Free expert advice on training and employment to all members of the community.
Please tell us a little bit about your school ororganisation. What's its history, mission, and goals?
The Victoria University Skills and Jobs Centre is part of a state-wide Victorian Government initiative to provide everyone in the community, including job seekers, prospective students and employers with free advice on training and job opportunities.
We offer FREE individual Career Counselling and tailored workshops which help our diverse range of clients to:
- Understand their study options including TAFE study, university courses, apprenticeships and traineeships;
- Map their personal career goals and understand the training and qualifications needed to make a start or make a change;
- Learn about jobs, skills in demand and future employment trends;
- Develop an effective resume, apply for jobs and prepare for interviews;
- Access other support services including financial advisor welfare assistance.
What was the background to your involvement with Morrisby?
Our team of qualified Career Counsellors come from a range of backgrounds and have worked with a wide variety of cohorts, including secondary school students and teachers. Some of our team have had extensive experience with Morrisby Assessments in this context and could see that it had significant potential to be built in to our work with Skills and Jobs Centre clients which can include young people, career changers, parents returning to work, retrenched workers, new arrivals and the long-term unemployed. We agreed as a team that the application of Morrisby Assessments would be beneficial for many of the clients we work with who experience significant barriers when it comes to realising their career goals. We have since undertaken the training required to unpack Morrisby Profiles and continue to identify opportunities to undertake this activity in our work with clients.
What role does Morrisby play in assisting you to provide an engaging, evidence-based, and information careers education plan?
Morrisby provides the initial building blocks for futureexploration for not only school-based clients but also those seeking a careerchange. Many career change clients needa tangible, evidenced based approach to support their decision makingparticularly when there is a major change under consideration and if there arefamily and financial obligations.
The real value of Morrisby is the relative strengthsapproach and the nominating of jobs to match attributes, personality etc. It isa much more practical model in this regard rather than suggesting general areasand in being so makes exploration more realistic and focused.
The process of stepping through the unpacking of Morrisbyresults is also invaluable allowing the client to see how all aspects of thequestionnaire build to the role suggested and with the option to retake somequestionnaires if the result is skewed.
In some cases, Morrisby confirms to a client their pastdecision making has been in line with their results and hence builds confidencefor future decision making.
How does the Morrisby Vocational Assessment toolcomplement other career exploration activities and resources available at yourschool or organisation?
Morrisby can provide a valuable additional support to themain activities undertaken with clients of the Victoria University Skills andJobs Centre- primarily 1:1 career counselling, group presentations and workshopfacilitation.
For example, our 'Your Career, Your Way' program is an 8week series of career development workshops conducted for local community members and supported by local councils, involving up to 20 individuals per workshop. Given the time required to both complete and unpack the Morrisby questionnaire, this activity is not incorporated into the main workshop design but the facilitator will identify those participants who may benefit from completing the assessment and refer them through to a VU SJC counsellor for completion and 1:1 unpacking. This assists individuals whose confidence has been built through attendance at formal workshops to narrow their focus and gain greater insight into their future career direction.
"Our Career Counsellors are increasingly incorporating Morrisby into their practice as the reports can be a useful tool to assist clients to discover their potential. Morrisby measures individual preferences and aptitudes (there is no 'pass' or 'fail') which can enhance confidence and provide valuable insight for those who may be unsure about their next steps"
CATHERINE OLDHAM - VU SJC Manager
"The Morrisby Profile can be used effectively with mature aged clients who may be seeking a change but are confused about direction and need substance and evidence to add to their decision-making."
SHIRLEY DOWNWARD - VU SJC Career Counsellor
What aspects of Morrisby do you utilise and why?(Morrisby Careers, Morrisby Profile, functions of Activities/Destinations)
Morrisby Careers is a relatively quick and easy startingpoint for our work with clients and can also be readily incorporated into anexisting career development workshop.
Morrisby Profiles at present are completed with SJC clientswho are struggling to clarify their direction- this is determined on acase-by-case basis by our qualified career practitioners in 1:1 CareerCounselling sessions.
We also unpack existing Morrisby Profiles with clients whohave already completed (usually when at Secondary School)
How would you rate the platform in terms of ease-of-use?(ability to run key reports, align career education activities, providepersonalised careers and subject suggestions)
The platform is easy to navigate, and the interface isreally intuitive.
Training is key in order to fully understand the informationand capabilities of the platform- we're still learning!!
What strategies have you found successful whenencouraging staff and student engagement with the Morrisby platform and itsrecommendations?
We mutually agreed as a team to undertake training and applyMorrisby if/as deemed useful/necessary with our clients.
Clients are happy to undertake the assessment when requestedby their SJC Career Counsellor as they typically have a good rapport and arekeen to seek clarification re future career direction.
If you were at a friend's barbeque and were asked todescribe Morrisby in three words, what would your response be (and why?)
Insightful
Empowering
Accurate
