5 Super Handy Skills You Didn’t Know You Could Learn At TAFE
Take control of tomorrow, today.
Whether you’re looking to get cracking on a career after high school, switch paths, or jump ahead in the industry you’re in, ensuring you have the skills you need to do it is – in the words of DJ Khaled – key.
We’re not talking about the DIY iced coffee and eyeliner tricks of TikTok, we’re talking about serious industry skills that make you seriously employable. So… how exactly do you get those?
There’s only so much you can learn from the internet, there aren’t abundant opportunities around to learn on the job, and sometimes you just don’t need to tackle a full degree to get what you need. TAFE courses give you real, hands-on and flexible workforce experience and expertise.
For inspiration, we’ve taken a closer look at the courses at Victoria University Polytechnic to see what kind of handy skills you didn’t know you could learn at TAFE.
#1. How to not get hacked
You may as well turn your tendency to be Constantly Online into a prosperous career and get into one of the country’s fastest growing industries – cyber security. Not only is learning to protect your own personal data just a generally good idea, it’s also a skill sought-after by companies that want to safeguard against cyber security threats, breaches, and everything in between.
With one TAFE course under your belt, you could soon be ‘hacking the mainframe’, unironically, and for money.
#2. How to manage infection control
Given everything that’s gone down in 2020, there’s really no need to explain that this skill is not just handy, but an actual necessity for working across a variety of industries. If you’re in retail, food handling, or transport and logistics, there are free TAFE courses all about mastering infection control in practice and a bunch of other health services skills.
Besides the fact that these are obviously important skills to have, a nationally accredited infection control training also looks pretty damn good on your CV.
Image: JC Gellidon / Unsplash
#3. How to handle tools of the trade
Nearly everything we do these days relies on machines, so understanding how they’re used across a range of different roles and projects is definitely up there as far as important skill sets go. Depending on what trade you’re into, there are TAFE courses that will plunge you into hands-on training for professions in building, construction, civil construction, plumbing, electrotechnology and heaps more.
If you’re keen to make a hands-on career, that’s definitely an option.
#4. How to literally save lives
I think we can all agree that this is a pretty handy skill to have. You can learn to be that person who takes action in a medical emergency and be on the path to living out your Grey’s Anatomy fantasies (McDreamy not included) with TAFE nursing diploma courses. Or you could learn to save and support lives with courses in disability and aged care.
For all the health nerds and empaths out there who want to make a living out of helping people, this is your calling.
Image: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock
#5. How to help people who are struggling with their mental health
We all know that mental health struggles pose a huge problem across our society, and it’s one that a lot of people want to help tackle.
But understanding the complexities of mental health issues and how to effectively help is a huge hurdle that not enough people overcome. If you want to do work that makes a real difference for people experiencing mental health issues, those with alcohol and drug abuse problems, or at-risk youth, a qualification in community services is a great step towards moving into or up in that industry.
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Choose Victoria University Polytechnic and start in 2021. Visit the website to find your course to gain hands-on training and job-ready skills.
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(Lead image: Alex Kotliarskyi / Unsplash)