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There are no stalls or boring brochures at this careers event. In fact, Find Their Feet, funded by the Victorian Government, feels more like a "choose your own adventure" experience than a typical careers night.
"Work is changing rapidly - we want to broaden your mind when you're in Years 7 to 10, focussing on careers of the future," says manager of Future Students at Melbourne Polytechnic Adam Todorovski, who leads the initiative on behalf of Melbourne Polytechnic and the Career Education Association of Victoria, Local Learning and Employment Networks, La Trobe University, Northlink and local secondary schools.
Each event takes students and parents on a trip to the future. In the first room, after a meet-and-greet, you're invited to imagine a world where more than half of today's jobs are gone - but in their place are more interesting, dynamic and flexible jobs.
You then move in to a room full of pedestals, on top of which stand colour-coded figurines. Choose the little green dude if you like doing things with your hands. Or pick up blue if you're the one who's always organising people.
Clutching these "avatars", you'll then wander in to an abstract city, where real people who work in growth industries stand waiting. Many display the same avatars that you are carrying - a direct invitation for you to chat to them about their background, career pathway and work life.
"It opened up so many ideas for me," says 17-year-old Tulley Dickins, who attended a recent Find Their Feet night, choosing both the "creative" and "tactile" avatars. "I want to be a fashion designer, but I ended up speaking to a cheesemaker, a woman who does set design and even a guy from the armed forces! It reassured me that even though jobs are disappearing, things are now so fluid, and there are so many possibilities."
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Tulley's mum Sandra, an assistant principal at a local government secondary school and a trained careers practitioner, was equally impressed. "This is such a great service, encouraging young people to think about their skills and what the possibilities are. The format really encouraged a strong connection.
"Talking to people about the creative ways people balance all the different aspects of their careers and their lives was also really interesting."
Other students and parents at the event have said they were astounded by how many jobs relate to a particular field. Industry representatives have ranged from drone-flying entrepreneurs to custom concreters making high-end interiors. Melbourne Innovation Centre - an incubator for "start up" businesses - also features at the events.
Visit findtheirfeet.org for more details.