CEO Danny Bielik's article in the Australian on the changes in Higher Education!

Choice of access key benefit of reforms

In all the noise about $200,000 university fees, one of the key messages of the government’s
reforms is being lost.

Until now, higher education students have had very little choice. Public university number one, two
and three has been the choice in most capital cities with even less choice in regional areas.
Yes, they use brand names like Sydney, Macquarie and Federation, but in reality they offer similar
courses at identical prices, no matter where they are located or the quality of their offering.

Private providers, on the other hand have typically had narrow offerings that don’t offer much threat
to this government-imposed order, because of a bifurcated pricing structure.

No access to capital funding such as the EIF (Education Investment Fund), no access to subsidies
like at government universities and a 25 per cent education tax on their loan scheme.

What other kind of industry gets that level of taxpayer- funded protectionism against private
investment?
Universities owned by states and funded by the commonwealth continue to be, by-and-large, the
order of the day.
And these same universities are sliding down the international scales. What a surprise!

Yes, universities have independent boards but in reality I will call them for what they are — a cartel.
And what is it that this cartel really doesn’t like about the government’s proposed reforms?
The combination of uncapping of fees and the broadening of the HECS offering to private providers
on a more-equal footing is the modern-day equivalent of the antitrust movement in the US at the turn
of the 1900s.

This is right at the heart of the reforms the government has put in the budget. And it’s all lost in the
noise about expensive degrees. Whether by design or not, this is actually very clever.
Should these reforms pass the Senate, Australia now has the opportunity to completely remake the
higher education sector.

A more level playing field will become more inviting for high-quality foreign-owned institutions and
encourage investment by homegrown ones.
This should stimulate the largest investment boom in tertiary education capacity Australia has ever
seen.

Private investment — not taxpayer investment — leading to diversity and choice for students, local
and foreign.
Why shouldn’t an Australian student have access to some of the best institutions of learning and
research in the world?

Wouldn’t it be nice to attend Yale or Harvard; INSEAD, Nat ional University of Singapore or Oxford
in Sydney or Melbourne; Albany or Wollongong?
Wouldn’t that be attractive to international students who are now being drawn to Singapore and
China?

Think how many sustainable jobs that would create and what it would do to our economy?
We sometimes send strange signals as a country — on the one hand we want to throw taxpayer
money at foreign car manufacturers to keep jobs that make no modern economic sense.

But we also demand the same government use taxpayer money to prevent foreign providers of highquality education setting up shop.
What is an educational investor to make of this?
Yes, in this new paradigm Australian universities will have to compete.

Or we can leave up the walls of protectionism and continue to pour money into further decline.

Talent shortage?

MCI is recruiting!  And we are open to accepting CVs from Sydney based talented, committed people to fill a whole range of roles.  We are keen to recruit across all generations and so no matter your age, we look forward to accepting your application.

We have expanded rapidly and need to urgently fill many positions.  We seem to feel that there is a talent shortage or it could be that the best people are hiding their talents...

Do you have what it takes to excel in these roles:

Telesales and account executives

Part time and full time administration team members

Marketing and communications assistant

Student mentors for our MCI Institute

Course advisors for our students

 Content writers for our wide range of qualifications

Bring us your passion for the learning environment and we reward well for consistently high performance!  We are an award winning RTO with a great working environment.  We strive to live according to our logo:  "Because a Mind is a Powerful thing to use."

Please send CV's to hr@mci.edu.au for attention Jacqui Rimer.

We look forward to hearing from you!

What I learnt about training - from buying a new car....

Always great fun to drive off in new wheels - but boy, did I get an empathy wake-up call about how learners experience new skills.  Yes, I am an experienced (old) driver, with lots of mileage on me.  Nonetheless, the world keeps spinning and cars are not what they used to be....

So, my timely reminders are:

1. It all looks so easy when the trainer explains it to you.  Yes, seems so straightforward when you are an observer.  When the trainer leaves and you are in traffic, working out where the indicator is and how to get in to reverse, it is not as simple as it seems.

So big AHA for me is:

Follow the DEDICT model because rapid-fire explanations of new skills just waft over people's heads - 

Demonstrate

Explain

Demonstrate Slowly

Imitation

Coaching

Trial

2. Allow for question time.  If all the instructions descend on a learner without time for questions, the learning is simply not embedded.  If the learner is not asking questions, they are not absorbing the information.  Prompt them to ask questions as they might be fearful of showing themselves up as not being up to speed on things.

Research shows that the best way of reviewing your work before an exam, is to respond to questions.  If you ask yourself questions about the information, and practice recalling that information, this will greatly improve your ability to recall items on the test.

3. Build your empathy quotient.  Yes, you as a trainer know the material backwards and forwards.  You have been through it several times and can probably do it in your sleep.  BUT your learner is not in that fortunate position - they might be seeing things for the very first time and might be at the stages of unconscious or conscious INcompetence. 

They are experiencing feelings ranging from fear through to nervousness and even anxiety.

If we do not acknowledge these feelings, we risk undermining their confidence and as the stress factor rises, so retention decreases. 

4. Building confidence is sometimes more important than the skills themselves!  When the learners feel good about themselves, they are more likely to try out the new skills in many different contexts.  

When the vehicle was at a standstill, I had time to think through all the options.  When I was out on the road and the circumstances varied, suddenly moments of panic emerge as I encountered situations where I had to really think carefully before responding.

I was lucky to  be able to draw on my experience as a driver in the past and if we as trainers can make the links to what is known by the learners, there is a better chance that they will feel that level of confidence to try out the new stuff.

5.  Praise and praise!!  Positive reinforcement has been an old tool in the bag and it is still very effective.  

Have a look at our Train the Designer program to build your bench strength in learning design:

http://mci.edu.au/trainer-academy/train-the-designer

Want your sessions to shine? Are you following these essential guidelines?

San Diego Training 2014 - we have returned with bags full of new learning activities to engage learners of all shapes and sizes and lots of enthusiasm to improve our learning programs!  It has encouraged us to re-evaluate what we are delivering and stretch for greater heights.  Here are some of the questions we posed to our design and delivery teams:

Be honest with yourself and self-assess - do your programs really shine?  What else could you be doing to ensure that your sessions move from ordinary to EXTRA-ordinary?


1. All activities MUST relate to the key messages of the program.  I detest activities that have no relevance and never want to see any of those 'turn around and massage the back of the person next to you' style energisers.  Is your day structured so that there are constant openers and closers?  Are we sure that these activities are relevant and appropriate?

2. Activities are not the 'nice to have' components of a learning program - they make the training memorable.  After all, if we forget 70% of what we learn within the first 24 hours of attending training, anything that we can do to improve that dreadful percentage is a step forward.  What else could you be doing to ensure that our participants are so engaged that they have instant recall of key points?

3. There must be movement in the room.  Learning has nothing to do with sitting in a chair.  Motion causes emotion and sitting still for a few hours just pools the energy in to a heap on the floor.  What else can we do so that participants are bouncing off the walls?

4. When you talk about your program being interactive, do you mean that there is a lot of discussion going on at tables?  OR, do you mean that there are constant structured activities that have a purpose and a briefing and debriefing that creates AHA moments?

5. Are we stretching our creativity to its limits or are we satisfied with what we have always done in the past?  New materials, new games refresh programs and the facilitators who deliver them.  Are we too bound to the old way of doing things or are we prepared to be more adventurous?

6. How could you do more to create learning experiences for your participants?  What else could be done pre- and post-training to shake things up and to tap in to both the rational and emotional side of the learning experience?

7. Participants learn so much from each other.  Do we have sufficient opportunities for the learning leader to become less important and to value the contribution of the group?

8. Are we doing enough to offer blended solutions?  The blends are so rich in this day of technology - are we ensuring that there is such an amazing blend of all forms of learning that the touch-points with learners are multi-faceted?

Let the games begin!  Much to be done!

Speak to us about how we can train your trainers and designers to create more sessions that deliver great results.

Danny Bielik’s tips on Securing your Dream Career

On the 2GB Courses and Careers Show with Danny Bielik, Danny talks about securing your dream career.

Here are his top 10 tips:

• If you are looking at a new career, look at one that you reasonably think has a good prospect for growing for a long time.  I keep talking about aged care – because people are getting older.  I keep talking about community services and health, because of NDIS and Gonski are going to see growth in individualised care.  I often talk about more general qualifications at a Diploma level that can help you with a broader range of job opportunities - qualifications such as HR, Business Administration, Project Management etc. are in demand in a range of industries. Remember - you can also take advantage of the great government loan programs available such as HECS or VET FEE-HELP.
  
• Be careful of “fad” jobs or ones that are easily exported – IT, web development and application development.  If you’re looking to develop one of your own apps for a specific market, go for it, but if you’re looking for a job, good luck.
  
• Watch out for declining industries – journalism and retail, printing and publishing are good examples of today’s “buggy whip” industries.  Think about what industries are going away or under stress – manufacturing is a good example.  If you’re in one of these, you might be ok, but it won’t hurt to think of what other industries you could be pursuing pretty smartly.
  
• Now is the time to take a look at your CV – these days job agencies and employers receive tons of CVs at the click of a mouse button.  So get rid of the “guff”, no more 10 page CVs. Remember the people who are reading it will make their initial decision about you in  30 seconds.  It’s never too early to tidy and clean house.  Bullet points rule, no long form text.  Also remove general statements like “I am a forward-looking hard worker who functions well as an individual and as part of a team.  I am self-motivated and friendly.”  Oh please – pass the bucket!  Kill the management-speak too – anyone who sends me a CV with “High-functioning, circumstantial enterprise rephasing” will find their CV in the “circular repository” (bin).  Oh, and my personal favourite error, if you have made changes in your CV, make sure you delete all the changes thoroughly before sending it.  I have received CVs with people’s errors and changes and seen them do things like add $$ to sales figures.
  
• Add a profile to LinkedIn – don’t wait until you’re looking for a job – it takes time to build your profile and time to link to other people.  You never know who might come sniffing your way – if someone is looking for someone LIKE you, odds-on they’re using LinkedIn.  And if you are looking right now for a job, when you start making changes to your LinkedIn it also tells the world that you’re looking – so be prepared that your boss may find out.
  
• Clean your Facebook profiles – don’t put things like “I hate my job” or anything else offensive.  It can be quite straightforward for employers to see it if they know someone you know.
  
• Network – not always online, do it offline too.  Attend industry drinks and conferences, there’s always an association for everything.  A friend of mine used to be the President of the Australasian Bottled Water Association – who knew there was such a thing?  You might find there’s lots of other jobs, you might equally find it’s tough out there.  Meet people, hand out cards.  If you don’t have any in your job, get some made.  You can even get them for free on the internet.
  
• Find out what skills the market is looking for – then start up-skilling.  The skills required in almost any job change very frequently now and, like an old house you can find yourself slipping behind.  Again, the internet is your best friend, but networking will help you with this too – join some of the groups on LinkedIn for your industry.  You’ll be amazed at what you find out.
  
• Find out what you’re worth.  I have put some links to salary surveys below – check them out.  You might think you’re worth more than you’re being paid, but it’s really best to know.
  
• If you are interviewing for a job, please show courtesy.  Be polite, show up on time, be neat.  Thank people for an interview and any opportunity to apply for a job.  I have written words like “LATE” and “SCRUFFY” on someone’s CV before – do you think they came back for a second interview? My mother always said it costs nothing to be polite and let me tell you, as an employer, it really can make all the difference.

General disclaimer – Nothing in this blog intimates that MCI or Danny Bielik guarantee you can get a job nor keep it.  Work hard, work smart, study well, take control and be nice to others.
Links to Salary Surveys:

• Michael Page
• My Career
• Hays

Danny Bielik is a former Ministerial Adviser and CEO of Management Consultancy International.  Danny presents the Courses and Careers Show each Thursday on Nights with Steve Price.  You can listen to the Courses and Careers Show on 873 2GB in Sydney and 2gb.com.  Podcasts are on the 2GB website and iTunes.

The high value of a vocational qualification!

So, you did not receive notification of acceptance in to the university of your choice.  It is not the end of the world – there are massive opportunities for you to gain a vocational qualification and here are some of the reasons why you should consider working towards a nationally recognised qualification:

1.    Vocational qualifications are highly valued by employers.  They indicate that you have practical know-how that will make a real difference to their business.  Vocational education in Australia is very well regarded internationally because of the high standards set by providers – and this gives you a strong entry point for employment as well as self-employment.

2.   Nationally recognised qualifications can also provide you with entry in to the academic field.  They are a way for you to test out whether you are genuinely interested in the career of your choice and even if you stop mid-way, you will accumulate credits along the way.

3.   There is a very wide choice of qualifications and you can also mix and match to a certain extent through your selection of elective units.  This provides you with an entry point in to your profession and determining what the marketplace is looking for in terms of skills sets:  have a look at the wide range of qualifications that are available:

http://mciinstitute.edu.au/#

4.    If you were not the top student in your HSC year for any number of reasons, working towards a nationally recognised qualification is generally a more gentle entry point in to the world of study.  Although the standards are high, you have an option of commencing with a Certificate IV before progressing on to the Diploma level.  This builds your confidence and enables you to adopt a building block approach.  Because the units are usually portable, you could even gain more than 1 qualification.

Here are some dual qualifications that ensure that you have a wider range of options as you select your career:

http://mciinstitute.edu.au/vet-fee-help-course-list.php

5.    Many top executives and managers today will tell you how a vocational qualification got them their start in life.  It looks good on a CV because it allows employers to see that you are someone who makes an effort and has a practical focus to bring to the workplace.

There are options for qualifications that enable you to find direct entry in to employment such as the Diploma of Workplace Health and Safety:

http://mciinstitute.edu.au/vet-fee-help-course/diploma-of-work-health-and-safety-BSB51312

6.   Nationally recognised qualifications are not based on pass/fail.  You are either competent or not yet competent and this provides you with many other opportunities to have a go at presenting the required evidence for assessment.  There are generally no formal exams and so for those who don’t perform well in those types of high pressure situations, you are not usually required to sit for exams.

7.  

Remember – no one can ever take your education away from you!  No matter what career path you choose, as you learn and grow, and learn some more, you are setting yourself up to hold a unique position. 

For more information on VET FEE-HELP, go to http://mciinstitute.edu.au/

Or call 1300 FEE HELP.

Factors to consider when choosing a future career – besides aptitude….

When selecting your most appropriate pathway to create the right entry point to the career of your choice, consider more than just your aptitude for that direction in life.  There are so many other factors to take in to consideration – here are just a few items to add to your ‘what career path do I choose for myself’ checklist:

1.    

    

We sometimes hold an ideal image in our minds of a particular career – which sometimes has absolutely no relation to the reality of that career.  We might dream of caring for animals and playing with them until they are well, when in fact the reality of life as a vet is far from being as romantic as this.

Consider living in the shoes of someone in the career of your choice to get a real feel for what it is like to live and breathe that role.  Be realistic about what the role entails – we all have good days and not so good days at work.  Overall though, there does need to be more that attracts you to a career than detracts you from entering that field.

2.   Set yourself up for success by beginning with the end in mind.  In other words, have your goal noted at the end of a page, in both words and created in to images so that it is really clear and powerful.  Then think of all the realistic steps you will need to take in order to arrive at this end point.

It is worthwhile spending the time to paint, draw, collage this end image and then fill in all the stages that will ensure that you reach your goal.  Sometimes, we are excited by the end point and have to take a deep, calm breath as we realise the amount of time and energy that is needed to get us to where we want to be.

3.   
     It is not always easy to take on feedback from others – parents, well -meaning friends and family.  As long as their feedback is provided in a constructive way, they could well be providing you with information that might be really useful in determining which direction to follow.  We all have blind spots and if we are able to open our ears and our mind to genuinely hearing the feedback we receive, this will ensure that we have a more balanced approach to finding the right career. 

If they are not providing you with the feedback you need, have the guts to ask for it.  It does not always come across as music to your ears and in some cases it might be harsh.  It will however give you some self-insights and might have an impact on the decisions you take.

4. We don’t know what we don’t know!  We might not be able to draw on expert advice and we might not even be able to interview others who currently do sit in the roles we aspire to one day holding ourselves.  We do however have the responsibility to collect as much data and as many statistics and documented details as possible.  It is up to us to do the research and make decisions based on factual information and not just on gut feel or for other reasons.

Find out what the pass / fail rates are of courses. Know what other students are saying about various institutions.  Maintain files of information on salary levels, demand in the workplace for skills sets and anything related to future prospects.

Here is some useful information on a range of management courses that are available through VET FEE-HELP: http://mciinstitute.edu.au/management

5.   Be aware that the world is always changing.  We live in times of huge complexity and ambiguity and jobs that did not exist a few years ago, are now exciting opportunities.  Job titles that were up until now unheard of, are commonly used in organisations.  Keep in touch with what is happening in the business context so that your range of choices is wider than you ever imagined.

To achieve this, you need to be reading and listening to news and current affairs programs. Use your network to interview people who are working in the field you would like to enter to find out what is really happening there on the ground.  You will be able to develop a strong picture of what is happening in various sectors of the economy and where the best opportunities lie.

Vocational qualifications are an excellent way of building your confidence and providing you with a solid grounding for future learning opportunities. http://mciinstitute.edu.au/vet-fee-help-course-list.php

6.   Don’t be put off if you have not yet discovered your passion in life.  Yes, one day you will find that dream job that keeps your blood pumping well.  If you are not lucky enough for that to happen to you immediately, be courageous enough to try out many areas until that right pathway emerges.  Most of us are fortunate enough to be able to transfer credits or move in to a new discipline. Yes, it might cost you some time - and some money.  But this is a small price to pay in the bigger scheme of things as you seek a totally fulfilling career that brings you the type of job satisfaction that you deserve.

And hey, what is wrong with changing several times until there is something that is a good, strong fit with who you are.  There are very few circumstances where career paths are set in concrete.  Give it a full go – but have the courage to switch out if you need to.  And there are many payment options as well including VET FEE-HELP: http://mciinstitute.edu.au/vet-fee-help-quick-facts.php

For further assistance and other useful tips, call us on 1300FEE HELP.  http://mciinstitute.edu.au/