The programme is informed by the 2020 Drawing the Future report that shows most young people have a very limited range of career aspirations. More than half of those surveyed see themselves in only nine jobs.

“Inspiring the Future aims to broaden young people’s horizons about work options and change traditional attitudes about the careers available to them,” says TEC chief executive Tim Fowler.

Volunteers from the community attend Inspiring the Future events hosted by primary and intermediate schools and share their career journeys in a fun and interactive way.

“Key to the programme are community role models,” says Mr Fowler. “Hundreds of people across the country have already signed up and we need more,” he adds.

“The more role models sign up, the more students will benefit from interacting with real people from their community and hear real stories they can relate to,” Mr Fowler says.

Schools invite role models through the Inspiring the Future website. The standard event format includes a question and answer section where students try to guess what the role models do, followed by a big reveal of their actual jobs. The event finishes with interactive discussion with students where role models talk about their jobs, why they do what they do and how they got there. There are both in-person and online event options.

Potential role models from the community can sign up to the programme to be role models now, and schools can start planning now to host events in Term 3 and Term 4.

Read more about Inspiring the Future.