Career Options for High School Students

Adelaide University offers a range of degree programs that will put you on the fast-track to launch a career in defence, cyber security or Australia’s thriving space sector.

The University of Adelaide’s new Bachelor of Technology in Defence Industry is a great way to gain a broad understanding of the foundations of technology, including computing, information, mathematics. Adelaide University also offer Defence Systems majors within five of their core engineering disciplines, which could lead to an innovative career in areas such as visual and situational awareness systems; military communications and networking; radar and electronic countermeasures; cybersecurity; marine engineering; and autonomous systems.

The University of Adelaide’s STEM Academy is an outreach program for students in Years 8-12 who are passionate about science, technology, engineering, and maths. The academy aims to show students how to turn their passion for STEM into a career.

The South Australian Government is making it easier for school students to start their career sooner. The VET for School Students policy aims to support school students with enhanced career education and increased opportunities to learn directly from industry and employers. They have clearly mapped out vocational education and training (VET) pathways that lead to real jobs in South Australia.

The Student Pathways website supports research into jobs and study in growing industries, and allows you to connect with employers and start building a portfolio of achievements through the World of Work Challenge. You can even build your own CV!

The website is available to all school students in South Australia. Start your career journey today!

STEM Fast Track shows high school students the possibilities of STEM careers through industry-focused mentoring programs, to help them develop the confidence and resilience needed to thrive in their career and in life. We seek to cultivate young minds that will one day pioneer the technological advancements of tomorrow, giving humanity and our planet the best possible future.

Thebarton Senior College (TSC) has developed a two-year SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education) program that helps students develop the maths, science and CAD/CAM/design skills needed for a high-tech engineering pathway.

TSC has consulted with industry and used the best advice available to build work-ready skills with the highest level of choice. Students can exit the program with competitive ATARs for university pathways or complete SACE with links to trade apprenticeships.

The practical elements of the course provide hands-on experiences including a Certificate II in Engineering Pathways, connecting the learning with authentic engineering contexts in the other subjects in the package.

All out-of-school elements of this program are fully-funded, including uniform and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Students will experience a high-challenge, high-expectation atmosphere combined with intensive mentoring and high levels of support to enable them to become leaders of engineering.

For more information or to inquire about the program, please visit the Applied Engineering Program page on the TSC website.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) has created opportunities for tech-savvy school leavers to launch an in-demand career.

Connection of the physical and digital worlds is transforming Australian industry and business leaders are seeking out the talent to help drive this change.

The Digital Engineering Apprenticeship program seeks out passionate, technically minded school leavers to partner with top-tier businesses in a three-year paid-to-learn training model. Learners will graduate with the nationally accredited Diploma of Applied Technologies and become digital specialists in the nation’s
leading engineering teams.

If you are currently in Year 12 and have a passion for digital technologies, automation, cloud computing, big data, cyber-physical systems, 3D printing or digitalisation, register your interest now.