Everyone knows that being a scientist is exciting & sometimes dangerous. Escaping from dinosaurs, accidentally discovering how to become invisible, shrinking children, being sent back in time, getting lost in space and rescuing ferocious young women from beautiful monsters. Scientists know everything and are well rewarded as highly paid professionals...

Time now for a reality check. Making a major discovery without any effort and by a lucky accident is very unlikely. Usually it means many years of hard work and long hours as part of a team before you make even a simple discovery. Long hours does not have to mean big pay either. Many people become scientists in spite of the pay rather than because of it. As far as knowledge goes, there are some things we can never know as Sir Karl Popper and Steven Hawking ( in A Brief History of Time ) have suggested. Being an open minded scientist may result in the realisation that you don't really know anything! This may explain why a significant number of colleagues and other scientists find that being scientific and holding religious beliefs are not necessarily mutually exclusive...

So, still want a career in Science or Technology?

Want to earn money as fast as possible? Off to a great start in 2004 is Ryan Hill who was the first Nexus student to trial a "fast-track" programme of study at WITT. He gained a Diploma of Applied Science while working part-time in a lab and has been exempted the first year of a B.Sc degree at Otago University and will go straight into second year. The classmates he left behind at High School have only just finished Year 13 and are about to begin their first year of study at University, without the work experience, qualifications or savings Ryan has acquired! Don't get yourself stuck with a huge student loan...we'll have more ideas here soon... Want to learn as much as possible? In 2003 ten year old Jamie graduated from WITT with a Certificate in Science Studies, having passed most of the Level 2 and Level 3 papers with A's. Because of her high level of achievement she also received the Science Departments award for consistent high standards. She passed School Certificate Science at age 8 in 2001! Don't let age restrict your learning; we have more information for you comin soon. For those looking for information on Gifted children click here.

Don't forget to ask your careers adviser for more up to date information about specific  professions or courses. Many of the the training organisations below also have help desks or liason officers to provide further information. Ask someone who has actually worked in  the job about what you can really expect in terms of job satisfaction, variety, workload and of course, pay!

A recent piece of research has predicted that 85% of the occupations available in 10 years time do not exist at the moment. Also, people will tend to change careers 3 or 4 times throughout their lifetime.

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Visit these sites:

Career Services	Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki	Kiwi Careers
Auckland University	Canterbury University	Massey University
Open Polytechnic		Victoria University