Careers Advice Australia

The AHA has long been involved at a national level with many initiatives to provide career information and youth engagement models such as school based apprenticeships for AHA members.  The federal Department of Education, Science and Training have initiated an Australia wide network of industry careers advisors to provide assistance to students, parents, teachers, employers and communities about the importance of career pathway planning. 

The AHA is part of a consortium to deliver key information and engagement with industry in the services sector as a National Industry Careers specialist (NICS) to Regional Industry Careers Advisors (RICAs). 

The RICA network involves 57 advisers across Australia. Their primary focus is to assist school and communities provide relevant regional career advice. The distribution of information through Local Community Partnerships, employers and businesses and schools within the RICA Service Region is coordinated by the RICAs. 

RICAs ensure that professional career information and advice on employment opportunities, skills needs, industry career pathways in their area of responsibility.

The role of the Service Industries NICS is to:

1. Improve the quality and availability of the Services Industry Sector specific career, skills needs and labour market information that will be used by RICAs
2. Raise awareness for the RICA Network, industry, employers and businesses of emerging skills needs, training pathways, occupational and career opportunities within the contracted Industry Sector
3. Increase national industry and employer groups’ engagement in supporting young people’s career and transitions development in the Service Industry Sector

The AHA seeks to identify the barriers faced by employers in employing young peoples and work to ensure these barriers can be worked through at the local level in order to address labour shortages and increase career prospects.

Preparing Students for their Work Placement

The Services Industry NICS have developed a presentation to be delivered to students to help prepare them for work placement. The presentation has been specifically tailored to the hospitality industry, and looks at among other things, ways to prepare students to make a positive impression and meet the expectations of employers. The presentation comes in the form of a powerpoint presentation along with supporting notes and information pages.

To receive a copy of the presentation please contact Karen Jack either by email Karen Jack or call 1300 722 878 (Option 2)

Industry Statistics Did you know that...

Our industry (Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants) employs close to 500,000 people and grew by over 60,000 in 5 years.

Job prospects for chefs and cooks are very good and good respectively.

For this and much more information on the state of the hospitality industry and the employment of young people in the industry please click here.

Hospitality Careers Forum

On Monday 26th May at Parliament House, Sydney, the Australian Hotels Association in conjunction with Kenvale College of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Restaurant and Catering Australia, conducted a careers forums which showcased the benefits of working in the hospitality industry.

The forum was designed as a mechanism to brief career advisers, hospitality VET teachers, LCPs and RICAs on the career opportunities available in the hospitality and tourism industry. Career advisors, hospitality VET teachers, LCPs and RICAs NSW wide were invited to attend the forum in the hope they will take the information back to their young people and encourage them to pursue a career in this dynamic industry.

The forum gathered together a range of hospitality preofessionals and hotel school graduations to site on a panel and discuss thier experiences and opportunites within the industry.

To view a short video of the forum please click here.

If you would like to have a complete copy of the forum please contact Karen Jack