Jordan is a 24 year old indigenous man who hails from far north QLD. His mother is from the Goongkandji Tribe and his father is from the Torres Strait, Thursday Island. He is a part time rapper/hip hop performer that goes by the name of GekkZ. Music is his life.

Jordan was looking for permanent work for eight months when he was offered a Traineeship at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. He is now being trained in a customer service role that he says is ‘cool’. He is excited about his long term career prospects as he develops more skills. Jordan got the traineeship through Vote1Jobs campaign partners WPC Group and the Shakealeg program.

 

Today The Citi New Recruits Program has been launched.  The program will help to develop the skills of 120 young people and link them to jobs in the hospitality and service industries. The program begins with a four-week ‘Job Ready Intensive Program’ where participants will complete a Certificate I in a Vocational Participation course or in hospitality.

Participants will then be placed into traineeships or apprenticeships in the hospitality or services industries. Key to the success of the program is matching participants to a dedicated mentor to assist throughout the training and introduction to employment.  Shake a leg is proud to be working with the Skilling Australia Foundation and the Citi Foundation.

The Program is run by the Skilling Australia Foundation and funded by the Citi Foundation.

For further information on how you can join the program, call 1300 656 461.

The National Group Training Awards Presentation and Dinner took place on Friday 19 April 2013 in Brisbane. The awards followed the Group Training National Conference, at which government leaders and industry experts joined with the employers of more than 35,000 apprentices and trainees to discuss Australia’s future skills and training needs. WPC Group Apprentice, Sevag Parseghian and Trainee, Jenna Hays were both nominated for awards.

Winner of WPC Group’s National Indigenous Australian Apprentice of the Year Award 2013, Trainee Jenna Hays, was nominated in the category of Group Training Apprentice/Trainee of the Year – Indigenous. Jenna has successfully completed her Business Traineeship. She was hosted at the Department of Planning and Community Development – Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. Jenna’s trainer praises her efforts, “Jenna has shown 100% dedication to her training by ensuring all of her modules are completed on time and to an above satisfactory standard.”

Speaking of her experience Jenna says, “Before commencing work at Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, I didn’t know too much about the government. Since being here at AAV I’ve seen some incredible work being done, it’s wonderful to see how this work contributes to Aboriginal communities and organisations. Seeing and being part of some of the great work that gets done is really fulfilling.”

Nominated as Group Training Apprentice of the Year, Sevag Parseghian has been employed with Mercedes-Benz Melbourne in an Automotive (Light Vehicle) apprenticeship. Speaking of his apprenticeship Sevag said, “I believe I have gained immense communication, team and leadership skills where I am able to use them on a daily basis to not only help my current workplace and career but to encourage others and overall represent the industry I love so much.”

Sevag also praised WPC Group; “Working with WPC Group was fantastic and very encouraging and they’ve been supportive throughout my apprenticeship. It was fantastic to have their support behind me.”

GTA Chief Executive, Jim Barron said the awards showcase outstanding apprentices and trainees, employed and mentored through group training. “We can be extremely proud of all the nominees and winners. To be selected from over 35,000 group training apprentices is a great achievement. The awards celebrate the dedication and skill of apprentices and trainees within the group training network. I would like to congratulate the winners, as well as their group training organisations and host employers for helping them develop their talents and achieve this success.”

 

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Group Training Australia is the national peak body representing the network of over 150 Group Training Organisations (GTOs) employing apprentices and trainees throughout Australia. GTA was recently awarded the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) Small Business Champion Award 2010.

WPC Group’s successful Shake-a-Leg program hosted an Indigenous Careers Day on February 19th at the Melbourne City Bowls Club in Flagstaff Gardens.

The event gave current host employers, potential host employers and indigenous job seekers the opportunity to meet and mingle within afriendly and relaxing environment. The job seekers were able to register with WPC Group and Shake-a-Leg, which enabled them to check out all current vacancies and to speak to ‘real employers’ about the industry that interests them. It was a great opportunity for enthusiastic and motivated indigenous job seekers to chat with current host employers about the fantastic opportunities offered by the Shake-a-Leg program. The event was also an opportunity to thank our current host employers for working with WPC and Shake-a-Leg through their contribution  to the success of the program.

The event was wrapped up with a tasty lunch comprising of Kangaroo Wraps, Emu Burgers and Vegetarian Quiche Tartlettes with Salt Bush Herb Salad.

The 2013 CEO Cook Off hosted by Qantas and OzHarvest was a great success! WPC Group CEO Nicholas Wyman teamed up with Celebrity Chefs including Matt Moran, Maggie Beer, Poh Ling Yeow, Adam Liaw, Neil Perry and Pete Evans at the Cathedral Square in Sydney.

The purpose of the event was to raise awareness and much needed funds to assist Australians facing challenges in the areas of food security, homelessness and youth in crisis.

The event received wide spread support from the Australian Indigenous Community while CEOs and Celebrity Chefs put their culinary skills to work to cook up a storm to feed 1000 people in need. A total of One Million Dollars was raised to support Australians facing challenges relating to food security, homelessness and youth in crisis.

 

 

 

 

Photo: Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas Airways and Nicholas Wyman, CEO, WPC Group Ltd