blueprint
australian industry trade college
work experience
TANOU SIEBENMANN
INDUSTRY CONSULTANT
ESSENTIAL LESSONS FOR YEAR 10 A school-based apprenticeship doesn’t magically happen, it stems from hard work both in the classroom during Education Block and out at Work Experience (WEX) during Industry Block. Year 10 is a year of exploration and pivotal to finding individualised goals—personally and professionally. To succeed in the workplace, Year 10 young people take the first steps in identifying their likes and dislikes in trades by trying a series of unpaid WEX opportunities. This allows them to hone their skills, focus on goals, and network with businesses which, in the future, may offer a paid sign-up to their apprenticeship of choice. Tanou Siebenmann, Industry Consultant from the Sunshine Coast campus, discusses the importance of WEX for Year 10 young people. Work experience in Year 10 provides young people with the opportunity to explore various industries and vocations before they refine their focus on pursuing a particular traineeship or apprenticeship during Years 11 and 12. Safety and courage are two values AITC young people learn
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to embrace during this year, building an understanding of workplace health and safety and adopting some new confidence when engaging with industry. Most importantly, young people will learn something about their personal brand, motivation, self-empowerment and discovery of their “why?”. Work experience is a way for young people to begin to understand industry expectations in terms of employability skills, and how to put these into practice with their work experience providers. Young people also learn which industries appeal to them. They are empowered to secure their own work experience and equipped with some communication tools to support their efforts in sourcing and securing a placement. They are also presented with key industry contacts who have an established relationship with the Australian Industry Trade College and offer both work experience and schoolbased traineeship and/or apprenticeship positions. Young people are encouraged to use the Industry Team as a support
