‘Don’t worry about your Year 12 score’: Billionaire gives young Aussies his top tips on how to nail their dream career
- Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has offered his career tips to young Aussies
- In an interview with Year13, he said YouTube is the best education you can get
- Tech billionaire urged students to not worry about final marks as ‘nobody’ cares
- In selecting a career, he said integrate passion, talent, and a job that’s in demand
A tech billionaire has urged young Aussies to stop worrying about their year 12 scores – and claims the best education you can get is on YouTube.
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has revealed his top tips for students amid heightened anxiety about career prospects after leaving school, claiming future employers will not care about their final marks.
In an interview with careers advisory Year13, the entrepreneur said school leavers should instead focus on gaining work experience and opt for a profession they feel passionate about, rather than one that is better paid.
Mr Farquhar said the ideal balance in choosing a career was selecting a role that integrates their passion, talents, ‘and things the world cares about and wants to pay for’.
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar (pictured with his wife Kim Jackson) has offered his top tips to school leavers on how to nail their dream careers
‘Where those three things come together is your career,’ the 41-year-old said, The Daily Telegraph reports.
‘You can be stuck in a career doing that for 20 years and getting paid well but you’re really not living your true life.
‘The best education you can get in the world is on YouTube today – it’s not at university. Then you just got to work out how do you get certified that you’ve done that [education]?’
The software company CEO also encouraged young people to undergo psychometric testing to understand how they learn best and said the advice he would give his younger self is to not stress over his ATAR.
The guidance comes as a new study has revealed young people are experiencing growing uncertainty about their future employment due to the pandemic and technological changes in the workforce.
New figures from Year13 found 50 per cent of senior school students are unsure about what they want to go on to study, compared to 43 per cent in 2018.
The tech entrepreneur told students ‘the best education you can get is on YouTube’. Pictured: Australian social media influencer Kathleen Belsten
This has led to young people experiencing mental health distress, with 66 per cent reporting suffering anxiety, and 42 per cent from depression.
Others said the uncertainty induced sleep disturbances (61 per cent), feelings of insecurity and inadequacy (61 per cent) and social isolation (45 per cent).
Year13 founder Saxon Phipps said the company was working to prepare upcoming school leavers to grasp the new industries which will be emerging in coming years.
Mr Farquhar, who won ‘Australian Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2006 by Ernst & Young alongside Atlassian Co-Founder and Co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes, is one of several top industry experts who will be providing career tips at the Year13 Expo.
The Expo is a part of National Careers Week, a program run by The Careers Industry Council of Australia, which will kick off on May 17.
In 2019, Mr Farquhar was ranked fifth in the Forbes list of Australia’s 50 richest people with a net worth of US$6.40 billion ($8.15 billion AUD), which has grown to US$14.1billion ($18.176) as of 2021.
Mr Farquhar urged school leavers to opt for a career that integrates their talent, passion, and is in demand. Pictured: YouTube and Instagram bloggers Ashley and Olivia Mescia
