It is going to be a strange year.  Everyone is talking ‘Economy’; most of us quietly wonder about job security, keeping up payments and managing a future with so many unknowns.

The up-side is that Australia is still a lucky country, where the banks seem sound and unemployment is a low 4-5%.  It is not all problems and anxiety.  There will be opportunities as the country goes through a natural cycle of reordering its economy and renegotiates its place in the world.  This is a point where it is important to look at what is possible personally, even in such difficult times.

One of the great assets this Country has is its flexible education system.  In Australia it is possible to move to new careers at any stage of life, almost regardless of work or educational achievements previously.  So many countries have not yet achieved this system, and Australia holds a general competitive advantage.  Many are moving to create similar competency-based pathways knowing this is the way to make a nation’s workforce “world-ready” in competitive terms.

So even with clouds on the horizon, in 2009, anything is possible.  We think about the past and future in December and January.  We have spent time with family or friends and undertaken valuable reflection on the year that has passed, and the year we are about to embark on.  So now in February/ March it is time to act.

Vocational training offers an immediate opportunity to change or develop a career path. The desire for autonomy is human.  One goal is to become self-managing in our own business. Increasingly, we at BCA National are finding experts in their field undertaking a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, in order to become qualified trainers who will use already achieved knowledge as independent self-employed Trainers.  Others are making career change preparations for business.  Some are training to move out of business into Community Services.  There is a lot of movement and among those moving careers there is a lot of energy, optimism and hope.

It’s the perfect time to retrain, and make this 2009 year a year of special achievement.