We’re excited to be hosting our annual SIP VET in Schools Conference on the 27th of November. Register now to come along to our free event for VET coordinators, teachers, Careers Advisors and Host Employers.
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Exciting News: Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expos are here!
Are you looking for a job or to find out more about pathways and opportunities for you in the future? DO NOT MISS OUT on this perfect opportunity for students and job seekers. Come along to speak with over 100 potential employers and training providers with REAL JOBS available now.
There is FREE PUBLIC ENTRY at all expos – so plan your visit now!
Visit apprenticeshipandtraineeshipexpos.com.au
Exciting News!
With the infrastructure boom we are experiencing, the need for apprentices and trainees has never before been in such high demand. Following on from the success year after year of the Western Sydney Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo, the time has come to take the model to other parts of our great city and provide our career/job seekers, business and industry, education providers and employers with the opportunities to all come together under the one roof and begin the journey of making the plans for our cities growth a reality.
Brett Carter Events is excited to announce that this year in addition to the Western Sydney Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo, further expos are being held in the South Western Sydney/Macarthur and Central Coast Regions.
Whether you are at school and looking for a career path, a parent hoping to give your child the best opportunities in life, or a teacher that wants to see their students start off on the right foot – the 2018 Apprenticeship and Traineeship Expos have all the answers you need.
Event dates & times
Western Sydney Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo
Tuesday 28 August 2018 – 3pm to 8pm
Penrith Panthers Exhibition Marquee, 123 Mulgoa Road, Penrith NSW
South Western Sydney/Macarthur Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo
Thursday 30 August 2018 – 3pm to 8pm
Whitlam Leisure Centre, 90 Memorial Ave, Liverpool NSW
Central Coast Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo
Tuesday 4 September 2018 – 3pm to 8pm
Mingara Recreation Club, 12/14 Mingara Dr, Tumbi Umbi NSW
No registrations required!
Visit apprenticeshipandtraineeshipexpos.com.au
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On June the 12th 2018 Inspiring the Future launched it’s brand new sub-campaign Inspiring Futures for Young Women! The Hon Natalie Ward MLC officially launched campaign at the event held at Brigidine College St Ives on behalf of the Minister for Women Tanya Davies. The event was attended by community members, business professionals, educators, Brigidine students and parents and friends of the campaign. 
The evening was an inspiring event hearing from women with unique stories and insights. As well as hearing from Natalie Ward, Dianne Mills gave an intriguing presentation on the new work order, presenting new ideas for how we think about communicating careers and educating young women to navigate them.
The main event was a panel discussion involving Cayleigh Hosking, Solutions Specialist at Microsoft; Lee Ussher, Co-Founder of Buzz Web Media; and Julie Clifford, Industry Engagement Broker for Inspiring the Future AU. The women shared their insights on what challenges they’ve overcome, how their industry has changed for women and what they hope to see in the future. It was particularly inspiring to hear how each different woman had exceeded others expectations and bias in their career and pushed through challenges to be respected and successful in their own right, while also still being mothers, daughters, wives and friends.
Thanks to all those who came along, and a special thanks to Brigidine College for their work in making this event happen. We’d also like to extend another big thank you to our speakers The Hon. Natalie Ward MLC, Dianne Mills, Cayleigh Hosking, Lee Ussher, Julie Clifford, Di Lawrence and Michelle Cooper.
Our Youth Transitions service helps hundreds of young people make a plan for their future and take essential first steps into employment. We have a wonderful group of experienced job coaches who work hard to support and empower their young people every day!
We asked for some of their sage advice for you to get a jump-start too
Be as honest as you can about your lifestyle
Be honest with yourself (and/or your coach) about what motivates you, your interests, challenges or barriers and daily routines. This will help to find the right match and pathway for you to ensure they are on the right track to work towards a successful future whether it be through employment or further education. If it’s important to you to walk your dog every afternoon – working at a restaurant from 2pm until Midnight wouldn’t be a good fit!
Set little, achievable goals along the path of your employment/education journey
Make sure you celebrate the little wins of the journey, as this ensures you remain motivated and always have something to work towards. Setting small goals along the way gives you a sense of achievement even if you’re not yet at the stage of being employed or starting your course, stopping you from getting disheartened.
Take action
Success only comes through consistent action. We have all heard that “the end” only arrives when we stop trying, the same applies when job searching. You may call 25 employers before you get a lucky break, a family member may connect you with someone after you contact them numerous times or you may apply for a number of jobs before you get a call back. The secret is in taking action.
Always follow up your applications
When applying for a job online or via email, ALWAYS ring an employer to make sure they received your resume and know you are interested. It’s the first way to make a good impression.
Trust in the process
If you come to our Youth Transitions service we have a variety of different stages, workshops and resources you could be involved in. Even if you believe you’re ready to just get a job – trust in the process it takes to get job ready. Our coaches know where you’re at and they want to make sure your chances of success are as high as can be before you go for your dream job.
Looking for more personal support to get employed and create your own sustainable future? Call us on 1800 912 611 or contact us on Facebook for more information.
We all know first impressions count, and we’re all guilty of judging a book by its cover when it comes to relationships or picking a place to eat or especially where we’re going to work. This is true for employers as well and the first impression you make has a significant impact on the rest of your interactions with them. Whether this is going for an interview, handing in a resume or even doing a voluntary work placement in their workplace; no matter the situation considering how you come across is an easy way to start ahead.
But how can you make a good impression no matter what? Check out our simple tips and try them out!
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Seek out the right person straight away
While when you go into a business to hand in a resume it seems easier to drop it into whoever is at the counter, asking for the Manager, Owner or Supervisor to hand it to them leaves a lasting impression. This also gives you the opportunity to talk about your availability or even say something short about why you’d like to work in this particular business. If you’re heading to the site for an interview or work placement, don’t just expect whoever you see first to know who you are or why you’re there. Make sure you introduce yourself and say why you’re there. If you know the name of your interviewer or supervisor tell them that also! Sound scary? Try starting with “Hello, My name is Adam and I’m here to see Jodie for an interview for the carpentry apprenticeship.”
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Greet with a handshake, a smile and eye contact
Want to come across confident and warm even if you’re not feeling it? This is the way! Greeting people you meet with a handshake and a smile, and comfortably looking them in the eye starts things on a professional level and is always a respectful way to introduce yourself. Generally, you’d exchange name over the handshake, or perhaps if you’ve just been introduced go for a ‘nice to meet you’ handshake.
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Be on time
Simple but massively impressive, turning up not only on time but 5 minutes early shows that you care about the opportunity. If you’re late to the interview or to your placement, the association is immediately made that you will be late for work if employed. Ensuring you leave extra time to get to a place for a first appointment, trial, interview or the like will put you in better stead that turning quoting a late bus or traffic – even if these things are the true reason you’re late.
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Dress appropriately and professionally
This doesn’t mean going out of your way to become a different person, but simply adhering to the dress standard of the place you’re visiting or job you’re interviewing for. Try speaking to the reception before your interview to ascertain the dress code, or call your placement supervisor for a guideline or even visit the shop or café to see what their staff wear.
There are many other ways to make a great first impression, but starting with these simple tips will get you in the door and give you a positive platform to win that job.
So you’ve got some gaps in your resume? Maybe you had a false start after graduating school, or you had to drop out because of family issues, or you lost your job and found it hard to pick right up again. Whatever the reasons we drop off for a little while, they can impact our confidence as we search for a job. Having gaps doesn’t necessarily make you worse off than the other candidates, but you can be smart about how you address these gaps in an interview.
1. You lost your job, and it wasn’t amicable.
It can be really difficult and embarrassing to talk about getting fired, but no matter what happened there, there are positive lessons you can speak about to show your future employer how great you’ll be for their company. Make sure not to badmouth your previous company, boss or coworkers, but focus on what you achieved or learnt while you were there. You can do this even if you left on bad terms!
Don’t Say
“The work sucked and my boss had it in for me from day one! I would’ve left anyway, they didn’t deserve to have to work for them”
Do Say
“Unfortunately I was laid off from this job, due to changes in the company structure. While I was there, I learnt a variety of skills that will help me in this role [the one you’re applying for]. This included [insert relevant skills] communication with other team members, managing an individual workload and being punctual to work and meetings.”
2. You had health issues and had to take time off
Your future employer doesn’t need a play-by-play of how your mental health prevented you from working or why a stupid accident left you needing surgery. It’s not that they don’t care where you’ve come from, but that they need to know where you’re at now. Prepare a concise and straightforward explanation that you are comfortable to share with them. Make sure you speak about how proud you were to overcome these health issues but don’t dwell too much on what was and move on to what you can bring to their business now.
Don’t Say
“Yeah stuff was really bad, I had depression and couldn’t leave the house, I attempted suicide 5 times and I really didn’t want to do anything. I’m still struggling with this.”
Do Say
“I took some time out [or ‘I was slow to get into the workforce’] to focus on my health and [learn strategies to manage my mental health/go through rehab after an operation]. Now I’m ready to get [back] into the workforce. The challenge to overcome these health issues has made me a stronger and more resilient person, so I know I can tackle the challenges in this role and achieve.”
3. You had to take care of your family or had family pressure to stay out of work
Family is a huge thing, and helping them out is a tough job that builds a huge range of skills you can now use in whatever job you get! No future employer should fault you for taking care of your family or sticking by them. The loyalty to put others before yourself only reflects well on you. Make sure you tell your interviewer how excited you are to commit yourself to your job now that you can.
Don’t Say
“I was forced by my family to stay home to look after my Dad after the accident. It was a pain cos I only had to cos no one else wanted to.”
Do Say
“Due to the situation with my parent/grandparent/child, I decided being home to care for them was my top priority. I learnt lots of skills during this time, including how to push through challenges and get things done. Now I’m in a position to move into work and I’m looking forward to applying these skills and experiences in the workplace.”
Don’t forget – it’s never a good idea to lie on your resume and pretend you haven’t been out of work for a period. Embrace your history with grace and be positive about how you are moving forward!
At Schools Industry Partnership (SIP), in mid-March, 11 Year 12 Work Placement students from various schools came to be involved in an exciting new initiative – Project Blitz. The large group of students were hosted altogether by SIP to simulate a small team-based workplace. Students were given different task lists relative to their different disciplines and assigned a supervisor for the week from the SIP staff.
Students were instrumental in clearing a large volume of work that had been pushed back many times due to other priorities. Projects included such things as updating and configuring all staff computers and tablets, creating a 2019 calendar for our Work Placement management, updating the staff phone list, coming up with designs for our expo stalls, doing IT testing and designing T-shirts for job seeking.
As a part of Project Blitz, SIP also hosted 3 ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions with Inspiring the Future Australia speakers. We were privileged to hear from Amanda Jackson from LG Electronics, John Matthews from I Finance and Scott Knight from Classic Home Improvements.
All speakers came from different backgrounds and shared different stories and experiences. The students especially appreciated hearing about Amanda’s experience failing school and how that hasn’t stopped her from hearing big money and travelling the world now; how John helps his clients invest their money and move from Pizza delivery guy to millionaire investor and the pros and cons of contracting versus being an employee from Scott.
Thanks to all the students and speakers involved in our first ever Project Blitz! We look forward to having an even bigger and better Blitz next time.
Last week ITF volunteer Shane Hickey, Head of HR at Flower Power, came and spoke to our youth transitions participants about his career journey and some tips for getting hired. He shared insightful knowledge about his own hiring process, what happens when you submit a resume for a job and what he looks for in an interview.
Shane especially emphasized being teachable, he said “It doesn’t matter if I’m interviewing for a senior management or for a retail assistant. There’s only 2 things I look for; that they’re going to have respect for the people they work for and that they turn up on time. Everything else I can teach people.” This was an important lesson for everyone in the room, as it showed how no matter where you’re starting from your can achieve and move forward.
The young people attending shared the kinds of industry they were interested in, and he was able to give them more targeted advice, as well as encourage them that getting there takes time.
“Maybe the job isn’t 100% what you want but you can work that to your
advantage as the first step.” Shane also emphasized the need to find your passion, saying, “Find that thing inside that spurs you on and it’ll take you places. You might want to make jewellery but if you start working in a jewellery shop, that will take you onward.”
Thanks very much to Shane for coming and sharing his wisdom and experience with the young people at SIP.
Last week the organisation Skillsroad came into Schools Industry Partnership, and worked with a group of our young people on a career exploration activity. Skillsroad is an initiative of the NSW Business Chamber that aims to help Australia’s youth; their parents and teacher, to navigate the career planning process and foster a meaningful transition into work or further study. In this particular session, they helped our participants go through their great Career Quiz, that helps young people choose a job that matches them!
The intention of the session was to assist each participant in exploring different career ideas, giving them some inspiration for what their goals could be. With the help of Skillsroad, each participant did the Career Quiz that assessed their working styles, strengths and motivators to find out what type of working personality they have.
Using this information, they searched through a number of careers that matched their personality to see what kinds of careers they might enjoy and be good at. Many young people discovered new career paths they had never heard of with this activity, broadening their horizons to the possibilities of their future. This was especially helpful for participants who were struggling with direction, as there were clear recommendations for them to explore or reflect on further.For many of our young people, it’s not that they are not motivated to start, but that they’re unsure of what to start and this, coupled with other barriers, can be very crippling. Our coaches work with young people both one-on-one and in group workshops and sessions to help overcome these barriers and discover the right path for every young person.
From this Skillsroad exercise, the attending participants were able to set a few individual goals for what they hope to achieve in the next couple of weeks. During the session, Skillsroad gave out prizes to those young people who identified a possible career goal, reinforcing positivity around work and careers! The session was a great opportunity for our young people, and we were so pleased to see they got so much out of it.
15-24 and looking for work? Youth Transition at Schools Industry Partnership has personal coaching, job skills, application support and more just for you! Contact us to find out more or come into one of our shops today.
This year Schools Industry Partnership has been successfully running the Transition to Work Service and Work Placement program throughout 2017, and also launched Inspiring the Future Australia in April and began the NSW State Government funded service Smart, Skilled & Hired in September. Check out our graphic to see how far we’ve come in 2017, thanks for all your support – we look forward to an even great 2018!
