'Speed dating' gets kids into jobs at two-day Careers on Country

Hundreds of Indigenous students from Tamworth high schools travelled to Trelawney Station this week to take part in the Careers on Country, the traineeships program.

Careers on Country program coordinator, Amy Strong, said the Opportunity Hub and the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council had made a few changes to the event in its second year.

For the first time, the event was held over two days, with students in year 9 and 10 attending on Thursday and senior students in years 11 and 12 attending on Wednesday.

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She said the best thing about Careers on Country is that it makes getting a career more accessible and less intimidating.

"One, it's on country, so the kids are outside," she said.

"We tried to make it more like a speed dating style. The kids were given 10 minutes at each service provider to listen to them, and then every time that 10 minutes was up the changeover was a dodge. It was just really culturally appropriate."

Students circulated between 12 different local employers, moving from emergency services to local manufacturers like Many Fabrication and Engineering, to local universities, and more.

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Kids get a brief rundown of what the job entails, get a chance to ask questions, and then move on.

Ms Strong said it had many benefits compared to the traditional job fair approach.

"Those big careers expos are awesome, but there's so many service providers there and often the kids get overwhelmed and just wander around and socialise. Whereas this is quick and meaningful. It's specifically targeted at specific year groups," she said.

"It's not 'hey guys, here's a thousand options that you guys can do, go and have the confidence to approach them'. That's not what we wanted."

All told, more than 150 students participated, Ms Strong said.

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Many of them would have arrived at the station with no idea about what they wanted to do for a job, and left with a school-based traineeship or an apprenticeship, she said.

"There are so many businesses out there that are crying out for young Aboriginal students to jump on board for their business," she said.

Former Eurovision finalist and X-Factor winning singer-songwriter Isaiah Firebrace brought a touch of flair to the two-day event.

The Victorian singer performed a song both days, and did a concert for the Tamworth community at the Youthie on Wednesday night.

Ms Strong said the kids were rapt.

"They were mesmerised by his singing," she said.

"He started off in a really small community in Victoria, he's one of 12 brothers and sisters. They were able to go 'oh my god he was just a normal teenage boy and this is where he is now.'"

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