Are you interested in working with children? Then, the childcare sector is the correct bet for you. In Australia, it is now a growing sector and thus offering an array of job opportunities. Not only the Growth in the industry but also the roles in demand to meet the objectives of Australia’s strategies for early childhood education and care are another reason for such increasing opportunities.
What are the potential job opportunities you can get in this sector?
There are specific early childhood qualifications available in Australia, both online and offline. The two main Early Childhood Education Courses that students go for are Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care and Diploma in Childcare. Achieving any one of the two can allow you to apply for several jobs.
Professional Opportunities–
With a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education, you can be an early childhood educator, an educational leader, or an early childhood teacher. These three may sound similar, but there are some key differences in terms of definition and job responsibilities. An early childhood teacher (ECT) usually holds an early childhood qualification from an approved educational institute. As an ECT, you have to directly work with children studying in pre-schools or kindergartens, where you will be responsible for developing and implementing the early childhood programs. For center-based early childhood services, it is a general requirement to have an ECT.
Day-Care Or Centre-Based Service–
On the other hand, as an early childhood educator, you have to provide education and care to children, irrespective of the setting. The setting may be a center-based service, an outside school hour’s care, a family day-care, or vacation care. Depending on your service and the level of training and experience you have in early childhood care, you may be assigned the role of a lead educator or a co-educator. Also, in some services, authority requires appointing a support worker to assist children with special needs. This support worker may have specific training or experience as the required qualification for the job.
Early Childhood Education Leader–
An early childhood educational leader’s role is a little different from the above two. You have to lead the implementation and subsequent development of the educational program within any early childhood service. One of the critical differences relative to the other two jobs mentioned is that you will not need to have any specific qualification certificate, customized set of skills, or enough experience to become a leader.
Instead, you will be chosen on being the ideal person for the post. As a leader, you will help the educators with strategies and provide support and guidance for the development of the service programs aiming at the holistic learning and development of the children. You will also be responsible for risk assessment childcare.
Other job opportunities include a coordinator’s job in family day care, mobile services, or school-age care. Having a diploma qualification will help you to get administrative and managerial roles. You can be a manager of a childcare center, an operations manager, or an area manager. As a manager, you will be responsible for designing the operational plan and seeing whether all the work are getting appropriately done, and motivating your staff with the aim of overall development and welfare of the children. You can also become an early childhood officer after a Diploma qualification.
Some specialist jobs also become available once you complete your course. You can either do these jobs independently or with any structured system of child school or daycare. These jobs are early childhood intervention specialist, early childhood assessor, and trainer, early childhood consultant. To start, you may search for Child Care Courses in Perth and get enrolled in whichever suits you.
What Is The Job Scenario In 2021?
Owing to the crisis generated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the childcare industry has also been turned upside-down. So, 2021 is indeed challenging for all the people involved in this sector. According to a recent survey, many providers (more than 50%) have lost a significant amount of money in 2020 by staying open. And, about 42% of them had to take personal debts to pay professional expenses.
Amid such an unstable situation, there is still a ray of hope. An amount of $10 billion is included in the latest relief package for COVID. Also, through the Paycheck Protection Program, a few providers will have the eligibility to make money. Alongside it, as vaccination has started, more people are returning to work after taking the vaccine. So, job opportunities will rise, whatsoever. According to a high-ranked official in the industry, there will be a high increase in demand for childcare jobs in the summertime, and the reason behind it is that some of the childcare camps will not open very soon. As children could not go to school for a prolonged period, their parents had to utilize that time to give them proper care and education. But the situation may not be the same now, so there is a possibility of an increase in demand for in-house child care.
Families are now helped to get thoroughly examined care providers. But, if the parents are looking for someone who can give the children the same care that the parents themselves provide, they should ask the care worker several questions to get an idea of their abilities and skills. The parents should see whether the caregiver has that same energy and excitement. The parents should also help the caregiver by providing all the necessary details about the little one. It will be better if the candidate gives more specific answers and has relevant experience within a circle outside of the family and close friends. Until the parents feel sending their kids to care centers is safer, demand for in-home care workers is expected to rise.
