Careers Events

Year 13 Careers Presentation

The Year 13 ‘Wayfinding Your Future’ seminar took place today (18 March 2021), with Dr Val O’Reilly giving our students tips for navigating their career.

Writing a CV and Cover Letter in a professional manner was addressed, with relevant suggestions for using the modern ATS Applicant Tracing System when applying for work. Forming a LinkedIn account was summarised, then an opportunity for a questions and answers with Dr Val to gain expert advice.

Mrs Keir, Careers Counsellor followed on with an overview of what would be offered across 2021, encouraging students to take a range of opportunities to assist with their development and decision making.

Janae Van Panahon: Architect

Janae Van Panahon was an exceptional student in Technology and DVC at Lynfield College and continues to be successful at Auckland University completing her final year for a Bachelor of Architectural Studies.

Following her final presentation three weeks ago her project ‘The Evolution of Creation’ – a multicultural response to a Bi-cultural Aotearoa was chosen for the final end of year exhibition.

The following is a link to her portfolio of architectural design: https://janaevan.myportfolio.com/

She is looking forward to starting her Master of Architecture next year.

Future Me: Māori and Pasifika Careers Evening

On Tuesday 3 November our first Māori and Pasifika Future me evening took place. A range of careers were represented including trades, architecture, engineering, the forces, plumbing, nursing, midwifery, sports, Qantas, business and more. Thank you to all the families who attended and the guests for giving their time.

A special thanks to the Māori Focus Group staff and Pacific Teachers for making this evening happen.

Top left: Past pupils Wikitoria Maihi, Head Girl and Cody Maihi (both NZ Air Force)
Bottom right: Past pupils Megan Elliot (theatre nurse) and Jordan Tamatea (midwifery student)

GirlBoss Advantage Programme

Congratulations to Evana Chan (Year 12), who was been selected as one of the 25 GirlBoss Interns from applications across the country. To be accepted onto this programme is an amazing achievement.

With an average acceptance rate of only 8%, the GirlBoss Advantage Programme is a highly selective leadership programme. On the programme Evana will join an inclusive sisterhood and connect with 24 of New Zealand's brightest female leaders, building powerful and unprecedented friendships. Evana will visit construction sites and corporate offices and have a real-life insight to the world of Building, Construction, and Engineering.

My Experience by Evana Chan

During this internship, I have gained not only many precious friendships, but as well as the crucial skills to pitch and network. Along with 26 other ambitious young ladies, we are undergoing intense leadership training and receiving inspiring mentorship from many senior executives at Fletcher Building and GirlBoss. From these conversations, the most valuable lesson I took away was that no one has a linear journey. To become a compassionate and relatable leader, it is okay to be vulnerable sometimes. Discussing with these leaders and learning about what they are passionate about, and how they are doing what they love, has reassured that I am on the right track and will be unapologetically ambitious!

This internship was designed to be interactive and insightful with the incorporation of two site visits and many opportunities to chat and connect with people. Visiting live sites, and going to the hidden nooks and crannies behind successful projects felt like an explosion of knowledge. It completely sucked me in and I was fascinated by the way engineering mechanisms, designs, and communities powered each other. Having the opportunity to listen about inspirational female leaders’ journeys was an eye opener, their words have left a lasting impression on me. I am very grateful to be selected for the GirlBoss Advantage internship and this opportunity has greatly helped me grow.

Year 11 Employers’ Showcase

On Wednesday 29 July in the school hall, students were connected with employers and employees from two large New Zealand companies within the important strategic sectors of Construction and Infrastructure and Manufacturing and Technology. The aim of the event was exposure to the ‘world of work’, to educate about the important employability skills required for the future and to make new connections with industries to ensure our students have a pathway to employment.

Students found the guest speakers career stories uniquely interesting, hearing about the tasks the employees job roles involved, the employability skills required, how to develop within the company/industry and how to gain employment. Short videos showcased areas of work within these companies and our students were impressively inquisitive, asking great questions.

All students were surveyed by the Ministry of Education and the results showed that exposure to these industries made a difference:

73% gained new ideas about a career in the trades and services
50% now feel more confident about a career in the trades and services
65% now feel more prepared about the employability skills they will need to develop
Within a week there has been a significant increase in enquiries for the career services offered at Lynfield College, especially a rush on applications for the Gateway Programme 2021
Lynfield College has forged new relationships with the two large New Zealand companies that engaged with our students and we have since had 'Work Shadowing' offered and set up for senior students at one company and work experience opportunities for our senior students set up at the other company.

A special thank you to companies Wedderburn New Zealand and Steel and Tube Holdings Ltd for taking time out of their busy work lives to visit our school to educate our students.

Congratulations to Past Student Opal Vickery (2015)

Past student Opal Vickery has become the very first woman to win The Electrical Training Company Apprentice of the Year Award, 2019. The ETCO Apprentice of the Year is an annual award based on nominations from over 700 electrical apprentices and is a much-coveted award within the industry.

After gaining NCEA Level 1 with Excellence in 2014, Opal spent her last year in and out of the Careers Centre proactively exploring options beyond school, requesting STAR funding to gain NCEA credits at Techtorium Computer Engineering Institute in Hardware in Year 12 and achieving NCEA Level 2 with Merit.

Opal signed up for an Electrical Apprenticeship with ETCO (The Electrical Training Company) at the end of Year 12 December 2015. She joined the AB Electrical team as a fully registered ‘tradesman’ in September 2019 and quickly became a valuable tradesman making a positive impression with customers and fitting in well with the team. AB Electrical is delighted to have Opal join the team as their first female tradesman.

If you are thinking about getting into a Trade, consider becoming an Electrician. You can find out more information with ETCO (The Electrical Training Company). They help with training, employment, and placement of electrical apprenticeships.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/first-female-win-prestigious-electrical-apprentice-award-hoping-inspire-others

Legal Profession Schools' Project

On Wednesday 7 August twenty senior students enjoyed the opportunity of visiting the Meredith Connell practice, a 97 year old highly respected law firm in the CBD. This was a follow-on from the July visit to Lynfield from past student Right Honourable Dame Helen Winkelmann, Chief Justice of New Zealand. The Legal Profession Schools Project was started by a group of legal professionals to encourage young people from a wider range of cultures and backgrounds to consider joining the legal profession.

Students were introduced to many of the legal team by Brian Dickey, Crown Solicitor, then participated in a tour of the firm, where they engaged with legal staff within their open plan workspace, and were involved in a seminar with a group of lawyers in real-life case studies.

“Everything about Meredith Connell screamed ‘professional’ and as we were doing the tour and we got to know the lawyers a bit more, I realised that this was a prominent firm. I’m very grateful for this opportunity because I was able to explore and have some insight into my choice of career in the future. I can definitely say that this has inspired me to follow my career plan and meeting all the lawyers was so cool. I didn’t expect them to be so laid back and just … chill” Vanessa Year 12

“We gained insight into possibilities available in the law profession. The visit gave us a better understanding of each job role within The Firm. It made me realise that I could be either defending or prosecuting. The visit enabled me to know what I want to go for in the future” Mehul Year 13

Careers Expo at the ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane

On Thursday morning 23 May, all of Year 13 students visited New Zealand’s largest Careers Expo at the ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane.

Students were engaged in learning conversations with the exhibitors, and clearly enjoyed the event shown by the real buzz across all eight buses on their return to school with their Form Teachers for the afternoon of usual timetable.

There was definitely something for everyone, from the following range of exhibitors: Tertiary institutions, trades, earn while you learn opportunities, GAP year advice, opportunities to go straight into the workplace, experts giving career planning advice, study options overseas, CV and interview tips to ensure work readiness … and so much more.

A new initiative ‘Go with Tourism’ had an extensive addition of exhibitors to inform students about the boom in the New Zealand tourism industry, with the need to find 36,000 tourism workers across New Zealand by 2025.