St Bede's College is implementing the Industry Days for all Year 11 and 12 students, on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 of September, Term 3.

These two days are set aside in the school calendar, to assist our boys in gathering first hand information and experience in a job/career they wish to pursue when they leave school. Over these two days students can visit one place of work or split the two days of work experience over two different industries.

Students are not looking for paid work, but for time in a workplace to network, ask questions, examine career pathways, and find out more about what the actual job/career involves, also they experience what a day in the workforce involves.

An example of this might be a student unsure of whether he wants to be a plumber or a builder, can spend one day working for the builder and the other day working for a plumber.

We hope parents support their boys in helping them find a suitable place to visit, by using their networks, or by encouraging their sons to email or cold call places of employment and ask if they can spend some time shadowing a worker, to see what a day in the life of a particular job is truly like. Even just an hour of interviewing someone in the job, can give students some real insight into a possible career choice.

We know from speaking to the boys, they often have a glorified image of what some jobs involve, but in reality, the work is often quite different from what they believe it to be. These days are seen as valuable tools in exploring the pathway to achieve future careers.