When Rose Cox was eight years old, her mum was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition that affected her mobility. Overnight, Rose became a carer for her mum and her younger sister. It was a massive responsibility for someone so young, but it introduced Rose to her first love - cooking.

“Cooking is an art form. Through cooking, you can be experimental and expressive.”

In high school, Rose got to indulge her passion for cooking when she did a Certificate II in Hospitality - Kitchen Operations as part of her HSC. It was an awesome experience, and one that set the student from Strathfield Girls High up for success.

“I chose hospitality because I have a passion for food,” says Rose. “The course also provided me with a huge range of skills. They improved my part-time job prospects and created an amazing foundation for my future.”

Rose was able to land a good job straft after graduating from school thanks to the skills she picked up through VET.

“I’m really big on transferable skills, partly because I’ve benefited from them.”

As well as allowing her to slide straight into well paid ‘hospo’ jobs locally and overseas, Rose’s VET training benefited her in some completely unrelated areas. After finishing high school, Rose interned at a major consulting firm, worked for Senator Kristina Keneally, and served on the NSW Carers Advisory Council. And that’s just half of it. The 2017 NSW VET in Schools Student of the Year also made a successful transition to Uni, even if she wasn’t that into it at first.

After starting a Bachelor of Social Science degree at Macquarie University, Rose realised it wasn’t quite what she wanted to do. Luckily, switching degrees at Uni is pretty easy and Rose was able to move across to the Bachelor of Arts program where she’s drawing on the ‘soft skills’ she developed in VET. She’s also carving out a nice little niche for herself in the job market.

They say the best jobs are the ones that aren’t advertised and Rose was lucky enough to land one recently. Feeling a bit lost and wondering what she was doing with her life, Rose hit up the CEO of PwC’s Skills for Australia program to see if they had any jobs going. Within a matter of days, she had a job offer.

The former Strathfield Girls student might not be doing hospitality anymore, but she’s killing it thanks, in part, to the lessons she learned in VET.