a curiosity about TAFE. I'm doing a VET course in hospitality next year, so I've learnt a lot about how TAFE works - how I enrol, how the fees work, and how long the courses go for," Finlay said.

He found it useful to learn how to network through LinkedIn, and how to use it to apply for jobs, or do free courses online.

Scott Barnier from the Department of Education said the department was running programs that focused on areas where there might be a skills shortage, or other areas where they see opportunity for employment in the future for students.

"There are definitely plenty of opportunities in agriculture. We wanted to target the Northern Rivers because of the flood impact on the students, the community, and the agricultural industry in this area," Scott said.

"This is the first event related to this, and hopefully we can roll it out across the state."

Oli said Humans of Agriculture said the program was an opportunity to promote career pathways in agriculture, and show students, "agriculture is so much more than farming, not every job is outdoors".

"It's well known there's a skills shortage. At university level, there are seven jobs for every graduate that goes through.

"We're trying to broaden (students') perspective. Pretty well any career path that you choose can be applied back into agriculture and rural Australia," he said.