Rikki-lee Williams, like many teenagers, has plans.
Tonight, she plans to go to the Dunstan High School senior formal; in a fortnight, she plans to pack her bags for an eagerly anticipated 10-day challenge on the Spirit of Adventure; next year, she plans to move from Alexandra to Dunedin to study zoology at the University of Otago, after which she plans to focus on marine science.
All of these plans fit into her BIG PLAN, which is to eventually run a marine hospital and/or aquarium.
Significantly, not once does Rikki-Lee mention money when asked about her motives, which are feel-good rather than fiscal ("... working with these intelligent creatures and learning new things about them ... bonding with the animals and studying them ... protecting and preserving species and their environments ...").
Providing she exits with a bachelor's or master's degree, Rikki-Lee could, according to Careers New Zealand figures, expect to earn at least $35,000 in her first year; should she gain a PhD, she could expect upwards of $60,000 per year and, with several years experience, her pay could rise to about $100,000.
At that top rate, Rikki-Lee would achieve what 20% of tertiary students currently expect to earn by the time they are 30, according to a Colmar Brunton poll released last week.
The survey of 220 students also found that three-quarters of students expect to earn at least $60,000 a year, which roughly supports Statistics New Zealand figures that show the average weekly income for those with a bachelor's degree or higher is just over $57,000 a year.
Rikki-Lee (17) describes herself as a mix of realist and dreamer.
Her selection of NCEA level 3 subjects - statistics and modelling, biology, English, drama and photography - reflects both pragmatism and personal interest.
A "hard worker" who has had part-time jobs for the past three or four years, it seems unlikely then that Rikki-Lee will fall into the category "youth aged 15 to 24 not in employment, education or training".
That sector of unemployed rose to 13.6% in the three months ended March 31, up from 13% in the December quarter, according to a Statistics New Zealand household labour force survey, released last week, that put the overall unemployment rate at 6.7% (160,000 people), a rise of 0.3% from the previous quarter.
In Otago, the unemployment rate stood at 5.1% for the year to March, up from 4.5% in the year to March 2011.
However, the Department of Labour forecasts employment to grow by 1.8% (or 39,600 jobs) in the 2013 March year and by 2.4% (54,100 jobs) in the 2014 March year.
The unemployment rate is forecast to drop slowly, to below 6% by March 2013 and 5.4% by March 2014.
What does all this entail for Rikki-Lee and her peers at high school?
Well, according to Dunstan High School careers adviser Rosemary Thom, it means some pupils might need to get their act together, regardless of whether they intend to enter the labour force or begin tertiary study when the school bell (or buzzer) sounds at the end of the year.
Forget, for a moment, the myriad subjects available to today's high school contingent, the most important knowledge pupils can possess is of themselves.
"You have to get them to work out their own personality," Mrs Thom emphasises.
"They've got to know what their passions are.
"They need to know what they are good at, their lead subject, or subjects.
"We are trying to teach kids to be flexible, to take risks but also to be sure of themselves in that they know what they are looking for.
"Then they can swing with the punches," she says.
There are a range of self-evaluation tools within the curriculum that aim to promote career goals: self-assessment begins early in year 9, continues into year 13 and includes programmes such as Career NZ's online "Six-Step Challenge"; there are also regular in-school visits by a range of industry training organisations, professionals and academics as well as occasional out-of-town forays (last week, more than 60 year 13 Dunstan High School pupils visited Dunedin for a tertiary open day, which coincided with the Otago Careers Festival being held in the city this month).
Mrs Thom admits her role requires something of a balancing act. While not wanting to crush a young person's dreams, the occasional more delusional pupil might require a reality check.
"A lot of kids think they are going to go straight into a job that earns them more than $60,000 or $70,000. That's a problem, because they are being set up for disappointment ...
"That said, I've got two nephews who have just started careers in engineering and they are earning more than I am.
"However, if every kid expects that in their first job, they could be disappointed.
"The ones we are worried about are the 10-15% of kids who aren't engaged in the process of thinking about what they're going to do when they leave school," Mrs Thom says.
"They might have a poor self-image which makes them unclear about what they really love or really want to do.
Nothing has quite ignited their fire.
"And it can be quite hard to tease that out of someone.
"But you have to help every kid gain that self-awareness, to find out what they want out of life."
Although between two-thirds and three-quarters of pupils at Dunstan engage in tertiary education, Mrs Thom says it's important to cater to the desires of the significant remainder.
Hence, there are programmes such as "independent living"; year 11 or year 12 pupils can also do work experience or Gateway work schemes in which they gain practical work knowledge with local businesses, learning relevant skills.
"We rely on the community we are in to offer them chances," Mrs Thom explains.
"For example, a local business, which has links to Dunedin and Christchurch, is offering at least one, possibly two, apprenticeships in painting and decorating.
"Local businesses are very supportive.
"There is quite a strong work placement between the school and the community. I think people support it because they know it's important.
"If kids are not in gainful learning, they need to be in gainful employment."
The terms "labour market literacy" and "vocational imagination" might stick in the throat a little, but they are concepts with which forward-thinking teenagers need to be familiar.
A senior lecturer at the University of Otago College of Education, Karen Nairn has recently co-written a book that offers a deeper understanding of the key drivers of teenagers' self-awareness, identity and perceptions of a future beyond the school gates.
In Children of Rogernomics: a neoliberal generation leaves school, Dr Nairn and her fellow authors investigated what life was like for 93 young people entering adulthood in an environment shaped by the significant economic, welfare and educational changes of the 1980s and 1990s.
Most were in their last year of high school when they were first interviewed between 2003-2007, although a small number had recently left school.
Some participants returned to school the following year, but most had embarked on their post-school lives by the time a second, and sometimes third, interview was conducted.
The group members comprised a diverse range of social classes, ethnicities and academic ability and ranged in age from 15 to their early 20s.
"We felt many of those we interviewed weren't very well-supported in gaining what we call labour market literacy," Dr Nairn says.
"Many of them were focused on planning their qualification, hoping that would be enough to gain a well-paid job, without knowing what the labour market conditions were like for obtaining that particular job."
The lack of focus on a particular career pathway - and what was involved in terms of educational qualifications and occupational possibilities - is informed by the belief that if they work hard enough, they'll gain a qualification that will lead to a good job.
That sense of individual responsibility, the motivation to be independent, is not a bad trait, Dr Nairn says.
"However, if the labour market is weighted against employing young people and young people then blame themselves for not being able to get a job in a difficult market, it places an unnecessary burden on them.
"It works both ways.
"With new versions of success come new versions of failure.
"There are still areas of job growth. It's just being aware of where those areas lie.
"I think it's important to know about the job market you're entering, rather than having rose-tinted glasses."
It's a complicated scenario for today's youth: less on-the-job training, a weak youth labour market, cuts to welfare support for the young, allied to an increasingly strong expectation-cum-requirement that tertiary education needs to precede professional employment are key factors in lengthening the journey from school to an eventual job.
"One of the things we talk about is the shift from on-the-job training to tertiary institutions," Dr Nairn says.
"Previously, that cost might have been covered by employers, perhaps through government support for apprenticeships. Now that cost is shifted to individuals and their families."
Brent Russell, principal of Dunstan High School, is well aware of the stresses and challenges confronting his pupils.
"I know a lot of young people worry about not knowing what they want to do.
"And the labour force has changed significantly.
"I have had the same career since leaving university but that is not so much the norm these days.
"It is quite common for people in their late 20s or early 30s to be in their third or fourth job.
"We now live in what we call the 'global village'.
"People not only have transferable skills from one career or another, but they also don't mind moving from one part of the country to another or from country to country.
"Though I wouldn't say that is a new phenomenon, it is more common.
"I have noticed - and this is anecdotal - a number of students are choosing to have a 'gap year', which is not a bad idea if you have no idea what you want to do."
Enter Josh Kemble.
The Dunstan High School pupil, unsure of his ultimate career destination, instead plans to travel when he finishes his studies at the end of the year.
"I feel I need to live life and do various things to get an idea of what I want do to before jumping into something I might regret in later life.
"It seems such a daunting prospect knowing I have 50-plus years of working life ahead of me.
"As a final-year student, I've felt the pressure has gone up several significant notches," the 17-year-old says.
"After I finish school, I can tell I'm going to be in for a shock. I become another number in the workforce - can sink or swim, as it were.
"To be honest, I don't know how I'm going to react being out of school, considering the last 13 years of my life has been spent there.
"Growing up, I've known too many people who dislike their jobs, or the life they live.
"They go by the philosophy, 'I made my bed, now I have to sleep in it'.
"Really, all I want is to be somewhere I'm happy being.
"The struggle, however, is to know just what that is."
