08 May 2020

For a lot of us, choosing what to do after school is one of the most difficult decisions we’ll ever have to make. We live in such a big, diverse world with literally thousands of different career paths to potentially follow – so how are we supposed to narrow it down to one?

It can be super overwhelming, and even once you do decide, we’re afraid the fun’s not over yet. Once you’ve finally picked your desired area of expertise, you’ve then gotta choose how and where to study it.

All across Australia, hundreds of different education providers offer what appears to be (at face value anyway) the same course.

So many places offer courses like business, engineering, arts, hospitality, etc. But how many of these courses are actually quality?

And how do you tell the great ones from the duds?

While courses can significantly vary in things like subject matter, field, and specialty, there are some things that are universally important to a successful study experience. When the time comes for you to start shopping around for your study options, these are some of the things you should be considering:

It prepares you for life after study

Sure, studying is great. Learning is amazing. Knowing stuff is exceptional. But what good is all that knowledge if it’s not applicable anywhere outside of the exam hall?

A great course doesn’t just teach you about stuff. It instills in you the skills and knowledge that are necessary to transition from studying into a successful career. It prepares you for the workforce and ensures you don’t go from graduation to unemployment.

The teachers don’t just know the industry, they’ve lived and breathed it

At some institutions, all the teachers have ever done is, well, taught. And while that usually amounts to a very experienced teacher, they sometimes lack the industry experience that gives the real value to the lessons they teach their students. With an average teacher, you could find yourself stuck learning theory that has no practical use in any real career.

Teachers who’ve lived and breathed the industry also tend to still have strong ties to it. Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And if you know a teacher who knows the manager of your dream company, then things are looking very nice indeed.

Your assessments are less like study and more like work

There aren’t many jobs out there that require you to memorize 100 pages of a textbook in one night then mind-regurgitate it all out onto an exam page the following morning.

For this reason, you want to study somewhere with assessments that simulate a real working environment. By proving that you can use your brain under pressure to nail the same sort of tasks that you’d be doing on the job, you drastically increase your chances of getting a job once you’ve graduated.

The education provider has a good reputation

Whether you’re studying at a uni, a TAFE, a private college, online, or your auntie’s living room, it’s always useful to hear what others have to say about whoever’s running the course.

Be sure to get a range of opinions, from credible sources too. Ask somebody who works there, and they’ll tell you it’s the best place in Australia. Ask your mate who studied there and failed because he spent a whole semester partying instead of studying, and he’ll tell you they suck.

One example of an education provider with an excellent reputation is Wodonga TAFE. They’ve earnt their standing as the leading vocational education provider in the Albury-Wodonga region by consistently producing education and training programs of an epic quality.

If you’re on the hunt for a good place to learn, as a starting point, speak to your career advisors, your teachers, your parents, your friends, us legends at Year13, and anyone you know who works in the field you’re wanting to study.

Gaining work experience is part of the package

A good course doesn’t just have strong ties to the industry, it uses them to help you get a taste of what the work is really like.

When you undertake work experience, not only do you gain something that employers love seeing on a resume (experience, babyyyy), you also get a huge opportunity to make some connections yourself. It’s not surprising how many people who do internships or work experience with one company end up actually getting a paid job there. It’s how the world works!

If you want to find a course that ticks all of the boxes, then you should definitely take a squiz at Wodonga TAFE. Studying with them means you get to combine quality courses with living in one of regional Australia’s most beautiful locations. It’s a win-win situation, and you can check ‘em out here.