Low exposure to industry and career awareness
Imogen Coe currently works on a dairy farm in NSW where they milk 260-280 cows a year. She had no family background in farming and minimal exposure at school yet has been active in pursuing a career in agriculture.
“I’m a bit of an animal lover, but I didn’t grow up on a farm, so to get into it was a bit random. I wanted to [study agriculture] at school, because we used to go camping and stuff growing up. I’m such an outdoorsy person. I’m not a write down pen and paper kind of learner. I’m definitely a learn on the job kind of person.”
Navigating VET access at school
Imogen had to advocate to study for a Certificate II in Agriculture during Year 11, requiring her mum to engage with the school career councillor, who then pursued options for Imogen. Ultimately, Imogen was allowed to study by distance. Her passion for the subject matter meant she excelled.
“It was my favourite class. I was second in my year just because I was so interested in it. It was just limiting there wasn’t the hands-on experience I wanted. So, it was like ‘go out to a paddock and figure out how much clover is in the paddock’, but I didn’t have a paddock to go to, so I’d be walking around the park at the back of my house. That’s why TAFE’s really good because you get the hands-on experience. Working in it, you learn more than anything else.”
Transition from school to workplace-based training
After finishing year 11 and her Certificate II, Dairy Australia helped Imogen source different farms to do trials with. This experience improved Imogen’s confidence and capability and motivated her to sign up for a traineeship.
“I was so excited to be doing what I wanted to do. Going to TAFE, I was learning the same kind of stuff I learnt as part of the distance course, but this time I was actually understanding it because I was doing it at work. It also made it feel like what I was learning was important.“
Training supply and regional availability
The educator who delivered Imogen’s traineeship recently retired, with no replacement hired, meaning the region lost access to face-to-face delivery of agriculture qualifications. While online training offered an important pathway for Imogen, she says access to hands-on experience was crucial for her to take the leap and pursue a career in the dairy industry.
“It’d be harder now because there’s no TAFE running, so if you want to do it, you’re on your own a little bit. That would scare me off if I was going to leave school and had to do it all online.”
Ongoing learning, capability building and progression
Imogen is currently employed as an Assistant Farm Manager while studying for her Diploma of Agriculture online. Her training has supported progression into a more senior role, broadening potential future pathways.
“My boss is bringing me into a manager role which is pretty cool. I’m not there yet, but I’m training to be. He gives me a go at everything, even the big boss kind of jobs. I don’t know if I’ll get to own my own farm, but that would be the goal. I’m doing the Diploma to give me the skills so if there is the opportunity to be a farm manager on my own, I can do it.”
System gaps and what needs to change
Imogen says the dairy industry is doing a good job of building community and connections to support new entrants, but more could be done to raise young people’s awareness about career opportunities in agriculture.
“You think of a farm: you’re thinking of someone sitting on a tractor ploughing a field and it’s not what it’s like at all. There are good jobs, especially if you’re an animal lover and that’s what you want to do. Just knowing it’s an option makes a big difference – knowing that you don’t have to be born on a farm to work on a farm and that there are jobs nearby. I didn’t really know I could get work on a farm like 20 minutes from home if I wanted.“