Gippsland students in Excited 4 Careers in Agriculture visit farms

Students from Bass Coast Secondary College at San Remo, Vic, and Nagle College at Bairnsdale, Vic, visited local dairy farms.

The EXCITED 4 Careers in Agriculture program aims to give students, teachers and parents a taste of the careers available in the dairy industry, as well as introducing them to some innovative farmers.

It uses a personality and interests test to help students identify careers in agriculture that would suit them best.

EXCITED 4 Careers in Agriculture is a joint initiative between CQUniversity and a range of industry partners including GippsDairy.

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CQUniversity senior research officer Dr Nicole McDonald said the aim of the roadshows was to inspire students to consider careers in agriculture.

"We want students to experience some of the science and technology that goes into producing the milk, cheese and other dairy products many of them enjoy," she said.

"We know, through our research, that many students believe the main jobs in agriculture involve hands-on farming, so we want to show them that, while farming is a great career, there are so many others too.

"Another key part of the EXCITED for Careers in Agriculture project is helping to link together students, teachers, and parents with ag industry members by taking them on a tour of a local dairy.

"We hope those connections continue to thrive long after the project has finished."

GippsDairy regional manager Karen McLennan said the program, like several others in which it was involved, was a great opportunity to promote careers in dairy.

It was vital to get more people interested in the industry given the current workforce shortages.

"It's also important to showcase the diversity of careers in the industry," Ms McLennan said.

Dairy offered many different opportunities from finance to technology to pasture management and animal health through to working in the processing side of the industry.

GippsDairy also helped to facilitate finding local farmers to take part in these events.

"Farmers love passing on their knowledge and educating kids about there could be a good career in dairy for them," she said.

The career guidance offered to students in the EXCITED 4 Careers in Agriculture project is aligned to the RIASEC model, a theory designed by American psychologist John L. Holland.

RIASEC codes are a way to understand how an individual's personality and interests may fit into a career.

During the roadshow workshops, students find out their personalised RIASEC code and use it to explore agricultural careers that best suit them.

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"Students will find out their personal RIASEC codes and use that to try out different careers in agriculture," Dr McDonald said.

"These interest codes can change as young people learn new skills and meet new influential people who encourage them in their career exploration.

"We hope that by doing this we can show that there's an abundance of opportunities out there and something for everyone."

The careers discussed range from veterinarian and pasture manager through to tanker driver and, on the artistic side of things, marketing manager.

"Once the student determines which careers their RIASEC code fits in they will then do an activity so, for example, the students who are interested in artistic pursuits will learn about ice cream making while those who are more inclined towards investigative careers will learn about being a milk quality manager," Dr McDonald said.

The EXCITED 4 Careers in Agriculture program is funded by the Australian government's National Careers Institute and targets students from kindergarten to grade 10 in regional and rural communities.

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