Time to stop and think about completing a BSB51319 Diploma of Work Health and Safety.
Another financial year is about to close, and whilst many of us are starting to get things in order for tax time, now is an even better time to think of capturing something even more important than tax invoices. The real question is: do you want a new career for this next year?
Alecca’s story
A student of ours, Alecca did just this when she was thinking about her next career move. Alecca was actually a salesperson. She worked for a company that sold technical safety equipment to mine sites.
Alecca started thinking about her current skills, and what she might be able to do to bolster them, making it easier for her to score a new role in the future. She decided on getting a BSB51319 Diploma of Work Health and Safety, for two reasons. One, she dealt with Safety Officers and Safety Superintendents and was really interested in what they did. Two, it was also valuable for her to gain a better understanding of how her clients worked so that she could present things to them in a way that made the most sense.
Find out what you’re eligible for
Alecca didn’t choose the qualification because it was relevant to her current role, she was thinking of earning a qualification that would be respected by the industry she worked closely with. This qualification eventually led to Alecca becoming a bit of a specialist in this area, making her invaluable to her company. All from sitting down and taking stock of her situation, thinking about where she might like to go, in this case, bolstering her current position, and then identifying what she needed to do to get there. A tax return can easily be outstripped financially by a solid promotion in the next financial year and the chances of getting that promotion are increased by having a plan to make the most of what you already have saved up in the career experience account, identifying any gaps you may need to fill and starting to make connections in industries you want to head into.If you’ve thought about changing roles, or even industries in the last year, now is a great time to take stock of your experience. That doesn’t have to mean writing a brand new resume. Instead, you can start by simply writing down a list of:
- Positions you’ve held (including the position description/statement of duties)
- Projects you’ve worked on
- Training you’ve completed (internal or external)
- Major highlights from a career perspective
- You could even grab actual samples of your work. A record of all you’ve done in your career is very handy when you are looking to apply for a promotion, change careers, extend your qualifications, or update your resume or LinkedIn profile.
Spending a little bit of time simply making a list and gathering examples can really pay off in the future.
Another simple tool could be getting a hold of a position description for a job you would like to have.
Then draw up a quick table. Along the left-hand side, write down:
- all of the different responsibilities this job has
- the experience the role needs
- and the qualifications that are required.
Then in the next column, write down:
- your current job
- experience to date
- and any other relevant positions and qualifications you have held.
Then go across and fill in where you can tick a box, jotting in a quick example of your best work in this area (because real stories and real examples of your skills are hard to beat) and a potential referee for that component. Any gaps will quickly become apparent and will give you a clear path for what you need to tackle.
Sometimes we underestimate just how much experience or skill we have, so this exercise helps to clearly show just how much your skills and experience mean when compared with the role you want. It also makes it far simpler to determine the areas you might like to explore training and up-skilling in, or seek further experience in, then you can make a plan to get there.
Keep a record
When working with Churchill Education, you can send this information through to us and we can store it in your very own e-portfolio, so if you change positions, homes, email addresses, computers there is still a handy record to tap into, whatever the circumstance and wherever you may be.
Really, end of financial year is an even better time to look back and take stock of your skills because unlike the end of the calendar year, there are no holidays or family commitments to distract us. You can think of it as your New Financial Year Resolution.
And if you’re ever looking for help or advice when considering a promotion, career change, or qualification in the Work Health and Safety field, you can always give us a call on 1300 793 002 for a chat about your situation.
