Kalamunda Senior High School

By now, you've probably typed a question into an AI chatbot at least once. Maybe you asked it to explain a tricky maths problem, or help you plan an essay. It's fast, it's free, and it always has an answer ready. Yes AI can be a useful helper with your schoolwork and could do the work for you, but hold your horses and have a read of this article before you use it for your next assignment. Things aren't always black and white, including using AI.

Where AI can actually help

Used well, AI is more like a study buddy than a genius who does your homework while you scroll or keep on gaming. It's good at explaining a concept in a different way when your textbook isn't making sense. It can help you plan the structure of an essay, suggest revision questions, or turn your messy notes into a tidy summary. If you're stuck on how to start a piece of writing, asking AI for a few different opening lines can shake loose your own ideas.

It's also handy outside school. You could use it to help draft an email to a coach or employer, get feedback on your CV, or explore a job you're curious about and what it involves day to day. Used this way, it's a tool that speeds up the boring bits so you have more time and energy for the parts that need real thought.

Why you still have to do the heavy lifting

Each of the examples above only work if you're still driving your studies. If AI writes your whole essay, including planning your whole argument, and picking your whole conclusion, you haven't learned anything. You've just handed in a hodgepodge of someone (or something) else's thinking with your name on it. That's not going to serve you well in exams or down the track.

Forming an argument means deciding what you believe, based on evidence that you've found, read, and understood yourself. That's a skill, and skills can only grow through practice. If AI does all of your research for you, you're skipping the tasks that build your ability to think for yourself. The rule of thumb is simple, you should still be doing the lion's share of the work. AI can support your process, but it shouldn't replace it.

Teachers can usually spot AI-generated work anyway, it tends to sound very generic, missing your voice, and your reasoning. Not mention that as AI evolves, the AI detection software used to spot it is also developing, you'll never know if you're ahead of that curve at any one time, so it's probably safer just to do your own homework.

The risks of leaning on AI too much

First of all, AI chatbots can get facts wrong with total confidence. Sometimes inventing statistics, misquoting sources, stating something false as if it were obvious truth, or just jumbling things up and using them out of context. Which is understandable since it's only using information you've provided along with what it can sift from the internet of things. If you copy everything straight into your work without checking all of the facts and the sources (using reliable platforms, databases, and networks if you're not using direct research papers themselves); then you're just passing on someone else's mistake as your own.

As we mentioned earlier, relying on AI to think for you now, means you're not building the skills you'll need later. Exams don't let you use it. University assignments are increasingly designed to spot over-reliance on it. And in most jobs, employers want your judgement and ideas, not a paraphrased chatbot answer. The habits you build now, good or bad, could stick - so why not start using AI intelligently now to give your studies a boost while still building important human skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and ethical judgment.

Using it the right way

You don't need to avoid AI altogether. In fact its important that you keep learning about it and how to use it to enhance your human abilities. As Jensen Huang CEO of NVIDIA said "You won't lose your job to AI—you'll 'lose your job to somebody who uses AI".

Used properly, it could take some of the grunt work out of studying, strengthen your understanding of topics , and help you formulate your ideas more clearly. Learn to use good habits, like always checking facts, statistics, and sources yourself before using them. If it gives you a fact that sounds surprising, you should definitely look it up elsewhere before you trust it. Form your own views or hypothesis first, then use AI to test or refine it. Most importantly use your own voice in everything you write.

Keep building the skills that matter

Learning how to research properly, argue your point, and check your sources are skills that will serve you long after you've left school, in almost any career you choose. If you'd like more ideas on how to build these kinds of skills for study and beyond, head over to our Human Skills or Study Tips pages for more suggestions.

Squished among National Science Week and National Skills Week is Book Week! Traditionally is does tend to focus on primary school and early education students, but you could flip the idea and the theme to something more suited for high school students. That doesn't have to mean fancy dress and a parade past the staffroom.

For careers advisors, it's another chance to get students thinking about their futures without them realising that's what's happening. Every book on a shelf connects to a real job somewhere, from the author, editor, publisher, printer, and marketing teams, to the careers featured in the book itself. Book Week gives you a ready-made excuse to harness those opportunities. Whether your school goes all in on costumes or prefers a quieter approach, there are plenty of ways to link reading to careers thinking in any school setting.

Why books make good career starting points

Students often switch off when careers advice sounds like a lecture. Books work differently. A student who loves a crime thriller is already interested in how evidence gets collected, how a case gets built, and how someone decides who's telling the truth. That's forensic science, law, and policing, all wrapped up in a story they picked up for fun.

The same goes for other genres. A student who enjoys a survival story might be drawn to outdoor education or expedition work. Someone who reads a lot of biographies about scientists or explorers is showing an interest in research, engineering, or fieldwork, even if they'd never describe it that way. Book Week gives you a natural opening talk about the jobs hiding in plain sight.

Matching authors and genres to career clusters

If your school uses tools like the Cadi Career Clusters, or other psychometric tools that group jobs by strengths, skills, and values Book Week could be a great time to bring them out. Not only they provide valuable indicators and conversation starters about of the kinds of work students could enjoy doing, books map to these clusters/groups surprisingly well. Creating links between authors and different genres could help develop a Book Week theme that's subtle but effective.

Non-fiction nature writing, for example, tends to appeal to students who'd suit the Guardian cluster, roles involved in protecting people, animals, or the environment. Mystery and investigative journalism books often attract future Informers, the researchers, analysts, and advisors. Books about invention, design, or building things tend to appeal to Makers. You don't need to overthink the matching. The point isn't to sort every student perfectly, it's to start a conversation about what draws them to a story in the first place.

Alternatives to dress-up

Secondary school students tend not to embrace rocking up at school as a wizard or a detective, and that's fine. There are other ways to run Book Week that still get students thinking about careers.

A themed library display is one option. You could set up sections based on career clusters, with books grouped under headings like "for future Guardians" or "for future Linkers," alongside a short note on the kinds of jobs each cluster covers or posters that illustrate the same point at a glance. Alternatively, build a display around a local industry. If your area has a strong presence in healthcare, agriculture, or manufacturing, pull together books, both fiction and non-fiction, that connect to that field and show students how the industry on their doorstep is full of possible futures for anyone.

A bring your favourite book project could work well too. Ask students to bring in a book they're reading now or have enjoyed in the past. It could be fiction, non-fiction, or a biography, ask them to explain what career(s) appears in it and if that career appeals to them - and why or why not. This works for younger students with a picture book about a vet just as well as it does for older students reading a biography of an entrepreneur. The task doesn't need to be long. A short paragraph or a two-minute chat with a partner is enough to get them thinking about the link between what they read and what they might do.

Keep it light hearted

Whatever format you choose, the goal is to keep thing fun and low-pressure. Enjoy the Book Week hype and potentially plant a small idea that a career worth exploring could be sitting somewhere in their reading pile. Some students will make an obvious connection, others might need a nudge, and a few won't see it at all yet, which is perfectly OK too. Book Week works best when it feels like curiosity rather than an assignment.

Bring the conversation back to real careers

Once students have made a connection between a book and a career, the next step is helping them explore it further. That's where a browse through real career profiles can help turn a passing interest into a genuine idea worth researching. You can point students, or use in your own planning, our Jobs & Careers section for profiles that show what these careers actually involve day to day.

The word "quantum" comes up in movies, marketing, and casual conversation far more often than any clear explanation of what it actually means. It's a well-established field of physics, and understanding the basics doesn't need any advanced maths or background knowledge beyond what you've already got.

The basic idea

Quantum science studies how matter and energy behave at extremely small scales, at the level of atoms and the particles that make them up. At this scale, the rules that describe how a ball rolls or a car accelerates stop applying, and a different set of rules takes over.

Just how small we're talking about

An atom is roughly a hundred thousand times narrower than a strand of human hair. Quantum science studies particles smaller again, including electrons, which exist within atoms. At this scale, direct observation with the naked eye or a standard microscope isn't possible, so behaviour is instead measured through specialised equipment and inferred using mathematical models built from decades of experimental data.

Where the confusion comes from

Quantum science shows up constantly in movies, video games, and marketing, usually attached to ideas like instant teleportation, parallel universes, or objects existing in two places at once. Most of this borrows the word "quantum" for its reputation rather than reflecting the actual science.

Quantum behaviour follows a different set of rules to the physics visible in daily life, largely because it only becomes measurable at a scale no one interacts with directly. That gap between what's observable and what's real gives fiction plenty of room to exaggerate. Real quantum science is grounded in decades of experiments and evidence, and it's already responsible for technology you use every day, like the chips inside your phone and computer.

The two ideas behind most of it

Two concepts come up again and again when people talk about quantum science: superposition and entanglement.

Superposition means a particle can exist in more than one state at once, rather than being locked into a single definite state the way everyday objects are. Think of a coin spinning in the air. While it's spinning, it isn't simply heads or tails, it's a mix of both possibilities until it lands and you check it. Particles behave a bit like that spinning coin until they're measured. Entanglement happens when two particles become linked in a way that means the state of one instantly affects the state of the other, even if they're far apart, without any signal passing between them in the usual sense. It's still an active area of research today.

Where quantum science shows up in the real world

Quantum science already underpins plenty of technology you might not realise counts as "quantum." The chips inside your phone and computer rely on quantum physics to work, since the behaviour of electrons in tiny transistors follows quantum rules rather than classical ones. Precision sensors used in navigation and medical imaging, like MRI machines, also depend on quantum effects to measure things with a level of accuracy classical technology can't match.

Beyond what's already in use, quantum computing is one of the most talked-about applications, using superposition and entanglement to process certain types of problems in ways traditional computers can't. Secure communication is another growing area, using entanglement to detect if a message has been intercepted, which could make future data significantly harder to access without permission.

Why this field is growing right now

Quantum science has moved from mostly theoretical research to real-world application over the past couple of decades, which is part of why it comes up more often now than it would have a few years ago. Governments and companies are investing heavily in the field, particularly in computing, sensing, and secure communication, since the potential impact across industries like medicine, finance, and defence is considerable.

It's still an emerging field, which means a lot of what's possible hasn't been figured out yet, rather than being an area where the groundwork is already fully established.

How it connects to what you're already learning

You don't need to already understand quantum physics to start building toward it. Senior physics covers the classical physics that quantum science builds on and eventually departs from, and maths subjects that cover probability and complex numbers give you tools that show up again in quantum theory later on.

If you're curious about where physics and maths subjects could take you, our subject selection hub breaks down how different combinations connect to future pathways.

Property Developers identify opportunities, secure land and financing, and coordinate the teams needed to turn a site into something new. They manage the full process from initial concept through to completion, working across planning, design, construction, and finance to bring a development from idea to reality.

If you're drawn to complex projects with many moving parts, comfortable working with ambiguity, and interested in how the built environment takes shape, this career sits at the intersection of business, construction, and planning.

What skills do I need as a Property Developer?

• Strategic & commercial thinking
• Strong negotiator
• Project coordination
• Financial literacy
• Effective communicator
• Risk awareness
• Relationship builder
• Detail-oriented mindset

What do Property Developers do?

Before a project breaks ground, you're doing a significant amount of groundwork. You'll research potential sites, assess their development potential, and evaluate whether a project stacks up financially. This involves analysing planning controls, commissioning feasibility studies, and securing the financing needed to move forward. Getting this stage right is critical, and it requires you to draw on input from planners, financiers, and legal advisers before a single decision is made.

Once a project is underway, your role shifts to coordination. You'll manage relationships with architects, engineers, planners, construction teams, and local authorities, making sure each part of the process connects to the next. You're not necessarily doing the technical work yourself, but you need enough understanding of each discipline to ask the right questions, spot problems early, and keep everyone aligned on the shared outcome. Decisions come at you from multiple directions, and your job is to keep the project on track without losing sight of the budget or timeline.

Periodically you'll navigate planning approvals, respond to community feedback, and manage variations when something doesn't go to plan. Some developers focus on residential projects, others on commercial or mixed-use developments, and some work on large-scale urban renewal. As your experience grows, you may take on larger and more complex projects, or move into development management roles within larger organisations.

What kind of lifestyle could I expect?

Property Developers work for development companies, construction firms, real estate groups, and government agencies involved in housing and urban renewal. Some work in-house for large organisations managing their own development pipelines, while others work for smaller boutique developers or eventually establish their own businesses. The role can also exist within local and state government, where development is driven by public infrastructure and housing needs rather than private investment.

Hours are typically above average, particularly during active project phases when approvals, construction milestones, or settlements create concentrated periods of pressure. The work is largely office-based, though you'll regularly visit sites and attend meetings with councils, consultants, and contractors. Some flexibility is possible depending on the employer, but the pace of the work means it rarely fits a rigid nine-to-five pattern.

Salaries are above average, though income in this field can vary considerably. Many developers, particularly those running their own projects, earn based on the success of individual developments rather than a fixed salary. This means income can be variable, with the potential for significantly higher earnings as experience and track record grow. The property development sector is tied to broader economic conditions, including interest rates and housing demand, which can affect project viability and employment at different points in the cycle.

How to become a Property Developer

1. Build relevant knowledge through study: A degree in property economics, urban planning, construction management, business, or a related field gives you a strong foundation. These programs build your understanding of feasibility, finance, and the planning and construction processes that underpin development work.
2. Gain experience in a related field: Most people enter property development after working in an adjacent role first. Construction, real estate, planning, and project management are all common starting points. This experience builds the practical knowledge of how projects actually run, which is hard to develop from study alone.
3. Develop your financial and commercial literacy: Understanding how development finance works, including concepts like feasibility modelling, cash flow, and return on investment, is central to the role. Look for opportunities to build this knowledge through your studies, workplace experience, or professional development.
4. Build your professional network: Property development runs on relationships. Connections with planners, architects, financiers, builders, and real estate agents all become relevant as you progress. Starting to build those connections early, through work experience, industry events, and professional associations, puts you in a stronger position when you're ready to take on more responsibility.

From here, you could move into development management roles overseeing larger project portfolios, take on senior positions within major development or construction companies, or build experience across enough disciplines to pursue your own projects over time.

What can I do right now?

If you're in high school and interested in working as a Property Developer, here are some practical steps:

• Follow property and construction news to build your understanding of how the development market works, including how planning decisions, interest rates, and housing demand shape what gets built and where
• Look for work experience with real estate agencies, property management firms, or construction companies to get a ground-level view of how projects and transactions work in practice
• Focus on building strong foundations in maths and business subjects, as financial literacy and analytical thinking are central to development work at every level

Find out more about alternative careers on our Job Spotlights page.

A single strand of DNA is about 2 nanometres wide, roughly 40,000 times thinner than a human hair. Nanotechnology works at that scale, engineering materials and devices atom by atom, and it already shapes things like sunscreen, medical treatments, phone screens, and the batteries in your devices.

Here's a look at five careers worth considering.

Nanotechnology Research Assistant/Technician

Nanotechnology Research Assistants and Technicians support the hands-on side of nanotechnology research, preparing samples, running experiments, and recording results under the guidance of senior scientists. Precise, detail-focused work matters here, since even a small error in measurement or contamination can affect an entire experiment.

It's often the most accessible entry point into the field, since positions can be reached through a laboratory-based qualification rather than a full science degree. Many technicians build on this foundation over time, moving into more advanced roles as their experience and study level grows.

Nanomaterials Engineer

Nanomaterials Engineers design and test new materials engineered at the nanoscale, adjusting the way atoms and molecules are arranged to create materials that are stronger, lighter, or more conductive than their traditional counterparts. Their work feeds into industries like construction, electronics, and manufacturing, wherever a small change in material properties can make a big difference to performance.

A science or engineering degree with a materials or chemistry focus is the usual pathway in. Nanomaterials Engineers often specialise further as they build experience in a particular industry.

Nanomedicine Researcher

Nanomedicine Researchers develop nanoscale tools for medicine, including drug delivery systems designed to target specific cells in the body and diagnostic tools that can detect disease earlier than traditional methods. The work sits at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and engineering.

It's demanding, and usually means years of study and research experience before you're leading your own projects. If you're interested in both science and healthcare, it's one of the more direct ways to combine the two.

Nanomaterials Safety Officer

Nanomaterials Safety Officers assess and manage the risks involved in working with and manufacturing nanomaterials, since particles this small can behave differently in the body and the environment compared to their larger-scale counterparts. The role includes testing exposure levels, setting handling procedures, and making sure a workplace meets safety standards.

A science background is generally expected, often combined with further training in occupational health and safety. It suits you if you care about the practical, real-world side of new technology.

Nanotechnology Process Engineer

Nanotechnology Process Engineers take nanomaterials and processes that have been proven in a lab and work out how to scale them up for industrial manufacturing, without losing the properties that made them useful in the first place. It's a role that blends science with problem-solving and logistics, since manufacturing at scale introduces challenges that don't show up in small lab batches.

An engineering degree is the typical starting point, and experience in a manufacturing or production environment is highly valued alongside it.

What you'd need to get started

There's no single pathway into nanotechnology, since these five roles range from a laboratory-based qualification through to a full science or engineering degree. What they share is a foundation in the physical sciences, so senior subjects in chemistry, physics, or maths give you a solid base regardless of which direction you end up taking.

Beyond subject choice, a few things matter across all five roles:

• A high level of attention to detail, since small errors matter more at this scale
• Comfort following precise procedures and safety protocols
• Curiosity about how materials and systems behave, not just what they do
• The patience to work on problems that can take months or years to solve

None of these roles require you to have it all figured out before you start. Lab-based positions can be a practical way to build experience and work out whether the field suits you, before committing to further study in a specific direction.

If you're interested in exploring more careers, head to our jobs and careers page for more.

If you've wondered whether your maths is actually good enough for a STEM apprenticeship, or whether you need to work on it before you'd stand a chance, the honest answer depends on which kind of role you're picturing. Trade-based STEM apprenticeships, like becoming an Electrician or a Refrigeration Mechanic, generally need less maths than you'd expect. Some technical and engineering-focused STEM pathways need considerably more.

What counts as a STEM apprenticeship

STEM apprenticeships (roles built around science, technology, engineering, or maths) show up in more places than most students expect. Electricians work with circuits and wiring systems, while Refrigeration Mechanics keep cooling and climate control systems running properly. Automotive Technicians diagnose and repair vehicles that rely on increasingly computerised systems, and Engineering Technicians support design and construction work on-site. In a lab setting, Laboratory Technicians prepare samples and run tests, and IT Technicians set up, maintain, and troubleshoot technology systems for a business.

None of these roles need a university degree to get started. They combine paid, on-the-job training with structured study towards a nationally recognised qualification, so you're building practical skills in a real workplace from early on.

Where the bar actually sits

An Electrician's maths covers load calculations, voltages, and measurements, usually assessed at around a Year 10 standard. A Refrigeration Mechanic works with pressure and temperature calculations, and an Automotive Technician reads diagnostic data and works with ratios and tolerances. All of this maths applies to real, high-stakes problems, but it stays at a level most students have already covered by the end of Year 10.

Some STEM-related roles need considerably more. An Electrical Engineer or Mechanical Engineer works through calculus and advanced mathematical modelling, which is why those degrees usually expect a higher level senior maths subject before you're even accepted.

How your maths already measures up

You can usually get a sense of this without any formal test. If you're comfortable working with fractions, decimals, and percentages, converting between units, and reading measurements accurately, you're already at the level most trade-based STEM apprenticeships expect. These are things you're probably already doing without noticing, like adjusting a recipe, working out change, or reading a tape measure. If you want a clearer answer, some apprenticeship providers offer short numeracy quizzes you can try before you apply, so you're not just guessing.

If you're picturing something like engineering instead, it's worth being honest with yourself about how comfortable you are with more abstract, multi-step problem solving, since that's closer to what those degrees actually demand.

If you think you need to build it up

If you've realised your maths isn't quite where you'd like it to be, that doesn't need to close any doors. Free numeracy check-ins are available if you're applying for an apprenticeship, giving you a clearer picture of what to expect. Once you're in an apprenticeship, training providers and government-funded foundation skills programs also offer extra support, including tutoring and additional numeracy sessions, so you're not left to work it out alone.

Employers are generally looking for someone willing to learn and apply themselves, not someone who already has every skill locked in from day one.

Building it up in the meantime

There are a few low-key ways to keep building your numeracy, whatever your current level. Practising applied problems, like working out measurements, ratios, or unit conversions, builds the exact kind of maths these roles use day to day. Paying attention to how maths shows up in everyday situations, from cooking to budgeting to sport, keeps those skills fresh without it feeling like study. The more you practise using numbers this way, the more natural it becomes.

The takeaway

Most STEM apprenticeships need a level of maths you've probably already got. If you're aiming higher, at something like engineering, the maths climbs with it, and it's worth knowing that early rather than finding out once you've applied.

If you're curious about other apprenticeship and career pathways, we've got plenty more to explore.

You don't need a lab coat or a science degree to contribute to real research. Citizen science lets everyday people, including students, collect data that scientists use in their work, and there are plenty of ways to get involved without any prior experience.

What counts as citizen science

Citizen science is any project where members of the public help collect or process data for actual scientific research. It might mean photographing a plant you found on a walk, reporting an animal sighting through an app, or classifying images from a telescope on your laptop. The data gets fed into projects run by universities, museums, and research organisations, and used the same way any other scientific data would be.

What makes it different from a school science experiment is that the research is ongoing and run by actual scientists, with your contribution becoming part of a live dataset rather than a one-off assignment.

Why it's worth doing as a student

Getting involved gives you a look at how science actually works outside a classroom, collecting and reporting data the way researchers do, often using the same apps and platforms professionals rely on. It's also flexible. Most projects can be done in short bursts, a ten-minute bird count or a few minutes classifying images online, so it fits around school rather than competing with it.

It can also strengthen future applications, whether for further study or work, since it shows initiative and a willingness to contribute to something beyond your own immediate interests. More than anything, it's a way to turn curiosity about the world around you into something useful.

Examples you can get involved with

Citizen science covers a wide range of topics, but most projects fall into a few broad types.

Spot-and-report apps

These projects ask you to report a specific type of sighting through an app, usually with a photo. FrogID has you record a frog call to help track frog populations around the country. Redmap asks divers, fishers, and beachgoers to log marine species turning up in unusual places along the coast, which helps researchers track how ocean conditions are shifting. FeralScan collects sightings of feral animals to support control and conservation efforts. TurtleSAT and WomSAT work the same way for freshwater turtles and wombats, including signs of mange in wombat populations, both valuable indicators for researchers monitoring the health of local wildlife.

General biodiversity logging

Rather than tracking one species, these projects let you log anything you come across. iNaturalist lets you photograph and upload sightings of plants, animals, or fungi, and the community helps identify what you've found, building a picture of biodiversity across the country over time. The Aussie Backyard Bird Count runs for one week each year and asks people to spend twenty minutes recording the birds they see in their local area, contributing to one of the largest wildlife surveys in the country.

From-home projects

Not every project needs you outdoors. Zooniverse hosts dozens of projects you can join entirely from a laptop, from classifying galaxy shapes captured by telescopes to identifying animals in wildlife camera trap footage. DigiVol lets you help digitise museum collections and historical records, transcribing old documents or entering specimen data that would otherwise take researchers years to process by hand.

How it benefits the wider community

The data collected through these projects feeds directly into research. Researchers rely on citizen science because some questions, like whether a wombat population is affected by mange in a particular region, or whether a fish species is turning up further south than it used to, need far more eyes and locations than any research team could cover alone. A single sighting might not seem like much, but thousands of them, submitted from all over the country, build a picture that helps track environmental change, support conservation decisions, and sometimes even lead to new discoveries.

Species range shifts recorded through projects like Redmap, for example, have fed directly into research on how climate change is affecting Australian marine life. Data from apps like FrogID and WomSAT has been used to monitor the impact of habitat loss and disease on native species. Your individual contribution becomes part of something much bigger than a single sighting.

Common hesitations

A lot of people hold off on getting involved because they're worried about identifying something incorrectly. Most projects are built around this exact concern. Apps like iNaturalist and FrogID use both community input and expert review to confirm identifications, so a wrong guess gets corrected before it's used rather than counted as bad data. Zooniverse projects usually have multiple people classify the same image, and the results are cross-checked against each other before anything gets counted. Having a go and letting the system catch mistakes is exactly how these platforms are designed to work.

The other common hesitation is thinking a single sighting or classification is too small to matter. Citizen science is built around exactly that kind of small, individual contribution. No single data point needs to carry the weight of a discovery on its own, it just needs to be one accurate entry among thousands. That's a much lower bar than most people assume when they first look into it.

Getting started

The easiest way in is to pick one project that actually interests you, rather than trying to do all of them at once. If you like being outdoors, a spot-and-report app is a good place to start. If you'd rather contribute from your room, Zooniverse or DigiVol are worth a look. Download the app or create an account, have a look at how the data collection works, and start small. There's no minimum commitment, and most people who stick with it started with a single sighting or a few minutes spent classifying images.

Citizen science won't replace a formal science education, but it's a solid way to engage with actual research while you're still at school, and it might just introduce you to a field you hadn't considered before.

If you're curious about where an interest like this could take you, have a look through our study section for more.

National Skills Week runs from 24 to 30 August in 2026, and it's one of the easiest opportunities all year to get students talking about all things skill related along with apprenticeship and traineeship pathways. Shining a light on vocational education and training across Australia, celebrating the tradespeople, carers, technicians and creatives who took a different route into their careers; it could be the light bulb moment for any students who aren't sure what to do after high school, or would like an alternative to university.

For careers advisors, it's a great time to bring these possible pathways into the spotlight without having to build a campaign from scratch. Below are some ideas you can run with, whether you've got no budget at all or a small amount to spend online.

Why this week matters for your students

Apprenticeships and traineeships often get overlooked, not because they're a poor choice, but because they're not always as lauded as university pathways. Students hear about ATARs and university degrees from all kinds of places and people from quite an early age. If they don't have family or friend connections familiar with vocational pathways, they'll generally hear far less about the option of earning a wage from day one, working alongside experienced tradespeople, or training in fields like early childhood education, aged care or electrotechnology.

National Skills Week is the perfect time to redress that balance, even if it's only for a week. It's also backed by employers, training providers and both state and federal governments, so you won't be promoting these pathways alone. You can point students and parents towards a national conversation that's already happening, rather than trying to convince them yourself.

Free and low-budget ideas

If you've got zero budget to spend, you could start with career stories. Ask former students who took up an apprenticeship or traineeship to record a two-minute video on their phone, or even write a short paragraph, about what their week actually looks like. Play these during form time or pin them to a noticeboard. Real voices and sties that are relatable often land better than posters or professionals talking ever do.

Run a "guess the trade" quiz using riddles or photos of tools and equipment, with the answer sheet linking to where students could train for that career. This could work well as a whole-school activity during home group, assembly, or lunchtime, and takes relatively little preparation. The only costs (aside from your time) could be some printing if you go with paper answer sheets.

Another option could be to dedicate one lesson slot during the week to a Pathway Swap activity, where students research a trade or traineeship they know nothing about and present three facts to the class. It costs nothing, gets them talking, and could surprise them with how varied the career opportunities are.

Ideas using resources you can repurpose or buy

If you've got a small budget or some basic tools already at hand, a few more options open up. You could also set up a QR code trail around the school, with each code linking to a different career story or training pathway page. Free QR code generators are widely available, and you likely already have posters or display boards you can repurpose for this. Make it more exciting by adding clues to find the next code.

If you've got a little more to spend, you could consider ordering branded merchandise, like keyrings or wristbands, that direct students to a landing page created uniquely by your school for your students to visit for more information. If there's not enough time to organise that, then maybe point them to the main Apprenticeships and Traineeships body in your local area, state, or territory. Some schools also use the week to invite a local training provider or recent apprentice in to deliver a short talk, which usually costs nothing beyond a cup of tea and a thank you.

Finally, if your school already runs a careers expo, open day or other kind of event, you don't need to plan something new. Simply dedicate one display, stall or table to apprenticeship and traineeship pathways and providers, and use existing display materials rather than commissioning new ones. If events fall during National Skills Week that's a bonus but you could always incorporate this idea at any stage of the school year. If there's nothing coming school-wide, ask your Leadership team for permission to set up a small display / information area somewhere central in the school or even in the library.

Getting your event listed

If you're going all out and planning a National Skills Week event at your school, it could be worth registering the event on the National Skills Week website. This puts your school on the national map of activities, and could help you connect with local training providers who might want to get involved too.

Ready to plan your week?

National Skills Week doesn't need a big budget or months of planning. A few short videos, a well-placed QR code trail, or a single guest speaker could shift how your students think about apprenticeships and traineeships, and inspire a little more exploration. By starting some conversations and pointing students towards information if they're curious enough to look, you could already be having some impact and see some engagement.

If you'd like more material to share with students during the week, you can find our full collection of apprenticeship and traineeship articles on our website here, and the updated Apprenticeships and Traineeships Guide will available in time for National Skills Week too.

Every packet, carton, and takeaway container on the shelf has been through the hands of several scientists before it reaches you. From the way a product is designed to how it's tested, processed, and checked for safety, there's a surprising amount of science behind something as ordinary as breakfast. Here's a look at five careers doing that work.

Food Technologist

Turning a recipe that works in a small kitchen into something that can be made safely and consistently at scale is the job of a Food Technologist. That means choosing the right processing methods, such as heat treatment, freezing, or packaging systems, and solving the problems that come up when a product behaves differently in a full production line than it did in early testing. Food Technologists work closely with engineers and production teams, and they're often the ones adapting existing products or developing new ones in response to changing tastes, such as plant-based alternatives.

Entry usually comes through a qualification in food technology or food science, which typically includes a strong practical or laboratory component alongside the theory. Some people also move into the role from an engineering or production background and specialise once they're working in food manufacturing.

Sensory Scientist

A Sensory Scientist studies how people actually experience food and drink, covering taste, smell, texture, and appearance. Much of the work involves designing and running tests, from training panels of tasters to describe products using precise and consistent language, to running broader consumer trials and interpreting the results with statistical methods. That information then feeds back to product developers, helping them understand exactly what needs to change if a product isn't landing the way it should.

Most Sensory Scientists come from a science background, often food science, psychology, or chemistry, and then build specific training in sensory evaluation methods on top of that. It's a role that suits someone who's naturally curious about why people like what they like, not just what's in a product.

Food Microbiologist

Food Microbiologists study the bacteria, yeasts, and moulds that show up in food, and the work splits into two quite different directions. One side is about safety, testing for harmful organisms and investigating contamination issues before they become a problem. The other is about the beneficial microbes behind fermented foods like yoghurt, cheese, and sourdough, where understanding the science means being able to improve flavour, texture, and shelf life on purpose rather than by accident.

Getting into the role usually means a qualification in microbiology or a related biological science, often starting out in a laboratory-based position within a food safety team before moving into more specialised research work.

Nutritional Scientist

Rather than working directly with patients, a Nutritional Scientist researches how food and nutrients affect the body more broadly, often through studies that look at diet and health outcomes across a population. That research could inform food labelling guidelines, support new product formulations, or feed into public health policy, depending on where the role sits.

This is a distinct pathway from clinical dietetics, which involves direct patient care and usually requires separate accreditation. A Nutritional Scientist role typically starts with a qualification in nutrition science, which overlaps closely with biology and biochemistry, and can lead into industry research, academia, or government health roles.

Food Safety Auditor

A Food Safety Auditor inspects production facilities and processes to check they're meeting safety and quality standards, reviewing documentation, identifying risk points, and working with manufacturers to fix issues before they become bigger problems. It's a role that combines scientific knowledge with a sharp eye for detail, since a single overlooked step in a process can affect an entire batch of product.

Many Food Safety Auditors start out in quality assurance roles within food manufacturing, often with a qualification in food science or microbiology, and move into auditing once they've built up practical experience and additional certification in food safety standards.

What you'd need to get started

All five of these careers build on a foundation of science subjects at school, particularly chemistry and biology, alongside a genuine curiosity about how things work at a small scale. Comfort with detailed, methodical work matters across the board, whether that's running a lab test correctly or documenting a production process accurately.

Communication also turns up more than you'd expect. Scientific findings only create change if someone can explain them clearly to a product developer, a production manager, or a regulator who isn't a scientist themselves, so being able to translate technical detail into something practical is genuinely useful across every one of these roles.

If you're interested in exploring more careers, head to our jobs and careers page for more.

Civil Engineers design and oversee the infrastructure that connects and sustains communities, from roads and bridges to water systems, drainage networks, and public transport corridors. They work across the full timeline of a project, from initial concept and design through to construction oversight and long-term maintenance planning.

If you enjoy solving complex technical problems, want to see your work take physical shape in the world around you, and are drawn to building the systems people rely on every day, engineering could be the right direction.

What skills do I need as a Civil Engineer?

• Analytical & logical thinker
• Strong mathematical ability
• Technical problem-solver
• Clear communicator
• Collaborative & team-focused
• Attention to detail
• Project management ability
• Adaptable under pressure

What do Civil Engineers do?

A large part of your work begins with analysis and design. You'll assess sites, model structural and hydraulic systems, and develop engineering solutions that meet safety standards, regulatory requirements, and the practical needs of the project. This involves specialist software for modelling and analysis, and a solid understanding of how materials and systems behave under different conditions. Before any physical work begins, you'll prepare technical drawings, specifications, and reports that contractors and construction teams will work from.

During construction, you'll move between the office and the site, reviewing progress, resolving technical issues as they emerge, and making sure work is being carried out to the required standards. You'll liaise regularly with construction managers, architects, planners, and clients, translating technical requirements into practical guidance and flagging problems before they become costly. The ability to communicate complex engineering information clearly to people without an engineering background is a skill that you'll have to develop quickly and use constantly.

Beyond individual projects, civil engineers contribute to feasibility studies, environmental assessments, and long-term infrastructure planning. With experience, many develop expertise in a particular area such as structural engineering, transportation, hydraulics, or geotechnical engineering. Others move into project management or technical leadership, overseeing teams of engineers across large and complex programs.

What kind of lifestyle could I expect?

Civil Engineers work for engineering consultancies, construction and infrastructure firms, local and state government agencies, and large resource and utilities companies. The public sector offers roles in roads, water, and urban infrastructure, while the private sector spans consultancies working across multiple clients and contractors delivering major projects. The breadth of industries that employ civil engineers is one of the practical strengths of the qualification.

Hours are above average, particularly during active project delivery phases when deadlines are tight and technical issues require prompt resolution. The role is primarily office-based, with regular site visits that vary in frequency depending on the project stage. Some roles involve travel to regional or remote locations, particularly in infrastructure and resources. Flexibility is moderate, with hybrid arrangements increasingly common for office-based work.

The physical demands are generally low to moderate, though site visits require appropriate safety gear and awareness of working environments. Salaries are above average, and the profession has a strong outlook driven by sustained government investment in infrastructure, urban growth, and the ongoing transition to renewable energy systems.

How to become a Civil Engineer

1. Complete an accredited engineering degree: A bachelor's degree in civil engineering is the standard entry point. Accreditation by the relevant professional engineering body is important, as it underpins your path to professional recognition later in your career. Some programs offer combined degrees or honours pathways that can strengthen your graduate prospects.
2. Gain practical experience during your studies: Vacation work, cadetships, and internships with engineering consultancies or government infrastructure agencies are valuable and often competitive. Getting onto a real project while still studying gives you context for what you're learning and builds relationships that can lead to graduate roles.
3. Work toward professional recognition: After graduating, engineers typically work toward chartered or professionally recognised status through their professional body. This involves a period of supervised practice and a competency assessment, and it's the benchmark that signals full professional standing in the industry.
4. Build technical depth and breadth: Early in your career, seek exposure to different project types and engineering disciplines. The engineers who progress fastest tend to be those who develop technical depth in one area while maintaining enough breadth to work effectively across a project team.

From here, you could move into senior engineering roles with responsibility for complex projects, pursue chartered status and take on technical leadership, specialise in a particular discipline such as structural, hydraulic, or transport engineering, or transition into project management, infrastructure advisory, or executive roles within large organisations.

What can I do right now?

If you're in high school and interested in working as a Civil Engineer, here are some practical steps:

• Prioritise mathematics and physics, as these subjects form the technical foundation of engineering study and are prerequisites for most civil engineering degree programs
• Look for engineering enrichment programs, competitions, or workshops run by universities or professional engineering bodies, many of which are open to secondary students and give you a taste of real engineering thinking
• Seek work experience with a local engineering consultancy or government infrastructure team to see how civil engineers spend their time and what kinds of projects they work on day to day

Find out more about alternative careers on our Job Spotlights page.