Career Navigator is a ready-for-work programme designed around three components; Career Navigator Mentoring, Work Ready Experiential Workshops and Career Pathway Events.
The Graeme Dingle Foundation works directly with high schools and key local industries to provide business links for the young people in the programme, to give them insight into their future career direction.
“Career Navigator … connects people in the community with our kids who don’t have those natural connections… every year we researched the kids that have left. And what we found is that [before Career Navigator of] the kids who left school, about .. 30% of them weren’t doing anything … We did the research last year. Now there is … only about 10% [doing nothing].” – Salvatore Gargiulo, Principal, Manurewa High School
The research evaluations completed to date provide positive feedback that Career Navigator is ‘hitting the mark’, with students telling us they had:
- An increased awareness of what was expected from them in the workplace;
- Gained skills and confidence in their ability to make career and subject choices; and
- That ‘Career Pathway Events’ helped students to identify suitable career and subject choices, confirmed their current choices or encouraged them to carefully consider their future career path and relevant subjects
Teachers and employers tell us that the ‘Career Pathway Events’ are inspiring and useful and an opportunity for employers to raise their profile and connect with future employees, and to the benefit of young people and their community. Additionally they said that the ‘Career Pathway Events’ are well organised and beneficial.
“When you finish [at Manurewa High], it is to be going somewhere… [Career Navigator helps kids spend] time in businesses, and with businesses coming here and spending time with the kids … Career Navigator has actually created a whole bunch of relationships for our kids.” – Salvatore Gargiulo, Principal, Manurewa High School