How Should I Plan My Career/Study Going Forward?

• 

  holdenmg on 17/09/2017 - 14:19

  +1

  Hi,

  I notice you mention Department of Education, Department of Health but what about Independent Schools Board, Private Schools/Independent Schools/Catholic Ed?

  Will people with your skill set and qualifications actually be out on site in schools or stuck away within the Department of Education and not on site?

  • 

    fossilfuel on 17/09/2017 - 14:33

    I notice you mention Department of Education, Department of Health but what about Independent Schools Board, Private Schools/Independent Schools/Catholic Ed?

    The private educational sector has different policies and procedures. I'm not sure what they do but I don't see myself working in with private/independent schools.

    Will people with your skill set and qualifications actually be out on site in schools or stuck away within the Department of Education and not on site?

    Currently we get bumped around 3-4 schools per fortnight and we're on site. Most of the time we are pretty hard since to catch we're bumped around so many schools. Also when we're on school grounds, most of the time we won't be available because we'll be writing reports, counselling/assessing a student, attending meetings, going around classrooms to do observations etc.

    People who are not on site are more in a managerial role doing admin stuff, policy making and that sort of stuff. These are the top dogs who have been in the job for a very long time.

    • 

      holdenmg on 17/09/2017 - 14:59

      +1

      Yep, for a lot of Teachers it is TRT (Temporary Relief Teaching) or equiv on offer.
      Not a lot of opportunity to establish a bond (or trust) and effect change in said circumstances.
      I guess it is about making smart choices from the doors and opportunities that are open to you.

      • 

        fossilfuel on 17/09/2017 - 15:27

        Yeah for us, the need is so great that if we go anywhere near Parramatta and west of there, we'll land a position relatively easily.

        I find it hard to make a choice re: future career paths. Both paths are rewarding and something I'd like to pursue, but right now I'm still very uncertain which to pick.

      • 

        holdenmg on 17/09/2017 - 15:37

        +1

        Is there an opportunity to "include in" thinking about setting up a Private Consultancy and have Parents/Children, Schools and "others" as clients?

        Maybe in conjunction with some colleagues you might know with different/interesting skill sets or geographical locations or time availablilty.

        Just throwing it out there, it would be what you all make it and it would be all yours. You would need (I guess) a Partnership Structure and a Business Plan etc.

      • 

        fossilfuel on 17/09/2017 - 21:04

        @holdenmg:

        Is there an opportunity to "include in" thinking about setting up a Private Consultancy and have Parents/Children, Schools and "others" as clients?

        There's conflict in interest so I won't be able to do that. i.e High possibility that I will have contact with the parents of the students I see and we are bound by confidentiality.

        I'm not very keen on the private sector. Would much prefer to stay in the public sector.

• 

  altomic on 17/09/2017 - 14:33

  +2

  good work.

  and great idea being a school counsellor to get hours.

  I'm curious -as I just finished 4th year psych and need to do supervision- do you have a psych supervisor to supervise your hours?

  • 

    fossilfuel on 17/09/2017 - 14:40

    Thanks mate.

    Yeah we have a principal supervisor i.e Senior Psychologist, Education (or SPEs for short). We get placed in a group of between 5-8 counsellors and most of the time, there's a principal and secondary supervisor.

    Most principal supervisors are SPEs and their either have general registration or an accredited masters in psych (some even have a PhD!!!). Secondary supervisors can be schools counsellors (general psychologists) with supervisor training. Normally they want to establish a working relationship for the first 6 months to 1 year and then start the provisional registration process.

• 

  fruit on 17/09/2017 - 18:18

  +1

  Put all your savings in Bitcoin

  • 

    fossilfuel on 17/09/2017 - 21:02

    No savings due to Ozbargain :(

• 

  lupiter on 18/09/2017 - 08:24

  +2

  Be aware that "4 years of study" for Medicine is the start and not the end. If you add specialisation and so on get ready for more like 8 years. But you end up being able to offer different kinds of help to different people.

  Since you seem to be into this mainly for the helping others part (THANK YOU) I'd suggest starting with what annoys you - what can you not do for students that you'd like to be able to do? If this is limited by your qualifications (can't refer, can't prescribe etc) then by all means get more. If not, then maybe you don't need more qualifications? Maybe you need extra experience? Research skills? Worth thinking about anyway.

  • 

    fossilfuel on 18/09/2017 - 21:07

    +1

    Thanks mate. I know that med will be a long road (at least 14 years to reach the consultant stage) but I'm pretty committed to it.

    The main reason to pursue either field is to broaden my scope of practice. I want to pursue higher qualifications as I am interested in tackling more complex cases. Currently in school counselling, most of our more complex cases are referred to a GP so that they can create a mental health plan for a student to see a psych/clin psych or to a paediatrician for further assessment/reassessment. I feel that I will enjoy working on more complex cases that require higher clinical judgement.

    Since I know how school counselling works, I also know how big of a role clin psychs and paediatricians play. Their diagnoses ensure that students get the proper funding and supports to do well at school. Going into either of those 2 roles will ensure that school counsellors that I liaise with will be well supported. At the end of the day, it's about working together to get kids the right supports so they can thrive as a person.