Are you thinking of returning to work, or perhaps even changing careers after having taken time off with your children? Re-entering the workforce is challenging, but it will be far easier to find lucrative employment if you choose an up-and-coming career path (and avoid seeking work in industries that are currently in decline, such as manufacturing). Experts are predicting that the following will be 6 of the best career paths for 2020 and the years beyond:
1. Healthcare
Healthcare is Australia’s fastest-growing industry. There are plentiful local opportunities for healthcare careers here in the Ryde District; healthcare facilities in the city of Ryde and the surrounding area include Ryde Hospital, the Children’s Cochlear Implant Centre, the Gladesville Macquarie Hospital and the Royal Rehabilitation Centre.
For parents, a career in healthcare does require careful consideration. This is because you will ideally want to choose a career path that allows for a predictable work schedule – and many careers in healthcare do not accommodate this. Given patients fall ill or give birth at all hours and not always conveniently between the hours of 9 and 5, nursing and midwifery could prove tricker unless you have a lot of help available – perhaps a family member who is willing to provide childcare at odd and unpredictable hours (outside of daycare hours).
Choosing a specialisation where the majority of patient care can be scheduled ahead of time is a helpful strategy to go with. Specialties such as dentistry, chiropractic care and physiotherapy tend to provide more viable career opportunities for working parents than specialties such as emergency medicine or obstetrics.
The most lucrative healthcare jobs tend to require at least a relevant bachelor’s degree. In many cases, they also require successful completion of a postgraduate training program.
2. Social Assistance and Community Service
Ryde is a thriving community. Social assistance and community service are important components of the lifestyle in this area and social assistance is one of the fastest growing occupational sectors in the greater Sydney metropolitan area. This sector offers many fulfilling and family-friendly career opportunities.
Academic requirements for these jobs vary depending on the role. If you’d like to seek work as a community service worker, case worker, case manager or youth worker, community service courses can be helpful in preparing you for many of these types of careers.
3. Education
Ryde residents tend to place a high value on education, and our community is home to a variety of academic institutions. Local work opportunities often become available at Macquarie Community College, Ryde College of TAFE, TAFE NSW Meadowbank and others. There are multiple day care facilities that offer parents work opportunities teaching preschool-age children. Starting your own preschool or daycare service is also a viable option if you’re entrepreneurial.
Parents typically excel at careers in education. These careers tend to offer family-friendly work hours that allow parents to care for their own children while they are not on the job.
To become a lecturer or tutor at universities in Australia, you must have achieved a significant level of academic achievement. This role typically requires formal postgraduate education. Working at daycare typically requires a certificate iii or diploma in a subject such as early childhood education and care.
4. Building and Construction
There are a number of excellent tradies and trade businesses in Ryde ranging from kitchen remodelers to concreters and plasterers. Whether you plan to seek work with an existing company, or start your own, the trades can provide lucrative career opportunities for working parents.
Formal education is one possible pathway into some of the available building and construction roles. Apprenticeships and traineeships are another common means of acquiring the skills you’d need. One of the biggest downsides to getting these jobs is that many of them are seen as being men’s work. As a female, you may experience some sexism in this industry. But if you can get past that, jobs such as civil engineer, land valuer and construction manager are great career paths for mums.
5. Retail
Retail is one of the most important components of industry in Sydney and the surrounding areas. This sector is so important that the City of Sydney is specifically focusing on it as part of their economic development plan in the decade spanning 2020 – 2030.
There are a number of reasons retail can be a fantastic career path for parents. For starters, there is plentiful part-time work available in this sector. This allows you to have time for both work and family – although one possible downside is that you may need to make yourself available to work on weekends.
It’s possible to find retail jobs that do not have specific academic prerequisites – which is a huge advantage for parents who plan to change careers when they return to work. It should be relatively easy to find work in this sector without returning to school to obtain training. However, training is available for aspiring retail industry professionals in Australia. If you plan on seeking a career in retail management, relevant VET (Vocational Education and Training) courses can be valuable for helping you to obtain this type of work.
6. Technology
Some of 2020’s best-paying and highest demand jobs will be found in the tech sector. These include data scientist, cybersecurity manager and ICT manager.
These roles are likely to require university qualifications, but they don’t always. The relevant skills are typically acquired and mastered by actually performing the work. Education can be helpful, but it isn’t the only – or even necessarily the best – way to acquire the relevant skill set. There are also increasing numbers of industry certifications that can help you acquire specific tech skills you’ll need for success with these types of jobs.
This is another niche where sexism can be a problem for women. For example, Australia wide, women only make up 21 percent of the workforce in information security and database administration. But if you can get past that, tech offers some exceptionally good opportunities for well-paying jobs with family-friendly work hours.
There are many excellent job opportunities for parents in Ryde. These occupational niches are not the only viable options however, they are the ones worth considering because they are all in high-demand sectors that experts forecast will be driving economic growth in Ryde, Sydney and the surrounding areas in 2020 – 2030 and beyond.
