Knowledge And Analysis Of The Job Market – A Comprehensive Guide

Thorough Analysis of the Job Market

Discuss about the Knowledge & Analysis Of The Job Market.

It is a well-known fact that one of the basic aims of education is to enable a person evolve into becoming a better human being, by helping an individual attain the knowledge required to become a person of refined taste and fine culture. However, at the same time, there can be no point in denying the fact that education is an important tool that helps a learner acquire the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise required for getting employed in some of the best places. Thus, education helps in opening a door to various job opportunities as well. However, given the extremely competitive job market, it has become extremely difficult for most of the students to find their dream job. Hence, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of the job market, and critically evaluate the jobs available and the prospects of each job.

In order to get in touch with the most lucrative employment opportunities, it is important to take up informed career decisions. Hence, it is important to be armed with various information, so that a student can identify which sectors are expected to provide stability, as well as comprehend how competitive a specific industry is likely to be, and determine whether or not a student needs to upgrade his skills or pursue studies before applying for jobs. As far as the predicted career trends in the coming years are concerned, it has been observed that employment growth is very high in the Australian education as well as defense system. By the end of November, 2019 itself, the employment research companies have claimed that healthcare service and education sectors would render half of the employment growth in Australia (Hawthorne, 2016). Next, as per the job ads posted on job searching sites like Seek, jobs related to accounting and sales are likely to experience a negative economic growth. Further, thirdly, another important trend that is being observed in this connection is that the jobs at low skill level or demanding less knowledge will witness a downturn in the coming years. Accordingly, it is predicted that the labor market will tend to favor those who are sufficiently skilled, and at least possessing a Bachelor Degree, if not a degree higher than that. Thus, the academic qualification of the student will play an integral role in getting hired as well. Fourthly, technological advancement will exercise dramatic impact on the job market, and although the jobs might not totally vanish, the manufacturing sector especially will find automation augment existing roles. Hence, as per the report submitted by Glassdoor, it will be important to upgrade the professional skills that will be complementary and separate from the machines and this will in fact become an integral part of the work (Watson, 2013). Lastly, a very interesting predicted career trend is the growth in the freelance jobs. It is predicted that in the coming five years, the ‘gig economy’ will become an integral part of the job market, whereby more and more short-term contract workers will get the opportunity of working with the permanent ones. This will help in enhancing employment opportunities for the freelance workers (Dijk et al., 2014).

Examination of the Prospects of a Paid Job

Although Australia is expected to experience a moderately positive growth in the job market, certain careers are expected to experience a slightly more positive growth than the other career options. As per the employment trends of the Australian labor market, it was being observed that the Farming, Animals and Conservation sector is expected to top the sectors with a very positive job growth. The jobs of veterinary nurses as well as agricultural technicians are also expected to rise over the coming years (Maddux et al., 2014). The job market for the teachers and trainers is also expected to be highly stable in future. In the domain of the teaching industry, the demand for the early childcare teachers is expected to increase at a high pace over the coming years. At the same time, the demand for workplace trainers is also expected to soar in the coming years. On the other hand, it is expected that the job prospect for the accountants and sales managers and experts, is expected to diminish over the coming years (Warren et al., 2015). At the same time, it is also expected that the mining and manufacturing sectors would stop hiring as well, and there would be a downturn in the job prospects here.

It is important to note here that the Mining and Manufacturing would be the two industries with declines in employment opportunities over the coming years. This is especially due to the transition of mines from a labor-intensive construction phase to a more managerial phase and the announcements of plant closures by most of the car producers. However, the rise in the educational sector is possible simply because Australian teachers mostly have a shortage of skills, and hence academically qualified teachers are highly welcome.  Also, at the same time, the booming mining and resources industries are known to offer salaries 30 % higher than a teacher’s wage, which is creating greater demand for the teachers’ profession (McGuinness et al., 2014). Considering the multicultural population of Australia, workplace training has become imperative. The indigenous Australian as well as the foreigners working here need to upgrade their communication as well as soft skills, which has resulted in the greater demand for the profession of both in-house and out-house workplace trainers (Barry et al., 2015). The healthcare sector jobs such as professional nurses and welfare support workers, have also witnessed an upsurge because of the increase in the population of Australia, especially the aged and elderly population.

While there are various employment opportunities in the labor market of Australia, it is important to carefully investigate the prospects and career growth of these jobs. Accordingly, it was important to conduct a thorough and in-depth research into the jobs available as per my specialization and academic qualification in the Australian market, and examine the career growth of a selected job.

Accordingly, after extensive research, the paid vocation that seemed to be attractive was the job of a student service coordinator, also referred to as an academic co-coordinator for a reputed school of Australia. As a student service coordinator, my job will be more of an administrative one, rather than being an educational one. In other parts, as per my job role, I would not be required to impart education to the students, but rather administer and supervise the entire process involved in imparting education to the students (SEEK, 2017). Accordingly, my job would be to check the student files, and academic details recorded in each of the files, belonging to the students of each class. I would also be required to keep a track on the important academic files of the school, such as the application forms of the new applicants, or the final merit list of the students selected to be promoted to the next grade. At the same time, though I would not act as a teacher, I would also be required to track and monitor the overall academic progress of the students of each class, supervising the performance of each teacher, and advising them to improve, as and when necessary. I would also need to deal with the guardians as well, as my job role would require me to assist the guardians of the students in paying the tuition fees, or providing them general information and other form of assistance to them. Besides, as an academic coordinator, I would require to ensure that the facilities and related equipments are available and are in the appropriate condition to accommodate student and faculty use. In case of students, who are not able to perform well in their examinations, I would require to act as counselor motivating them to perform well, while bringing the problem to the attention of the Principal of the school as well.

Anybody with a high school diploma degree is free to apply for this designation. However, often the applicants with prior experience or at least sufficient knowledge in higher educational institutions are preferred. No need of professional training is required. However, a certification course in computers and software applications might be considered useful for accomplishing the clerical and administrative functions The likely income for a graduate willing to take up this profession is likely to be around AU$40,225 per year. However, with experience of at least five years, the salary is likely to increase and can go up till AU$69,522 (Kroll, 2017). Since this is an administrative job, the remuneration scale is better than the teachers in the tertiary educational sectors.

The future prospects of this job are many. However, one may also switch to other jobs after playing the role of a student service coordinator for at least ten years. Since here the coordinator is entrusted with the duty of managing guardian concerns, reaching out to their queries and resolving them, one can easily become a customer care officer working for reputed business firms. Again, since the student service coordinator is also expected to monitor and supervise the educational affairs within the institution, the coordinator can later apply for the jobs of business supervisors or business managers as well.

The job of a student service coordinator benefits the society in more than one way. First of all, the education service providing industry to which it belongs, helps in offering high quality education to the Australian students, so that they can enjoy bright future. Apart from transferring the required skills and expertise, the coordinator helps in ensuring smooth and uninterrupted flow of the learning process. Often students lag behind in a large class room, and cannot acquire sufficient knowledge. In such a situation, the service coordinator helps in ensuring effective coordination amongst the teachers and the students, by consulting with the guardians and communicating the advices of the Principal. As far as the contribution of the industry to the economy is concerned, it is immense and two-fold. First of all, by ensuring efficient delivery of service, the coordinator and the educational industry at large, helps in making the students future-ready who will later boost the Australian economy by getting employed. Secondly, as more and more students study in the educational institutions, the school authorities also pay taxes to the government, thereby enhancing the economic condition of the country.

For the voluntary jobs that I could do, and that interested me, was the job of a Little Children Volunteer and Supervisor for the non-profit seeking company, Feed the Children. I would require raising the fund and providing food to the impoverished children across Australia (“Feed The Little Children”, 2017). I would require raising awareness amongst the people to donate money for our project, raise a minimal fund everyday and supervise the quality and quantity of food being offered to the children. I was attracted to this field of volunteering because I felt that an internship with this non-profit seeking company would enable me to work for social welfare of the less privileged people by fostering cooperation between the government and non-government organizations (Rodell, 2013).

There is no specific training required for this job. A graduate in any stream can apply for this job. Since this is a non-profit organization, there is no huge scope for paid position. However, it is possible for me to apply for the position of a Program Advisor, whereby I would introduce and advise new initiatives that would help the company reach out to the remote areas of Australia for further assistance. The skills acquired through this job would help me to apply for jobs available in non-profit seeking companies, under the job designations of Operating Manager or Indigenous Education Officer, as my skills of caring and nurturing for the underprivileged ones would count.  The chosen job profile in the voluntary sector contributes to the society by uplifting the disadvantaged people of the society, and providing for their education and social recreation, trying to achieve social equality as much as possible. There is no remarkable economic contribution of the job.

There are various recruitment agencies that are available in the market offering important career opportunities to the students. The five important recruitment competitors are Career Boss, FWS Employment Services, Hays, Careerone and Hudson.

One of the important predicted trends for the companies willing to recruit over the coming years is the focus on talent. The academic qualification along with the employability skills are going to play an integral role. More diverse group of employees will be appointed keeping in mind the importance of workplace diversity. It is also predicted that most of the vacancies these companies would wish to fulfill this year are related to the operations, sales and information technology domains (Breaugh, 2017). Further, the acquisition of some basic professional skills through proper training courses pertaining to areas like SEO/SEM Marketing, Data Mining or Algorithm design will be an added advantage.

For applying to the designation of a student service coordinator, I would apply in four selected schools- Gladstone Park Secondary School, Frankston High School, University High School and Northcote High School. Before applying for the designation, I would first visit the official website of the respective schools, and check the total number of students and teachers present there. In case, the workforce is fairly strong, I would check the gross salary as well as he vacancy in the relevant designation. In order to seek employment in the schools, I would apply online on the school’s website, or visit the school in detail and drop my resume or I would check out the vacancy and then apply through job portals. The best recruitment option, according to me, would be to apply for the job via the official website of the educational institution. As such, I would be able to have a look at the school’s prospect, understand the exact requirement as per my designation, and would be able to approach the school directly (Masoumi, 2015). Often the job sites advertise for a designation even after the job position is filled, and hence the school website is far more authentic and much more a credible source of information. Besides, often applying through the website helps as even if there is no existent vacancy for the desired profile, they might contact the applicant once the vacancy arises. The same does not hold true for the other course. Besides, it is far easier and more convenient.

Conclusion:

The present report intended to help in understanding the prospects of the present job market of Australia, examine the employment trends as well as career alternatives available for a graduate student.  It is important to note here that a thorough research of the present job market is highly important as many students tend to simply panic at the thought of not finding immediate employment after graduation. Accordingly, the report is divided into four parts- it conducts a thorough analysis of the Australian job market, accordingly it examines the prospects of a paid job and that of an unpaid job, and lastly, it also examines the recruitment opportunities in the Australian organizations as well.

Reference List:

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Breaugh, J. A. (2017). to Recruitment. The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Employee Retention, 12.

Feed The Little Children. (2017). Feed The Little Children. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.feedthelittlechildren.org.au/

Hawthorne, L. (2016). Labour market outcomes for migrant professionals: Canada and Australia compared.

Kroll, D. (2017). The Best-Paying Education Jobs – pg.1. Forbes. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/pictures/fhgg45ifl/the-best-paying-education-jobs/#b09e2854cbe8

Maddux, W. W., Bivolaru, E., Hafenbrack, A. C., Tadmor, C. T., & Galinsky, A. D. (2014). Expanding opportunities by opening your mind: Multicultural engagement predicts job market success through longitudinal increases in integrative complexity. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(5), 608-615.

Masoumi, A. (2015). Academic Career Panel: Application Process & Job Expectations (Doctoral dissertation, Babson College).

McGuinness, S., Wooden, M., & Hahn, M. (2014). The perceived probability of job loss and future labour market outcomes. Industrial Relations Journal, 45(4), 329-347.

Rodell, J. B. (2013). Finding meaning through volunteering: Why do employees volunteer and what does it mean for their jobs?. Academy of Management Journal, 56(5), 1274-1294.

SEEK. (2017).  Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.seek.com.au/service-coordinator-jobs

van Dijk, D., Manor, O., & Carey, L. B. (2014). Publication metrics and success on the academic job market. Current Biology, 24(11), R516-R517.

Warren, L. A., Patel, T. Y., Layman, M. S., & Patel, M. Y. (2015). The job market of the future: how will the recent change in boards influence the job market for new graduates?. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 12(2), 206-207.