Retraining does not guarantee a job, so do your research before you sign up, writes Jim Bright.
Dan writes: "I want to complete certificate III in transport and logistics (warehousing and distribution) but it will cost several thousand dollars I don't have. I currently have a diploma and an advanced diploma in an unrelated area. How do I work around this and how do I break through the 'no experience in this field' to get a job in a transport company?"
Dan's dilemma is one faced by many people wanting to make a career change: the risk of investing in expensive training only to find that their qualification is not sufficient to open the door for them. Let's deal with those two aspects separately.
Choosing to undertake a training course is something that should be carefully considered. Training is big business these days for all the players in the market, including TAFEs and universities. Understandably, registered training organisations, private colleges, TAFEs and universities are all eager to fill their courses because their income depends on enrolments. This can lead to over-enthusiastic marketing and overly optimistic claims about outcomes, including employment prospects.
When selecting a vocational course, ask the institution to put you in touch with recent past graduates and ask for any graduate destination data the institution has. This can give you an indication of how many go on to work in an area related to the course.
The second point about taking training courses is to examine your motivation for enrolling. If your motivations are purely financial, then you should calculate the costs of enrolling and completing the course and the opportunity costs of not being available to work full-time during study (lost wages, lost promotions, lost networks, etc).
Then estimate how many more years you are able, or want, to work.
Finally, calculate your likely income over those years (Rodney Stinson's book What Jobs Pay may be helpful here). Alternatively, simply divide the total cost of doing the course over your remaining years in the workforce, to work out how much you need to earn after tax just to recoup your money. For many, doing this calculation highlights the folly of enrolling in a course just for monetary reward. Most of the time it is far better to be truly interested in what you are going to be trained in.
The second aspect of Dan's dilemma is about breaking into the industry. Here, there are three basic principles to consider:
First, scour your work history and previous training to make links between that and the new industry. Rearrange your history to highlight the fit between your experience and the requirements of the new role.
Second, start networking like crazy to make contact with people in your chosen industry. Do this through personal contacts, social media like LinkedIn, or professional society events (if relevant).
Third, look for opportunities for minor roles helping out, volunteering or even in paid employment doing anything at all in the industry. I have written before about a person who got a prized job as a producer for the BBC Natural History unit by serving lasagne in the BBC canteen, which allowed her to find out what temping agency the BBC used; and after enrolling with that, secured temping gigs in the BBC and, ultimately, the natural history unit.
If Dan is looking for certainty before spending on training, he is asking too much. There will always be other factors, such as the state of the economy, that can mess up the best plans. But if Dan researches his trainer, does his sums and starts engaging with his industry of choice, he increases his chances of getting the outcome he wants.
Specifically for Dan, check out the Transport & Logistics Industry Skills Council website at tlisc.com.au.
Jim Bright is professor of career education and development at ACU and a partner at Bright and Associates, a career management consultancy. Email marked clearly "FOR PUBLICATION" to brightside@jimbright.com.