Evaluation of Career Opportunities in Healthcare Industry

This report discusses the evaluation of career opportunities within the current labor market in the healthcare industry, with a focus on aged care and disability services. It explores the national and state employment trends, as well as the growth and prospects in the healthcare sector. The report also highlights the intercultural challenges faced by international students and provides recommendations for job seekers.

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Topic- Evaluation of career opportunities within the current labor market within a specific focus
on healthcare industry
Student name
University name
Author notes

2CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Discussion........................................................................................................................................5
Australian labor market trends.....................................................................................................5
National employment trends....................................................................................................5
State / regional employment trends..........................................................................................5
Employment trends in healthcare sectors.................................................................................6
Healthcare sectors and occupations.............................................................................................7
Aged care sector.......................................................................................................................8
Disability services sector..........................................................................................................9
Intercultural challenges................................................................................................................9
Recommendations......................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12
Appendix........................................................................................................................................13

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Executive summary
The report is an extension of a career development report as a part of an international
graduate student employment profiling in healthcare sector intending to work in Australia. State
of employment opportunities in Australia is highlighted to shed light on the optimal strategies of
job seeking approaches in healthcare industry for an international student. Career aspirations
varies as per students and so is their choice of workplace. The report is developed to discuss
about the present condition of Labor market in Australia and long run strategic opportunities are
highlighted to support better future career opportunities for best career development. The
healthcare sector is evaluated thoroughly to find the actual picture of job prospects for an
aspiring nursing professional. Aged care and Disability services are emphasized as target job
service areas in healthcare sector. Based on the information the best career plan is developed to
support full time employment opportunity in Australia.

4CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Introduction
The report is structured based on two personal choices of healthcare sector with related
justifications of choosing them as future area of work or area of work wished for. To support the
decision the current Australian Labor market trend in healthcare industry is studied with focus on
National and State health information, current employment figures in healthcare sector and
future impact on employment trends due to change in labor market conditions in health care
industry (Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2019). The two healthcare sectors chosen
includes Aged care and Disability services. The reason for choosing these sectors is justified in
the discussion part of the report and also intended occupational roles were also identified for
each sector based on the skills, interests and experiences in this field. The probable intercultural
challenges being faced as an international student were also highlighted and how they can impact
future career and employment opportunities in Australia are also discussed (Lawrence, 2016).
Measures of overcoming career challenges are also mentioned thereafter. Recommendations of
three best fit healthcare organizations are made with a proper rationale of choosing them and job
seekers’ career development opportunities are widened up (SEEK Resources, 2019). And finally,
to support this approach a job seeking plan is identified and developed accordingly. The
discussion section provides an elaborated knowhow of all relevant points mentioned here.

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Discussion
Australian labor market trends
Labor market trends in healthcare industries
This section of the report emphasis on the current labor market trends in the Australian
Healthcare industries and both National and State employment information and statistics are
considered to have a better understanding of the future prospects in health care sector.
National employment trends
According to Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Businesses the
unemployment rate as per recent statistics is only 5% and number of total unemployed is around
673,500 whereas the percentage of total employed is around 74.2% as per 2019 statistics and is
growing at a considerable rate (Employment Research and Statistics, 2019). Current employment
statistics is shown in appendix 1. Five-year growth in employment as per industrial sector
classification of 2018 shows that the healthcare sector has the maximum prospects of
development and will contribute to employment changes up to 303,300 employment
opportunities (Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2019). This will be followed by
construction and professional, technical and scientific services. The employment trend as per
industry differentiation for the year 2018 is shown in appendix 2. The men and women industry
share in top five industries based on annual average, industry employment proportion and
industrial considerations is shown in appendix 3.
State / regional employment trends
Moving out of the national data statistics, State data statistics also reveals that regional
healthcare is rising at an alarming rate which is a positive sign of socio-economic development

6CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
of the nation (Healy, 2014). Though majority of job ads (68%) are concentrated to capital cities
but regional growth is not behind. Share of new job ads in regional areas has risen from 25% to
32% (Health Care and Social Assistance, 2019). The only lagging areas are Tasmania and
Northern Territory where centralized healthcare is restricting the growth of the sector. But areas
like Hobart and Darwin are showing striking level of improvement in healthcare considerations
and Victoria is the leading area in regard to increase in regional healthcare opportunities. 2012
data shows that nearly 12% job ads in healthcare was in regional Victoria which has increased to
22% in 2018 equating to around 78% overall increase (Employment Research and Statistics,
2019). The table in appendix 5 shows the trend of region healthcare growth opportunities from
2012 to 2018.
Employment trends in healthcare sectors
Healthcare is Australia’s biggest employer and accounts around 13.7 % of the entire
workforce in the country (Research and statistics | Ageing and Aged Care, 2018). According to
Australian Jobs 2018 report by the Australian Department of Jobs and Small Business the
Healthcare and social assistance industry is projected to grow a further increase by 16.1% in the
coming five years (Health Care and Social Assistance, 2019). The graph in appendix 4 shows the
growth of monthly job advertisements in healthcare from April 2010 to April 2018 which clearly
shows the increasing trend of job opportunities.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistical data trend Health Care and Social
assistance employs 1,685,100 persons approximately where median age of workers is 42 years
and median weekly earning is around $1000 per week (SEEK Resources, 2019). In recent times
the Healthcare sector has outperformed the retail trade industry and the manufacturing industry
as well. This massive increase in healthcare employment is profoundly supported by shift from

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primary and secondary industries to service industries and aging population is also an important
contributing factor to the success of the healthcare industry (Your World Healthcare, 2019). The
table in appendix 6 provides a statistics of employment characteristics in healthcare industries.
Healthcare sectors and occupations
It is evident that over the next coming years the long-term structural shift in employment
trends towards healthcare service industries will persist predominately. The top roles
contributing to the success and growth of healthcare includes occupational therapy,
physiotherapy, rehabilitation and aged care nursing (Your World Healthcare, 2019). The chart in
appendix 7 provides the top ten health care occupations in Australia.
So, based on the research data statistics and also supporting own personal choices it is
deiced to consider aged care and disability services as the two sector considerations for future
career path opportunities. Each sector is evaluated with their market importance and also their
importance on individual career options based on skills and areas of interest (Bridgman &
De’ath, 2017).
The success of a nursing professional is not to be determined by the level of theoretical
knowledge possessed but by the level of resilience of applying the basic principle of caring. The
role of a nurse is to provide quality care and service irrespective of the conditions of the care-
seeker (Healthcare Australia, 2019). From my very childhood I had the passion to serve
humanity like my mother who is community worker and served the underprivileged community
throughout her life. Too often in one’s life the power of touch, smile, kind words, an honest
accomplishment and the smallest act of caring is underestimated and the potentiality of turning a
life around is left unnoticed and untouched (Research and statistics | Ageing and Aged Care,
2018). The increased number of old-aged homes makes me feel sorry for our own generations.

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So, the personal passion of serving the community at large has made me choose this noble
professional of nursing and Australia is chosen for its brighter prospects of healthcare industry
development.
Aged care sector
A registered nurse can serve the purpose of both of a general carer and personal nursing
assistant to the aged care-seekers. Care managerial jobs can also suit for the job roles as per
skills. The health care in Australia is rapidly growing in terms of Aged care market and
residential aged care facilities are increasing considerably (Employment Research and Statistics,
2019). In recent times more than 2,00,000 Australians live in residential aged care. Research
shows that old people living in residential aged cares are supported with better well-being,
independence of thoughts and actions and have better self-determination (Hampson, 2018). Old
aged people in present times are deliberately choosing the residential old aged cares to spend the
rest of their lives with quality of living and happiness instead of family deprivation and ill-
treatment. The clinical care and running cost of the residential care centers is not compromised
by the quality of life being provided and study revel that around 50% of people living in aged
care have dementia (Health Care and Social Assistance, 2019). Homeless old people are also
supported in aged care caring. Almost half of the aged care providers are privately run and others
are government organizations. Aged care can be residential care and home care and it can also be
part-time and full-time based on the need of the care-seeker (Department of Jobs and Small
Business, 2019). The other benefits of aged care profession excluding personal interests are
competitive pay structure, flexible work shifts, technologically improved service mechanism and
be a part of the most promising service sector in Australia.

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Disability services sector
Support workers for disabled patient services can be the best option in this sector of
healthcare. To be a support worker for disability services is a matter of pride and need to be a
special person. The role has increased level of responsibility and is one of the rewarding career
opportunities (Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2019). Key role areas include heling
someone with physical disability, illness, terminating medical conditions, challenging life
situations and other mental complications (Australian Network of Disability, 2019). Disability
can also be in the form of hearing loss, visionary loss, depression and anxiety or reduced
financial stability leading to mental health issues. The job is challenging as well and requires
increased level of patience and positive determination. Training and education are required for
further self-development and this career opportunity has wider service providence opportunities
all over Australia (Kilpatrick et al., 2017). The competition in this workplace is healthy and
supports both diversity and equality in professionalism (Department of Health, 2019). Statistics
show that over 4 million people in the country has some form of disability which includes 18.6%
in females and 18.0% in males. Maximum disabled persons are of the age 65 or more and around
1.8 million aged 65 have disability. Whereas 2.1million working age people have disability.
Intercultural challenges
Countries with diversified cultural backgrounds have increased problems of intercultural
collective programming and different cultural people have different expectations. This mismatch
of expectation increases the problems largely (Healthcare Australia, 2019). Native Australians
will definitely get job preferences in comparison to international graduates because they have
increased linguistic and cultural knowhow than me. My country has large power culture reliance
and Australia is low in it and has open door employment policies. That is in order to have desired

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job role in Australia the job seeker need to have excellent interpersonal skills along with
academic merits and need to have a flexible approach to adoptability as well. Thus, unlike my
culture only the resume will not speck on your behalf and I need to be smart and realistic as well.
Moreover, the challenge of nomenclature is also a challenge for me because I am not
comfortable in addressing my seniors by their names whereas Australians call each other by their
names irrespective of seniority and social standards. I need to work on first name calling
approach and also need to improve my interpersonal skills by mixing with people more often.
However, nursing being the profession could be an added advantage to overcome the barriers as
my zeal in community service is much stronger and my passion will lead me to achieve success
in future career fronts in healthcare sector.
Recommendations
Based on the above discussions the occupation and industry I am most interested in
nursing profession in healthcare services. After considering past, present and probable future
trends I decided to pursue my career opportunities in nursing and care providence to the aged
care sector. Being an international graduate, I need to have permanent residential opportunities
and for this I need to have a permanent job in healthcare sector first. Currently I am in my final
year of graduation and have already started job searching from various online job portals and
employment sites.
The three organizations I bookmarked for approaching job opportunities are Locum Aged
Care, Healthcare Australia and Regis. All three organizations are focused on aged care job
opportunities and provide good employment support to the passionate fresher in the field of
nursing. I have planned my job seeking strategies based on SMART goal-setting principles. I
have my updated resume of a registered nurse ready to approach for the job role. I will either

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directly register in their job portals or can apply via recruiters. I have no limitation or area
specification for the job but need to serve the aged community as a whole. I am flexible to work
hours but will prefer a full-time job opportunity. I can be a resident nurse as well. But in other
cases, I would like to choose the job which provides increased communication and transportation
facilities. After course completion I will focus on job application more deeply and will follow up
the recruiters on weekly basis or on the basis of what tentative dates they have mentioned. I will
constantly remain connected to them via LinkedIn and Indeed like professional networks and
will connect with alumni groups of the institute. I read the newspapers Sydney Morning Herald
daily and is also connected to its online source. I have completed the project on ‘Nurturing aged
people’ as a part of curriculum project completion. besides I am active in social media and have
all recent knowhow about healthcare trends and have been following the mentioned
organizations in their Facebook community pages.
Conclusion
The report thus developed provides a deep-insight into the Australian job market
specially the health care sector trend and development prospects. Though the focus of serving the
community was pre-fixed but the current improvement in healthcare services has increased the
urge of joining Australian healthcare sectors and be a part of the reputed organizations
(Healthcare Australia, 2019). After completion of the degree in Nursing the main aim will be to
serve the aged care community and help them provide a better life living opportunity once again.

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References
Australian Network of Disability. (2019). Disability Statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.and.org.au/pages/disability-statistics.html
Bridgman, T., & De’ath, A. (2017). Early career development in the public sector: Lessons from
a social constructionist perspective. Australian Journal Of Career Development, 26(2),
43-51. doi: 10.1177/1038416217718544
Department of Health. (2019). Department of Health | Health Jobs. Retrieved from
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Career%20Opportunities-
1
Department of Jobs and Small Business. (2019). Welcome to the Labour Market Information
Portal. Retrieved from
http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/EmploymentRegion/EmploymentbyIndustryFiveY
earGrowth
Employment Research and Statistics. (2019). Employment Research and Statistics. Retrieved
from https://www.jobs.gov.au/employment-research-and-statistics
Hampson, R. (2018). Australia's residential aged care facilities are getting bigger and less home-
like. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/australias-residential-aged-care-
facilities-are-getting-bigger-and-less-home-like-103521
Health Care and Social Assistance. (2019). Retrieved from http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?
LMIP/GainInsights/IndustryInformation/HealthCareandSocialAssistance

13CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Healthcare Australia. (2019). Aged Care Jobs - Healthcare Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.healthcareaustralia.com.au/jobseekers/aged-care-jobs/
Healthcare Australia. (2019). Support Workers - Healthcare Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.healthcareaustralia.com.au/jobseekers/carers/
Healy, K. (2014). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Kilpatrick, M., Blizzard, L., Sanderson, K., Teale, B., Jose, K., & Venn, A. (2017). Barriers and
facilitators to participation in workplace health promotion (WHP) activities: results from
a cross-sectional survey of public-sector employees in Tasmania, Australia. Health
Promotion Journal Of Australia, 28(3), 225-232. doi: 10.1071/he16052
Lawrence, R. J. (2016). Professional social work in Australia. ANU Press.
Research and statistics | Ageing and Aged Care. (2018). Retrieved from
https://agedcare.health.gov.au/ageing-and-aged-care-publications-and-articles/ageing-
and-aged-care-research-and-statistics
SEEK Resources, S. (2019). Why the healthcare industry is Australia's biggest employer.
Retrieved from https://insightsresources.seek.com.au/why-healthcare-is-australias-
biggest-employer
Your World Healthcare. (2019). Aged Care Jobs | Australia | Your World Healthcare. Retrieved
from https://www.yourworldhealthcare.com/au/professions/aged-care

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Appendix
Appendix 1
(Employment Research and Statistics, 2019)

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Appendix 2
(Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2019)

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Appendix 3
(Employment Research and Statistics, 2019)
Appendix 4
(Department of Health, 2019)

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Appendix 5
States 2012 regional share 2018 regional share Growth %
Victoria 12% 22% 78%
South Australia 11% 14% 36%
New South Wales 26% 34% 28%
Western Australia 17% 21% 22%
Queensland 43% 49% 14%
Tasmania 60% 55% -10%
Northern Territory 36% 29% -20%
Appendix 6
Employment characteristics Data statistics
(2018)
Employment level (per 1000s) 1685.1
Employment growth (per 1000s)/% 297.5/21.4%
Male share in employment 21.3%
Female share in employment 78.7%
Full time share of employment 55.8%
Average of full-time hours of employment 36
Median weekly main job earning $1000
Projected employment growth (per 1000s) (five years’ timeline till
2023)
250.3
Projected employment growth (five years’ timeline till 2023) 14.9%

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Appendix 7
Occupations Number employed (as per fourth quarter
average 2018)
Registered nurses 270,300
Aged and disabled care 162,800
Child carers 111,000
Nursing support and personal care workers 96,800
Receptionists 94,300
General Practitioners and Resident Medical
Officers
63,900
Welfare support workers 32,600
General clerks 27,800
Enrolled and mother craft nurses 26,800
Psychologists 26,800