Exploring Career Pathways at School!

Last term Smart Waikato worked with Te Ao o Tamatea St Andrews Middle School to organise an interactive mini-expo model. This was developed to showcase local jobs and businesses and introduce different career ideas that rangatahi may not have thought of, while connecting what they are learning in school to the real world.

The event’s clear vision

Te Ao o Tamatea St Andrews Middle School are a part of our Secondary School Employer Partnerships (SSEP) and participated in the traditional model in 2024. While the students enjoyed the interactions with businesses, they were not able to picture themselves in the types of careers they were being shown. This stemmed from their lack of confidence and anxiety about continuing their education at senior high school.

The careers teacher, Waitawa Peepe, took the time to find out what the rangatahi could see themselves doing after leaving school. The feedback from this was that their ‘dream careers’ included Gamer, Youtuber, Supermarket team member and Brow Technician.

Community coming together

Thanks to funding provided by COGS we were able to coordinate a mini expo session that combined SSEP’s vision with our Smarter Futures messaging. Smart Waikato brought together key Hamilton industries and organisations in a way that inspired students to pursue sustainable career pathways.

This event wouldnt have been possible without the support from some awesome local businesses. Our goal was to showcase variation within the businesses to ensure the rangatahi could find something that connected with their passions.

The businesses who came along were; Mercury, BCD Group, Raukura Hauora o Tainui, Fire and Emergency, and FutureForce® Careers Hub. A massive thank you to these awesome people who came along, your energy and knowledge made the event such a success. 

The results speak for themselves

This event was a massive success where we saw awesome engagement from students and employers. The students got an insight into career pathways they may not have previously considered as an option for them. It was exciting to see the employers create an engaging expo display for the young people and hear them talk about careers and pathways within their organisation.

The feedback we received from employers reflected that this event was eye opening for them too as they gained knowledge on how to engage with Kura they hadn’t previously been involved with.

“It was a gratifying experience to give some time back to the rangatahi or “Ngā rangatira o te apōpō” –  thank you very much for having us”

They had not been exposed to children of this demographic as usually they would work with senior high school students rather than Year 9 and 10 level. However, they were surprised by how engaged the students were and have now seen the need to connect with these young years more often!

“It was our pleasure, they are an awesome group of rangatahi and we are happy to help anytime. The more comfortable they got the more they were able to engage”