They bring together courses from leading universities across Australia, all in one place. They make it easy to compare your options and get expert advice on undertaking that big career pivot.
If you want to make a change – but are unsure of what to do next – an easy first step is to take their course-matching quiz to get instant course ideas based on your aspirations and interests. You’ll be provided with a list of options you can study from home with government funding if you’re eligible, making it easy to compare options.
You can also chat with a local student advisor to go through your options. That might mean learning animation, studying psychology or maybe taking a course in creative writing. There’s something for everybody, whatever your interests, lifestyle or experience.
And taking the first step towards something new doesn’t have to mean completely abandoning where you started. Elmslie, for instance, chatted to her manager about her dreams of becoming a brewer – and he offered to hold her job for her and call it a ‘career break’ in case she wanted to come back. She never did, but that safety net was reassuring.
It was scary at first to take the leap, but it’s undoubtedly been worth it. A few years on from pressing pause on her career, Elmslie now works as the head brewer at a craft brewery in New Zealand, where she moved to take up the big gig. It is, she says, her “dream job”.
Now, Elmslie encourages others to find the thing that gets them excited.
“I think it is important to work out what drives you, especially when it comes to career – like, what’s getting you up in the morning?” she says.
“If you are wanting to get into an industry where you have more passion about it, I think it can feel scary and daunting, but even just putting the feelers out there can have pretty dramatic effects. And I think that when you have passion about something as well, it’s infectious and people can feel that. You would be surprised at the willingness of people to help you make a change.”
Today, Elmslie is so glad she traded banking for beer.
“I don’t really see what else I would be doing,” she says. “At the end of the day, I’m very happy with the choices that I’ve made and where I am in my career.”
With thousands of online courses (including courses to start your beer-brewing journey), Open Universities Australia can find the right one for you.
Visit open.edu.au to take the first step.