If you’re in Year 12 this year, you’ve probably already started thinking about university. But you don’t need to wait until the end of the year – early entry programs are more popular than ever.

Early entry gives you the chance to receive an offer to uni before you’ve finished your exams. This can give you peace of mind and help you be more relaxed during what can be a stressful time.

We’ve put together some interesting stats about early entry over the last year, and what you might be able to expect this year.

Read it below, or download as a PDF here.

Have a creative side and want to show off some of your work? You might like to enter a competition. There are tons of great competitions out there for artists, from painting and drawing to writing and poetry. Read on to see some of the best competitions for artists.

Why should I enter?

If you haven’t thought about entering a competition before, here are some reasons you should:

• Hone your skills – competitions are a great way to refine your skills and experience, as working to a deadline can be different to just doing something for yourself.
• Get recognition – it’s always great to get feedback on your work, and even if you don’t win it’s always a chance to improve.
• Win prizes – we had to mention this one. Whether it’s cash, mentoring opportunities, or the chance to exhibit your work, we can’t deny this is a great perk of competitions.

5 great competitions for artists

Now that you’re convinced, here are some of the best competitions we’ve found you might like to enter:

The Archibald Prize – this is Australia’s premier portrait painting competition, running for over 100 years. The winner receives a whopping $100,000 prize (plus smaller prizes available for the Packing Room Prize and People’s Choice). There’s also the Young Archie competition for those under the age of 18.

William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize – a prestigious photography competition run by Monash Gallery of Art. The top prize includes $30,000 and the addition of your work into the MGA’s collection.

Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – also known as NATSIAA, this is the country’s longest running and most prestigious Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Artists share in a total of $190,000 in prize money for works in several categories.

ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize – one of Australia’s leading prizes for original writing, worth $12,500.

We the Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize – open to emerging professional designers working in sustainable fashion, entries go in the running to win a top prize of $10,000.

Nothing here that suits you? Don’t forget you can find tons more competitions on our website here.

Going to university can be really expensive – not only do you need to think about course fees, there’s also the cost of textbooks, technology, travel to and from campus or accommodation fees, and more. It can be easy to be put off studies because of the cost, but there is help out there. Lots of universities offer scholarships for students experiencing financial difficulty.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for one of these scholarships, you’ll need to be experiencing some kind of financial hardship. This can be that your parents are facing financial difficulty, or yourself if you’re independent. Some universities will specify an exact amount you need to be earning less than, while others test on a case-by-case basis.

There are different ways universities verify your eligibility, but it’s usually done by seeing whether you receive means-tested Centrelink benefits, or by providing a statutory declaration.

Top scholarships for students experiencing financial difficulty

If you’re facing financial disadvantage and are looking for a scholarship to help, here are some of the best ones we’ve found:

University of Newcastle Ma & Morley Scholarship Program – this scholarship has a special category for people who have faced educational disadvantage, including financial difficulties. It’s worth up to $75,000 and includes a China immersion experience.

Griffith Chancellor’s Scholarships – worth between $11,000 and $22,000, these scholarships are designed to help students who have faced financial and educational struggles.

UAC Equity Scholarships – a large suite of scholarships available from many different unis designed to help students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Deakin Student Support Scholarship – offers up to $10,000 per year for students facing financial difficulty.

SATAC Equity Scholarships – scholarships for students in financial need studying at the University of South Australia.

You can find lots more scholarship opportunities on our database here.

Volunteering your precious free time to help worthy causes is a really noble undertaking. You won’t earn big bucks, but there are plenty of other ways that becoming a volunteer could be of value.

Learn new skills

No matter where you decide to volunteer, there will always be an element of training. While the skills may seem basic or trivial, they could be essential building blocks for future careers.

For example, if you’re collecting, organising, accounting for, and distributing donations from school fundraisers, you might be learning more than you think about finances, budgeting and inventory. Skills useful in almost all jobs including management, accounting, or running your own business.

Then there’s the other skills that you might not even realise you’re working on, like communication, team work, independence, problem solving, and customer service – the list goes on.

Give your resume a boost

If you have lots of part time or summer work experience on your resume that’s fantastic.

Got computer skills? Excellent.

But adding a few more lines will never hurt. Showing commitment to community efforts, or any kind of voluntary work, will speak volumes about your personality. If you’re happy to keep showing up without getting paid, you must be dedicated and motivated; all qualities that universities and future employers will look favourably on.

Make you stand out in admissions

Whether you’re applying to uni, TAFE, or looking for work, chances are you’ll be up against a lot of other applicants. Some might have a higher ATAR than you, some may have relevant work experience.

How will you stand out? Well, what you choose to do outside of the classroom could make all the difference.

Volunteering is a great way to show you care about others and that you can manage your time well enough to balance a volunteer job with your other commitments.

Form connections and networking contacts

Volunteering could introduce you to people you wouldn’t have met otherwise.

Those people could become friends, mentors, or your inspiration. The more you get involved with projects outside your school, the wider you’re casting your net.

You’ll end up with more contacts that could be helpful in providing you with paid holiday jobs, work experience, references, and even full blown job offers.

If you already know what you want to study at uni, try finding volunteer opportunities in those areas. For example, if you’re interested in politics, see if you can volunteer with your local politician. There’s every chance your volunteer experience could help you in your future endeavours.

Personal development

When you’re at high school, chances are that you’re operating within a fairly limited social circle. You’ll be engaging with your family, school friends and teachers, and possibly a few friends outside of school.

Volunteering will introduce you to new situations and people, potentially really different to what you’ve known up until now.

You could:

• Increase your confidence
• Learn to communicate more effectively with different audiences
• Become a better listener
• Learn about your personal strengths and weaknesses
• Be more aware of and active about social justice issues

Positive impacts on your health

Studies have shown that volunteering could contribute to improved mental and physical health.

Increased physical activity, providing a sense of purpose, kicking goals, achieving good things, and focusing on other people’s problems rather than your own can create a “helper’s high”.

You could feel happier, less stressed and be fitter as well.

Feel great about yourself

So this is a bit cheeky, as it kind of ties in with number 6, but we felt it deserved its own spot.

When you volunteer you’re not only benefiting yourself, you’re having a positive impact on lots of other people around you too.

Potentially you’ll be helping an individual and an organisation, your community and subsequently you’re contributing to the wealth and health of a nation.

When you realise that your actions are so widespread, you might feel humbled and you should definitely feel proud of your contribution, it could definitely improve your self-esteem and feelings of self-worth.

Find a volunteering position that works for you

It’s ok if you’re not ready to commit yourself straight away. Start by having a look around your community, find out what the options are near you. See how much of commitment you’ll be asked to make, then decide if it’s something that you can fit in (and that you’d like to do).

Alternatively, you can even find opportunities to volunteer online.

Maybe you’d love to volunteer, but you can’t fit it in to your busy school term schedule. Why not see if there’s a way you can offer your help during the school holidays?

As important as work experience is, sometimes it can be tricky to find a placement. You may need to look at work experience alternatives in order to explore industries and careers that you’re interested in. Here are some work experience alternatives you might like to check out.

Top 5 work experience alternatives

If you can’t find any work experience through school or other channels, there are a few other options that could provide you with either some experience or at the very least a better understanding of some of the jobs and careers out there.

Virtual Work Experience

Virtual work experience could provide you with:

• An opportunity to gain more understanding about what specific businesses do
• The chance to find out about different careers that might interest you
• Access to companies that you might not normally be allowed into
• Better comprehension of business processes and etiquette, as well as your rights and responsibilities
• Knowledge of the essential skills you’ll need
• The chance to boost your resume with transferable skills, experiences and engagement

A virtual experience could entail anything from a tour or interactive webinar experience, to completing set tasks and receiving personalised feedback.

You could start by reading our Virtual Work Experience post.

Virtual Workplace Tours

Taking virtual workplace tours could give you an idea of what it really looks like to work in an industry that you’re interested in.

SkillsRoad 360 have put together some interviews with people employed in the following industries:

• Creative Industries
• Construction
• Hospitality
• Manufacturing
• Healthcare

Take a virtual tour of the Australian Defence Academy (ADFA) or Royal Australian Naval College’s Navy’s New Entry Officers Course (NEOC).

WorkForce Windsor-Essex are a Canadian company who’ve created a few videos about companies representing the following industries:

• Industrial
• Carpentry
• Electrical designers, engineers and technicians
• Hospitality
• Auto Manufacturing
• Vegetable Growers

Check out this Toyota Automotive Workshop Virtual Tour in Queenstown, NZ. Or take a peek inside Parliament House in another Virtual Tour.

Listen to Podcasts

There are plenty of valuable audio experiences to be had too. You could download them and listen to them whenever you have a little bit of time to spare.

Here are a few we’ve found in a quick search:

• Major General Susan Coyle CSC, DSM currently working in the Middle East as Commander of Joint Task Force 633 talks about her military career as well as her current mission. There are also plenty of other interviews with Veterans in the Life on the Line
• How I built this series investigates the stories behind some of the most well-known companies.
• Listening to Career Cloud could help you get tips about the qualities that employers are looking for, hidden job markets, personal brands and even a “how I got my job” segment.
• If you’re interested in a career in tech or entrepreneurship, you could pick up some tips in the Rocket Ship FM.
• Listen to interviews with people doing interesting and inspiring work in the “How did you get into that?” series.
• Aviation Careers, a podcast for anyone interested in the variety of careers in the aviation industry.
• Find out about the people who worked to get their dream job and how they got there in Dream Job Ready.
• Thirty Minute Mentors lets you hear from some of the most successful people in America.
• Learn about what being an engineer is like in Engineering Heroes.

Read about different careers

There are plenty of articles and interviews with people in all kinds of fields, all you need to find them are a few googling skills.

Here’s a few examples to get you started:

• Furniture Maker
• Head Chef
• Teacher
• Marketer
• Paramedic
• Zookeeper
• Fisheries Officer

You could also take a look at our Job Spotlights too.

A Day in the Life Videos

Watch snapshots of a typical day in different careers, or interviews with people in the job about what they do and how they started their careers.

• Veterinarian
• Structural Engineer
• Livestock Farming
• Architect
• Psychologist
• Web Developer
• Musician
• Mining
• Helicopter Pilot
• Train Driver
• Navy Helicopter Pilot
• Maritime Warfare Officer
• Army Combat Engineer
• Submariner
• Air Force Nurse

It’s never too late to get work experience

If you’re in high school and you’re stressing out that you haven’t yet had any work experience, there is plenty of time left.

In the mean time you can have a look at all the options we’ve listed, maybe narrow down your career choices and start looking again in the future.

You could also look at doing workshops, short courses and micro-credential courses that could teach you news skills, illustrate your willingness to learn and add volume to your resume.

Tourists spent $96.8 billion in Australia over the 2021-22 financial year – and now that we’re bouncing back from COVID and international travel is once again on the rise, this number is only going to get bigger. If you want to be a part of this booming industry, you might like to look into doing an apprenticeship or traineeship in tourism.

What is a career in tourism?

Tourism is a huge industry, commonly comprising of roles in accommodation, hospitality, retail, transport, and even education. You could find yourself leading tour groups, checking in guests at a hotel, driving a tour bus, organising travel itineraries, operating your own souvenir shop, or cooking at a popular restaurant. There are so many different roles and jobs to choose from.

What skills do I need for a career in tourism?

A huge part of tourism revolves around people, ensuring they have the best possible experience on their travels. So you’ll need to be a great communicator, as well as patient and kind. The industry can be fast-paced at times too, so being adaptable and organised is also very important.

Why should I consider a tourism apprenticeship or traineeship?

Apprenticeships and traineeships are a great way to get your foot in the door with an employer and start building valuable skills. There are often lots of opportunities to continue working with your employer after your apprenticeship or traineeship is complete, and even advance your career down the track.

A tourism apprenticeship or traineeship will see you doing real work for an employer while completing study with a TAFE or RTO. A tourism apprenticeship or traineeship can take anywhere between 1-4 years to complete, depending on whether you work and study full- or part-time.

Here are some common qualifications you might want to look into:

• Certificate III in Tourism
• Certificate III in Hospitality
• Certificate III in Commercial Cookery
• Certificate IV in Travel and Tourism

There are tons of benefits to an apprenticeship or traineeship, rather than just work or study alone, including:

• Getting paid while you learn – unlike uni, you can work and study without having to take on an insane work load.
• The opportunity to get hands-on experience, not just endless reading.
• The potential to connect with an employer and continue working with them after your apprenticeship or traineeship is finished.
• Your qualification will be nationally recognised, meaning you can go anywhere with it.

Where can I find apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities?

Just like searching for a job, there are lots of places you can go to find an apprenticeship or traineeship. You can start your search on sites like SEEK and Indeed. Take a look on social media like Facebook or LinkedIn to see if any local businesses are hiring. Sign up with an Apprenticeship Network Provider or Group Training Organisation, or even go old fashioned and take a look in the local paper or give local businesses a call.

Here are some examples of the kinds of opportunities available:

• Trainee Food & Beverage Attendant, Ayers Rock NT
• Apprentice Chef, Perth WA
• School-Based Traineeships with CaPTA, Cairns QLD
• Trainee Skipper, Melbourne VIC
• Bus Operator Traineeships, Burwood NSW