There have been plenty of positive responses to a CQU Adopt a School project aimed at helping Rockhampton district high school students get a taste of what a career as an entrepreneurial web developer would be like.

Career Links CQ and CQU staff recently presented students with certificates of completion at the launch of their completed website. This is now live at http://www.careerlinks.org.au/ where you can access up to date entry level employment opportunities found in the Career Links CQ Positons Vacant Bulletin (+ 100s of career website links can be found under 'Careers' on the website - perfect for career investigation).

Career Links CQ program support officer Rachel White with student project participant Zoe Bowler at the website launch

Their feedback included that:

.... "the pros were cool and friendly";

.... "there were great experiences in working as a team";

.... "it was good to gain skills with different computer programs";

... "it was exciting we had someone to work for" and

... "I didn't realise there were so many stages to a website".

Most of the students commented that the project had influenced their career choices.

Experienced staff at CQU mentored the students as they developed a real web-based career resource for use by local youth and the community.

Julie Fleming from Arts, Humanities & Education coordinated the University aspects of the project, which also involved access to resources and equipment.

The web-based resource was developed for Career Links CQ Inc, which partnered CQU to implement the ‘Adopt a School' Project, which is one of the 3 funded programs delivered by Career Links CQ to Rockhampton youth.

Career Links CQ Inc. is part of the Australian Government's Career Advice Australia network. This network supports all young people aged 13 to 19 in their transitions through school and onto further study, training or work.

The school students were taken through the client consultation, concept mapping, storyboarding, design and technical aspects of a website development process that reflected the needs of a ‘client'.

Their after-school-hours commitment consisted of 1 afternoon per week for the duration of Term 3 (July 17 - September 20), after which student participants nominated a sub-group which worked closely with Nathan White from ITD in after-school sessions during Term 4 to collate the ideas and elements that students created throughout the project and to design the final product.

The project was aimed at students who planned to enrol in further study to pursue a career in Information Technology or Multimedia, and had existing skills in these areas.

Career Links CQ Program Support Officer Rachel White said her organisation's role was to work closely with schools, businesses and the community to ensure young people have access to the information, advice and training they need to make informed decisions about their future.

"Adopt a School's objective is to get businesses involved in school-based learning, and students involved in work-based learning. It builds strong and ongoing partnerships between businesses and schools, which benefit all those involved," she said.

Jason Treloar, Desmond McConnell and Joseph Bobadilla enjoy the launch function
Very proud parents Judy and John Bowler attended the Career Links CQ Website launch to celebrate their daughter Zoe's achievements
Roibhne O'Connor with proud mum Wendy Smith