FOR young women breaking into the wool industry, there is a battle with misconceptions.
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Sarah Honnet, 19, a roustabout based in Temora, left the comfort of her far north Queensland home to challenge herself.
Sarah said her job has taken her to the foremost corners of Australia and even to the United Kingdom.
She can't understand why more young women don't take up jobs in the wool industry.
"It's always a good job to to fall back onto. The skills you learn are great - you learn how to talk to farmers, how to be an adult; you mature very quickly," she said.
TAFE Riverina Institute's Centre for Primary Industries (CPI) is promoting a new program called "jobs for the girls" as a way of encouraging more women such as Sarah to increase their involvement with the wool industry.
Yesterday, school girls from across the state were mentored and given the opportunity to network at an event designed to showcase potential careers.
CPI wool classing teacher Fiona Raleigh said it was important to show women tangible pathways to jobs in the industry.
Ms Raleigh said the "jobs for the girls" title was a spin-off of the "jobs for the boys" phrase, which means men are appointed to positions.
"It's actually really a positive thing. It means that older men in positions support and promote each other," she said.
"We've taken that idea ... to provide girls with contacts with women already in the industry. We're showing girls the whole wool pipeline."
Ms Raleigh said women often face personal barriers when it comes to applying for jobs typically dominated by men.
"They might have some preconceived idea of the outcome," she said.
"They probably think they don't have the total set of skills needed for that job and that stops them.
"A man will apply for a job if he's only got one skill of the six listed whereas a woman wouldn't apply for a job unless she has the whole six."
Stefanie Kauschuss, an travelling shearer from Germany, can sheer 300 sheep in a day.
She said while it's often a tough job, the pay and opportunity to travel can prove rewarding.
"As a woman, you know, just to get the confidence doing a tough job which is mostly male orientated can be difficult," she said.
"But I think anyone can do it."
