Leanna David: Personally I do feel like it is for me, working with people, caring for people, tending to their needs, I feel like it’s very important for me.

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In my career I do want to pursue something in the healthcare industry. I really love the residents, their uniqueness, you really connect to them through food as well. I love when they smile, especially when I remember what they like. That’s kind of the highlight of my job, just talking to them, makes me really happy and that also makes their day.

Riley Scott: It took me quite a while to find what felt right for me, but, yeah, once I found the care industry I knew, yeah, that was where I belonged and I felt very much at home there. My first job in the care industry was in aged care. I did a college course, did work experience and I though I’d give disability a try. So I did a college course in disability. I got my disability cert 4 and then, um, work experience in disability and yup, been there ever since.

Thea Sison: I got into the industry because my mum recommended to me due to my personality and so I did try and give it a go and went to TAFE. I love working with the older generation and getting to know their stories and learn from them. It’s quite a big thing for me.

Nicole Hoste: I started in the care sector, uh, as kind of a late career change. I wanted to actually give back to the community, so I really wanted to do something very meaningful and what better industry to work in than, uh, supporting others.

Benjamin French: It does bring me, uh, a lot of joy. When you see someone, um, achieve their goal, there’s a real sense of accomplishment and a real sense of understanding that, uh,, you’ve been a part of something special that’s bigger than yourself, that’s not just self-serving but entirely at the service of somebody else.

Riley Scott: The most exciting aspect about the care industry for me is a lot of new opportunities and new things happening, um, but for me it just always comes back to spending time with the guys, it’s the most rewarding, the most fulfilling. Yeah, no matter what changes, that’s the constant that I’m there for.

Nicole Hoste: The main benefits to entering the care sector is the, the myriad of, uh, career paths. It’s actually quite infinite, the variety of things you can do within the sector and the ability for those skills and knowledge to be transferable into any role. There’s not a lot of sectors out there that are exactly like that.

Thea Sison: I know that I’m making a difference in their lives, even if it’s just a simple one by making them smile or even just bringing them the newspaper. I feel like it has a lot of, um, meaning to them knowing that there’s someone there looking out for them.

Leanna David: Throughout high school I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I wasn’t picky about my subjects either. I just knew that I wanted to complete high school.

Thea Sison: So, I studied at TAFE at Meadowbank, Cert 4 leisure and lifestyle, and what I found at TAFE is that it’s very hands on. They want you to succeed, not just theoretically, but practically, which helped me a lot, making it easier for me to integrate into the workforce.

Nicole Hoste: I studied a Diploma of Community Services at TAFE. Studying through TAFE actually really suited my lifestyle as well, like work, the content was really interesting, the support I got was great, it was a really good option.

Riley Scott: So some of the fun things we do, yeah we, ah, do lots of activities, bowling and movies and, uh, big picnic all together, barbeques, big walks, so it’s a lot of fun hanging out with everybody.

Thea Sison: We hold concerts and live entertainment. We try and bring all of the residents, where they enjoy to dance or socialise.

Nicole Hoste: It’s a real privilege to be involved in somebody’s life, so somebody to allow you to be able to help, um, support them, to mentor them and to really be an advocate for their choices.

Benjamin French: When entering into, um, work like this, you have to sort of come in with the attitude of I want to do something that’s bigger than myself, that is, ah, essentially in service of somebody else. Step outside of your comfort zone and trying to, sort of, focus on being able to help others be able to reach their full potential.

Nicole Hoste: I would recommend a career in the care sector because the opportunities are endless. There’s no reason why you can’t do anything in this sector. The career paths are varied. You could be studying accountancy and work in this sector. You can, you can be, uh, studying anything from medicine, physiotherapy, speech pathologist, any of those allied health services. But you can also enter the sector as a support worker and then follow my career path into operational leadership and become, uh, you know, uh, into people and culture and end up owning your own business.

People need a sense of purpose and people want to care and be kind and this is a great sector to be able to give back.

Riley Scott: I’d recommend the care industry to students because it provides them meaningful work and a sense of fulfilment. When you’re young there’s a sense of pressure to decide right away what you want to do and commit to it, but until you give it a go, you won’t know what’s for you. I would recommend thinking about the care industry and if you are an empathetic person and you think giving enjoyment to other people would be fulfilling for you, I would recommend trying it out.

Leanna David: Some advice that I would give to students that are willing to join the care industry is to just go for it. Seek some experience in this industry. It doesn’t matter what role, as long as you seek some experience, it’s a good start. You provide care that really gives this close connection to you and the residents. It’s a nice feeling, having a close connection with them.

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