I recently watched an advertisement for girls’ toys, and while there is an abundance of pink, there is not a Barbie doll or My Little Pony in sight. The ad is for GoldieBlox, a range of toys specifically designed to engage girls and encourage them to build things, think creatively and be innovative. The company…
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It was my first week into year 11 and I had chosen to take Information, Digital Media and Technology – commonly known as IT – as an elective, and I did not pre-empt the controversy that this would arouse. ‘IT is for boys’, was what my friend told me. ‘You should drop it and take…
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Recently, I discovered a job posting on Gumtree for a Content Copy Writer Internship that ‘…will be full-time and inflexible (10am – 5:30pm, 5 days per week, 6 months), however, it is designed for those who already have some sort of qualification…’. Yep, that’s 900 hours of copy writing. I had to do a serious…
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This summer, I was lucky enough to spend two months clerking full-time at a law firm in my city, and apart from the excellent training and support my colleagues provided me, it was the sartorial side of the office that provided me with most food for thought. For me, corporate wear is the most chic…
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For the better part of 2012, I was unemployed. And I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse about myself. I graduated from my undergraduate degree in 2011, and immediately applied for full-time jobs. I landed one almost straight away, and it was even in my field of interest. I started in January 2012, and for…
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Have you ever had that dream? The one where you’re working for yourself, running an indie record store/bookshop/café/bar/vintage clothing store? And every day is a dream-like holiday where you get to chat to your lovely customers, hang out in a gorgeous little shop and earn money directly from the source rather than through wages? Yeah,…
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Work. Employment. Doing it for the money – as lame as it can sometimes be, working is inherently a big part of our lives. Australia has a massive work culture – independence and financial stability are highly valued, and labour market attachment can be a huge definer of social mobility, welfare and our culture more…
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Every morning, I get up at 4am to host a breakfast radio show. When I say I volunteer for such a thing, people recoil and repeat: ‘4am? The morningversion of four?’ on loop. But for all the early bedtimes, what I get in return is pretty swell: the chance to work with a group of…
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Kellie, Electrical Engineer Straying from her original intentions of become a lawyer, Kellie says her decision to become an electrical engineer was quite random. “I went to a university open day with a vague interest in computers, and the only tour I could get on was Electrical Engineering,” she says. “From there I was fascinated,…
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Plumber: Carlie When you have a drain or toilet issue and you flip through the yellow pages looking for a plumber, you might be surprised if the female that answered your phone call is actually the plumber who turns up at your door. Female trade workers aren’t as common as males, but it appears the…
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Dani, 25 Occupational Therapist (OT) There are many ways to make a living from being a caring person and Occupational Therapy (OT) is just one of them. Sporting a funky blonde hair style and cute skull cardigan, 25 year old OT, Dani Lees casually tells me about her career choice. Occupational therapy is a discipline…
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As someone who is studying Primary School Teaching, and who previously studied Social Work, it was only a matter of time before I started talking about this issue. Namely the idea of ‘women’s work’ and ‘men’s work’ and how this idea still seems to be so prevalent in our society. In my social work class there…
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Ever look in your bathroom, toilet or kitchen and wonder who might have done the hard yards in designing, cutting and tiling? Perhaps you’ve wondered what exactly might be involved? A simple google search lead me to the simplest definition to describe the activities of a tiler with the result concluding: one who lays tiles….
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It’s no secret that I was once more concerned with the prospect of being single for the rest of my life than I was with that of what I would do, professionally, for the rest of my life. Contrary to the aspirations of my overly romanticised and slightly vivid imagination, we are no longer living…
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