Go rural and catapult your career

Workers who get a university degree then head to the country find work more quickly and are paid more than those who stay in the city.

Research reveals that contrary to the belief there are more job opportunities in the city, 86 per cent of graduates find jobs in remote areas within five months of completing their studies, compared with only 74 per cent of graduates in major cities.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research also finds the annual income is better for graduates outside metropolitan areas averaging $53,900 for remote and very remote areas, compared with $47,500 for those in major cities.

The mining boom provides many jobs that pay highly but NCVER says healthcare and social assistance also provide opportunities.

University of SA Centre for Regional Engagement director Professor Guy Robinson says the data contradicts the widespread notion that jobs and salaries are better in the city.

He believes the findings can be partly explained by higher wages paid to non-metropolitan workers in a bid to encourage them to take on regional work.

“Nurses, social workers, maybe engineers and some business people they’re all heavily sought-after in the regions,” he says.

“If the regions are going to be prosperous, they need more people than just those who want to work in the mines. They need people with business skills, teachers, lawyers.”

He says working in regional and remote areas offers advantages, such as being part of a tight-knit community and, in many instances, a better work/life balance but he adds it is not for everyone.

“Take nursing, for example, you have to prepare (graduates) to cope with facilities that nurses who have been trained (in the city) are not used to,” he says. “Most hospitals have fantastic equipment these days but in some, that equipment is probably still not the same (standard).

“So you’ve got to think on your feet a lot more (about how best to use what is available).”

Emma Press, 22, hopes to work in the Port Pirie area, north of Adelaide, after graduating from a Bachelor of Social Work degree at UniSA this year.

She says the decision to work outside Adelaide comes mostly from growing up in the country.

“They’re screaming out for rural social workers but a lot of people in my (study) group just want to stay in Adelaide,” Press says.

“I’ve been looking at job ads and have noticed the pay rates are a bit higher (in country areas) than in the metro area or there’s a better salary package option to lure people.”

GRADUATE EARNINGS

Five months after studies are completed:

• Major cities graduates earn on average $47,500 a year, with 74 per cent employed.
• Inner and outer regional graduates earn on average $47,400 a year, with 78 per cent employed.
• Remote and very remote graduates earn on average $53,900 a year, with 86 per cent employed.

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research