5 minute read
IMPORTANT?
blueprint australian industry trade college
work experience
JAY HARRIS
-INTERVIEW-
REGIONAL INDUSTRY OFFICER
WHY IS WORK EXPERIENCE IMPORTANT FOR ALL YEAR 10 YOUNG PEOPLE?
Year 10 work experience (WEX) for all AITC young people is a critical point in their journey. They can take advantage of finding opportunities across any industry they feel drawn to and obtain work experience. We encourage all young people in Year 10 to sample many trades. When a young person starts with the AITC they think they know what trade they want to pursue. After completing some work experience, they can realise maybe the trade isn’t quite what they thought it was. We encourage young people to think outside the box with their work experience opportunities by doing the required research in all industries. This encourages them to think about what the future might look like and also where they may find happiness in their daily job.
Work experience serves as a major part in the development of an AITC young person and their journey to secure a school-based apprenticeship. Under our model, young people begin to get the feeling of what the real working world feels like. Working in hard labour— intense industries, quite often turning up to their first full time week of work experience sees a young person in bed at 7:30pm most nights. We often get feedback from parents that it’s great to see their young person working so hard.
Young people quickly learn about industry expectations, valuing safety and working on projects that may start from the ground up and turn into a completed house. They also begin to understand what it takes to become employable through the employability
N 05 JULY 2022 Under our model, young people begin to get the feeling of what the real working world feels like.
metrics. Quite often work experience provides a huge learning curve. An Industry Consultant receives feedback and then prepares the young person through that feedback and support.
Often young people head out to work experience thinking it’s an unpaid opportunity. What they might not see is that there is a hidden expense for the employer to take on a young person for work experience. There is not a monetary value and no direct out-of-pocket expense for the employer. However, the employer needs to provide a staff member to train a young person on how to complete jobs and learn required skills. This expense doesn’t disappear once a young person is signed-up as an apprentice. The learning involved for an apprentice is taught by a qualified tradesperson who also mentors and supports them through their apprenticeship.
HOW DO THEY GO ABOUT OBTAINING WORK EXPERIENCE AT THE AITC?
All young people go through many coaching sessions on how to obtain work experience. The process is as follows:
• All young people are asked to research prospective local employers (to where they live) • Young people make a list of at least 12 employers, including the business name, contact number, contact person and business address
• Once the list is complete there is some coaching provided on how to make a positive impact during a phone call • Young people begin to make phone calls with their prospective employers hopefully receiving a ‘yes’ to lock in work experience dates • Once work experience has been secured, young people take the business details and pass it onto the Industry
Consultant
• The Industry Consultant follows up and confirms the placement, completes an onsite risk assessment and arranges the placement details using Connect • Before the start date, the young people have the responsibility to reach out to the host employer again and confirm start times, location and dress code, as well as required safety gear • All young people are encouraged the night before the placement to get a good night’s sleep and have their uniform and lunch ready to go so they are organised
DELIBERATELY DIFFERENT.
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blueprint australian industry trade college
HOW DO YOU SUPPORT THEM TO KEEP GOING IF THEY’VE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL IN FINDING WEX?
It’s common for young people to get a ‘no thank you’ on their first phone call for work experience. This is the reason that we facilitate coaching and mentoring beforehand. We let young people know it’s likely they may not get work experience first go and we talk through ways to approach that conversation. The employer may already have someone or maybe they don’t have the capability to coach and train a young person during work experience.
We encourage them to ask if there is an opportunity for work experience at a later date. This helps the young person to know who they can call next time they need work experience. It also shows the employer the young person is keen and confident to be in industry as well.
It’s great when an employer receives a phone call from a confident young person keen for work experience. Having a confident tone, and talking directly about the need for work experience gives the employer an indication of what to expect and helps drive the decision to a ‘yes’.
WHY IS THIS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CURRICULUM AT THE AITC?
It’s who we are, we are deliberately different, most schools have a work experience coordinator or use an external service to find work experience for their young people. We encourage young people to be the foundation of their own success through organising their own phone calls and seeking out apprenticeship opportunities.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE CHALLENGING FOR YEAR 10s?
Having confidence to make the phone calls, while we encourage this to happen some young people don’t have that natural ability. Coaching helps but it sometimes can take six to 12 months to build up. This is why our Year 10 program is so important. We are selective when it comes to bringing in Year 11 students as we want to make sure they have clear direction about the journey they want to pursue and how they will achieve that.
