by Skillset | Apr 10, 2019 | Workforce
Skillset Youth Connect is performing at an all time high following the success of Skillset’s SkillForce360 jobs and skills growth campaign. In their third quarter results, Youth Connect have exceeded their annual registration target by 16% and already achieved 6% over their annual target for placements! This showcases the number of young people’s lives our team have truly impacted.
Youth Connect consultants provide advice and support through helping clients to realise their personal strengths and unique skills, and further help them to access local training to build upon these skills to then be able to access employment opportunities.
SkillForce360 Case Study:
When Chelsea came to Skillset Youth Connect, she was at a cross road in terms of training and job hunting. She had left school quite early due bullying and the associated impact on her mental health. Time has since passed and at 18 she realises the importance of education and learning new skills.
Chelsea met with her Youth Connect consultant, Alana and they discussed her interests in helping people and making a difference. She expressed an interest in working with people with disability as well as older people in aged care. She had also been thinking about working in the beauty industry.
Chelsea was looking for career planning advice to explore potential pathways and training options. She also needed assistance with her resume so she could job search. Chelsea initially decided she would like to enrol in a Certificate III Individual Support, but unfortunately, she needed to focus on her health and was unable to join the course at that time.
After a few months, Chelsea felt well enough to begin job searching and soon secured casual work in retail. She continued to explore training options with Youth Connect and was eventually assisted to enrol in Certificate III Beauty Services. She is now powering through her course and plans are in place for her to continue into a Diploma and Nail Technology course.
It’s stories like this that really make us love what we do – helping others to realise their potential and strive for their goals.
If you’re aged between 15-19 and not in school, training or work, Youth Connect offer free advice, support and training to help you take the next step towards your future.
Talk to a Youth Connect Consultant on 1300 853 525.
by Skillset | Mar 19, 2019 | Skillset, Workforce
With the retirement age expected to rise to 67 by 2026-28, young people will soon work for 50 years or more. So it’s important to find what you love doing and make it into something that you’ll be happy spending half a century working on.
It’s an overwhelming thought.
Have you ever thought that perhaps expecting a 17-year-old to choose the profession they want to commit to and the courses that will get them there, is perhaps too much for young, inexperienced school leavers?
Whether you leave in Year 11 or 12, you’re about to enter the world outside school and start making moves towards your dream career. A lot of students find themselves overwhelmed with the burden of choice, because there are just so many options unexpectedly available.
Late last year at a local all-girls high school careers day, our Skillset representatives, Laura Cole and Jill Notzon attended as guest speakers, discussing post-school pathways and alternative career options with the girls.
The greatest takeaway from the event was that young people like to know that what they’re doing has a purpose and outcome. Working towards something of interest gives them a sense of direction and commitment.
Skillset Workforce Recruitment Manager, Jill Notzon, told students,
“it’s important to stay calm and think clearly about what your career goals are and how you’re going to achieve these. There are so many different pathways you can follow to achieve what you want, so ensure you research the industry and reach out to those who are already working in the field.”
When asked what she would’ve done differently, Skillset Marketing Coordinator, Laura Cole said,
“I would’ve focussed more on balance. There’s so much pressure placed on obtaining top grades, but you’re also expected to gain life experience, and work to earn money, but you’re also required to be happy and enjoy life. There’s so much pressure. Take time for yourself. Enjoy being young. Study hard, but reward yourself and ensure you’re surrounding yourself with positive people.”
4 top tips for school leavers:
- Research career pathways – have an understanding of what your options are. Don’t feel confined to the university pathway if this doesn’t align with your goals.
- Get into a routine – to prepare yourself for professional life, be sure to get out of bed at a reasonable time and fill your days with productivity, be that in the form of obtaining qualifications or searching for work. Don’t let those extended breaks set you in a bad pattern which you will struggle to get out of.
- Develop your network – the power of networking is often overlooked. Establishing a professional network will put you in good stead for the future. Surrounding yourself with people who are supportive and encouraging will also ensure you have good advice and motivators wherever you go.
- Gain experience – get involved in the industry you’re interested in! Whether this be volunteering or requesting an internship type position at an organisation you aspire to work for. This experience will improve your employability and help you in developing the hard and soft skills needed for your professional journey.
Could you use a hand in preparing your resume or finding your dream job? Contact the Skillset Workforce Team to see how they can help you!
by Skillset | Nov 30, 2018 | Skillset, Workforce
Our current regional jobs growth campaign, SkillForce360 is aimed at guiding and supporting regional businesses for a strong future. With 5 key messages, Skillset has the success of businesses at heart.
1) Build and develop your team
For businesses to remain in touch with society and maintain a competitive advantage, their team needs to be constantly growing and progressing.
Recent reports have stated the increasing demand for employees to be hired based on their soft skills rather than their level of industry knowledge, qualifications and experience.
Steve Jobs famously insisted, that an individual’s hard skills are not enough. Organisations desperately need the expertise of those who are educated to the human, cultural and social as well as the technical knowledge of their role.
Individuals who hold attributes of being a good coach, critical thinker and problem solver, in addition to having strong communication skills and empathetic views were considered greater assets to a workplace than individuals with qualifications and excessive experience.
For a workplace, it is more beneficial to hire based on your desired soft skills, and then provide necessary training and mentoring to the employee in order to build the ideal team who works cohesively together with the wide range of required technical skills and knowledge.
2) Support skills development to address skills gaps
The commonly spoken about ‘skills gap’ is a term used to describe not the lack of job applicants, but the difference between the skills that employers want, as shown by their job advertisements, and those that are available from workers looking for a job.
In September 2018, the national average of unemployment was at 5.0%, with unemployment in our Central Western regions slightly higher at 5.4%. Meanwhile our Far West and Orana regions had a decrease of 3.0% in their unemployment rates, currently sitting at 2.9%.
Long standing Skillset host employer, Dave Cooper from DR and DV Cooper Bricklaying in Orange, considers the training of apprentices as an effective means to ending the skill shortage and assists his business in remaining fresh and enthusiastic.
“I’ve been working with Skillset for 20 years because it is evident just how much my business relies on apprentices. Skilled labour is hard to find these days, but apprentices allow you to train them in a way that creates your business’ ideal worker.”
Mr Cooper stated, “80% of my business is made up of apprentices because I honestly couldn’t function without them. I gain so much on both a personal and professional level, watching my boys enter the industry with limited knowledge and low self-esteem, then 4 years later they’re qualified, confident and competent workers who are ready to be business owners themselves. The fresh energy and enthusiasm that these young workers bring to work each day, makes waking up every morning worthwhile.”
3) Source the best candidates for recruitment and labour hire
For a business to perform well, they need to have the right team with the right skills and personalities to suit the work environment. Sometimes this can be hard for employers to see in potential recruits when hiring.
By choosing to outsource the recruitment of staff to a trusted and proven organisation, your business will save time and money. Your business will be able to concentrate on what you do best – working in your business, while Skillset Workforce does what we do best – recruitment.
Our recruitment process includes five key stages and a dedicated after placement monitoring service and guarantee to ensure we not only find the right employee for your business, but to ensure they continue to perform well in the future years.
Dale Curran, Executive Officer of Skillset’s newest host employer, Western Research Institute (WRI) in Bathurst says,
“This has been the first time our organisation has hired a trainee, but we’ve found that it has created critical capacity in our small team, and a business trainee in particular ensures the day to day cogs of business are always turning smoothly so that we can concentrate on the bigger picture. It’s been a worthwhile investment.”
4) Increase employment opportunities in regional NSW
Data clearly shows consistent job growth in regions and a rising workforce shortage.
Meeting the job demand for regions with workers is fundamental to the future of our regions. Regions need more permanent workers than what they are currently getting, as well as more people looking to regional Australia for job opportunities that are suitable for them.
In order to attract permanent workers, the employer needs to be able to offer long term professional development opportunities to the individual to encourage them to remain in the regional workforce. With the right support and direction, these long term strategies not only assist businesses in attracting the right permanent workers, but ensures their community is equipped for survival.
5) Foster the prosperity of regional communities
Did you know that for each dollar you spend at independent businesses, it returns 3 times more money to your local economy than one spent at a large chain. Supporting the survival of your local community means that the community as a whole benefit from the prosperity.
By developing a skilled and developed business, you are offering your local community services that encourage them to spend locally. That not only brings money into your business, but builds a stronger economy around you.
Kathy Woolley, Chief Executive Officer of Skillset host employer, Western Research Institute (WRI) in Bathurst supports this message by stating why they signed up for SkillForce360,
“As an organisation focused on the development of regional communities, we know the importance of providing traineeships in rural and regional communities. Research completed by WRI in the past has highlighted that traineeships and apprenticeships leads to better economic outcome for the whole community and builds long term value to the local economy.”
Play your part in future proofing your business and wider community by joining the SkillForce360 campaign which will build the skills of 360 people in our region.
by Skillset | Nov 14, 2018 | Skillset, Workforce
Since the Skillset Workforce SkillForce360 jobs growth campaign launched a month ago, there have been over 80 new jobs placed within regional NSW…. we’re 22% of the way to our goal already!
What are the reasons behind creating 360 new jobs?
Are we trying to provide our youth with jobs? Contribute to a more skilled workforce for the future? Or are we aiming to assist our local businesses with attracting the skills they require to remain strong in the rapid changes of our current time?
Whilst we’re achieving all of the above, the greatest aim for SkillForce360 is to foster our regional communities to grow and prosper, and educate businesses on the importance of training and upskilling to address the nationwide skills shortage.
Earlier this year, the NSW Government launched the Fee-Free Apprenticeships initiative for over 120 different courses to help address the states skills shortage. Statistics show that NSW will need another 50,000 skilled construction workers in the next 12 months alone. Basically, there’s no better time to think about career choices and take on this opportunity.
With so many options available, why is it that young people are reporting to find it harder than ever before to find jobs following graduation, yet the government has announced a major skills shortage and demand for workers?
So what exactly is a skills shortage?
The ‘skills gap’ is a term used to describe not the lack of job applicants, but the difference between the skills that employers want, as shown by their job advertisements, and those that are available from workers looking for a job.
What actually defines a skilled worker?
A skilled worker is any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge and ability in their work. They may have attended a college, university or technical school, or may have gained their experience through on the job training.
When discussing a skills shortage, we refer to Australia’s lack of trained or qualified workers. Recent studies show that Australia’s rate of Year 12 completion is lower than both Europe and America, with the average school completion rate at 83%. Further, 38.2% of these school completers are not continuing in education or training. Of the people that continue onto further education, around 1 in 5 will drop out within the first few weeks due to lack of engagement, information and stress overload or inability to see a beneficial end result.
For this reason, apprenticeships offer a many advantages for workplaces. Majority of university or college degrees are heavily focused on academic learning with very minimal practical application, whilst apprenticeships are focused on developing knowledge supported by useful, on-the-job learning which also allows apprentices to earn a wage whilst training.
So how do businesses better equip themselves to deal with the ever changing trends?
During a former discussion with business futurist and innovation expert, Craig Rispin, he emphasised the substantial changes coming in what has been named as the 4th Industrial Evolution.
“The upcoming industrial evolution won’t just change what we do, it’ll change us as humans”.
It’s essential that businesses accept the need for technology in everyday tasks and identify what areas of their business will become automated over the next 5-10 years, and further distinguish what skills they require to hold a competitive advantage for future years.
In order to address the skills gap and assist our businesses with achieving greater productivity, there are 3 key areas that help build a skilled worker. It starts with education, then it’s up to the individual to pursue their strengths, and finally their workplaces must be open to change and understand how to use it to their advantage.
- Education plays a key role
As individuals recognise their need for skill development and practical experiences, the demand is for our education systems to shift towards a more realistic, hands-on approach to learning. Whilst VET courses already offer this advantage, it’s important that the real-world skills are taught early in high school to better prepare our young people for the realities of the workforce.
Many school leavers are starting to shift towards a preference for VET courses opposed to the traditional university degree, with the 2018 Youth Census outlining that those participants who pursued a university pathway reported lower levels of wellbeing than some other post-school pathways.
Given the way apprenticeships are structured, young people reported a greater sense of meaning and optimism, were driven by a clear goal, and motivated by the annual course completion rewards.
Additional findings showed that a staggering 90% of the highest growth jobs in the next five years only require a VET qualification.
The skills required to fill the national skills shortage aren’t those that can be learnt by reading a textbook, they’re developed through interaction in a workplace. Services such as those offered by Skillset Youth Connect, provide school leavers with mentoring and assistance to plan, set and achieve the education, training and career goals that are right for each individual, to then help them move into appropriate employability.
- Individuals need to be proactive
It’s a matter of looking at your resume and identifying your skills and knowledge, then recognising what you think you don’t know. From here you can start listing the skills associated with the things that you don’t know and begin enhancing your skillset and filling the gap with education and experiences through short courses, work experience or mentoring.
This process of career enhancement and personal development is about challenging yourself and being courageous enough to learn something new and having the confidence in your abilities. In a rapidly changing workforce, it’s important that you have communication and problem-solving skills to figure the rest out.
- Managers mindsets need to shift
Providing training opportunities and career development pathways are essential for a business’ talent retention strategy. Investing in your people today, is a long term investment for the long term success of your business.
There’s no doubt that Richard Branson is one of the greatest leaders of our time due to his unique outlook on managing people and desire to create a team that is driven by the same core values. For managers to recognise the value of their employees and be genuinely interested in them are two of the great qualities for leaders to have.
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
– Richard Branson
Studies show that employees who feel supported and encouraged in their profession are more engaged and productive on a day-to-day basis and will stay in the organisation for longer. Some businesses object to training apprentices as they feel that they invest too much time and energy only to have them leave.
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”
– Richard Branson
In our current workforce, we have four generations, each of which have different learning, leading and work styles. Our generation Z workers are often frowned upon for being “lazy, self-centred and entitled, however they are an asset in today’s digital age. For businesses to thrive in today’s digital market, they need to embrace young workers and all that they have to offer rather than focussing on the way the business has always done things.
Change is coming and it’s happening fast! Businesses need to prepare their employees and ensure that they’re open to finding new solutions.
Apprenticeships are beneficial to businesses because they provide employers with a low-risk sense of ‘trialling’ the employee before they’re hired full-time. Apprenticeships are a way of the future in that they close the skills gap to an extent where the employer can train the apprentice their way and equip them with necessary skills.
If businesses think they will be looking for staff to fill any skills gaps anytime in the next 4 months, they’re encouraged to contact Skillset Workforce who will have a pool of talented young people who are keen to work and who have been supported to work out what the best fit career is for them. Services such as those offered at Skillset, take the risk out of the recruitment process.
by Skillset | Oct 30, 2018 | Skillset, Workforce
Skillset Workforce launched SkillForce360on on October 1. SkillForce360 is a campaign aimed to engage 360 people across the region into education or employment by 31st March, 2019. The slogan of the campaign, “powered by people” focusses on building skilled individuals that contribute to the productivity and development of our region’s businesses.
The campaign was built based on studies conducted by the Australian Government that identified a nationwide skills shortage which acknowledged that the supply of workers is not sufficient to meet the demand at current rates of pay. Statistics show that NSW will need another 50,000 skilled construction workers in the next 12 months alone.
SkillForce360 will generate a higher number of employment opportunities in Regional NSW, support skills development, and develop job ready young people who are confident in the roles they are applying for.
Our target of 360 will be achieved through the number of new apprentices, trainees, permanent and labour hire recruits. Additionally, our Youth Connect participants who enrol in education or secure employment will contribute to our goal, as well as any Skills4Trade course graduates.
Skills4Trade is a fully subsidised pre-employment program for 15-40 year olds who have left school and are interested in a pathway to a trade career. The program allows participants to gain a hands on approach to learning about different industries, trade careers, and apprenticeship opportunities, whilst receiving career planning, and discovering what trade is the best fit for them.
We had a chat to Dubbo’s Multi-Trade Skills4Trade course participant, William Farrugia about his course and what he’s gaining from the experience.
Sk
illset: What are your hobbies?
William: I love to go fishing, camping, playing football and anything that involves the outdoors
Skillset: What’s your dream job?
William: I’ve always wanted to be a boilermaker.
Skillset: Why did you enrol into Skills4Trade?
William: I wanted to improve my opportunities in gaining an apprenticeship.
In school, I studied subjects like construction, metals, engineering and automotive, and I really enjoyed the hands on subjects. When I came across Skills4Trade, I thought it would give me more of an opportunity to enter into a boilermaker apprenticeship and receive career planning.
Skillset: What are you enjoying the most about Skills4Trade?
William: Being in the engineering workshop and being hands-on means every day is a little different. We’re currently working on a die, and I find it challenging but really enjoyable.
Skillset: Would you recommend this course to others your age?
William: Absolutely. I think this course is perfect for anyone who’s willing to get their hands dirty and try out something new before entering into an apprenticeship. It’s really important to work in an industry you love and Skills4Trade gives you the opportunity to try out a few different courses before committing to an industry you actually like.
“It’s important to work in an industry you love… Skills4Trade gives you the opportunity to find what you like”
by Skillset | Oct 18, 2018 | Skillset, Workforce
Callum is a 19-year-old young man who registered with Skillset Youth Connect through the Bathurst Jobs Expo in August 2018. Callum completed his HSC at Denison College last year and is considering going to University in the future, but doesn’t feel quite ready yet and wanted to explore his options.
Skillset Youth Connect assisted Callum with career planning advice and helped him identify the educational and employment pathways that could one day lead to his dream job – game design! Callum has a passion for 3D modelling, game design, and digital content creation, and with our help, has enrolled in Certificate III Information Digital Media & Technology at TAFE NSW to begin his career journey.
To help make this decision, Skillset Youth Connect encouraged Callum to attend an open day at AIE (Academy of Interactive Entertainment) in Sydney to broaden his understanding of career options in the game development, animation, and visual effects industries.
Callum enthusiastically took on this advice to participate in the open day and this is what he had to say to Skillset Youth Connect about his visit to AIE:
“The AIE Open Day was a really nice experience and quite informative. There were around twenty people in attendance so there were two groups that alternated between workshops. The workshops themselves were basic but provided a firm understanding about what the tasks in the course are about and what it’s like to study and work in such a field. They were also quite hands-on, getting us to use the industrial programs used in the making of games and the assets within them. Before we moved into the workshops we were introduced with a powerpoint slide showing us some statistics about the market: where and how fast it’s growing, the number of specialised fields of work there is. But the main thing that surprised me is how many companies both for games and VFX are based in or have hubs in Australia. And Australia has some pretty famous VFX companies that work with a lot of Marvel and high budget films.”
“After the introduction, the first workshop my group attended was 3D Art and Animation. They focused mainly on animation and showed a simple but effective video explaining how to bring life to an artificial object by using techniques that mimic the real movement and follows the laws of physics. We got to use a little bit of Maya which is the program currently used in the industry for animation and creating 3D models among some other uses. The task was the oldest trick in the animation playbook—animating a ball bouncing. What I enjoyed the most about doing this was actually learning some of the features and interface of the program itself.”
“About an hour after the first workshop, the group moved on to what I thought would be the least enjoyable workshop of the day: programming. But I have to say, I learned more about programming in the one-hour long workshop than all the multi-media and software development classes I ever did combine. The teacher was also brutally honest in saying that programmers don’t even know or remember all the special rules or specific commands but rather rely on the program tool-tips and interface to help them decide what the best function is for the job. The teacher also mentioned that the hardest time in coding will be when you’re just starting and eventually you’ll just learn all the syntaxes and jargon. During the workshop I also learned how developers start most of their days; they arrive at the office/studio log into an online application called Trello, which stores all the projects currently in the works, and the developers can pick and choose which tasks they want to complete.”
The application also functions like a pipeline that helps set tasks along and keeps everything organised. And that’s something I love in a workplace, a personalised schedule but also highly organised.
“Once that workshop was completed the staff ordered in Pizza which was super convenient because it meant nobody had to go around Sydney looking for food and all be back at the same time. It was also surprising as I’ve never seen as many teenagers without that typical “I’ll eat everything” appetite. So what the staff did was much appreciated!”
“After lunch, it was the VFX workshop which I found the most interesting. The main thing we learned was what compositing is. I would describe it as essentially removing or masking real objects and inserting computer-generated inserts (CGI). Our task was basically moving files into Adobe After Effects and compiling and layering them together to create a scene with physical footage but also some CGI and VFX elements such as a lens flare and an explosion. We also learned how to remove a green-screen which was neat. We didn’t get to use the industrial program which is called Nuke but the teacher demonstrated how it was different.”
“The final workshop was Game Design. This was probably one of the groups that had the most freedom to do what we wanted as we were given a 2D plat-former pre-set level in Unity and told to change it and make it our own; the purpose of which was to get others to playtest the level so we could see how another person experiences and approaches the level. The workshop was quite fun but my favourite aspect of it was seeing a game in-engine and how the very core of it is constructed and how all the different bits and pieces come together to create a product. Even though everything was already set up I could imagine the sheer fun of creating the assets for a game, compiling them in a format so that they can be accessed and placed inside the game engine, all the while coding the functionality of the pieces to create a game.”
“In the end, what impressed me the most about the whole day was the industry experience the teachers had and how effectively they conveyed that experience and knowledge from working in the industry. This experience looks like it’s carried over to the final products that students study there. I say this because some of the student’s works were absolutely phenomenal and must’ve taken hundreds if not a thousand or more hours creating. Just the amount of detail and functionality in some of the works were really up there in quality. It puts my year 12 project in the dumpster. But that’s a good thing as it shows the quality and degree of skill that students come out with. Taking a course there definitely something I’d like to do in the future when I have a bit more confidence that I could handle the work in terms of quantity and quality.”
If you would like to discover the career pathway to your dream job, get in touch with Skillset Workforce Youth Connect by calling: 1300 853 525, inbox us of Facebook, or email youthconnect@skillset.com.au (eligibility criteria applies).
