I’ve got the Skills to Pay the Bills

On the resume of a future employee, a degree might look good in writing. Qualifications are regarded highly on a resume; it shows commitment and achievement in the subject. However in the workforce, experience is regarded higher and many university students find themselves unable to find a job, because they lack experience. While also showing commitment and achievement in a subject, TAFE gives students the skills expected in the industry, which they don’t receive with their university qualifications.

I’m studying a diploma of Public Relations at Central TAFE in Perth. Currently we are organising several campaigns that are real, as in we are going to achieve real results. These will be examples we can show to our future employer that say “I achieved this, we relaunched the Lectures Social Club and it is still alive and running today.”

While I’m on the subject of lecturers, the lecturers at TAFE have all been amazing. They have come from different sides of the world and with a lot of experience from a lot of different industries and they have all been willing to pass on their experiences to help all students to learn.

Having to incorporate work experience into the degree is also very advantageous for the PR students and all students studying at TAFE, as it gives them the chance to see their selected industry in action. Unfortunately I think university is based around the theory and teaching you everything you need to know in writing to be prepared. Until you’re actually doing the job, you can never fully comprehend it. Take learning to drive for instance. You could be given all the information there is on how to drive, but until you actually get into a car and drive on the road, you can’t know what it is really like and how to do it perfectly.

What it comes down to though, is practice. Practicing driving or practicing how to be a PR Practitioner, whether you have a degree or a diploma, in five years time, your resume will show one section stating your qualifications and several sections stating your skills and your responsibilities you have carried out. Through doing these campaigns, this diploma would have already given me skills and responsibilities that I have carried out. A degree may give me more details in theory, but I would have already applied them in real life when I finish my diploma.