Tapping into female trades talent

Two new programs in north Queensland which aim to get more female workboots on the ground have met a good response.
 
The first has seen 65 women apply for 15 places in a plumbing course at Tropical North Queensland TAFE in Cairns.

At the same time, 12 women have put up their hands for a career in construction, answering a call by the Whitsunday Development Corporation (WDC) to help ease industry skill shortages in the region.
 
Promoted as the Tap Girls program, the Cairns initiative is a joint partnership between the TAFE and Construction Skills Queensland, and will lead towards a plumbing apprenticeship and full-time work. Pictured here is Joeleen Orrell of Cairns, who recently completed her plumbing apprenticeship and is promoting Tap Girls.

Graduates of the 16-week course will gain a Certificate II in Plumbing and students have the cost of all learning materials met by Construction Skills Queensland. It follows the Girls with Spark program run in Cairns last year, which resulted in 13 female students becoming apprentice electricians.

Those selected for the course include a Year 12 Indigenous state high school student, Diane Vanderplum; mother-of-five Megan Wheeler; retail industry employee Mais Thornely; and New South Wales woman, Kristi Hopcroft, who says she has experienced gender bias in the plumbing industry there.

The Whitsunday initiative is a free five-week program which will provide the 12 women with industry skills to be work-ready on a construction site. It will comprise a combination of accredited and non-accredited training, provided by the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE at its Cannonvale and Bowen campuses.

The WDC secured funding to run the program from the Queensland Government’s Office for Women.

At Gladstone, local group training organisation GAGAL has run a program on basic electrical training for local Years 11 and 12 female students. Two of the 2007 intake of nine students have gained apprenticeships – one with the Rio Tinto company. This program will run again in 2009.

Service makes job worries redundant 

After 29 years in the employment services field, Loretta Lawrence (pictured) personally discovered the harsh reality of pursuing employment without a formal qualification.

The Hervey Bay woman was forced to look for a new position at the age of 52 when her federal government employer made her position redundant.

After four months unsuccessfully seeking work, Ms Lawrence called in to her local Skilling Solutions Queensland office. Within a relatively short time she had gained two formal qualifications – and a local job.

Although offering employers extensive experience of the workplace, Ms Lawrence did not hold any formal qualifications. At Skilling Solutions Queensland she undertook a skills pre-assessment and was encouraged to have a formal assessment. This was carried out by local training provider, Job Smart.

Ms Lawrence’s skills were measured through various means, which included a ‘recognition of prior learning’ process to take account of her work and life experience.

As a result, she obtained a Certificate IV in Business Administration and a Certificate IV in Frontline Management and was able to gain a position at Kingfisher Bay Resort, in the reservations team.

Ms Lawrence says she would recommend Skilling Solutions Queensland to any jobseeker who felt a lack of qualifications was holding them back. “Both Skilling Solutions and the team at Job Smart were fantastic – they just made it so simple,” she said. “I now have a piece of paper to prove my skills.”

The cost of undertaking this process was also made less costly because, as a customer of Skilling Solutions Queensland, Ms Lawrence received a subsidy of $500 towards the cost of the formal assessment.

A glowing commendation for school-based engineering apprentices and students undertaking work experience has come from the Hastings Deering company’s Mackay operation.

Regional manager Darren Woodward said in October the company had taken on about 170 young people with school work experience over the last five years.

“Hastings Deering currently needs about 100 diesel fitters every year, which is why we now use work experience students from schools, along with school-based apprenticeships,” Mr Woodward said. “We had three school-based apprentices this year and all are guaranteed apprenticeships next year.

“If you have some ready to go (into apprenticeships), it streamlines the process.” Commenting on students who gain work experience in his industry while at school, the manager said: “You’d just love to take every kid on.”

Hastings Deering’s Paget operations has been awarded the Australian Industry Group’s annual Employers Recognition Award for its work helping young people into the workforce.