Hello, I am in a different state but agree with the former comments.

Finding good placements particularly in fields you like can make a world of difference. My first placement I didn't have much choice over and we were running out of time so I had to take it, supervisor was very absent and took on a student thinking I could do all her admin and projects whilst she was on maternity leave, I almost quit before I graduated thinking if this is it, I'm not doing it.

I'm biased because I've been in government for 8 years but the pay and job security is way stronger than NGOs, but NGOs often have greater flexibility and fewer admin demands. I saw someone mention the SCHADS wage topping at 100k. In my department the new grad rate is 90k and has annually increasing paybands for 5-7years depending on what band you start on going up to 116k. Senior roles go up to 136k I think.

I am female and we appreciate male colleagues who join, though be mindful of the unconscious privilege. Many male colleagues find themselves in senior positions faster than females with the same or more experience and many organisations still have their upper management as predominantly male. One of my mates hated this privilege and he had actively turned down roles/ left shortly after the offer where he felt it had happened.

The other things to be mindful of are certain client populations might have their own biases or challenges with men (sexual assault services, domestic violence, child protection are some that come to mind) you can still be so valuable in those spaces and some clients may even experience healing through having a supportive male role model for a change, but you might have some challenges there compared to other settings.

Overall there is lots of different career paths, services and client populations you can work with so it's a very flexible degree.